Subject: Open Source for the Mainstream

From: Bob Allisat <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 03:43:02 -0500

Keith Dawson <[email-masked]> writes at
<http://tbtf.com/archive/1999-02-15.html>:
+
+ ..Open Source gets mainstream boosts
+
+ Gartner Group and Scientific American take Open Source seriously
+
+ The Gartner Group advises [12] IT professionals in mid-sized enter-
+ prises how to go about adopting and evaluating Linux in their org-
+ anizations. The advise strikes me as sensible and conservative --
+ Gartner says that only adventurous early adopters should be relying
+ on Linux at this point. Linux community commentary on Slashdot [13]
+ is mixed; some firebrands think Gartner just doesn't get it, while
+ cooler heads appreciate the implied mainstream endorsement for the
+ Open Source OS.
+
+ Meanwhile, this month's Scientific American brings still broader
+ recognition to the Open Source movement in its Cyber View column
+ [14]. Paul Wallich covers ground familiar to readers of TBTF and
+ concludes with a novel speculation:
+
+   > An open-software revolution could lead to yet another divide
+   > between haves and have-nots: those with the skills and con-
+   > nections to make use of free software, and those who must
+   > pay high prices for increasingly dated commercial offerings.
+
+ [12] http://advisor.gartner.com/n_inbox/hotcontent/hc_2121999_1.html
+ [13] http://slashdot.org/articles/99/02/12/1540208.shtml
+ [14] http://www.sciam.com/1999/0399issue/0399cyber.html

 Very litte effort has been extended benifiting
 average citizens in terms of the development of
 free, easy to use non-proprietary Operating Systems
 or software to allow average people to run their
 own Internet enabled servers and services. Most of
 the emphasis has been upon increasing our dependance
 as normal people upon what is in effect a layer
 of commercially motivated technocrats in the form
 of Computer System Administrators and their staff.
 Hardly noble or noteworthy goals unless you happen
 to be profiting from this unfair power structure.

 Reversing this ponderously unbalanced situation must
 be the goal of everyone including organizations such
 as the IETF. By refocusing energies towards the
 development of popular network control strategies
 and by evolving new instruments and technologies we
 can truely  liberate all citizens from their dependance
 upon central, controlling and censoring structures
 for their information, education and communications.
 And, yes, I include ISP's, Sys-Admins and similarly
 benevolent institutions in the definition. And, yes
 again, we have no real need for them or their often
 not very subtle interferances and involvements. We
 are fully capable of acting in our own interests as
 citizens given the appropriate tools and capabilities.

 Bob Allisat

 Free Community Network _ [email-masked]
 http://fcn.net _ http://fcn.net/allisat
 http://fcn.net/robin