[Wolves] FOSS, who's it for? Us or them?

[Peter Evans]

On Tuesday 16 September 2008 11:46:42 Kevanf1 wrote:
> Linux has free
> access to tis code and the way it all works.  Microsoft does not so
> surely it has to be harder task?  Or am I missing something?  I stand
> (well, I'm sitting actually) to be enlightened.

twopenneth...

A lecturer of mine from last year was looking into the IPSec implementations 
in various OS.

His comment on looking at two flavours of code - Linux was generally a mess, 
uncommented, undisciplined and very difficult to follow.

Open Solaris just after it was released by Sun.  Well laid out, commentled 
well and documented 'properly'.

From a programmers point of view - if the API's are well documented you don't 
*have to* know what's going on beneath the surface.  Getting access to what's 
beneath the covers becomes important if the API doesn't work.

Just because the source code's available doesn't actually make it easier to 
work with.
-- 
Regards,

Pete Evans