Dismissing the open source bear at the door

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Repercussions

I appreciate your clear and honest discussion of a personal view. Disagreement is impossible, because it is personal.

Still, a couple of points to consider.

The dot-bomb did lead to the loss of a number of companies reliant on open source.

The lesson learned was well stated as, You can't give away your main product and survive.

For IBM, open source is not the main product. For Red Hat, Linux is sold, not given away.

So these companies can live. Others, more dependent, may be in more trouble.

A significant die-off is better than extinction. Slightly.


Second, a company can be purchased.

Would you be surprised if Oracle purchased Red Hat or Dell purchased Sun?

The advantages of proprietary at a time when cash is at a premium can help accelerate the process of consolidation which has already continued for so long in IT.

Open source projects of commercial significance can survive as wholly owned subsidiaries of proprietary companies.

That may in fact be their best hope.

Posted by: Anton Philidor   Posted on: 11/12/08 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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