Subj : Re: GNU Public Licences Revisited (again)
To   : comp.programming
From : Willem
Date : Sun Sep 25 2005 12:15 pm

Joe wrote:
) If you get software from a closed source vendor that becomes problematic,
) you probably still have the option of moving to another system.  There are
) likely to be very few systems where a transfer of data is impossible.  If,
) instead, you are using an open source system that becomes a major problem,
) you are now reliant on the 'community' still being around and giving your
) problem a high priority on the fix list.  If the project is dormant, you've
) now got the problem of finding a developer that can fix the problem (at a
) cost - that's one of the OSS 'community' dogmas, remember) - perhaps the
) company with the problem don't have the source to the version they are
) using, perhaps they've already had some mods made that are now lost, not
) spec'd out and would need to be re-implemented if the baseline source could
) even be located via some Internet archive.

Why would you 'still have the option of moving to another system' in closed
source software, but not in open source software ?

And what if you have closed source, and do not have that option ?


SaSW, Willem
-- 
Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for any of the statements
            made in the above text. For all I know I might be
            drugged or something..
            No I'm not paranoid. You all think I'm paranoid, don't you !
#EOT

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