Software Insecurity

Value-Adds

Lori MacVittie is a great writer; I love her stuff. But her "Inside Linux" cover story (Feb. 5, 2004) gives the false impression that much of the open-source software released for personal use under the General Public License or Lesser GPL requires commercial users to pay royalties and/or licensing fees. In fact, not only do the GPL and LGPL ban royalties and licensing fees, they prohibit differentiating between user populations.

I believe MacVittie was trying to make the point that users of open-source software can buy optional tech support.

ROSS A. PATTERSON
Chief Technology Officer
CatchFIRE Systems
[email protected] MacVittie replies: Ross, you're right--neither the GPL nor the LGPL allows royalties or licensing fees. To generate revenue, companies whose business is based on open-source software must offer value-adds, such as support options, professional services, delivery on media and hardbound manuals.

My comment was based on MySQL, which used to differentiate between Windows and Linux deployments. The Windows version was not a freebie in the early days. However, MySQL has since adjusted its licensing to be consistent regardless of platform. It has moved to a support-based revenue model more closely resembling that of other open-source companies, such as Red Hat.

Fair Competition

I generally agree with Rob Preston's views on outsourcing ("Outsourcing: Not Us vs. Them," (April 1, 2004). I'd like to suggest three ways to level the playing field.First, get rid of most U.S. employment regulations, particularly those concerning minimum wage, overtime, unemployment insurance, health benefits, and Social Security and Medicare taxes. Such provisions keep U.S. labor costs artificially high, making Americans much more expensive to hire than offshore workers.

Second, let people cross borders as easily as capital does. How many "cheap" Indian engineers would continue working in Bangalore for extremely low wages if they could move to the United States instead?

Lastly, remove all trade barriers. Unfortunately, many governments that claim to support free trade still protect their domestic industries. A hybrid trade approach only encourages outsourcing to the detriment of American workers.
DAVID WALL

Chief Software Architect
Yozons
[email protected]

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