[Discussioni] O-STEP : commenti?

[Emanuele Olivetti]

Mi hanno girato questa, proponendola come idea 'non male'.
A parte il fatto che non mi e' chiaro a quale licenza open source
si riferirebbero (libera o non libera? copyleft?), vorrei avere
commenti in merito perche' cosi' come e' non mi convince molto:
uno dei grandi benefici del software libero e' la possibilita' di
costruire il proprio sistema a partire da solide basi gia' realizzate.
Se prendesse piede questo O-STEP i prodotti che lo utilizzerebbero
non potrebbero avvalersi del software libero all'interno, finendo a
reinventare la ruota per la millesima volta (come purtroppo succede).

Ciao
						Emanuele

----- Forwarded message from * -----

Questa non sembra una cattiva idea. Allego riassunto dell'articolo.
"Escrowing" e` grosso modo "depositare dal notaio".

"Open Source Gets Booster Program"
IDG News Service (03/17/03); Gross, Grant 
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,109853,00.asp

A new hybrid software licensing program promises to let vendors reap
profits from their product while reassuring buyers their purchases do
not lead to proprietary lock-in. Former U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission lawyer Tony Stanco is advocating the Open Source Threshold
Escrow Program (O-STEP), which would be run by his Center of Open Source
and Government at George Washington University. Software vendors that
submit products for the program would prescribe a threshold number
of sold licenses they want before promising to release the product
under an open-source license. Stanco says he has been talking with
government agencies and financial advisors about the program and sees
an opportunity for both vendors and buyers. Software companies such as
Corel, whose WordPerfect struggles against Microsoft's Office product,
would be able to generate more sales to institutional customers and make
their technology a de facto standard. Meanwhile, government agencies and
large companies worry about vendor lock-in, according to Stanco. "They're
very concerned that their first move [when making a large infrastructure
purchase] might be the last one within their control," he says. Under
O-STEP, they know that they will eventually be able to tailor their
purchased systems. Stanco has not approached vendors en masse with the
idea, but is talking with purchasers and investors about the benefits
of the system. Stanco says O- STEP offers a balance between open-source
licenses and copyright law and provides incentives for developers to
create more open source software.

----- End forwarded message -----