
IBM: Open Source's Friend? Not So Much Now - dreemteem
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2891&blogid=14
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nailer
> "One is that IBM is either a friend of open source, or it's simply an
> opportunist, supporting some projects when it suits, and attacking others
> when it doesn't."

Business exists to sieze opportunities. IBM is a friend to Open Source (eg,
employing Linux kernel and Samba developers) when it helps sell mainframes and
Power chips, but doesn't like emulators of it's proprietary mainframe
firmwares. This sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

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adamc
i.e., IBM is a hypocritical organization and is entirely driven by sales.

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nailer
If by 'hypocritical organization' you mean business, and by 'sales' you mean
revenue, then yes.

This isn't really limited to business either. I have a couple of OSS projects
I maintain. I also have some proprietary bits and pieces. If I thought someone
was ripping off my proprietary bits, I'd try and fight back too, regardless of
their license.

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nl
I suspect that the nastygram came from IBM's mainframe business unit, not one
of the units which typically deals with Open Source.

TurboHercules should GPL their product & see what IBM does then...

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brazzy
Very good point. IBM is a _huge_ company. Thinking of it as a monolithic
entity whose actions are all coordinated according to a master plan is
tempting, but unrealistic.

