On Thu, 7 Nov 2002 08:55:16 +0530 Prakash Shetty wrote:
See for yourself ... how worried they really are :-)
Aah! the TCO tune sounds really melodious! I wonder why portability/interop didn't figure in. Like, if you're an ASP/IIS/MS -SQL pro, you're stuck. But if you're a LAMP expert, it doesn't take much to be an expert in WAMP (Windows), SAMP(Solaris) and so on. That goes for a lot of FS/OSS since most of the GNU collection of software and other fundamental software like Apache, GTK, QT etc are available on several most used platforms.
However, note that the focus was on *deployment* while *development* was sidelined. Since it doesn't make sense for a company to survive on development alone, I guess, the future FS/OSS development would mostly take place in the Universities and hobbyists' free time. Large foundations like FSF, Apache etc. can also be sources of development since they can attract donors of money. Major hardware vendors like IBM and Sun could also foster a lot of development as they are indeed doing now. In short, the model of survival on development of mass-consumed software alone would not be able to continue in an FS/OSS environment. What do other members feel about this?