After you tip your hand... [LWN.net]

After you tip your hand...

Posted Nov 21, 2003 20:25 UTC (Fri) by XERC (guest, #14626)
In reply to: After you tip your hand... by lacostej
Parent article: Thomas Bushnell is no longer Hurd maintainer

An example from real life: in my stepfather's office, windows is used on workstations, but linux is used as a gateway and a file server. Both, the workstations and the linux server are maintained by a local IT company, which sends a monthly bill, which consists of the following:

* a fixed sum for routine maintainence,

* additional fee for overhours and new hardware.

Now that's an exact example, how Linux is maintained, but one of the differences between Linux and Windows is, that in case of Linux, the maintainer is relly able to fix the problem by modifying the code, but in case of proprietary, closed, software, by itself the maintainer can only try to cure the symptoms, not the cause. Think of any virus as a security hole. Now, shouldn't security holes BE FIXED AND REMOVED instead of using a symptoms preventers, such as "antivirus software"???

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