Questions about open-source.

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

I'm currently doing B. Sc. in computer science.

What's your age?

I'm 20 years old.

Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

The stuff I released from my spare time/school projects was provided with full source code. I usually ask for some kind of recognition. While I find it quite unethical, I don't really care if the other party do not bother acknowledging my work.

I've also done closed source contractual work for some clients.

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux.

I think both have advantage and inconvenients. Diversity makes for competition

How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

A hacker is someone who can code and/or knows MUCH about computers, networking and security in my mind. That means Linus is a hacker and Mr Mitnick too. It also means I am a hacker too. Of course, some hackers are more competent and have more ethics than others.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

It could live without it. That said, I believe OSS is a good thing for the market, providing competition just as any closed source product would.

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

I have a Linux server, so I'd list Linux, Apache, MySQL and GCC as the most important.

How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

Hard to say... I'll go with 50% in numbers, but much of my most used software isn't open-source (Visual Studio, Windows, Games)

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

In my mind, Windows belongs on my desktop and Linux on the server. I do not foresee this changing in the next 4 years.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

I do not believe it is such a decisive advantage. Sure it can help, but without going in the nitty gritty details of the market, closed source software still has more capital and full-time programmers on its side.

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Original post by CHI-k What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Student.

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What's your age?

20

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

I always release closedsource

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

I think open-source is stupid and have made me look into another business than software development, why would someone pay me for something they can get for free?

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

I really dont care about hackers.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I think the software market would be better without open-source.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

I never use open-source software because they are rarely finished.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

0%

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

I think Linux is the biggest irony of open-source. Only because it is "free" people think it is cheaper but in the real world Linux is useless.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

No, I think open-source programs never gets finished, never gets a proper interface so it can be used the real world and generally just suck.

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What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Software Developer

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What's your age?

34

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

Sometimes.

I am writing a 2D board game I am planning to release to the public domain:

2D Game

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

Don't give a !@#$ about hurting Microsoft via open source solutions. I doubt they are worried about it, either.

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

I define Hackers are intellectually curious people who end-up either working for or getting shot by an operative of the CIA.

Good hacker: Linus

Bad hacker: Kevin

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I think open-source has its place. We could live without it, but why?

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

Never really use it.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

None.

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

Linux is more of a hacker's / programmers OS. Stable. Good for running web servers.

Windows is more for end-uers. Dominates the market.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

That depends on how well the Open Source project is managed and the maturity of those helping.

I can answer a few questions...

I work at a fast food restaurant and go to school.

I'm 17

I have made one program in the last like... 3 years. I guess you could call it open source, Its just tic tac toe, nothing big I just sort of put it out there with the source.

I haven't thought much about open-source and how it competes with closed source, guess this is a good time to start [smile]. I don't think open source software is hurting closed source software companies much.(I don't know much on this subject) Microsoft gets (seemingly) along fine, Linux still has a little ways to go before it will be used by basic home users. Other open software that is availible isnt noticed by the general public and so people will buy (for example) MS Office instead of downloading Open Office because they simply dont realize its out there, even thought its just as compadible(in most cases).

Mitnick I thought was a hacker and did bad stuff, I would then call him a Hacker. Torvalds(you spelled it wrong) Made Linux. I wouldn't call him a hacker.

I think we could live without open source software (many computer users get along fine without it). I personally would be hurt, I use a lot of open source software.

I use a lot of open source software, I dont really want to list it all here, lets just say, the only close source software that I use is generally games that I play (HL, HL2 and stuff like that) And windows.

What I think of Windows and Linux:
Windows is easier to set up and use, I may think this because I have been using it for longer than I have Linux. Linux has major issues with software installation and everything, There will be reasons thatopen software for linux doesnt work or never compiles and I never know the reason. Windows on the other hand, Its simple to install software and the software (gernerally) works. Linux is great, it just has those small issues that are difficult to fix, some things work with some distros and dont work with others. Windows I also fine, (this is my own experience) People say it crashes and buggy and stuff, but I dont see any of that, also, people say it has security issues? I don't notice any security issues.

I do think Open source software is better, thats because Its free, But you generally dont see many bugs in close source software either, people are paid to check it out and fix it.

Overall, most open software is great, but Linux has a ways to go before I use it daily.

