[WikiEN-l] This may be true someday soon: GNU/Linux is to MS Windows as Wikipedia is to MS Encarta.

Wed Jul 9 16:32:22 UTC 2003

Golly, this GNU thing is a virus.
> 
> -- Daniel Mayer

Well, lets not forget that things free and open are
also in some ways more vulnerable.  Like viruses,
though, the OS world will fight back in flexible ways
-- but ultimately the basis for the technology that
most Open-systems run on is commercial.  

This means something interesting -- that OS
anti-Corporatism tends to challenge long-standing
assumptions about how capitalism itself works -- and
if trends continue will call to question the means by
which the tertiary level societies maintain their
status.

To completlely undermine -- one after one, the means
by which major corporate institutions make their money
-- will not go unnoticed, and will have some kind of
repercussive effects -- if not by government
impositions, then via an increase in active traction
-- the issues are a matter of money after all.

WP doesnt technically have a lot of "partnerships" -- 
like eLibrary or LexisNexis do -- to create a unified
base for parousing "paid content."  So as long as
people get paid to deal in information, then access
will be limited.  WP has always known this, and thus
it could never be the intent of 'free materiale' to
undermine all of the 'paid materiale' outlets.   But
the perception that WP is a threat, like with other
things in the GNU world -- SCO's suit of IBM over AIX,
Microsoft's leaked memos about fighting Linux, etc. --
may take some shape soon. and WP best be prepared to
deal with the manifestations of this perception.

Civil actions against perceived copyright violations
are apparently, as we speak, underway....
--SV

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