[oclug] Proprietary Caldera ?

[Dave]

On Sun, 21 Jan 2001,  burns wrote:
>    Dave Edwards wrote:
<snip>
>    > It's not very surprising:  Caldera's always been the least committed to
>    > Open Source/Free Software.  As for disturbing, as one of the response
>    > letters on the page notes, Caldera's a factor in the U.S. more than
>    > anywhere else.  However, given that they are aiming at the office and the
>    > desktop, and that they apparently have quite an edge in the ease-of-use
>    > department, it could be seen  as a *propietary wedge.*  In other words, it
>    > may be possible that new users will first meet, or drift to, Caldera, and
>    > that is what they will expect from this Linux thing.
>    
>    Geez Dave, that's neither charitable nor accurate.  
>    
>    First, you may be surprised at the extent to which they HAVE contributed
>    to the community. Below are two extracts from Caldera's white paper on
<snip>
Again, I'm not very surprised.  Maybe "committed" was the wrong word.  I
meant only that Caldera has few scruples re. bundling prop. software with
their distro.  That aside, Caldera *has* contributed a lot.

>    Second, Much of Caldera's hard core development work is done inGermany, 
>    where they have a large team of developers and an expanding
>    presence. 
>    They also are the ONLY Linux distro (other than Corel) to have 
>   established a full time office (i.e. with Caldera employees not 
>   franchisees) in Canada. They also are fairly popular in Australia. >   
<snip>
I was referring to the market power of RH and its derivatives.

<SNIP>
>    It should be noted that I have a certain bias toward Caldera and their
>    products. But if Caldera is way out of line I will also be the first to
>    say so, including to them. However, I also think that when we criticize,
>    it really should be done fairly and from a position of some knowledge -
>    otherwise it is too easy to dismiss.
 
With all due respect, I think perhaps your bias makes you a little
sensitive.  My remarks were only speculations ("may be possible," "could
be seen").  :)

I would sincerely like to know more about your bias, though.  [How] are you
involved with Caldera?

Cheers,
Dave.
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