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Original post by CHI-k What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Lead Software Engineer

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What's your age?

25

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

I have never once developed or released any open source software.

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

I think it is actually healthy competition, and it also has some great advantages such as allowing people to use free non-pirated software when they can't afford the closed source counterpart.

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

The term hacker is broken these days and can mean a million different things.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I don't see much of an importance in open source software other than being a niche and allowing people to have access to some things they otherwise would be unable to have. We could easily live without it if it disappeared.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

I have a test server that runs Linux right now for when I am working on game server development, as I want to release the project this year and a lot of people do not have licenses for Windows 2000/2003.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

Not sure, just one Linux server base install.

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

A lot of people talk about these Operating systems like they are true competitors or something. Linux is a great WEB server solution and for other niche application servers especially if you can't afford Windows licenses.. meanwhile contrary to what Slashdot readers might say Windows will always have a minimum of 90% of the desktop market at all times and will be the dominant player in desktop computing until the machines disappear.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

Sometimes, although most of the time no I would disagree totally.. as the people that find/fix the bugs are usually the ones on the initial team anyways.

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
Freelance web design is my night job.
Retail is my day job.

What's your age?
25.

Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?
I have never set out to make anything opensourced, but I have released things opensourced. I either use GPL or BSD.

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?
Microsoft is not the person that's hurt with Opensource. It hurts the person making clone applications. It use to be you either went with the best or went with the generic cheapy. Opensource has eliminated most of the generic software. Now, a user is either going to buy(or pirate) the best or go with already free software.

How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?
Hacker means a lot of different things. It's defintion changes depending on the audiance.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?
No we couldn't, opensource is here to stay. Opensource has done a lot of good for startups and small businesses. It's still very useful to the hobbiests, which most of this board is a part of.

Could we live without it, yeah, of course. If copywrite was repealed tomorrow, we'd live with that too. Opensource is an idea and not an object, so it's difficult to get where you're going with this.

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?
I use about 20% opensourced software.

How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?
Not sure.

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?
Linux and Windows are both fine OS, I understand why people use both of them.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
Yes...
'Better' means a lot of things.

When you have lots of random undirected people, like in opensource, you get worse user interfaces, for example, but the backend stuff is better. It depends on what you want, something easy to use or something that does what you want to do.

Depending on what the program is for, both are useful.

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?[/quote]
Student.

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What's your age?

13

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

The only software I have made I havn't distributed because noone would care about it except for a pong clone I gave to a friend who isn't a programmer so it didn't have its source. Though I am currently working on an Image and model loading library that will be opensource under the zlib license.

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

Opensource software is nice because I have no money to buy development tools and other programs that I use and I really don't think there is much of a competition.

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

The word is tossed around so much that I really don't know what it means.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I think the software market could live without it but it is always nice to get free things.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

Everything other then games, Windows and a few other apps.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

70%

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

Linux is nice to play with but I use Windows also because I like game and sometimes its just nice to have everything work.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

Not really

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
I'm a university student. Summers, I work for an oil company doing software dev with C#.

What's your age?
19

Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?
For myself, all of it is open source. It's done under either the BSD license or the GPL license.

For work, uhh.. I don't think they'd like it. They're paying me to write software for them.

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?
Well, the fact that Mono exists lets me work with C# on whatever computer I decide. My co-worker uses a bad-ass Thinkpad X31 running Fedora, and it's an absolute dream. Unfortunately, thanks to the Transmeta chip (interestingly, the microcode on it is open-source) Windows runs poorly on it. So there you go.

How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?
Linus Torvalds. The media's perception of "hackers" runs towards script kiddies and blackhat crackers.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?
No, I don't think you could. The Internet was built on open standards and open source. Your operating system has large components that were OSS (FTP, telnet and WinSock in NT are based upon sources from BSD).

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?
GCC, SDL, VLC, Adium, ssh, telnet, the BSD internals of Mac OS X (kernel source available on request at opendarwin.org).

How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?
Probably all of it. I haven't bought commercial software that didn't run on a game console for years. Ehh.. I guess I paid for the copy OS X when I bought my computer.

