From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 To: 9fans@cse.psu.edu From: "Thomas Bushnell, BSG" Message-ID: <87adz5ids3.fsf@becket.becket.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii References: <20011005053113.DF809199B5@mail.cse.psu.edu>, Subject: Re: [9fans] capability-based design (Re: permissions idea) Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2001 09:36:42 +0000 Topicbox-Message-UUID: 01905f14-eaca-11e9-9e20-41e7f4b1d025 greon@best.com (Richard) writes: > it must be frustrating to have written software for one of those > once-popular platforms only to see the owner of the platform let it die. > I speculate that proprietary OSes need to attract 10s of millions of > users or their owners let them die, but that open source OSes can > survive for decades with much fewer users. Free software operating systems have an automatic edge because they don't rely on the continued interest of their original authors.