Cliches

Cliches

Posted Sep 7, 2004 19:05 UTC (Tue) by maney (subscriber, #12630)
Parent article: Co-Op Puts A New Twist On Open Source (Information Week)

The first cliche this made me think of was the old saw about those who don't understand Unix, and must therefore recreate it - badly.

Follow the money had a brief moment in the sun, but it quickly became apparent that the lion's share is going to the lawyers, and it dropped by the wayside.

By the time I reached the end of the article, it seemed likely my first impression was right after all: ... the cooperative is trying to gain the collaborative advantages of open-source development without discarding the structure of proprietary project. Open-source development projects can have completion dates continually slip, he says. ... "if four CIOs say, 'This needs to get done,' it will get done."

Of course, if four CIOs say that about a real open source project (that they're contributing to - gotta ante up if you want to be able to call), they can get much the same results. Heck, anyone can, if they're willing to do the work. This way they just get less potential contributors, and a big annual legal fee besides. Maybe they can more easily expense the latter...

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