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Economic Crisis Will Eliminate Open Source

An anonymous reader writes "The economic crisis will ultimately eliminate open source projects and the 'Web 2.0 free economy,' says Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur. Along with the economic downturn and record job loss, he says, we will see the elimination of projects including Wikipedia, CNN's iReport, and much of the blogosphere. Instead of users offering their services 'for free,' he says, we're about to see a 'sharp cultural shift in our attitude toward the economic value of our labor' and a rise of online media businesses that reward their contributors with cash. Companies that will survive, he says, include Hulu, iTunes, and Mahalo. 'The hungry and cold unemployed masses aren't going to continue giving away their intellectual labor on the Internet in the speculative hope that they might get some "back end" revenue,' says Keen."

21 of 753 comments (clear)

  1. Odd ... by zehaeva · · Score: 4, Funny

    Funny, I just passed by some article someplace saying the exact opposite. mmm where was that?

    1. Re:Odd ... by rugatero · · Score: 5, Funny

      It seems we're getting dupes from a parallel SlashDot.

      --
      This comment is for entertainment purposes only. Any similarity to real insight or information is purely coincidental.
  2. Re: I think we should be able to by Fast+Thick+Pants · · Score: 5, Funny

    I agree. I just read some of this tripe and I'd like to punch this guy right in his arrogant face.

    What, for free? That's valuable labor!

  3. Re:Just like... by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    BARMAN: Are you serious sir? I mean, do you really think the world's going to end this afternoon?
    FORD PREFECT: Yes. In just over one minute-and-thirty-five seconds.
    BARMAN: Well isn't there anything we can do?
    FORD PREFECT: No, nothing.
    BARMAN: Well I always thought we were meant to lie down and put a paper bag over our head or something.
    FORD PREFECT: If you'd like, yes.
    BARMAN: Well, will that help?
    FORD PREFECT: No. Excuse me I've got to find my friend.
    BARMAN: Very well then. Last orders please!

  4. Re:Just like... by jeffmeden · · Score: 5, Funny

    You should have SEEN what Linux and PHP were planning for the next release, right before the bubble burst. Let me just say two words: Flying Cars.

  5. Re: I think we should be able to by megamerican · · Score: 5, Funny

    What, for free? That's valuable labor!

    I'll count it as 1 hour of community service off of my sentence!

    --
    If you have something that you dont want anyone to know, maybe you shouldnt be doing it in the first place -Eric Schmidt
  6. Re:Just like... by I'm+not+really+here · · Score: 4, Funny

    ARTHUR DENT: I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

    --
    Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
  7. Re:Holy hell by gowen · · Score: 5, Funny

    But check out Wikipedia:

    Keen's Silicon Valley career began in 1995, with the founding of audiocafe.com, which received funding from Intel and SAP. The firm folded in January 2000. After the demise of audiocafe.com, Keen worked at Pulse 3D, SLO Media, Santa Cruz Networks, Jazziz Digital, Pure Depth and AfterTV, which he founded in 2005.

    Let's face it -- he's no amateur on this score. The guy knows something about failed Internet based industry, as he's founded at least two, and worked at four or five more.

    --
    Athletic Scholarships to universities make as much sense as academic scholarships to sports teams.
  8. Re:Just like... by dotancohen · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you want page numbers, I can dig them up when I get home.

    Wrong site, silly willy. On /. we mod, not dig.

    --
    It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
  9. Re: I think we should be able to by NitroWolf · · Score: 4, Funny

    I will donate $25 to his punch fund.

  10. Re:Yeah right. by cgenman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't it great how he posts this analysis on a site that gives it away for free?

    It's a good thing, too. I was just about install Linux on my laptop. Whew! Now that I know that Linux and other bits of Open Source software can't weather an economic downturn like private companies, I'm switching to BeOS.

    Ass.

  11. Re:Yeah right. by orclevegam · · Score: 5, Funny

    Segmentation Fault (Core Dumped)
    [ Google Ads: Great deals on Microsoft Debugger! ]
    -bash-3.00$ _

    --
    Curiosity was framed, Ignorance killed the cat.
  12. Re: I think we should be able to by truthsearch · · Score: 5, Funny

    So, what's the economic case for sex? What market good does it do?

    Child labor. Everything is done for economic value, so when I have kids they're going to run big hamster wheels in my basement to power the house. And when they get tired they can sit and make products that I'll sell over the internet.

  13. Re:Yeah right. by MrMista_B · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some men are women.:)

  14. Re:Yeah right. by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 4, Funny

    Some men can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

    Unless they're given

    one...
    million...
    dollars!

  15. Re:Yeah right. by Chris+Burke · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, that never happened, and you must now report to the Ministry of Corporate Truth to correct your obvious insanity.

    --

    The enemies of Democracy are
  16. Re:Yeah right. by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 5, Funny

    Am I the only one that wants to see a Batman / Austin Powers crossover?

    Hell yes. Even furries think that's weird.

    --
    Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
  17. Re:Yeah right. by polar+red · · Score: 5, Funny

    FOX ?

    --
    Yes, I'm left. You have a problem with that?
  18. *BSD is Dying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is official. Netcraft now confirms: *BSD is dying

    One more crippling bombshell hit the already beleaguered *BSD community when IDC confirmed that *BSD market share has dropped yet again, now down to less than a fraction of 1 percent of all servers. Coming on the heels of a recent Netcraft survey which plainly states that *BSD has lost more market share, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. *BSD is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last [samag.com] in the recent Sys Admin comprehensive networking test.
     
      You don't need to be the Amazing Kreskin [amazingkreskin.com] to predict *BSD's future. The hand writing is on the wall: *BSD faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for *BSD because
    *BSD is dying. Things are looking very bad for *BSD. As many of us are already aware, *BSD continues to lose market share. Red ink flows like a river of blood.
     
      FreeBSD is the most endangered of them all, having lost 93% of its core developers. The sudden and unpleasant departures of long time FreeBSD developers Jordan Hubbard and Mike Smith only serve to underscore the point more clearly. There can no longer be any doubt: FreeBSD is dying.
     
      Let's keep to the facts and look at the numbers.
     
      OpenBSD leader Theo states that there are 7000 users of OpenBSD. How many users of NetBSD are there? Let's see. The number of OpenBSD versus NetBSD posts on Usenet is roughly in ratio of 5 to 1. Therefore there are about 7000/5 = 1400 NetBSD users. BSD/OS posts on Usenet are about half of the volume of NetBSD posts. Therefore there are about 700 users of BSD/OS. A recent article put FreeBSD at about 80 percent of the *BSD market. Therefore there are (7000+1400+700)*4 = 36400 FreeBSD users. This is consistent with the number of FreeBSD Usenet posts.
     
      Due to the troubles of Walnut Creek, abysmal sales and so on, FreeBSD went out of business and was taken over by BSDI who sell another troubled OS. Now BSDI is also dead, its corpse turned over to yet another charnel house.
     
      All major surveys show that *BSD has steadily declined in market share. *BSD is very sick and its
    long term survival prospects are very dim. If *BSD is to survive at all it will be among OS dilettante dabblers. *BSD continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, *BSD is dead.
     
      Fact: *BSD is dying

  19. HAY GUYZ, WATCH UR LIVELIHOODS by spazdor · · Score: 4, Funny

    In the coming economic hardships, no one will be willing to troll for free anymore!

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
  20. Re:Blogs != News by Compuser · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think they were aiming for a dupe and accidentally came out fair and balanced.