[3277] in linux-net channel archive
Re: Bug in 1.2.13 firewall?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dennis)
Tue Jun 18 00:37:43 1996
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 18:10:00 -0400
To: ATPlack <ATPlack@scj.com>
From: dennis@etinc.com (Dennis)
Cc: linux-net@vger.rutgers.edu
ATPlack <ATPlack@scj.com> writes
>I think that Dennis is correct. I do not see any other company supporting
>beta code for their products. Even the software market that does beta will
>tell you that support for beta code is insane. Yes, you need to know about
>bugs, but just because 90% of the software companies out there do not know
>the difference between a bug submission forum and tech support doesn't mean
>that we should force proprietary companies to divulge those secrets that
>make them a winner in the proprietary game. I think that Linux has proven
>that the _free_ market is better, but not all see the light yet.
>
>Like I have stated before on one of these forums. We should understand the
>difference between _free_ code and proprietary systems.
This particular statement irks me a bit. The religious belief that anything
that
doesnt provide full source is "proprietary" is simply wrong. I've heard
people use
terms like "locked in" and "secrets", and this is just plain bunk. There's
nothing
proprietary about our products. We're not designing our own protocols. If
you buy
a card from us theres no requirement that any other device on your net or anyone
else's use our products. We invest time and money in development, and to give it
away to our competitors is simply ridiculous. The fact is that you can't
enforce
copyrights in todays world, because the courts dont understand technology enough
and there's too much gray area. There's nothing secret about our
products....but we
maintain our advantage and market lead in features by not giving away the
work that
we've done. People buy our stuff because they like the way we do things, and
thats
our advantage. We're protecting technique..not because its better, but
because its
unique. And thats what set us apart from our competitors.
Denis
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Synchronous Communications Cards and Routers For
Discriminating Tastes. 56k to T1 and beyond. Frame
Relay, PPP, HDLC, and X.25 for BSD/OS, FreeBSD
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