On Tue, 28 May 2002 14:29:43 +0200 (CEST), Joerg Schilling said:
- They are Open Source -> Yes
A lot of companies claim to be Open Source; the question is whether they are a Free Software company. Although they develop FS I don't think that they are. However, they contribute a lot of work to Free Software and the GNU project in particular.
- The software they create benefits from OSS/FS development paradigms -> NO
I don't know this paradigma. I am pretty sure that I don't need to reiterate on this list what makes up free software. The development model is definitive not a criterium for that.
If RH insists in not integrating other OSS/FS parts, they are definitely not a OSS/FS company but only just another company that makes Source available.
It is an undeniable fact that Cygnus used to be the first FS company but they did not participate in the "Bazaar" model. A FS developer is free to decide what other code he is willing to integrate in the software he distributes. There are a lot of reasons not to include random code by contributors. The most important one is to keep the license legally enforceable. This requires legal paper exchange with the contributor and possible with his employer. When this is not possible it is often easier to have the emploees write it from scratch.
I don't like this situation but this is what the current copyright legislation requires us to do.
Salam-Shalom,
Werner