Robert Pogson

I am often accused of encouraging use of GNU/Linux and thin clients with a single point of failure vulnerability, the server or network. Non-free software, however provides multiple points of failure like the recent patch from M$ that knocked off some VMWare clients. Here is an example where one supplier of non-free software interfered with another. The customers of both suffer. With FLOSS, no one has an axe to grind and the distro manages patches and updates making sure this mode of failure does not happen. Of course no system is perfect but having experts manage installations, dependencies and patches is a huge value for users of FLOSS.

In my exposures to non-free software I have seen anti-malware packages mess with many different applications, M$ mess with everyone and from time to time each and every non-free software seeks to impose the will of its source on the users rather than simply providing service. IT is supposed to be a faster, cheaper and better way to deal with information not a way to enslave us to multiple slave-masters.

China has been going great as a producer of infrastructure and commodities in IT but the new 5 year plan is all about taking leadership. They plan to invest $1.53 trillion in tech including “next generation” IT. They plan to exploit their huge growing local market and raise per-capita GDP at the same time. I expect Linux and clouds to be part of this.

see Digitimes