Open Source Economics and Why IBM Is Winning

driehle writes "In an article published in IEEE Computer magazine I recently looked at the economics of open source. I argue that large system integrators will do best and that open source startups will keep struggling. For developers, open source creates independence and new career paths as committers, while non-committers will fall on hard times. The race is on!"

Re:Economics of Open Source - Bruce Perens

[jkrise]

Oops.. sorry, wrong link. Corrected here:

http://perens.com/Articles/Economic.html [perens.com]

Re:How is this different from any other business?

[morgan_greywolf]

It takes commitment, and that's one of the points of the article, I believe. Smaller businesses can succeed, but it takes an entrepreneur who's totally committed to the business. And by 'committed' I mean so committed that they should be committed. And large companies don't always do well. Kmart was once one of the top 5 largest retailers in the country -- until Wal*Mart and Target came in and ate their lunch. Ford Motor Co., just a few years ago, was the #2 automaker in the world. They've been supplanted by Toyota, and it's only getting worse for them.

Re:OSS only shifts the problem, dont solve anythin

[mark0]

IBM is winning because IBM sell hardware

Hate to burst your bubble, but IBM only makes a bit more on hardware than it does on software. IBM is winning because they sell services. Have a look at their 10-Q [edgar-online.com]

In millions:
Hardware: 5,583
Software: 4,406
Services: 12,017