Gartner doles out sobering predictions for open source over next 5 years

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Meaningless corporate clap-trap

Problem with reports such as this one is that, while they sound smart at the surface, I have to admit that once I dig deeper I realize than I have no idea what the report is saying.

Article:
That?s according to Gartner Group predictions for 2009, which claims that over the next few years most companies using open source won?t manage those assets correctly and most won?t achieve any cost savings over proprietary software.

Manage open source assets? You mean burned copy of Ubuntu? Perhaps some kind of contract you paid to Red Hat is an asset? How do you manage that?

Article:
Through the end of 2011, fewer than 50 percent of global IT organizations will have implemented a formal open source adoption and management policy.

What is formal open source adoption and management policy? You mean I just cannot install software as I need it and I need a plan in a binder sitting on a shelf somewhere?

Article:
?Do not expect to automatically save money with OSS or any technology without effective financial management,?

You mean that unless I track the money I am saving, I will not be saving any money? Is it something like monetary Schr?dinger principle?

Article:
Driver writes. ?Do expect to carefully manage open source solutions in the appropriate scenarios to realize total cost of ownership advantages. ?

I think that this means that I have to manage open source software under right circumstance to save money. Still not clear though.

Open source is like brushing teeth, often times you do not see the benefit, but it is there. I use Ubuntu at home. I tried several different distributions over time before settling on Ubuntu. Imagine driving to the store, buying several different proprietary OS-es and trying them out? That would be major expense and pain, but if you use Open Source, it is just an after-though. Same thing is true with applications; I can install and uninstall Applications and not worry about licenses, file format or lock-in. All these savings in time and productivity you can't really put into an accounting ledger.

Posted by: hamobu   Posted on: 01/05/09  (Edited: 01/05/2009 @ 12:43) You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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