On 10/29/07, Manoj Srivastava srivasta@debian.org wrote:
In free software, what is in it for the authors? For a largesegment, getting the credit, and the recognition that follows, is _it_. Eben Moglen commented on this to some extent in the recent Theo/BSD/LKML scrap about credits for driver code.
Yes, I understand that since I too would be pissed if someone doesn't give me credit for my work. But it's very strange that businesses are willing to give credit to projects like Linux, Eclipse, Firefox, OOo, etc. but always somehow keep GNU at an arms length.
I guess one of the key factors is that GNU has mostly contributed to the base system (shell, tools, compiler, etc.), which can easily go unnoticed for these business users -- only geeks are in a position to acknowledge that. Other GNU software like Gnome and various related software (gtk, Evolution, Gimp, etc) have their unique branding and hence it doesn't matter whether businesses speak up for them. Even there though, GNU or FSF don't get so much as a mention.
Eclipse, OOo, Firefox, etc on the other hand have corporate backing, so it's natural that businesses take every chance to bask in their glory.