"...Some would say that we're actually being too charitable in
letting Microsoft Group Vice President Jim Allchin restate his
original remarks on the open-source model. As quoted in an
interview that Allchin surely must regret, he warned that "open
source is an intellectual property destroyer," adding, "I can't
imagine something that could be worse...for the software business."
We disagree, vehemently, with that original statement."
"If anything, open source has the potential to bring the
software industry back to the marketplace, following a decade in
which one company determined what innovations would take place,
when and at what price. Many IT buyers are discouraged by the
resulting accumulation of complex features, piled atop an unsteady
foundation of aging but inaccessible proprietary code."
"In consequence, the software business is suffering, with savvy
IT buyers regarding "upgrades" with suspicion and with individual
buyers literally afraid to install new applications on currently
working systems. The hardware business is showing sympathetic
distress."
