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Why should they open source everything? I never see anyone complaining how Apple doesn't open source Safari or XCode. I mean there are plenty other totally open

Why should they open source everything? I never see anyone complaining how Apple doesn't open source Safari or XCode. I mean there are plenty other totally open source editors out there to choose from.

alexfromapex 6y ago
Maybe not Safari, but they have open sourced WebKit and a lot of kernel modules and other useful things: https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25675763 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25675763
- immigrantsheep 6y ago
  And Microsoft has open sourced at lot as well. So? Why should any of them open source everything?
- turbinerneiter 6y ago
  Saying Apple open sourced WebKit is a pretty funny way of seeing things.
  - jsjohnst 6y ago
    Exactly, it was open source before Apple came along. Guess GP didn’t realize that WebKit is a fork of KHTML from KDE which was LGPL licensed (if memory serves).
  - Wowfunhappy 6y ago
    They've been pretty good stewards though, for a long time. I don't know how much of it is lip-service, but webkit.org talks about using webkit on non-Apple platforms, and webkit-gtk gets discussed on their mailing list. It feels to me like a truly collaborative open-source project, in a way that's unlike most of what Apple does. Again, I don't know how much of this is an aberration, but I've always been impressed with the whole thing.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  WebKit was forked from the LGPL KHTML. Unless Apple wanted to get sued and lose, they needed to release WebKit under the terms of the original code.
saagarjha 6y ago
You can’t push something as a standard, claim that the fact that it is standardized allows for interoperability, benefit from the work other people do to conform to your standard, then prevent your own work from being used by others like you claimed would be possible. Apple sidesteps this issue by rarely promoting standards in the first place.
- immigrantsheep 6y ago
  How is that the standard? You can write you python code in PyCharm with their own set of tools or use vim or emacs with other open source python servers.
- wiz21c 6y ago
  Microsoft has total right to pursue that goal. We should better help others so that they don't fall in the trap...
ptx 6y ago
Why? Because they're the new Microsoft that completely embraces open source, we have been told, and it was seen as paranoid and ridiculous to suggest that they were merely the old Microsoft with a new trick.
- immigrantsheep 6y ago
  Who told you that? Nobody said they would open source everything. There were never plans to open source Visual Studio or Office or Windows. And why should they? Did they sign a contract in blood?
  - amrrs 6y ago
    There's a way to respond to comments. And this definitely isn't the right way. You might want to read HN guidelines.
deleted 6y ago
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alexfromapex 6y ago

Maybe not Safari, but they have open sourced WebKit and a lot of kernel modules and other useful things: https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ https://developer.apple.com/opensource/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25675763 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25675763

immigrantsheep 6y ago
And Microsoft has open sourced at lot as well. So? Why should any of them open source everything?
turbinerneiter 6y ago
Saying Apple open sourced WebKit is a pretty funny way of seeing things.
- jsjohnst 6y ago
  Exactly, it was open source before Apple came along. Guess GP didn’t realize that WebKit is a fork of KHTML from KDE which was LGPL licensed (if memory serves).
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago
  They've been pretty good stewards though, for a long time. I don't know how much of it is lip-service, but webkit.org talks about using webkit on non-Apple platforms, and webkit-gtk gets discussed on their mailing list. It feels to me like a truly collaborative open-source project, in a way that's unlike most of what Apple does. Again, I don't know how much of this is an aberration, but I've always been impressed with the whole thing.
heavyset_go 6y ago
WebKit was forked from the LGPL KHTML. Unless Apple wanted to get sued and lose, they needed to release WebKit under the terms of the original code.

saagarjha 6y ago

You can’t push something as a standard, claim that the fact that it is standardized allows for interoperability, benefit from the work other people do to conform to your standard, then prevent your own work from being used by others like you claimed would be possible. Apple sidesteps this issue by rarely promoting standards in the first place.

immigrantsheep 6y ago
How is that the standard? You can write you python code in PyCharm with their own set of tools or use vim or emacs with other open source python servers.
wiz21c 6y ago
Microsoft has total right to pursue that goal. We should better help others so that they don't fall in the trap...

ptx 6y ago

Why? Because they're the new Microsoft that completely embraces open source, we have been told, and it was seen as paranoid and ridiculous to suggest that they were merely the old Microsoft with a new trick.

immigrantsheep 6y ago
Who told you that? Nobody said they would open source everything. There were never plans to open source Visual Studio or Office or Windows. And why should they? Did they sign a contract in blood?
- amrrs 6y ago
  There's a way to respond to comments. And this definitely isn't the right way. You might want to read HN guidelines.

deleted 6y ago

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