SkyOS faces choice of go open source or go away

Thom Holwerda of OSNews writes in a piece called "chasing butterflies" he used to be part of the SkyOS community but left because lead developer Robert Szeleney never managed to finish anything.

The software has been proprietary, but the main advantage of taking it open source would seem to be getting it out of Szeleney's hands. Before announcing the development halt Friday, the most recent news on the OS had been dated September.

While nothing is the most likely result, the open source option deserves serious consideration. There are many advantages to it, especially for a project like this.

It might be fun if developers got a chance to look at SkyOS, tweak it, kick it around and see if there really is a "there" there. And it might even help Szeleney to be part of a community rather than isolated and pretending to be an entreperneur.

I write the word pretend advisedly, knowing that it may appear hurtful. But an honest examination of the situation leads me to no other conclusion. And it pains me to write this. My own father had to be literally pulled out of his failing business in the 1990s, and it killed him.

But that's the difference between a small business, or an obsession, and a truly entrepreneurial business. An entrepreneur can look at his business with clear eyes, see its weaknesses as well as its strengths, and let it go. Small businessmen often can't.

Given the choice between staying lost and isolated or seeking the light of community, open source seems like much the best option for SkyOS.