Open source code, written by a community of thousands of software developers, has always been made freely available. But there are ways of making money from it.
Should research funders insist on open source?
I certainly believe that open source has brought a huge value to this world. Let me answer you in a simple way:
Think about the Google! They have tons of computers, all powered by linux OS. If that would be M$ OS, the cost would be huge, and I am afraid that they might not be able to offer you Gmail, and blogspot free of charge. :)
Think about Apple book that you are suing. The OS is powered by BSD Unix, which is based on open source. It is much more robuster than MS OS.
Do you know the One Laptop Per Child project? When Bill offered some version of windows, the project leader just refused, and he went to open source. And he believes that that will generate much more benefits to this world. Check: http://wiki.laptop.org/
A good question!
ReplyDeleteI certainly believe that open source has brought a huge value to this world. Let me answer you in a simple way:
Think about the Google! They have tons of computers, all powered by linux OS. If that would be M$ OS, the cost would be huge, and I am afraid that they might not be able to offer you Gmail, and blogspot free of charge. :)
Think about Apple book that you are suing. The OS is powered by BSD Unix, which is based on open source. It is much more robuster than MS OS.
Do you know the One Laptop Per Child project? When Bill offered some version of windows, the project leader just refused, and he went to open source. And he believes that that will generate much more benefits to this world. Check: http://wiki.laptop.org/
anyway, hope to meet you in Edinburgh!
Ji