[ale] open source wars at DOD

[Michael D. Hirsch]

Pete Hardie writes:
 > Thompson Freeman wrote:
 > > 
 > > On Fri, 24 May 2002, Pete Hardie wrote:
 > > > I'd say that closed-source from a typical vendor is faster to respond
 > > > to specific customer requests than an open-source project, since the
 > > > money paid for the program can fund a dedicated customer support group
 > > > that is acutely aware that failing to respond to customers will result
 > > > in the loss of their jobs; typical open-source projects are not as
 > > > responsive because there is no immediate negative feedback for slow
 > > > fixes.
 > > 
 > > Huh??
 > > 
 > > I'm tempted to say "Prove it", but I'm time strapped to do my own research
 > > to support the contrary. I do seem to recall seeing that open source
 > > companies were among the faster to patch security holes. But then again,
 > > my memory is a security hole being exploited 8-(.
 > 
 > Ah, but M$ is a monopoly, which means they don't have to care.  Look instead to
 > Sun, HP/HPaq, and Apple - how fast do they respond when GM or another *big*
 > customer complains?

Sun is also slow to fix security holes according to that study.  Maybe
GM doesn't care about security, either.

--Michael


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