Someone called Evgeny Morozov has produced this gem in an
article at the Wall Street Journal:
the "open-source" software movement, whose activists tend to be fringe academics and ponytailed computer geeks
Have we really not progressed further than that? I guess one should not expect any sense from the WSJ, especially since its purchase by Rupert Murdoch, but it's really time that these tired, clichéd and stupid characterizations stopped. A fellow at the
New America Foundation should know better. And the fact that he can write such ignorant and absurd nonsense casts doubt on his whole thesis.
As the owner of one business and part owner of another, both of which do work based pretty much exclusively on open source software, who left academia nearly twenty years ago and has never worn a pony tail, I'm feeling left out. (OK, I own up to the geek part.)
Just a few miles from here is the headquarters of
RedHat. They are a poster child for just how stupid and ignorant this image of open source is. The State of North Carolina has just
done a deal with them to make sure they stay here and expand. They are a growing, profitable business that contributes a lot to the local economy.
Open Source is mainstream. Get used to it.
