In 2005, Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems quipped that open
source software was "free like a puppy is free." Just as you can pick
out a puppy from the pound without paying expensive breeder fees, you can
download and use open source software without buying a single license. But
puppies become dogs, and dogs need food, toys, training and lots and lots of
love. Even with all this attention, there’s no guarantee your cuddly puppy
won’t develop a vicious streak. Will you need endless obedience classes and a chain
and muzzle to control it? The same goes for open source software. As soon as
you introduce open source into your organization, the real costs, commitments
and risks become clear. pemurray@interrasys.com wrote: Bruce,
Excellent and insightful article!!
Sybase has a fabulous product in PowerBuilder. It is a shame that developers are under pressure to move away from it. Your note that there may not be enough PowerBuilder developers is a chicken and egg problem for Sybase.
Sybase needs to be agressive in several areas to reverse the tide.
1) The pricing has to change. Would it not be better to have many thousands of people buying it for half of its current list price rather than rely on a h...
Dec. 6, 2009 05:33 PM EST
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