Proprietary code powers the world banks, networks, voting machines and other critical applications that we regularly interact with. But the real question is where mission critical applications like this can be done with open source code, as many open source advocates would like to see happen. There are concerns regarding the security of allowing open source applications into the mission critical fields, such as voting and banking, while others believe that with certain implementations, it could be done securely.
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Anybody up to writing good directory software?
Tue, 2007-02-20 11:17 — David JonathanSince the very beginning, directories (of any kind) have had a very central role in the internet. (I have recently grown fond of Free Web Directory. Even Slashdot can be considered a directory: a collection of great news and invaluable user-generated comments. As far as software is concerned, doing a quick search on Google about software directories will return the free (as in freedom) software directories like Savannah, SourceForge, Freshmeat and so on, followed by shareware and freeware sites such as FileBuzz, PCWin Download Center and All Freeware (great if you're looking for shareware and freeware, but definitely less comprehensive than their free-as-in-freedom counterparts).
Is better education the key to finding better software?
Sat, 2007-03-03 03:25 — Edward RusselI read David Jonathon's article Anybody Up To Writing Good Directory Software? the other day, which got me thinking about software directories in general. As David mentioned, many of the software directories one finds when doing a quick google search are free as in beer, not as in freedom. But what interests me is the software directories that already exist, providing a combination of both free as in beer software, and open source software. Sites such as Freeware Downloads and Shareware Download don't advertise themselves as providing free as in liberty software, but each of them have a good selection of open source software available... if you know where to look.
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bearlake
4 years 41 weeks 5 hours 39 min ago
no jimbob please don't interpret
no jimbob please don't interpret my comment as an attack on you, purely against the author i completely agree with your reasoning that its important to stay abreast of mainstream zeitgeist in relation to OSS (an ignorant one at that)
lol sorry for the misunderstanding
bearlake
4 years 41 weeks 14 hours 36 min ago
wat a twit the author beleives
wat a twit the author beleives that propietary applications in banks are safer than open source alternatives. What a stupid inane author is all i can say , was he bribed or coerced. How can one actually argue that propietary systems are safer than oss alternatives, linux and openbsd etc have proved this wrong
Jimbob
4 years 41 weeks 13 hours 12 min ago
I agree. That's why I posted it...to
I agree. That's why I posted it...to draw attention to it. I meant to comment about that when I posted the story but then forgot. So thanks for pointing it out.
The site is also plastered with MS Office ads. As are a few other supposedly pro-foss sites (like madpenguin) at the moment, which I find very disappointing.
aboutblank
4 years 41 weeks 52 min 30 sec ago
Hey, I have this software. I can't
Hey, I have this software. I can't tell you how it works but it works great. You're not allowed to find out how it works; if you do, you lose your right to use it. Oh, and I will only support you as long as I am willing to support you (for as long as I haven't released a new version of the software)
mattflaschen
4 years 40 weeks 6 days 15 hours ago
The article is factually wrong
The article is factually wrong in saying that proprietary software powers all mission-critical applications (like networks). FOSS software is vital to infrastructure. Think of software like BIND, Apache, Sendmail, BSD, GNU/Linux, all of which run on key network servers, and inside banks.