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That's a great essay. I've since long forgotten where I first red the sharecropping metaphor for software development. But I recall successfully convincing my
by biohacker42 18y ago
That's a great essay.
I've since long forgotten where I first red the sharecropping metaphor for software development.
But I recall successfully convincing my manager that it was worth it to build on top of open source instead of proprietary platforms.
When you describe things in terms of business risk, managers understand.
- raganwald 18y agoThank you! I heard the expression "sharecropper" from Tim Bray: http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/12/WebsThePlace http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2003/07/12/WebsThePla... It came to mind again with all the posts about the app store.
- GavinB 18y agoWhat's supposed to stop open source OSes from including a copy of your commercial function in their next version? Isn't recreating commercial products for free of the point of open source? By your definition anyone who doesn't own the OS is a sharecropper. The real danger is in writing software that is easily recreated. In the end, all software is made obsolete by better (or better marketed/distributed) software. The only difference with the OS is that it's a little faster.