Like probably a lot of people on this BBS, I'm at 'that certain age' that means I got into computers back in the early '80s, with 8-bit machines. Back then there was a fairly extensive market of public domain software (shareware hadn't been heard of as far as I can remember) and magazines published listings of programs you could easily type in and learn from. The internet wasn't quite so accessible from home, but there were dozens of BBS's where you could discover and share information with other people... Essentially, it was 'only' a hobby, and people enjoyed sharing their hobby with others.

In my case, the 8-bit computers I used most were the Ataris (400 & 130XE) Atari were probably one of the few computer manufacturers around at the time who made the source code of their OS available... I learned a lot from reading over that 6502 assembly listing over the years, along with the detailed technical reference notes.

Then I got an IBM-compatible... everything was suddenly closed off, to write your own programs meant handing over hundreds of pounds for compilers... it was no longer a hobby, the pc was a black box that did some amazing things, but I no longer had the faintest inkling how...

Where am I going with this message? Well, the Open Source/Free Software thing (in my view) restored the hobbyist aspect for me... I could download 'free' compilers (cost a bloody fortune in phone bills, but that was part of the fun ) and see actual source code again; the internet took off in the home, and all was well with the world.... well, I thought it was....

Anyway, to get back on thread...

Much is made in the Open Source community about Microsoft and their tactic of spreading Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt among end users to try to destroy, or at the very least marginalise, Linux, GNU and the Open Source concept. This thread over the past few days has made me realise that by some cruel twist, the Open Source movement, by threatening legal action over GPL infringements, are doing nothing more than spreading the same Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt... not among end-users, but among the very developers who are needed to make Open Source work!

I know for sure that I would now think more than twice before distributing code under the GPL. I had always thought that the GPL was a way to ensure that the source would always be freely available to those who wanted it, and I suppose it does, but to me it looks like a whole lot more trouble than it's worth right now.

Sorry for the rambling post, but I'm feeling very sad, in a way I haven't felt since I boxed up my Ataris all those years ago and booted up my shiny new 486, only to wonder how I was going to program the damn thing...

Geoff
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Reg No. 554, s/n 00064 - It's mine I tell you.... all mine :)