It's not. I'm sure some people would leap for joy if, for example,
the Linux kernel had the GPL replaced with a free software license,
but I'd regret that a lot of industrial kernel development would
then vanish behind a wall of NDAs.
I don't particularly care to trash Microsoft[1]. I just want all the
PCs I interact with to run Unix, and I couldn't care less if they
are using politically correct software to get that way. Remember
that a lot of the NDA's out there are motivated by professional
insecurity ("this code is shit! I'm not going to let anyone else
see it!" -- a feeling I had for a decade for my vi-clone, which is
why nobody knows what levee is) and legal departments, who move very
slowly. If a company dumps an object-code-only device driver into
the Unix market, eventually they will realize that (a) their
competitors are releasing sources and gettting much good publicity
from it and (b) if some amateur programmer takes a fancy to
maintaining their driver, it's a lot easier to let her do it than to
pay the salary of some employee who can't be bothered to give a damn
about Someone Else's Code.
____
david parsons \bi/ [1: I'd be a really happy camper if they'd port
\/ their application base to Linux. Shoot, I'd
even downgrade to glibc if I had to!]
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