O'pain Software Foundation: (2) Why is it better than AT&T?

[Henry Spencer]

> I think that if IBM, DEC, et al., were truly interested in delivering an open
> implementation of Mumblix...
> the money would have been best spent in funding an independent effort
> (e.g., FSF or a university)...

Not necessarily.  One reason for funding a not-quite-independent effort
like OSF is to have some small control over the result.  They want something
that complies with reasonable standards and is enough like current Unixes
that their programs will run without too much trouble.  FSF's ultimate
output (in my opinion) will bear only a passing resemblance to Unix.
And the major experience we've had so far with university control of Unix,
to wit BSD, has not been exactly encouraging to those who prefer software
to remain compatible unless there is a good reason to change it.  (Not
that AT&T hasn't contributed its share of stupid, gratuitous, incompatible
changes, but Berkeley has them beat by several light-years.)
-- 
"For perfect safety... sit on a fence|  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
and watch the birds." --Wilbur Wright| {ihnp4,decvax,uunet!mnetor}!utzoo!henry