Kristian Kristensen’s Blog

In a few hours time I’m going to be on my way to Copenhagen, where me and the rest of SW6 will fly to Paris and therefrom to San Francisco for our Study Trip. You can follow our adventures at our blog.

I’ll be back on the 29th of March.

‘Till then, take care

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Martin comments on my post about Free Software, and during this puts forth a statement often heard when advocating Free Software / Open Source (or whatever you call it):

Because you have the source code you are more free because you can change the software even if the original maintainer drops it.
[My words]

That is all very well, and true, but it strikes me as more of a philosophical argument than an actual real world argument. Sure having the source code makes it easier to change and further develop it, that’s a no brainer, but for who is this beneficial? If I’ve a small piece of software, that is easy to understand and comprehend, then maybe I could use the source code for something. But if it’s a package of substantial software that gets dropped what then?

Of course this problem is equally existing in commercial closed source software, if the vendor drops support you’re lost, but to say that because you have the source code you have an edge, is a bit of a stretch I believe. Plus, what I tried to articulate in my first post (which probably didn’t succeed), was that when you buy it (which you tend to do with closed source software) there is a another set of responsibilites involved, such as product responsibility. Things that are legally binding, which you don’t get if you download some set of source code for free from some random site.
Alas, it is a difficult discussion, because each side (closed source vs. open source) has examples that contradict each other. IBM may develop software that is open source, but still charge for it, and thereby giving the customer the legal benefits. Software may be developed closed source, charged for money, and still support for it get dropped.

So in the end you’re probably screwed whatever you choose. I just think that the argument that you’ve got the source code, and therefore you are free is more of a philosophical point.

Nota bene: I use Free Software / Open Source on a day to day basis, and enjoy it. I hope that it will continue to prosper and am sure that it will be a counter weight to the rest of the software industry. However, I do believe it’s necessary to debate what the advantages and disadvantages of it are, especially for business’es (which is my main focus). All the hype and believin’ isn’t worth alot, if it it doesn’t hold in the real world.

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I was getting increasingly irritated over the fact that my installation of WordPress didn’t provide enough hints for my News Aggregator to pick up the comments automatically. So I’ve found and applied this patch. Hopefully this will increase the user experience!

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You’ve gotta love this

[Via ComputerZen.com - Scott Hanselman's Weblog]

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Given my latest remarks (here and here), the following summary by TheServerSide hits it on the spot.

FireFox may be in danger of "rotting from the inside out" according to industry experts including one of the developers on the FireFox review team. Lack of attention by developers and money from supporters may end the meteoric rise of the browser where it is today.

[Via TheServerSide.NET: Your Enterprise .NET Community]

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Paul Grahams newest article is online: How to Start a Startup.

Sound advice, and raises some interesting questions to think about.

The following quote appears in the article (my emphasis), and I just thought it to be funny given my daily work at a CS department at University

For programmers we had three additional tests. Was the person genuinely smart? If so, could they actually get things done? And finally, since a few good hackers have unbearable personalities, could we stand to have them around?

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This correlates along the lines of what I wrote yesterday, and the following discussions I had with my Software Engineerings peers

So, I think the OSNews editorial is misplaced. The difference between OSS and what we [Microsoft, ed.] do isn’t in the extent to which we listen to what customers have to say. Rather, the really significant difference is the effort we put into understanding users’ high-level problems. That’s a very costly, and time-consuming effort. It’s not a job that hobbyist programmers, no matter how dedicated, can reasonably hope to accomplish.

[Via Weblogs @ ASP.NET]

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On Saturday I’m leaving for a Study Trip with my fellow students at AAU 6th semester software engineers. We’re going to San Francisco.
You can follow our adventures at the SW6 Study Trip Blog. We hope to update it frequently during our stay.

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Via a friend I got this link, and boy is that funny! Terrible Terry Tate – Office Linebacker!

Videos of Terrible Terry Tate

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A popular argument for Free Software is that, because the developer develops the software for his own good, he has an inherent interest in keeping the quality of the software at a high. Therefore the quality of Free Software is high. Along the quality lines it is also advocated that Free Software is better tested, because a diverse set of users has run or runs the software.

That’s all very good, but if I’m a business relying on a specific piece of software to drive my business, and this piece of software that happens to be Free, how can and will I be sure that my business will be able to survive should the software maintainer choose to drop the development?
Sure, I’ve got the source code, and can continue development myself, but what if I don’t want to, or can’t (eg. I run a hairdressing salon, and now nothing of software development). I could employ some clever geek or a Free Software company and have them maintain and secure my software requirements, but somehow it all seems a bit backwards.

I’m not saying that because of the above, all software in use should be proprietary, and because it is so the above mentioned problem doens’t exist. But the product responsibility is different in a commercial situation.

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