On 29/10/12 16:08, Vitor Barbosa wrote: > Dear all, > > I really hope that we are not present with a situation similar to > OpenOffice. When it begun to be sponsored by oracle, new versions of > OpenOffice were not created anymore. Hope this project hasn't died for > the "OpenCommunity". > > But one thing is for sure, a free tool would give a spread among > hardware devellopers that can keep worried the others micocontrollers > manufacturers competitors. > > Regards, > > Vitor Barbosa >
I don't think the situation here is at all similar to the OpenOffice one. But in fact, the case of OpenOffice is an example of the power of open source software. OpenOffice development was already rather slow and awkward under Sun (Sun handled other open source projects, such as VirtualBox, much better), and a lot of work was done on out-of-tree versions of OpenOffice. And although official Oracle OpenOffice development has not stopped, it suffered a lot when Oracle bought Sun. The community response was to form "The Document Foundation" and "LibreOffice". Because of the open source license used for OpenOffice, TDF was able to take the code, re-brand it as LibreOffice, then extend and enhance it. Oracle still own the name "OpenOffice" - but for most users, LibreOffice is the way forward. Similarly, msp430 gcc is always safe. We (the users) are not guaranteed that it will be developed as we would like in the future - but we /are/ guaranteed that we /could/ develop it as we like, if we put in the effort (or pay someone to do the work!). And we are guaranteed that no one can take away what we already have. (Also, let's be fair to Oracle here - they certainly made a mess of OpenOffice, but they are doing a fine job of VirtualBox, which is another important open source project.) mvh., David ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Windows 8 Center - In partnership with Sourceforge Your idea - your app - 30 days. Get started! http://windows8center.sourceforge.net/ what-html-developers-need-to-know-about-coding-windows-8-metro-style-apps/ _______________________________________________ Mspgcc-users mailing list Mspgcc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mspgcc-users