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?
I love Linux, though it's a complete asspain to work with at times because there's a complex answer to a simple question. Windows only has simple answers to complex questions, which is what annoys me about it (if I see one more fucking wizard I'll kill someone in cold blood). It also has a shit command line, but that'll be fixed one day.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
Sure, why not? Firefox is kicking the fuck out of IE right now. Is it because lots of people can look at the guts? Maybe, maybe not. Is it because people can make it a lot better thanks to the fact they have such intimate knowledge of the insides? I think so.

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
I've been interning at a government contracter on/off starting the summer of 2003. I'm also working on my BS in CS

What's your age?
I'm 20 years old

Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?
Some of the software I've written as a hobby has been open soure. I didn't really use a license, I just edited together a paragraph that said 'use at your own risk' in legalese (as best as I could get it anyways).
It was open source in the sense that the source is available at the same place as the binary (except old binaries are available while only the newest source is up), but nobody has bothered to do more than learn/take from the source so really nobody else has contributed and in that sense it is not so open.
The other stuff I've done either required open source (f.ex. mIRC scripts) or wasn't open source because the source was too ugly or having the source would help other undo the point of the software (security through obscurity is the only kind on an untrusted client).

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?
I think 'serious' open source software is a nice game, but there are too many zealots to keep it from hitting big right now. From a user standpoint, I know of no open source software that I like except for emacs, and I only like it because nobody has bothered making a decent IDE for Lisp (which I don't program in much, mostly because emacs is way too complicated to be a simple IDE that lets me get work done)

How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?
It depends on the context - there are multiple kinds of hackers. I don't know the second name, but I'd say Linus is probably a hacker.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?
Open source software is easy to live without. The last OSS I've used was emacs, and that was many months ago. Well, I also use PHP, but I don't depend on the fact that it is open source in any way.

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?
As stated above, I use emacs, php, and a few others, but I don't depend on them being open source in any way. If they were closed source software that cost nothing, I'd be able to use them in exactly the same way.

How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?
On my machine I don't have any (I reformatted a few days ago and haven't reloaded emacs), but on the web space I rent, just about all of it is open source (linux, php, etc), but I don't use or depend on the source at all.

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?
I think linux is a nice kernel, but all the distros are crap and all the software you're forced to use on it (unless you write your own) are also crap. The programs have real human-interaction problems, lack standard interfaces, etc.
Windows is OK, but it looks like microsoft is going the way of the gaming industry - more eye candy and less ability to get the job done. Win2K was a good base, WinXP is great except it takes hours to turn the bloat off after installing, and I'm sure longhorn will be even more stable and even more bloated.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
Overall, I don't think being open helps. It might help improve functionality, stability, etc, but it kills the interface enough to make it just not worth it overall.

I'd like to add that if you count free-as-in-beer software, I'm using TONS of it, but none of it is open source.

[Edited by - Extrarius on January 5, 2005 7:28:01 PM]

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
Student (last semester!)

What's your age?
24

Do you program open source software?
No

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software?
Competition is good. The better product won't necessarily prevail, but the process will improve both.

How do you define a hacker?
The term is now meaningless. It's been coopted by journalists to mean one thing, is adamantly held on to by some geeks to mean another... It doesn't matter.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?
We could obviously live without it, but I think it's useful. It's still immature, but it may point to an important socio-cultural mechanism for protecting software that are, in effect, infrastructure for all of humanity. It also provides a framework for approaching the concept of software as public goods/works, such as government research or e-voting software.

How much open-source software do you use?
Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird, X-Chat (though I paid the $15 to receive Windows binaries for life), Python (though I use the ActivePython distribution), OpenOffice (only because I gave away my copy of Word, and I'm not yet ready to buy Office 2003) and ImageMagick.

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows?
They both serve a purpose.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
It depends on the program. Some software is too complex/advanced for the vast majority of "developers" in the wild to contribute much.

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Original post by CHI-k What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Student.

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Original post by CHI-k What's your age?

20

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Original post by CHI-k Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

100%, I think. If I was planning on selling it, I wouldn't release the source code.

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Original post by CHI-k What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

Although I enjoy the ideology of it, I believe that someday it could corrupt the industry.

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Original post by CHI-k How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

I don't.

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Original post by CHI-k How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

We could live without it. Although it's good that it is around as it keeps the standard to the software which isn't open-source quite high.

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Original post by CHI-k How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

I use both Mozilla FireFox and Miranda Instant Messanger at school.

