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SAP Exec Disparages Open Source As IP Socialism

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the code-envy dept.

FlorianMueller writes "According to a VNUnet report, Shai Agassi, the president of the product and technology group at SAP, disparaged open source as 'more likely to break applications' than to deliver innovation. He also equated the open-source development model with 'Intellectual property [IP] socialism,' which he says 'is the worst that can happen to any IP-based society.' In Europe, it isn't a secret that SAP's management primarily views open source as a threat to its business, and that SAP is politically on Microsoft's side. SAP and Microsoft co-financed certain pro-patent lobbying activities in Europe, and recently co-founded the European Software Association, an entity that is expected to lobby for software patents and against open-source adoption by European governments."

4 of 498 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Bogeyman... by pubjames · · Score: 4, Informative

    Yes, the amusing thing is that most standard of living indexes (by the Economist, World Bank, UN etc) the USA is often beaten by countries with quite socialist systems.

  2. SAP by zaguar · · Score: 3, Informative
    In case you didn't know, SAP is a closed-source firm that sells super-expensive specialized software for BIG enterprise.

    The costs are typically astronomical to start with, but the costs just go up as you need a band of specialized software liason managers to manage the system.

    Just so you know where they are coming from. My take? Bullshit/FUD from another closed-source software vendor.

    http://www.sap.com/index.epx/

    --
    "Sure there's porn and piracy on the Web but there's probably a downside too."
  3. SAP should tell SAP it doesn't work... by MosesJones · · Score: 4, Informative


    Interestingly of course SAP has actually had a history of doing Open Source, including releasing its own product (sapdb, now MaxDB) and certifying R/3 on Open Source platforms including Linux, and the MaxDB database. They probably also use some of the Apache libraries in Netweaver.

    So far from breaking their product suite SAP actually enable you to rely on Open Source to deliver the sort of availability you'd expect from a proper ERP.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  4. SAP uses open source by Aussie · · Score: 5, Informative

    In the SAP web shop you will find Python and Apache struts. They also open sourced their RDBMS.
    I can't logon on to work at moment and check (UPS maint), but it is full of it.

    It is possible this bloke doesn't speak for the whole company.