Friday, February 16, 2007

Has open-source lost its halo?

Timely Computerworld reality check. 

Is open-source still a grassroots social movement made up of idealistic underdogs trying to revolutionize an amoral industry? Or has it become a cloak used by IT vendors large and small to disguise ruthless and self-serving behavior?

Some observers argue it’s the latter. Despite occasional protests from oldtimers -- the heated backlash against the Microsoft-Novell détente, for example -- open-source has become so co-opted by mainstream IT, so transformed by "accidental open-sourcers" simply looking for a better business model, that it’s lost its cherished moral edge.

Source: Has open-source lost its halo?

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