Well it looks like one of the guys who has really helped Linux over the years has had enough.
http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2005/05/25/cz_dl_0525linux.html
Basically the guy who runs the company that supplies BitKeeper, the source control system for the Linux OS has said enough is enough, you guys get to pay for it now. He had been letting the Linux folks use it for free but got to a point where he alleged his “free” support was costing him $500k a year to keep up. A couple of other things pushed him too but losing $500k a year would be enough for me.
If you recall there was a issue previously where someone tried to hide a backdoor in some Linux source and Bitkeeper caught it, lets hope that whatever on the fly home grown system Linus whips up is as good.
My favorite quote:
Indeed, McVoy says some Linux coders have been hassling him for years, because he would not publish the source code for BitKeeper.
“Here we were, working 90 hours a week to build something to help Linux, working long hours, giving up a lot of money and time, and all the time we were doing that, at every step of the way, we had people abusing us, sending us nasty e-mail, telling us we’re jerks. It’s been constant. It gets tiresome. After five years of that you just say: It doesn’t make business sense and it isn’t that fun.”
The flames have grown even hotter since McVoy decided to stop letting open source programmers use BitKeeper for free.
“My response is, ‘Let me know when your rent and college tuition are free, when gas and groceries are free, and when your girlfriend decides that you having no money is a great idea. When all that is true I’ll get on the bandwagon, too.’ Some people don’t understand that it costs salaries to develop stuff and support stuff.”
joe
