Non-idealists plaything: how far open-source software from us?
Non-idealists plaything: how far open-source software from us?
Source: PConline
Editor: zzh
[04-7-20 1113] Author: Pacific News Center millet
Editor's note: From the User Forum in peacetime message, we can see that the open-source software have a misconception that it is one of the few software "communists" objects, too distant from our daily lives, in fact, live on the open-source software you my side, but we are not aware of it, the following article for the open-source software should be able to name.
It provides 70 per cent of the global network servers provide the impetus for the world countless e-mail transmission streaming, it becomes easy to surf the net, is Google's search engine and countless e-commerce site behind the hero.
It is open-source software, and those who are not from a particular private enterprises, but by the development of joint efforts of numerous volunteers a wide range of procedures, and these procedures are often volunteers from the beginning is a common interest or a mail forum.
By now, this has been put on the "dreamer, scholars and people who have special interest in a by-product of" software has become the Internet's economic base. It allows those who are already well-established enterprises to re-examine its business model, driving the industry giants such as Microsoft continue to progress.
The most well-known open-source software Linux operating system has been taken away from Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Sun's Unix operating system monopoly by a large part of the server business, it now to desktop systems as one of the candidates there. Another open-source operating system FreeBSD constitute Apple Computer's Mac OS X the backbone.
Instant less well known have an impact on the same project. Apache project created the world's leading Web server, and Sendmail invented e-mail standards and remains popular today. Immediately from the network address is converted into common vocabulary figures this basic work is mainly by the open-source projects at Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) commitments.
All these are Fengxin a simple philosophy: To authorize the use of free users and software blueprint, anyone can freely modify. Although sometimes have to rely on or authorized, but any improvements must be provided free of charge.
An idealist's dream
"Our belief is that if you really generous to authorize released, it will be the largest audience," Apache's founder Brian Behlendorf said. "If you do so, you will naturally get the most return."
"Some people call it idealism," he said, "It is indeed a very idealistic, but we really Hangdetong."
And Linux, and other large projects, the Apache originated in the academic community. 1995 come out of the Apache is that the original intention of the birth of a company may also control network server and browser, but the company that is not Microsoft but Netscape. Behlendorf and a total of eight other members of the University of Illinois to provide network server software source code and all patches setting up this project.
Partly as a result of its low-cost, enterprises who do not think I need to develop competing software. Some companies, like IBM and choice in this patent on the development of additional software in order to achieve some Internet applications, and other enterprises, as companies like Apple simply Apache products will be included in their software. 1999, Apache's success to set up a non-profit developer of the Apache Software Foundation to support all 20 core server software for the added function of the development of the project.
"We still do not have full-time employees, but we have a framework for cooperation to help us answer any questions that may be raised by an enterprise of any problems," Behlendorf said.
Legal issues
The public nature of open source may be difficult to bring them legal issues, particularly as a company's claim to the patent code into the project in time. Because developers will not usually provide a guarantee, end-users may have to bear because of tortious liability.
Linux and the issues between SCO Group is such a case. SCO claims its Unix source in the unauthorized circumstances be integrated into the user and made a variety of litigation, and the Linux supporters believes that this is completely unfounded.
In this regard, various other open-source projects take different roads. Internet growth has occurred in the early establishment of a company Sendmail Sendmail Inc.. Its commercial products built on open source projects above, in order to provide additional features business users based, including legal protection, and it already has 40% of the e-mail server market. Sendmail Inc.'s Chairman and founder Greg Olson that the item described as more open than other projects - the policy is to allow users to experiment and test, especially for the building to stop the surging tide of spam, the new Post standards. In fact, Sendmail is and Microsoft, Yahoo and other traditional enterprises test their anti-spam projects.
"Frankly, we are not holding to the world and change it to open-source political task," said Greg Olson. "We feel it will be useful, this is probably the best way to promote innovation and the development of new standards good way."
Players enterprises
Revenue equally attracted the attention of traditional technology companies. IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun Microsystems, have recently been started hung the banner of open-source supporters. The computer or the Internet and those of the early stage of the project different is that these companies have players with the ultimate aim. "They are saying," open-source "to sell air of the other" dog ", the research firm Meta Group analyst Corey Ferengul said." Show spot. Enterprises will not in the public interest revenue own technology, they raise revenue is to sell other technology. "
But the emergence of open-source software in use and Tim O'Reilly (of the well-known technology writer), the software industry appears to have a fundamental change in the logo, software has been the computer as the 1980s, as the very commercialization, such as Microsoft and Intel corporate profits through the use of open platform, have been looking for business to survive in the open-source approach.
First of all emerging enterprises benefit
Meanwhile, many traditional software enterprises and even some open-source developers have failed to fully adapt to the tremendous changes. The result is that some of the emerging enterprises that response is not quick enough to peer behind the left, and IBM in the PC revolution boomers lose their sluggish response to the same opportunity.
In a speech in the industry, O'Reilly put forward a simple question: How many people in the hall to use Linux system? Only 10 percent of the people raised their hands and then he asked how many people use Google? Almost all raised their hands. Ultimately, he pointed out that the popular search engine is using Linux to support its 100,000 computers, Google's search algorithm is based on the Linux.
"People used to display the computer screen before things," he says. "This is a fundamental change, but the software industry has failed to fully adapt to this change."
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