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Open Source vs. the Database Vendors

Posted by Hemos on from the the-battle-is-joined dept.

bhmit1 writes "BusinessWeek has another spread on open source this week. Among them is an article about open source vs. the database vendors which focused on how businesses are looking to save money with open source (rather than using the source to innovate). From the article: "The databases work fine, but as data volume grows, so do the checks to Oracle, IBM, or Microsoft. Many users aren't clamoring for more features, and some don't even use the bells and whistles they already paid for. They would happily trade some to get their hands on the source code and a better deal." Disclaimer: that quote came from Sony."

2 of 183 comments (clear)

  1. Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... which focused on how businesses are looking to save money with open source (rather than using the source to innovate).

    Duh. Isn't that the #1 draw for the majority of OSS users out there? Sure there are some that are in it for the politics and others who actually try to contribute, but let's face it, the majority of people use it because it's free (as in beer).

  2. Hands on source code by five18pm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the article: They would happily trade some to get their hands on the source code and a better deal.

    How many are there who would actually look at the source code of a database, work on it rather than develop new applications based on it? If database A works, then they are going to stick with database A until conditions change drastically. It hasn't happened now and doesn't seem like it will happen in the near future.