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Free speech vs. free beer. Sun Microsystems embraces the business model
of the fastest growing computer technology - Linux. It opens everything:
Java, Jini, Solaris, Sparc and PicoJava. With only very small
exception: you may not redistribute Sun technologies without passing
compatibility tests and paying royalty. That is what is called freedom
in Linux world. The early but strong sound that Linux should fire back
was made few weeks ago by Stallman.
Maybe most of us don't want to shed blood in the crusade for the freedom,
but it seems that this small article defines most of what will happens
in industry the next decade. In history pragmatism always wins over
ideology, but we still don't know which approach is more pragmatic.
We can't predict how Linux and Sun will
divide the market but it is certain that anyone who can't open the
source code will be out of business very soon.
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