On Saturday 14 June 2003 18:09, Saswata Banerjee & Associates wrote:
Corporate decision makers are not interested in idiology. They are interested only in what makes business sense, money made or saved. They will always decide on terms of profits and margins and how GNU/Linux will help them in increasing value and profits
actually they are conditioned to redistributing wealth to their own advantage. Only a handful of Indian corporates are engaged in creating wealth . IMHO creating wealth happens only when you provide new and innovative products and services. This entails RISK. Having sat on the fat of their Ass for the better part of 50 yrs and bled the Indian consumer to death, taking risks of the type very common in industrialised and capitalist societies are very un palatable.
I think we should accept that fact. Even if they are using Linux and
OSS
only because of that, and that they do not bother about FS
idiologies,
increased user base for GNU/Linux helps the cause. An increased
user base
makes it worthwhile for companies and software developers to work on
the
platform even on commercial basis. Finally it is important for
people to
make money out of Linux, whether it is through creating software or providing services and support.
I am not saying abandon the FS idiology. Keep harping on it in
private
meetings and disucssion with corporate users. Keep talking of it in conferences and seminars. Out of the large user base who are now
using
GNU/Linux because it is OSS, there will be some who will understand
and
appreciate the idiology and will contribute to it. That is enough.
Starting
an open "campaign" and trying to convince people to move from OSS to
FLOSS
would probably be counterproductive.
OSS is a disaster in the making Corporations and individuals like SCO are the result.
Who cares if corporates do or do not use GNU/Linux. The wise ones will. The others are not worth wasting time on.
Rather than pursuing corporates it is very important to ensure that all publicly available documents and services are available in formats that are completely open. If closed software companies pursue corporates / individuals for licences, they will be automatically shooting them selves in the leg. If they do not pursue licences they will be shooting themselves in the leg anyway. Also as a share holder in a corporate question them about the IT budget and the wisdom in blowing up share holders money.
What is needed is not big guys like IBM and RedHat,
Talking of Redhat and Linux ver 9.0. I know of several individuals who are / were undergoing Redhat certification courses. All of them referred to GNU/Linux as Linux 8.0, 8.1 etc. It seems that Redhat makes no attempt to convey the values and processes on which they rely for their very survival. Not suprising. There is conflict in the business model for Redhat.
whom small companies will not approach due to cost consideration or the fear that they
will be
marginal clients for them and therefor not given much attention.
What is
instead needed is a whole set of smaller (but highly reliable and
available)
companies that can support SMEs. That is the reason why Microsoft
succeeded.
Absolutely. A well trained software engineer has absolutely no need for REDhat or Suse. As Linux spreads, local service will be provided by individuals and small firms. Where does that leave Redhat and Suse. IBM has increased it's hardware value proposition by embracing Linux. Suse has the German government to play ball with. Redhat is seeding it's own demise - the more popular it becomes the lesser is it's percieved value. Incase of Microsoft the proprietory nature of it's software ensures that it gains from spreading.
There are thousands of people in Mumbai who are in a position to
install,
support and solve problems and write programs for windows system.
At least superficially.
Small companies do not hire full time or inhouse EDP support staff
or
programmers if they can help it. The growth of linux will come more
from
small companies rather than from large enterprises who have the
money to put into windows system in any case.
You said it. But will they make money. Not very much. Infact GNU/Linux will become so stable and usable that it would require very negligible support. That would leave only one segment. Customised software.
rgds jtdsouza@softhome.net