[TriLUG] Novell jumps into Linux

[Magnus]

On Wednesday, June 25, 2003, at 11:29 AM, Roy Vestal wrote:

> Most of the OSS world is volunteer. I agree this disconnect is there, 
> but
> how do we circumvent it? I know there are a lot of projects on 
> sourceforge,
> freshmeat, and /., but for those of us that are not programmers, what 
> can we
> do to help?

I don't have a good suggestion here, as I don't have much faith in 
*most* people to put the common good somewhere in their priorities.

> Why not make it part of the agreement that the "generic" code/scripts 
> used
> will be property of the author (consultant), but the use and 
> proprietary
> information is property of the client and cannot leave there facility 
> as you
> have stated?

I've tried something like this in the past. In my experience, lawyers 
are a big part of the problem here.  Most lawyers are not computer 
savvy at all, and recoil at the idea of sharing anything that a 
contractor has developed.  Their own greed is short sighted, as it 
ultimately leads to higher costs for their clients.

I've been able to get some things changed in contracts, but it usually 
relates to payment terms, termination clauses, etc.  Intellectual 
property rights are a tougher nut to crack.

> I'm not a consultant by any means, but from what I've heard from the 
> guys
> I've spoken to, their clients seem eager to have OSS solutions and it 
> would
> appear to me they would like to help in providing the solution. Dunno, 
> just
> trying to think outside the box I'm not in (consulting).

Eager not because it is open source, but because it is a free license 
so the solution can scale without additional licensing costs.  Tracking 
your licensing obligations in a Microsoft shop can just about be a full 
time job, so legitimate businesspeople are relieved to have an option 
that removes this burden of software auditing from their shoulders.

I've not gotten the slightest indication in most cases that the Open 
Source aspects of Free Software are in any way a motivating factor.  I 
mean after all, what is an accountant going to do with the source code 
to the Linux kernel?  A doctor?  A real estate agency?  They could care 
less about the source.

--

C. Magnus Hedemark
"From the Fury of the Norsemen please Deliver us, Oh Lord"
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