An explanation of the difficulty of solving license proliferation in one sentence

[Joel West]

On 1:04 AM -0800 3/10/05, Rick Moen doth scribe:
> > So a lot can be done without OSI changing its mission from promoting
>> the OSD to regulating entry into the OSI-blessed list. Forrest is
>> right -- if OSI no longer wants to take an inclusive view of the OSD,
>> some other organization will.
>
>OSI has the advantage of being run by people who have earned the trust
>of the open source community.  Despite the entry into this mailing list
>of a long succession of fast-talkers -- some of whom have committed
>gaffes like slamming OSI's longtime, highly respected general counsel as
>"controversial" -- nobody else has that distinction.  Nor merited it.
>

I assume that was intended as a slam at me.

But for the record, calling Larry "controversial" was not intended as a slam. He's very knowledgeable (if not the most knowledgeable) in this area. But some people disagree with his strongly held views, creating some controversy. That by definition means he's controversial. But identifying that controversy doesn't carry the implication that he's wrong or shouldn't be respected, only that people disagree with him.

You might ask Larry if he thought it a slam. I'd like to think that Larry's known me long enough to know it wasn't.

-- 
Joel West, Research Director
Silicon Valley Open Source Research Project	http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/OpenSource/