Reflections on Open Source Commerce, Pt. 1

“It has been more than two years since the Yin and Yang article
was published on LinuxPlanet, a long time in the information and
communications technology world. The purpose of that article was to
highlight the opportunity for greater entrepreneurial focus to gain
broad, fast adoption of Linux and open source computing solutions.
Absent significant market uptake on the personal computer (desktop
and laptop) of Linux and/or open source products, goods, or
services, those who measure market share will continue to ignore
these as irrelevant to most users.

“The process of gaining wide market share for Linux and open
source solutions is challenging. The information technology (IT)
market is littered with obstacles to success. Even well entrenched
market leaders can be negatively impacted by these. The release of
Microsoft Vista has shown that negative market forces can hold back
even the heavy-weights of the IT game. A bad move, whether real or
imagined can significantly alter the course of events. Bad press,
or news of potential litigation can really place a damper on a
product launch. Everyone who brings a product or service to market
is subject to market forces that may exert a control that goes
beyond that expected.

“Much has changed in the IT world over the past two years. In
this article we consider a few of the key developments over this
period within the context of opportunity for getting the open
source solution offering right to enable them to gain rapid market
penetration. It is the author’s hope that the statistics and
opinions presented here will inspire you to help create the
personal computing future that you would wish for…”

Complete
Story