Sun evidently thinks it can make money (and I agree) by creating and
Sun is by far the least offensive because of Java and their intention to
finally release Java as open source. But some of the things they do are
bewildering... like creating Sun Java Studio Creator and Sun Java Studio
Enterprise, but showing only the JDK Bundle with NetBeans upfront. I'm
happy that they're now offering Creator and Enterprise for free to
members, but why not just make one killer IDE and charge for training,
support, and conferences? I would love to see them go on a massive
global learning campaign in support of learning the language. IMHO, Sun
SHOULD be earning huge profits, and directing more attention to
destroying Microsoft based on an idea rather than from a product
(Hardware excluded). Focusing on the people, not the products, and I
think they would turn 100 times the profit, no?
IBM is adopting Linux because they can sell hardware
running it.
I am thankful for IBM, and have kept a career on most of their products
until now. I know that they support Linux and of course Eclipse, both
of which I am also thankful for. But at this point, couldn't they crush
their competitors by creating a better support model? I know some of
their customers that buy their products just for the name alone. I
guess what drives my rant is the fact that I have to pay heavily for the
products AND the support, and it seems they don't give a damn about
small business. Websphere? Workplace? Rational? Tivoli? All
excellent products, but Microsoft is still dominating small businesses
and personal computing.
As far as I know, neither Oracle nor especially Microsoft
are supporting any open source products and in Microsoft's case they
have actively tried to undermine Java if favor of their very closed
source .NET.
Oracle seems to support and embrace Java in all of their products. Like
IBM, I honestly can't say too much bad about them, except that I wish
they, too, would change a few things about their distribution and support.
I use a lot of open source products and, as far as I can, try to support
their development. But for my own company and our customers, there is no
way open source products will any time soon replace all the commercial
software they run.
What can't you replace, and why? I'll need to know when I start my
venture. And, in my spare time, if I can help you replace one product,
I will do it free of charge. Then, what would replacing all of the
products be worth to you? Anyone else interested? Who else on this
newsgroup will offer to help me help Jeff? If I can turn one person to
Open Source, I can turn two. Eventually, someone is going to pay.
One critical issue is support. If you are a medium to
large business and your application has a problem with either the OS or
the database, you want to be able to call someone who is responsible for
fixing your problem. With open source, you are dependent on newsgroups
or contacting a developer who is willing to help. I have tried calling
both Red Hat and Suse/Novell when I have had issues with Linux and if
the problem wasn't with their own small part of the distribution they
were of no help.
Finding support for open source seems to be the only reason that most
companies go with the brands. But have you ever sat on the phone with
IBM support. I don't know how many times I've called IBM for support on
Websphere and Lotus Domino, only to find that the solution was posted by
some Joe Schmoe message board. Have you ever tried to deal with
companies like Business Objects, Apple, or Dell? I've been on the phone
for hours and I've waited for patches for weeks. How about Microsoft?
No thank you... I took the plunge, and learned Linux and OpenOffice, and
I will never own a personal copy of Microshaft-Anything ever again, so
long as I live. All I am saying is that, sometimes, even when you pay
for support... are you really getting any? Would you rather have
outsourced support personnel over the phone from only God knows where,
or an in-house MIT graduate looking to pay for tuition or the beer and
strip-club fund?
One question I have is how do you intend to get money to support an open
source solutions company?
Jeff, I believe whole-heartedly that the previous response about
support in open source truly sets the stage. I believe open source
needs to become more organized, and people in this realm need to come
together more than they compete. Therefore, I see an unlimited earning
potential, and hope to start down that path, soon.
> If it's truly open source, why should anybody pay you?
> Jeff Coffield
Open Source should be the only way to go. Pay for hardware, time,
knowledge, and support - not products, or technology. RedHat, Apache,
Tigris, MySQL, JBoss, and SourceForge should be an example to everyone
who shares my vision. If anyone else is interested in an unlimited
earning potential using open source solutions please contact me. I just
want to know who is coming with me?
Sincerely,
Pavel
(e-mail address removed)
P.S. - Will work for food.
