🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <902@sibyl.eleceng.ua.OZ>, ian@sibyl.eleceng.ua.OZ (Ian Dall) writes:
> In article <1991Apr4.162300.14422@visix.com> brett@visix.com writes:
> >In article <1991Mar28.215825.18142@federal.uucp>, hecker@federal.uucp (Frank Hecker) writes:
> >> organizations grow to depend on the software for core business
> >                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> >Well, I don't think that any business should depend on free software for core
> >business.  You are just asking for problems.
> 
> Why is that? It is true that the original authors might stop
> supporting a program but this happens whether it is free or not.
> Companies go broke, even those that stay in business stop supporting
> products. Have you tried to run any TOPS 10 programs lately?). Anyone
> want to place bets on how much longer VMS will be supported? (I'd
> guess 5 years at the outside). At least with free software you have
> the source.  It might not be worth your effort to port it to a new
> system, but if you have to, you are streets ahead if you have the
> source.

Well, I think people will be writting and supporting VMS programs for a long time
to come, but back to the free software issue:

Yes, of course, having source to a program can be a great help, if you are a 
programmer and understand the algorithms the authors used and their coding style,
and etc., etc.,.  Not all people need source and the ability to port a program to
every computer ever made.  Most people just need reliable software that works in
the proper way.

> I would tend to say that any business which depends on code for which
> it doesn't have the source is asking for problems. Given the cost of
> most source licences, the only way you get the source is to use free
> software.

Again, not everyone needs source.  IMHO I would rather have software package that 
worked well without source, than one that was full of bugs but I had the source.
Why am I fixing the bugs on someone elses software?  This is why I feel that having
a group of people who would support the free software would be a great help.

> Of course, being in business today (or ever) is not free of
> trouble and most businesses have to rely on non-free software, but it
> makes sense to limit your exposure.

I think its more like most business rely on less-buggy software, free or not.

> -- 
> Ian Dall          I'm not into isms, but hedonism is the most
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