free software community

IT World: "There is a distinct undercurrent in the private conversations I have had on this issue that the free software community has reaped what it has sown, and now needs to pay for its earlier approach."

Paul Rouget: If you're part of the Free Software community or the Open Web community, you're welcome to come to the Mozilla offices, take a seat, and talk to us.

Linux Pro Magazine: "I admit that I often do refer to the community. So, since I believe in never leaving an assumption unquestioned, I started wondering: Does such a thing exist?"

Datamation: "The Free Software Foundation is having a video contest on the subject "Why is free software important to you?" It's a timely topic, with Windows 7 just out and with the free software community's bickering so bitter as of late that common goals sometimes seem in danger of being forgotten"

One of the striking aspects of the free software community is its obsession with licences. It's as if within every hacker there's a lawyer struggling to get out.

But maybe it's not so surprising; as Larry Lessig reminded us, “code is law”, and the reverse is also true in the sense that the licence adopted has a big impact on how the software is produced.

LWN.net: "The free software community has produced a wealth of tools for the manipulation of image data. For simple changes, such as cropping, resizing, or basic contrast tweaking, any of a number of programs can be used."

Free Software Foundation press release: "The Free Software Foundation will host a mini-summit on Women in Free Software to discuss how the free software community can cultivate and increase participation by women in free software's development and activism communities."

Datamation: "What happened at a recent desktop conference points out unresolved issues in the free software community about leadership and sexism -- issues that many prefer to remain silent about rather than confront."

WorksWithU: "Discussions of Ubuntu with people outside (and sometimes inside) the free-software community often devolve into criticism of Linux advocates as arrogant elitists, endlessly singing the praises of their operating system of choice but frightening away potential new users with their snobbish and intolerant attitudes."

Photosynth is one of the most exciting programs I've seen in a long time.

It takes a group of photos, typically of a single geographical location, but possibly taken at different times by different people, analyses them for similarities, and then stitches then together into a smooth-flowing, pseudo-3D panorama.

It's really great. Just two problems. One: it won't run on GNU/Linux; and two: it's from Microsoft, and so is unlikely ever to do so.

My question is this: Why didn't the free software community come up with Photosynth first?