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Original post by CHI-k What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

I think everyone should try out Linux at least once before dismissing it. Keeping open-source software (especially large open-source projects like Linux) is very important to keep the competition high. It also gives people a different thought of how things should (and can) be done. Our technology grows because of these new ideas.

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What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Student -- computer science and economics double major; minor in applied mathematics.

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What's your age?

19.

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

Most of the production-quality software (~450k lines) I've completed has been under contract/NDA, so no.

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software?

As a fan of capital markets, I don't care what kind of software it is, as long as it does the job well. The license is irrelevant -- give the people what they want, and they'll buy it.

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How do you define a hacker?

Someone with a level of curiosity about how computers work more than one standard deviation above the norm.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

How important it is has yet to be determined. It's obviously a force to be reckoned with to at least some extent. Could we live without it? Obviously, yes. The world will not implode if OSS disappears tomorrow.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

Impossible to answer, though I'm sure some of what I do use is based on open-source.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

See above.

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

The comparison is between skim milk and whole milk. Both are milk, both are drinkable, and both go well with cookies, but it's the differences between the two that make the taste and determine who likes them.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

This is a somewhat fallacious question. Do I think programs get better when they're open-source? No, of course not. A program doesn't become better just because it's open source. Do I think having a large number of people testing out your application is a good way to find bugs? Yes -- cf. "beta testing".

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
System Administrator


What's your age?
28


Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?
BSD license or the GPL license.I open source everything I do in my spare time. If someone can learn from it thats great, of not thats great, if nobody cares thats great too.

What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?


How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers? I prefer to use more direct terms eg Network Intrusion Specialist, Script Kiddies/MCSE.....

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I competition is usually benefits the consumer. Without open source these big companies would lose the drive to innovate. Look at the browser wars for example.

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?
GCC, SDL, VLC, Adium, ssh, telnet, the BSD internals of Mac OS X (kernel source available on request at opendarwin.org).

All my computers run an open OS ( except for the windows machine I use when porting code). I use open source tools because I cant afford the commercial versions and I dont want to pirate other people's work.( I use blender instead of 3d Studio Max).


How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?
90% of my tools are open source.

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?
I hate windows because I have done tech support for Microsoft and Dell. I also hate it because Im a system administrator and I still have to support that piece of crap.Linux is ok, so is freebsd and openbsd.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
Not necessarily.

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Original post by CHI-k What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Student at Minnesota

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What's your age?

20

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

All of my software is open source.

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

For a lot of software, it's not economically feasible for more than one company to exist. Hence, the Microsoft monopoly. Open source is restoring competition and innovation to many of these areas.

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

Linus.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I'd certainly be in a different field. I hear physics is nice.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

Debian/Gnome/Evolution/OpenOffice/Firefox. That pretty much describes what I use on a daily basis. There's quite a lot more, too. The only time I'm on windows is to play Red Alert 2 or Starcraft.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

All of my released stuff is open. I'm a student I can do that sort of thing for now. :) We'll see about later.

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

I think Linux is vastly underestimated. Either that or users are underestimated. My roommate has used my laptop without even a second thought. Clearly there is less merit to the "linux is hard to use" thing than some people think. (obviously anecdotal evidence, but then nobody has any real evidence around here)

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

I believe that well-lead open source projects are vastly better software. Not well-lead, or stale projects at least leave a bunch of useful code behind. I've borrowed bits of GPL software for other bits of GPL software quite often. (in-source citation, of course) It's quite nice.

What are your current position(job or maybe school)?
Erm, 'bum' i guess

What's your age?
24

Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

Well, yes and no. If you wanted to see the code to practically anything I've worked on then I'd have no problem with it. I've also got my OGL Window Framework which is under zlib/png licence (if ya gonna give something away ya might as well give it away). But none of that stuff has been paid work, the only major project I've done which is paid I'd like to show people (if only for a 'how it shouldnt be done' [wink], but well given I'd signed a contract and NDA regarding it I dont think the owners of the code would be happy [wink]


What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

Competition is always good for the consumer, and OS has made MS react a bit, but more in the server domain than in the home domain.

How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

Personally, I still like to think of a hacker who sits down and cranks out code, but as Oluseyi put it the term is pretty much pointless now.

How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

Yep, we could live without it, granted we'd all have to spend more but it could be done.

