4 ms·

Open-source should have speed up the evolution of new ideas and yet more often than not it's just keeping old proprietary software barely alive or duplicating i

Open-source should have speed up the evolution of new ideas and yet more often than not it's just keeping old proprietary software barely alive or duplicating it.

prmoustache 4y ago
You are talking as if open source was a single entity. This doesn't make any sense.
- Silverback_VII 4y ago
  Well, some say that proprietary code is limiting because it doesn't allow for modifications and yet it creates almost all the innovation.
  - prmoustache 4y ago
    You have to take into account that the open source software constitute a very small fraction the overall software both in term of quantity of products and in term of developpers involved. Also there is a lot of innovation in open source software, the thing is those are often not seen nor directed to end users. Because many open source projects are initially started by developers and not by product design and marketing teams, the most successful open source projects that make products that solve developers problems or meet their needs.
    - Silverback_VII 4y ago
      Taking blender as example of a successful open source project, with a strong incentive for developers to create a great tool, you still have the problem that proprietary software is probably better, otherwise major 3d studios would use blender.
      - anthk 4y ago
        - Apache - GCC/Clang - Nginx - Virt Manager - OpenBSD at firewalls - OpenSSH Should I go on?
      - prmoustache 4y ago
        What about OpenSubDiv by pixar? https://graphics.pixar.com/opensubdiv/overview.html https://graphics.pixar.com/opensubdiv/overview.html What are better proprietary alternatives to Kubernetes, Nomad, Docker, Podman? Aren't the most widely adopted web servers and frameworks open source? I am only naming a few areas.
        Silverback_VII 4y ago
        One could argue that since these projects are often developed by contributors who have proprietary software in mind, it is in fact proprietary code wich creates the collaborative open-source effort in the background.
        entropicdrifter 4y ago
        Money may make the motivation much of the time, but that doesn't mean that OSS isn't where much of the innovation happens. The same is true of games. Counter Strike started out as a free Half-Life mod. DOTA started as a Warcraft 3 mod. Both spawned entire subsections of e-sports that are still wildly popular today (tactical FPS arena and MOBA respectively).
      - nkozyra 4y ago
        Often big companies pay for proprietary stuff because you get support. Lots of smaller studios use Blender, it's pretty well stress tested by now.
      - SanderNL 4y ago
        Proprietary software is software that keeps the lights on for the people that work on it. Sun Tzu has figured out a while ago that it's a bad idea to back your enemies into a corner. Like it or not, fighting with your back against a wall makes you lethal. Now, I'm not saying open source is unable to match this. They can and have. I'm just saying that most proprietary software has that advantage naturally (in a capitalist society).
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    People say lots of things, but without metrics they are just making things up.
  - jrm4 4y ago
    Proprietary code appears to create all of the innovation because you have to market and sell it. I don't think you can meaningfully say "which creates more innovation" in either direction, though if pressed I'd say, "open source in the long run" -- e.g. Linux runs a much greater variety of things than Windows.
NoboruWataya 4y ago
In general, I don't think this is true at all and much of the most innovative, boundary-pushing software is open source. It might be more true for open source games specifically, due to the economics of creating games. But as someone who is a casual/nostalgic gamer at most, that's absolutely fine by me.

Open-source should have speed up the evolution of new ideas and yet more often than not it's just keeping old proprietary software barely alive or duplicating it.

prmoustache 4y ago

You are talking as if open source was a single entity. This doesn't make any sense.

Silverback_VII 4y ago
Well, some say that proprietary code is limiting because it doesn't allow for modifications and yet it creates almost all the innovation.
- prmoustache 4y ago
  You have to take into account that the open source software constitute a very small fraction the overall software both in term of quantity of products and in term of developpers involved. Also there is a lot of innovation in open source software, the thing is those are often not seen nor directed to end users. Because many open source projects are initially started by developers and not by product design and marketing teams, the most successful open source projects that make products that solve developers problems or meet their needs.
  - Silverback_VII 4y ago
    Taking blender as example of a successful open source project, with a strong incentive for developers to create a great tool, you still have the problem that proprietary software is probably better, otherwise major 3d studios would use blender.
    - anthk 4y ago
      - Apache - GCC/Clang - Nginx - Virt Manager - OpenBSD at firewalls - OpenSSH Should I go on?
    - prmoustache 4y ago
      What about OpenSubDiv by pixar? https://graphics.pixar.com/opensubdiv/overview.html https://graphics.pixar.com/opensubdiv/overview.html What are better proprietary alternatives to Kubernetes, Nomad, Docker, Podman? Aren't the most widely adopted web servers and frameworks open source? I am only naming a few areas.
      - Silverback_VII 4y ago
        One could argue that since these projects are often developed by contributors who have proprietary software in mind, it is in fact proprietary code wich creates the collaborative open-source effort in the background.
        entropicdrifter 4y ago
        Money may make the motivation much of the time, but that doesn't mean that OSS isn't where much of the innovation happens. The same is true of games. Counter Strike started out as a free Half-Life mod. DOTA started as a Warcraft 3 mod. Both spawned entire subsections of e-sports that are still wildly popular today (tactical FPS arena and MOBA respectively).
    - nkozyra 4y ago
      Often big companies pay for proprietary stuff because you get support. Lots of smaller studios use Blender, it's pretty well stress tested by now.
    - SanderNL 4y ago
      Proprietary software is software that keeps the lights on for the people that work on it. Sun Tzu has figured out a while ago that it's a bad idea to back your enemies into a corner. Like it or not, fighting with your back against a wall makes you lethal. Now, I'm not saying open source is unable to match this. They can and have. I'm just saying that most proprietary software has that advantage naturally (in a capitalist society).
- bee_rider 4y ago
  People say lots of things, but without metrics they are just making things up.
- jrm4 4y ago
  Proprietary code appears to create all of the innovation because you have to market and sell it. I don't think you can meaningfully say "which creates more innovation" in either direction, though if pressed I'd say, "open source in the long run" -- e.g. Linux runs a much greater variety of things than Windows.

NoboruWataya 4y ago

In general, I don't think this is true at all and much of the most innovative, boundary-pushing software is open source. It might be more true for open source games specifically, due to the economics of creating games. But as someone who is a casual/nostalgic gamer at most, that's absolutely fine by me.