On 03-Jan-07, at 6:50 PM, പ്രവീണ്|Praveen wrote:
paid and no paid FOSS developers are still FOSS developers and the code is still FOSS. How MySQL becomes second class when all the developers are getting paid? It is a good thing that the FOSS developers get paid.
you have missed the point. mysql and co miss out on the one-off developer. a guy who may just make one patch. And also there is a limit to the amount one can pay. So when you only have paid developers, your developer base is bound to be small. This is not about whether it is good or not good that FOSS developers be paid. This is about the FOSS model of development against the proprietary model of development. What I am saying is that even if code is released under a FOSS license, that does not necessarily imply that that code is being developed along the foss model - small incremental changes, large developer base, promiscous acceptance of patches, a bias against over engineering and over centralisation and over planning. Incidently (if you need some ghee added to the flames) Linus's criticism of Hurd was that the development model it follows is not a FOSS model - and that is why it is doomed
I would venture that apache too has reached critical mass.
I agree
you agree? then could I venture to say that python, perl, postgresql have also reached critical mass?