Personally I don't worry about that. What I worry about is the safety of my data. When the day comes when I can't use a desktop client to download email from GMail, or when I won't be able to open a .doc file without M. Office, then I'll be worried.
> If it's not, everyone is at the mercy of one company.
I don't know about that. I've heard it from Stallman's talks but it's too dramatic for my taste. What people should be worrying about is open specs to protocols and file formats.
The best example of a software monopoly is Windows, and if Windows was the only operating system available, then we'd surely be at the mercy of one company.
But that's not the case and while some people can point to the GPL as the catalyst, that's not necessarily the case. It might be the technology's fast pace or the academia which has always favored collaboration, not to mention that the open source model of development is in many ways just better.
I don't think software is the domain in which monopolies can be established indefinitely.
> What I worry about is the safety of my data. When the day comes when I can't use a desktop client to download email from GMail, or when I won't be able to open a .doc file without M. Office, then I'll be worried.
Personally I don't worry about that. What I worry about is the safety of my data. When the day comes when I can't use a desktop client to download email from GMail, or when I won't be able to open a .doc file without M. Office, then I'll be worried.
> If it's not, everyone is at the mercy of one company.
I don't know about that. I've heard it from Stallman's talks but it's too dramatic for my taste. What people should be worrying about is open specs to protocols and file formats.
The best example of a software monopoly is Windows, and if Windows was the only operating system available, then we'd surely be at the mercy of one company.
But that's not the case and while some people can point to the GPL as the catalyst, that's not necessarily the case. It might be the technology's fast pace or the academia which has always favored collaboration, not to mention that the open source model of development is in many ways just better.
I don't think software is the domain in which monopolies can be established indefinitely.