Free software business
I had lunch with Art Tyde, one of the founders of Linuxcare, on Wednesday at an Indian restaurant on Folsom (it's actually under the same management as the Tandoori Mahal on Kearny, where I always used to go for lunch buffet -- and they have exactly the same menu, including the lunch buffet) by 8th or 9th.
One of the things we talked about was the effect of business involvement in the Linux community. I reminded Art that this had been a subject of really active controversy in 1998 -- "is business good for Linux?" -- and that there had been all sorts of different views. The most prescient, I think, was the view that "business involvement won't hurt the Linux community as a whole, but personal relationships will suffer". I don't remember whose idea that was, but I'm sad to say that it seems to have been true. I've lost no friends, as far as I know, through business and the "Linux industry", but many of my friends have lost friends that way, sometimes very close friends.
I really do miss the casual and enthusiastic local Linux community from 1998, but I'm glad that I'm still in touch with so many people despite all the turbulent events since then.
