Don’t get me wrong. I am all for open source applications. I use LAMP regularly and this blog site is using wordpress application, which is an open source app anyway.
Yet, sometimes I do worry about it. "Microsoft" used to be the most feared word in the software industry. Now, the "Open Source" wakes up every executives at night.
"Open source" has created powerful forces that are hitting every software company on this planet.
1. Open source is the invisible hand that drives the "software as a service" vision. People now can have software for free, service is the only way to keep them paying.
2. Open source is creating a culture of "growing up faster" for startups or innovative applications, before anyone release a similar software in open source.
3. Open souce is pushing existing players to file more patents and be more vigilant about protection. Not doing so could cost those companies their lunch money.
4. Open source also means less revenue and nimble existence. There will never be another Microsoft in the world. (Don'’t mention google and yahoo to me, one is an advertising company and one is a media company, neither is a software company in the true sense.)
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