Comments on: Open Source 2009: It’s the Economy, Stupid. Or is it? http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7299/ Open Source, Open Standards Sat, 05 Oct 2013 13:48:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: jcschweitzer http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7299/#comment-6352 jcschweitzer Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7299/#comment-6352 The advantage of Open Source software is it is customer driven. It is seldom that anyone officially sells the use of open source. Even Open Source companies sales and marketing people are trying to sell a solution. While Open Source companies have an advantage in cost basis and margin, in this economy many sales and marketing types are cutting their profits to keep cash flow going and market share high. Open Source products, already the least risky for the customer, often the most stable and scalable, and likely the most cost efficient have to cut the least or at all to remain competitive. That's why a company like Red Hat is showing record profits. Competition from Linux caused Microsoft to cut the OEM price of its OS from the $50-70 range to $15 for netbooks. Zimbra's success in education is causing MS to offer hosted Exchange for free. I'm sure the traditional 80% margins of software companies are being squeezed in every negotiation. The advantage of Open Source software is it is customer driven. It is seldom that anyone officially sells the use of open source. Even Open Source companies sales and marketing people are trying to sell a solution. While Open Source companies have an advantage in cost basis and margin, in this economy many sales and marketing types are cutting their profits to keep cash flow going and market share high. Open Source products, already the least risky for the customer, often the most stable and scalable, and likely the most cost efficient have to cut the least or at all to remain competitive. That’s why a company like Red Hat is showing record profits. Competition from Linux caused Microsoft to cut the OEM price of its OS from the $50-70 range to $15 for netbooks. Zimbra’s success in education is causing MS to offer hosted Exchange for free. I’m sure the traditional 80% margins of software companies are being squeezed in every negotiation.

]]> By: hhemken http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7299/#comment-6353 hhemken Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.linux-mag.com/id/7299/#comment-6353 It has been over a dozen years since the mid-1990's, when the internet, the web, open source, ecommerce, Java, and many others of today's ho-hum tech mainstays were sexy and often enormously controversial. Today, one of the many sexy and enormously controversial tech resources that 15 years into the future will also be a ho-hum mainstay is, you guessed it, the GNU/Linux desktop.<br /> <br /> Are there issues and unsolved problems? Are there glaring holes? Will millions of minds need to change in the interim? Will drastic changes in commercial software development occur? Sure, no question. That's why these things take half a generation to come about.<br /> <br /> As the wise Louis Pasteur is quoted, "Chance favors the prepared mind." Did I mention that there will eventually be money involved? It has been over a dozen years since the mid-1990′s, when the internet, the web, open source, ecommerce, Java, and many others of today’s ho-hum tech mainstays were sexy and often enormously controversial. Today, one of the many sexy and enormously controversial tech resources that 15 years into the future will also be a ho-hum mainstay is, you guessed it, the GNU/Linux desktop.

Are there issues and unsolved problems? Are there glaring holes? Will millions of minds need to change in the interim? Will drastic changes in commercial software development occur? Sure, no question. That’s why these things take half a generation to come about.

As the wise Louis Pasteur is quoted, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Did I mention that there will eventually be money involved?

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