[ Thanks to Hugo
Gayosso for this link. ]
“It’s hard not to find the images attractive: Against the
bastions of corporate computing, idealistic young software
engineers fight for access to free software and an open, benevolent
technology community. But before developers and independent
software vendors (ISVs) get swept up by altruism and stake their
business to development of solutions on open source code, it’s
worth considering: Can you take free software to the bank?“Solution developers such as eOptimize increasingly find
themselves faced with pressure–from within and without–to develop
solutions on open source platforms such as Linux as the open source
movement receives media play and customers inevitably find the
promise of ‘free’ software irresistible.“I’ve listened to the arguments for open source computing, and
I’ve discussed the pros and cons of open source versus commercial
code with other developers and our company’s technical staff. But
aside from the warm and fuzzy appeal of working on communally based
software, does solution development on an open source platform make
business sense for either an ISV or its customers…?”