basic open source 101

[Ian Lance Taylor]

Ervin Gong <ervin at hawaii.edu> writes:

> I am a student from the University of Hawaii and I have a few 
> questions that i hope you all can answer regardinig this topic.  i 
> hope that you could shine some light into this subject for me because 
> of my lack of computer knowlegable circle of friends.  my questions 
> are:

This isn't really the right mailing list for these kinds of
questions.  This mailing list is for the discussion of which licenses
should receive OSI approval.  It's not for the general discussion of
open source business issue.


> -why do people want to share their knowledge for no profit?  

Profit is not always measured in money.

> -what does companies like IBM gain from putting their source codes for 
> everyone to see?   

A rising tide lifts all boats.

> -would IBM be able to use the source codes contributed by open source 
> and sell it for a profit?  

Yes.

> -can anyone make addtions to the source code and not reveal it to the 
> public?  

For open source software, yes.

> -redhat sells a enterprise linus and other software for $349.00 that 
> doesn't sound free to me?  any reason why they can do that?

What is to stop them?

Ian