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9 Open Source Companies to Watch

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the but-not-very-hard dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A look at 9 open source companies to watch, focusing on everything from systems management to portals to apps servers. " Silly bits like where their names come from to less silly bits like how much VC they got and what they actually do. I haven't heard of many of these, but it's encouraging to see a growing number of businesses being built around Open Source.

2 of 122 comments (clear)

  1. Besides Red Hat by lottameez · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are there any other open source based companies besides Red Hat that are actually profitable? I don't mean this to be flamebait, just wondering.

    I was at a conference a few months ago sitting in an Open Source track, and the panel of Open Source vendors basically said that the best chance of success in the open source business was to be renamed Red Hat and to have come about about six years ago.

    --
    Yeah? Well I think you're overrated too.
  2. Re:N3P - The #1 Open Source company to watch! by DerekLyons · · Score: 4, Interesting
    intrepid two-year college level training in how to become a successful Project Entrepreneur
     
    Entrepreneurship is something that, almost by definition, can't be taught, because it involves identifying how to use resources no one had before thought to identify. If you can systematize the method, it's not longer entrepreneurship, but a rote process.

     
    Hardly.
    • Cooking, for example, is deeply systemized - but it's hardly rote. Considerably experience and knowledge is required to routinely produce great dishes. (I can hand you a recipe - and even with that experience and knowledge you might not be able to duplicate it. My sister, who is a trained chef, cannot (yet) duplicate several of my dishes.)
    • Chess is deeply systemized - but it takes considerable skill to know how and when to apply a specific tactic, or a counter to a specific tactic (after learning how to recognize it).
    • Military tactics and doctrine are deeply systemized - but it's decidely nontrivial to apply those in real situations. When the SSBN I served on went on patrol, we carried a shelf of books nearly five feet long detailing the tactics, doctrine, and philosophy of conducting a deterrent patrol as well as general submarine operations - but it takes years to master the material and know when to follow 'the book' and when to 'punt' (go your own way).
    Now, I'll agree with you that you cannot teach how to identify opportunities - but you can codify how to search for, evaluate, and exploit them.