[Info-vax] A few tools for improving software security

[Lawrence D'Oliveiro]

On Mon, 22 Jan 2024 14:04:13 -0500, Stephen Hoffman wrote:

> Not gonna happen. Not until well after VSI is a whole lot bigger and a
> whole lot better funded, and is encountering some hard limits in their
> chosen hardware platform and tooling.

You tell me: either it is too late, or it’s not. If it is, then VMS is 
already essentially circling the plughole.

> And I still haven't heard a sales pitch for which kernel to pick, as
> Linux is but one of many fine choices. And GPL'd Linux quite possibly
> not the best choice for grafting a closed-source commercial platform.

Businesses like to take, but not give back, don’t they?

Many have criticized the GPL on this basis, but one thing it has helped to 
ensure is a level playing field. That’s why so many businesses have 
adopted GPL’d software, regardless of their earlier carping--because their 
competitors had done so, and they didn’t want to be left behind.

Compare the BSDs: there have been several startups over the years that 
took the BSD code and made it proprietary, because the licence allows you 
to do that. Most startups fail, as you may know. When those startups 
failed, their proprietary code died with them. And so the BSD ecosystem 
lost yet another bit of its lifeblood.

But when startups build their product on GPL’d code, then if/when they 
die, their code lives on, perhaps to fertilize the soil where another 
startup can grow.