Enterprise open source Toolkit

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Story: Shadow chancellor slams government over open source

Posted by: andrewdonoghue (Thursday 8 March 2007, 2:56 PM)

Open source bad for business?

Some interesting thoughts there from PJC but not sure I follow your logic entirely – actually not at all really. You seem to be saying that open source is somehow going to undermine the UK economy? I am not sure what evidence you're basing that on but the fact that traditionally proprietary companies such as IBM for example are doing very nicely from open source probably means that it is not going to kill our competitiveness anytime soon.

For the most part open source is free as in 'free exchange of ideas' - not as in no-cost.

And I really don't get your argument that people aren't applying for IT degrees because of open source software. The two issues are not related in the slightest. Applications for IT degrees are falling because of a long-term problem the IT industry has with its image – something that the innovation and creative energy around open source could actually improve. If anything, the rise of open source should encourage more people to enter the IT industry in the long term.

As for India and China, I am not completely clear on what you're claiming but you seem to be saying that these countries are going to use open source as a way to avoid paying Western makers of proprietary software? Well, I guess you are right in some ways – they have thriving IT industries – which in India's case has probably overtaken most European countries in terms of productivity.

In China's case, piracy of proprietary applications is endemic but is being tackled by the Chinese government developing open source alternatives which don't incur the restrictive license fees charged by most Western software makers. So replacing piracy with legal applications – which don't admittedly give fat kick-backs to Western companies – seems to be a positive move. Pl

And the truth is that Western companies are doing well from the Chinese market – the land grab of the last few years was clear evidence that there is money to be made in China and plenty of it. Microsoft, IBM and other have invested huge amounts in China with the clear expectation that they will get it back.

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