Enterprise open source Toolkit

Story: What vendors really mean by 'open source'

Posted by: dogStar (Sunday 28 December 2008, 10:17 PM)

I think you miss the point

With respect, whatever your views on 'open source' I think you've missed the point of the article.

I've read it a couple of times and, whilst I think the author's categorisation is a little self-serving in places, the thrust of his argument is that the 'open source' label is not one size fits all.

For example, you could argue that Apple is a 'neo-proprietarist'. Afterall they've based OSX on FreeBSD (exploiting the BSD license) and have built their Safari browser on KHTML/Webkit. That means they're making plenty of money out of 'open source' as a development methodology.

Similarly, Google are a huge open source shop. They literally run on Linux, use Webkit for Chrome, distribute an open source licensed mobile platform (Android) etc. Google would not be as commercially successful if it wasn't for the open source phenomenon.

Your obvious cynicism is based on a rather myopic view of what 'open source' in business is.

If its a micro-business charging tuppence ha'penny for installing Linux servers in a mom-and-pop SME then, yes, I'd agree that *that* open source business model is not viable in the long term.

But, believe it or not, there are a growing number of serious, non-VC financed, services-based businesses leveraging open source technologies that are making decent returns. That's particularly true on the European continent. It would seem you're just not aware of them. Even with your connections.

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