Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: jwz resigns

Author:Karl Fast
Posted:4/2/1999; 2:57:25 PM
Topic:jwz resigns
Msg #:4755 (In response to 4749)
Prev/Next:4754 / 4756

This could turn out to be a key turning point for open source software. But for good or bad, I'm not sure.

Consider that the proponents of open source have often pointed to Linux, Apache, and Mozilla as prime examples of the power of the open source development model. JWZ is saying "Whoah there, I believe in open source but for some reason Mozilla hasn't worked and I can't fix it and I doubt anyone else can either". This is bad news for open source. I hope he's wrong, but what if he's right?

The naysayers of open source will likely exploit this as proof that "it doesn't work". Open Source has been the tech-media darling for the last year, and the voices of the skeptics has been pushed to the background in the stampede to get with the new program. Eventually these skeptical voices will resurface, and now we know what they are going to say -- "the failure of Mozilla proves that open source doesn't work".

Of course the truth isn't that open source doesn't work. It does. But not always. The truth is that in some cases (indeed, many cases) it does work and produces good, often great, results. But in other cases it's a horrible solution that takes too long to produce usable software. Which is Mozilla? I think it's too soon to say, but I don't think the loss of Zawinski is a good thing.

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