Re: [xml-dev] the web client interface was RE: [xml-dev] Two link questions

[John Cowan <cowan@mercury.ccil.org>]

Len Bullard scripsit:

> 1.  Uncertain business models.  The lack of indemnification 
> is a showstopper.  They better work that out pronto if 
> they want to compete for big accounts.

True.

> 2.  Lack of IP. This makes it hard to stay competitive 
> unless they innovate and obtain IP.   I don't mean the 
> competition to get market share, but the competition 
> to keep cash flow given costs.  I think the SCO 
> episode is at least indicative of the problem.  They 
> do need multiprocessor capabilities in Linux.   

Linux *has* multiprocessor capabilities: 4 processors in 2.4, as
many as you want (within reason) in 2.5-2.6.  (The difference
is that the new scheduler schedules tasks in O(1) instead of O(n).)
The claim that these capabilities are derived from SCO code is
nothing but a lie: calling it FUD would be too polite.

> If the open source community owned common IP, they 
> could make good deals and maintain cash flow positions. 
> Otherwise, the low cost position evaporates in the 
> face of licensing costs.  Indemnification costs 
> exacerbate that.  Now can they acquire tradable 
> IP and still meet the "exquisitely high standards" 
> of the W3C patent policy?

They can't.  The positions "What I have I keep" and "What I
have I share" aren't compatible.  The only way to make it
work would be to acquire *irrelevant* IP, things that were
not needed for open-source implementation, and use that as
leverage.

> As to the operating system itself, at home I 
> choose a platform for which a host of reliable 
> sound processing utilities are available.  So 
> it gets pretty specific when one starts to consider 
> the desktop apps.  If I could afford it, I might 
> switch to an all Apple solution, but then when 
> I have to go home and do FoxPro work, I'm back 
> to Windows.

Here's the WineHQ status report on FoxPro.  Summary: it basically works.
http://appdb.winehq.com/appview.php?appId=296;PHPSESSID=c6754c61eacca78ae628ce6b7826da20

> Good enough is good enough until it isn't.  I don't bet 
> against open source.  I'm counting on it.  But they better 
> get a lot smarter about what is required to do business 
> in environments that require guarantees, warranties, etc. 

The warranty becomes what you sell, yes.  The ketchup analogy works
well here:  there is no IP in ketchup recipes, but most people buy
rather than making their own.

-- 
All Gaul is divided into three parts: the part          John Cowan
that cooks with lard and goose fat, the part            www.ccil.org/~cowan
that cooks with olive oil, and the part that            www.reutershealth.com
cooks with butter. -- David Chessler                    jcowan@reutershealth.com