'Open Source Media' vs 'Open Source Media, Inc'

Karl writes "Last week OSM (Open Source Media) launched to what some are calling an odd start. Most notably naming a controversy has ensued with Christopher Lydon's public radio show Open Source, a production of Open Source Media, Inc.."

"Open Source" buzzword

[Scoth]

Seems to me that "Open Source" is starting to turn into a buzzword used by people when they want the geek masses to take notice of something and proclaim it good. And it seems to work sometimes, but I guess we'll see how this goes. Some of the updates don't look promising. Could be neat though.

Who is Christopher Lydon?

[CyricZ]

Who is Christopher Lydon? More specifically, what contribution to the open source community has he made? His name doesn't ring a bell with me.

Where's the money.

[Stumbles]

So the big question is.... who is financing these guys?

Their community is so clueless

[budgenator]

that they don't even recognise what zope has to do with open source. Actually I think both side should get 20 whacks with the anti-trademark-abuse stick. A radio show and a blog talking about getting lawyers involved in a dispute over each using the words open source is about as pathetic as them fussing over one have the .com and the other the .net!

Re:OSM Is Chinese Communist Party Mouthpiece

[RobotRunAmok]

Um, Dood, you're citing DailyKos. Were FreeRepublic, DemocraticUnderground and Art Bell unavailable for comment?

"Hip" and "Cool"?

[Petersko]

...attempt to co-opt something "hip" and "cool" and totally out of context...

Oh please. I'm as much a geek as the next guy, but I'm not going to pretend there's anything "hip" or "cool" about open source.

I can see it now. "Hey baby. I'm hip. Check out my apache install. I'm so cool, I'm running linux. Now how about going back to your place? No? What... that guy? What's so great about him? Sure, he knows wines, plays tennis, and can dance, but seriously, isn't it cooler to know all the switches to the gnu c++ compiler?"

I'm not saying there's no appeal, but that appeal isn't widespread enough to cross into the realm of "hip" and "cool". We've all seen those terrible television spots where balding parents make terribly embarassing attempts to show how hip they are. Lets apply our adjectives a little more judiciously.

Re:OSM Is Chinese Communist Party Mouthpiece

[Doc Ruby]

Why should Chinese people be the only ones to be true to the propaganda that got their people to revolt against the old boss?

The Chinese Communists are a militaristic mafia. They have nothing to do with actual collectivism, destroying class structure, universal "ownership" banishing property, equal distribution of surplus labor. They're mafia capitalists, dictating the transformation of China into a moneymaking factory for their benefit and perpetuation of their power. That's rightwing: fascist corporatism government.

Re:Many of them are also shameless racists

[DrSkwid]

That's news, I wasn't aware Islam was a race.

Re:Many of them are also shameless racists

[Xcott Craver]

"Although I agree that Johnson is not explicit in his views, the rantings of genocide on his blog are normally entertained wholeheartedly by the other commentors to his posts."

Mine is a controversial view, but I've long ago decided that you can judge a political blog by its reader comments.

There are some politically slanted blogs whose authors claim to have no slant. But reading the comments, you can see what type of people resonate with the content. Since that is out of your control as a blogger, and since there are some really stupid people out there, it might upset you that I judge your blog by the people who comment on it. However, when it comes to political views, your exact words matter less than the theme of what you're saying. Posters carry the theme in different words.

Caj

Re:Open Source - just good name

[flood6]

One sector of OSS people tend to forget about is all the free software for web development like PHPNuke, PostNuke, Mambo/Jahhombala, and the countless others; large and small.

You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Gaming Clan Site based on phpBB or *Nuke. In nearly all those cases you could probably describe the webmaster as a "regular" OSS user. They're just the knob that got volunteered to maintain the site. They've likely had to patch their sites and at least install a template of some kind. Their sites would all be the same (some might argue that they are) if they couldn't access and modify the source they downloaded under the GPL or similar license.

I kind of think average OSS users interact with their source more often than someone might expect.

to finish the phrase

[QMO]

...when there are multiple corporations competing for business in the same market.

Political revolutions (and elections) are similar. During the revolution (and campaigning), any faction trying to gain market share does lots of things to convince people they're the "good guys." After the revolution (or election), the new holders of power stop trying to please, unless they're convinced that they could lose their position if people aren't satisfied.

I don't fully agree myself in this post, but I thought this observation should be mentioned.

Re:Ad-hominem attacks are for the logically impair

[IceAgeComing]

And Islamofascism is not a race--it's an ideology, a dark and sinister one that has spread terrorism throughout the ages. I would be surprised if you could find anyone who thinks the idea of a global caliphate is a good one!

There are many dark and sinister ideologies. I suggest you focus on those existing within your sphere of influence and let the peaceful practitioners of Islam confront theirs. I know you think you live in an enlightened society, but it is my belief that any society whose leaders condone violence as a legitimate tool of societal change are too close to the Dark Side.