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Open Season On Open Source?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the everyone-becomes-the-man-eventually dept.

conq writes "BusinessWeek has a piece looking at the possible future of open source. The article's conclusion is that it might be grim. From the piece: 'Software giant Oracle Corp. has acquired two small open-source companies and is in negotiations to buy at least one more. Many experts believe this is the beginning of a broader trend in which established tech companies scoop up promising open-source startups. While the validation is thrilling it's also unsettling. Many young idealists who set out to create an alternative to the tech Establishment now find themselves becoming part of it.'"

3 of 173 comments (clear)

  1. So to summarize the situation ..... by nblender · · Score: 4, Interesting
    So first you write some 'bitchin' code, license it so anyone can use it, even in a commercial product. Then when it gets popular, you decide to make some money off of it by offering consulting services. Then you become successful so someone bit wants to buy you.

    Now you're complaining? Millions of poets, the world over, would kill prose for such an opportunity.

  2. Self-delusion by ewe2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    They don't know what they're buying. They think if they buy an open-source company they're getting "open-source". They don't get a free community unless they understand it. They dont get the product they think they're getting. Software companies have been trying to make their customers be unpaid beta testers for years and frequently they think this is a cheaper shortcut to that end. They waste the community's effort. This isn't just the case with FOSS, it's generally the case with most company acquisitions, it's just more obviously idiotic with FOSS.

    --
    insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
  3. Hold on a minute here... by argoff · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let me get this straight, people are spending big money to buy up open source companies left and right and because of that we should be concerned about the future of open source?????

    How about an alternative view ..... once people figure out that they can make companies that are pratically guaranteed to get bought out at over valued prices or become profitable open-source ventures if they dont. And even better, chances are that 90% of the of the software they start their base off of is likely already developed. I wouldn't be supprised to see a nuclear explosion in the open source software industry bigger than the dot.com and the PC boom and the integtrated circuit boom combined.