[Sussex] Linux is capitalism, Microsoft is communism?

[Steve Dobson]

Mark

On Wed, Oct 27, 2004 at 04:25:54PM +0100, Mark Harrison wrote:
> From: Steve Dobson
> > The Internet grew out of ARPANET, which was basicly funded by the US
> > Military which means the money came from government.  It is a
> > requirement of US government funded projects that the work is placed
> > in the public domain (unless security related).  I think that this
> > puts the Internet as a result of a type 2 system.
> 
> Not at all.
> 
> That's like saying that mobile phones are the result of a religious
> dictatorship, because at some time in the past there was an invention (the
> printing press) which happened during a religious government, and all
> current inventions "grew out" of that by way of some other intervening
> steps.
> 
> ARPANET was the result of the military.
> 
> The Internet as she exists in 2004 is the result of capitalism. The "massive
> growth phase" of the Internet happened after the US Government had given
> over control to the private sector, let alone after the military had given
> it over to the civilian sector.

I see your point but I think you take the argument to far the other way.
Afterall Microsoft is the choice of the market.  Other offering, CP/M and
OS/2 have fallen by the wayside.

I have seen the arguments, and I agree with them, that in the beginning
any company wants a free and open market so that it can compete with the
big boys.  When a company grows to be one of the big boys then its views
on an open market change.

Linux is different because there isn't one company behind it.  Whether
Linux can remain "pure" when it is the biggest kid on the block remains
to be seen.  But I want a market when I can expore that possibility, so
long as the majority of the rest of the market want to expore it with me
too.

Steve