How, pray, can RedHat close source the kernel?
You don't close the source of the kernel. You close one small crucial component of it by rewriting it. This means, that every time a new kernel is released, you take its source, make a patch, compile, and remove your own little component's source. And distribute.
Does this violate the GPL? I mean, everything that came free is released free, and the kernel comes along withonly one small binary file. We've *added* something, which isn't free...
But we don't have to go as far as the kernel: You can release a link library in closed form.
Assume that Microsoft released some link library in closed form. Then they released Office for this special Linux edition, and made sure they use this special library. Now they can sell Linux like any other operating system. No, they are not selling the OS, they are only selling their own link library. Which means that they can take any open distro, put their library on, and resell it, with copyright restricted on this tiny library only.
Microsoft has the powers to convince other software vendors to rely on their link library as well, so you end up with one Linux edition, which can run common applications, and the open one, which can't.
They won't, of course, be able to control the open version of Linux, but they will control the *standard* edition, which will soon enough divert more and more from the open one.
And then go tell everyone that you were there first...
Eli's jump from making the system user friendly to making it proprietary is not clear to me.
The jump is not from user-friendly to proprietary, but from being #1 to proprietary. All I'm saying is that when something becomes popular, there are many sharks around.
Eli
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