# Tuesday, February 21, 2006
« February Geek Dinner | Main | Windows Vista versions »
Open Source Bubble?

I just read an opinion piece at http://www.onstrategies.com/filesnew/perspectives/perspectivescurrent.html that has a quote about the Open Source Software business model and likens it to the Internet bubble that we experienced not that long ago. The relevant quote is:

Does mean that open source has finally become a viable business?
 
According to a Forbes online filing, the answer's no. Likening the open source rush to
the dot com bubble, Forbes says that this time around, customers are also placing
themselves at risk. According to an eWeek account of an elite CIO panel last fall, few
considered open source technology or business models adequately proven.
 
The Forbes article added that open source wasn't such a great deal for vendors either.
"Problem is, most people just take the free stuff and run." Exhibit A? Barely 3% to 5% of
JBoss customers buy support contracts.

The article then goes on to talk about 3 different OSS models. I found it very interesting reading.

Technology
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 7:58:20 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)  #    Disclaimer  |  Comments [2]  |  Related posts:
Dragged kicking and screaming into the technology world
Does Microsoft Have to be Cool to Be Relevant?
Intellectual Property and the Internet
19 Reasons Why Microsoft is Huge with Developers (and 1 Reason Why Not)
Oracle to Buy Sun – A New Platform Contender
2009 Predictions
 Tracked by:
"sports betting odds" (sports betting odds) [Trackback]
"online casinos" (online casinos) [Trackback]
"insurance comparison" (insurance comparison) [Trackback]
"phentermine" (phentermine) [Trackback]
"visa platinum card" (visa platinum card) [Trackback]
"austin hotels" (austin hotels) [Trackback]
"party poker deposit bonus" (party poker deposit bonus) [Trackback]
"roulette uk" (roulette uk) [Trackback]
"new york refinance" (new york refinance) [Trackback]
"online pharmacy phentermine" (online pharmacy phentermine) [Trackback]
"free credit reports" (free credit reports) [Trackback]
"blowjobs" (Jackson_Blog) [Trackback]
"mature sex" (mature sex) [Trackback]
"cumshot" (cumshot) [Trackback]
"incest porn" (incest porn) [Trackback]
"incest porn" (incest porn) [Trackback]
"lesbian sex" (lesbian sex) [Trackback]
"shemale porn" (shemale porn) [Trackback]
"Europe Hotels" (Cheap Hotels) [Trackback]
"discount hotels" (cheap hotels) [Trackback]
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 8:59:15 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)
Where Open Source does seem to make a lot of 'non-bubble' sense is hardware vendors. You won't find a non-Linux embedded OS running on almost any wifi switch or router. They can use it as long as they make the source open, and since they're selling hardware, if people hack their devices, they tend to sell *more* devices, not less.

Also, the Forbes piece is referring mainly to businesses SELLING open source software and / or improving it and selling the improved version.

Any closed-source businesses have the same issue, except that it isn't a competitor trying to put them out of business, it's Microsoft. MS has copied many profitable apps and rolled them into the OS (not that I think it's wrong, but going closed-source is no panacea to being run out of business by a bigger fish).

Most companies using Open Source aren't making it and selling it, but using it for their infrastructure, which is pretty proven and safe. When you consider equivalent software stacks, and the MS solution costs you $60k, and the F/OSS solution costs you $6k, there's a lot of sense being made. If an app does what it needs to do, and you have the source, who cares if the company providing it goes out of business? At least with open source, you have the source to fix bugs on the codebase...

Ryan
Ryan
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 9:24:39 AM (Mountain Standard Time, UTC-07:00)
Oh, I know Scott'll tear me a new one if I don't include the URLs of the referenced TCO findings...

http://www.levanta.com/linuxstudy/index.shtml
http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/0,14179,2907876,00.html

Disclaimer: I'm not generally a MS basher, although I am a bit pissed at MS this week, as a friend of mine had to buy a new OEM copy of XP after replacing a bad motherboard on a machine that had OEM XP pre-installed...

Ryan
Ryan
Comments are closed.