No More Free BitKeeper is a great read, and one that succintly illustrates how commercial software finds it hard to thrive in the Linux world. The Linux business model (if there is somesuch) is something that I’ve tried hard to understand, but from what I can figure out, every Linux guru frowns upon software that is not Free and Open… and that kind of limits its commercial viability, to put it mildly.

BitKeeper makes a nice story because here is a commercial entity offering use of their superior product to the Linux kernel team expecting compliance with just one condition: No Reverse Engineering. My first thought was that they should’ve expected it… kernel hackers and compliance don’t exactly go together. 😉

On an unfunny note though, there is a simple word that people should learn more – Respect; in this case, respecting the rights of a person who gave you something essentially for free. It’s not that hard a concept to grasp methinks.