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The vast majority of Linux binaries out there were built by someone other than the original author of the product (usually the distro). I haven't seen much evid
by cbsmith 14y ago
The vast majority of Linux binaries out there were built by someone other than the original author of the product (usually the distro). I haven't seen much evidence that this causes a split in the community. Usually to have a split someone has to futz with the source.
I'm not sure it is really different on Windows or Mac either. I'm pretty sure most open source software binaries found in the wild were not built by the individual project's authors.
- mnutt 14y agoLimewire was this way to some degree. The source was free if you were willing to check it out from CVS, or you could download a binary from Limewire.com which strongly encouraged you to pay for "Pro". This produced tons of scam sites that at best just compiled the binary themselves then took people's money, and at worst just bundled malware. It also produced Frostwire, which I think was a net positive, but was really just a re-branding. Limewire's open source community never materialized, and they got the worst of both worlds.