Re: [SLE] Closed Source on Linux?

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To: "Steven T. Hatton" <hattons@globalsymmetry.com>, suse-linux-e@suse.com
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 2005 19:33:41 +0000

Another reason that closed source products aren't more readily available for Linux. Deals with closed source os companies, who don't want those products competing, with them on stable platforms!
Then their is the costs of porting, and keeping development up with Linux's average 6 month cycle. Microsoft may be slow at development, but dependably so.
A reson I like open source is, if I like program xyz, I use it. If it becomes abandonware, I have the right to update it myself, and distribute it. (try that with closed source) I also can decide to learn programing and study and play with my programs. If I come up with something doing that, I don't have to worry about being sues by the company that makes the program.
That said, there are some closed source programs that I like due to better documentation (how to's), easy to use interface, familarity, and even legality. There is a closed source dvd player, that TurboLinux has licensed, and Suse released it on an HP (laptop I think) a couple of years back. I would spend $30 to have a legal dvd player on my distro of choice, but they won't sell it in this country to us individuals.

> I have a license for a very expensive program which I have been updating for
> over ten years. That program is Mathematica. As soon as I discovered that
> it was available for Linux, I switched my license from Windows to Linux.
> Companies such as Adobe have toyed with the idea of providing their products
> for Linux, but backed off. Part of the reason vendors shy away from
> supporting Linux versions of they products seems to be a hostility on the
> part of the FOSS community toward closed source products.
>
> Personally, I don't mind paying Wolfram Research to produce a powerful
> product, and feed a handful of talented Mathematicians. The value WRI
> returns to the world is far in excess of the money paid for their products.
>
> http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
> http://functions.wolfram.com/
> http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/
> http://www.mathmlcentral.com/
>
> And this site was maintained for years by the person who manages/moderates the
> Mathematica mailinglist and newsgroup.
>
> http://sunfreeware.com/
>
> To this day, I still go to http://smc.vnet.net to find the address.
>
> What do others think about the place of closed source, proprietary software
> running on Linux?
>
> Steven
>
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• Previous message: Allen: "Re: [SLE] secondary distro's"
• Maybe in reply to: Steven T. Hatton: "[SLE] Closed Source on Linux?"
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