Missing the point - [9:02 AM]
Free Software Foundation: "Unfortunately, we are not. The extreme here is represented by Jobs and Apple. The iPhone is an attack on very old and fundamental values -- the value of people having control over their stuff rather than their stuff having control over them, the right to freely communicate and share with others, and the importance of privacy." - Wow. The first item in their five reasons to avoid iPhone 3G says "iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can't be on everyone's phones." Tax? It's strange someone at the FSF would speak of taxes, the GPL is a tax. Sure, I can get my free software and compile it on my box, but where's the integration? My Mac in combination with my iPod is a complete, beautifully integrated, solution. It's the same with the iPhone. It works with desktops and laptops and Apple TV. I can create free applications and Apple will handle the distribution for me. Hey, that's kinda nice. Open source has its place and if you want it to become the dominant force in the software world here's a tip, write better software. Write it for folks like my grandmother, not for me. That means paying attention to all the little things, just like Apple does. Remember guys, the user interface IS the application to the end user, they could care less about the cool algorithm you implemented under the hood. Seriously.
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