Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Recently ZDNet ran an article that was highly critical of open source, basically calling the entire movement a complete non-accomplishment. Well, I was very critical of that article and wrote a ToTSP response because even ZDnet uses open source technologies extensively and the writer and editor were apparently oblivious to reality. (I wont get into it again, but I thought I was justified in criticizing them sharply for such a blatantly uninformed article, I expect more from a professional publisher, maybe I shouldnt, but thats another debate.)

Another ZDnet site, eWeek, in the "talk back" column recently ran an article by Tomothy Dyck that also debuked the validity of the earlier article and went on to proclaim open source as the "road to somewhere." This author recognizes the importance of open source and even quotes some of the same facts that I did previously (including the usage of Apache, PHP, BIND, Tomcat, Squid, Linux, Postgres, Cocoon, Sendmail, etc, etc, etc, etc.) He acknowledges and attributes that open source is leading the way rather than lagging behind.

Interoperability, customizability, predictability, stability,
stringent change management, security and
transparency—qualities that open-source software
provides far better than closed-source software.

I agree with that statement on all levels, open source is the innovator and has produced superior products. This is not because of a particular person or the amount of money one group has, it is because the open source model works, the philosophy works. I applaud this author for pointing this out and for calling out the fallacious nature of the article of his "colleague."   Timothy Dyck: Road to SOMEWHERE