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It's a lot riskier, of course, to summarize the future than to review the past. And it especially helps to have a firm grip on the present -- a quality, alas, that in this instance the Industry Standard does not display with respect to Linux.

First we're told that "Stories about the open-source movement that nurtured Linux are never complete without the sweetly naive and mildly socialist comments of hackers who haven't completely bought into the market-driven economy paradigm in which the rest of us dwell." Then we get a quote from one of these "sentimental nerds." In a story that actually has been published already, Art Tyde, executive vice president of the Linux support company, LinuxCare, suggests to the San Jose Mercury News that "it might be a good idea for Red Hat to give a chunk of stock to a free software-development organization."

"Let's see if Red Hat is as sentimental as the hackers," concludes the Media Grok missive -- which is headlined "Money for Linux: The Press Wants Irony."

Oops. Never mind that Red Hat already valiantly, if not successfully, attempted to divert a chunk of stock to free software developers. And never mind that LinuxCare is a major competitor to Red Hat, and any statement by one of its senior execs ought to be viewed as coming from a fierce Red Hat rival, and not a "sentimental hacker." The most ironic tidbit that Media Grok misses here is that LinuxCare is itself a primary recipient of substantial Kleiner-Perkins venture capital. More than most Linux companies, LinuxCare is the epitome of "the market-driven economy in which the rest of us dwell" -- a VC-backed, fast-growing start-up.

It sure would be nice if the Standard started successfully predicting the media future -- it would save the rest of the media a hell of a lot of time. But maybe the Media Grok writers should read a few more of the culture-clash stories that have already been published before telling us what we will be reading about Linux tomorrow.
salon.com | August 10, 1999

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