How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?
Directly, a couple of programming libs (corona and lua spring to mind), OpenOffice, Firefox and i'm currently having a barney with Dev-C++.
I do however have a machine in teh loft which is the house router and thats completely linux, so i guess technically I use a fair amount every day [wink]

How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?
no idea, but not that high I'd guess

What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

Well, older versions of windows werent that good, but I'm pretty happy with XP, I cant remember the last time it crashed, it does what I want and is simple to use, and really thats the point of computers, to get stuff done.
Linux is also good, but with my useage pattern for different reasons, as I've said it runs my router and if not for a power cut a few months back would have had over a years uptime without me having to touch it, which is pretty cool and I doubt a windows machine would be able to say the same. However, its not as... well, slick as windows. The UI has improved but, personally speaking, still feels a bit 'off' from what I'm used to. Hardware setup also has improved and to an extent so has software installing, although alot of thing still arent as slick as the windows install system.
End of the day, its all about getting stuff done and the user's experiance while doing it, and while linux is getting better windows still edges it for me.

Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?
see kSquared's answer for pretty much my feeling about it.

Thanks for all the answers, I didn't expect to get that many answers, but that's just a good thing.

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What are your current position(job or maybe school)?

Unemployed, will only begin my studies in september...

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What's your age?

20

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Do you program open source software, if yes how much of the software made by you are open-source and what license does you typically release it under?

Yes, I usually release my code into public domain or under the GPL. I am also contributing to other projects from time to time...

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What do you think about open-source software competing with closed-source commercial software, things like Windows and Linux, Ie. do you think it's destroying the market for companies like Microsoft which needs money, Microsoft and that kind of companies are destroying it for open-source, it's healthy for both parts with some competition or something else?

I think that open source is a superior programming model in most cases. However, when it comes to i.e. multiplayer game development it may not be the best approach due to problems such as cheating.
For commercial games I'd recommend staying closed-source, as there is always going to be some jerks trying to ruin your work by creating their own clients, giving them an advantage. However, for your own projects OSS will definately be an advantage as it improves development speed and general code quality.

Open source software can be superior when it comes to speed of development, security and code quality (bugs/line of code). Of course it all depends on how talented the programmers that are working on that specific project are, as always...
However, open source has recently met the threat of commercial software companies and software patents, because the quality and usability has vastly improved during the last 5 years.
Since OSS is now counted as a competitor with several companies (Microsoft for instance), I'd expect some fighting over the market. OSS did not pick this fight and became competitors due to the enormous work of thousands of volounteers coding on different OSS projects. It would be very sad if good OSS projects end up being hammered in court rooms due to software patents, as these programmers never intended to break any.

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How do you define a hacker, I mean are people like Linus Thorvalds or people like Kevin Mitnick hackers?

A hacker is a "non-professional" programmer, who knows a lot about hardware/periphials, software and networking.

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How important do you think open-source software are for the software market, could we live without it?

I doubt I'd had been a programmer today if it wasn't for OSS... So I think it increases the interest in software development and ultimately leads to more and better applications. But sure, we can live without it.

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How much open-source software do you use(maybe list the most important)?

From the linux kernel to glibc, gcc, vim to X.Org, Mozilla and OpenOffice.

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How many percent of your software(others software you own, not the one you have released) are open-source?

100%. Not that I'm against closed source applications, I just don't need any (and I don't have the money for buying any either)

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What do you think of Linux, and what do you think of Windows(please NO flamewars, it's your personal opinion, don't flame someone else's personal opinion, even if you think it's really stupid.)?

I think that Windows is too inefficient as a workstation environment - at least the way I use it... But then again, I've gotten too used to my shell by now, so I can't really use a GUI in an efficient way ;-)
I just find the shell a much cleaner, meaner and faster approach to many things. In most cases I could actually live without X11.

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Do you believe programs get better when they are open-source because a lot of people can look in the source and help finding bugs?

Yes, and that's actually a fact. I don't think that's questionable - just check the latest comparisons between the linux kernel and commercial kernels (hint: the errors/line of code is _way_ lower in linux)... Of course linux is the flag-ship of OSS, and is definately not the general standard, but of course code gets better when more people can evaluate and rewrite it themselves.

[Edited by - Wytter on January 6, 2005 7:56:49 AM]