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If Oracle Bought Every Open Source Company

Posted by kdawson on from the gedanken-experiment dept.

An anonymous reader points out Glyn Moody's thought experiment: what if Oracle bought up the entire open source ecosystem? Who would win, who would lose? And how might an open ecosystem grow in the wake of such an event? "Recently, there was an interesting rumour circulating that Oracle had a war chest of some $70 billion, and was going on an acquisition spree. Despite the huge figure, it had a certain plausibility, because Oracle is a highly successful company with deep pockets and an aggressive management. The rumour was soon denied, but suppose Oracle decided to spend, if not $70 billion, say $10 billion in an efficient way: how might it do that? One rather dramatic use of that money would be to buy up the leading open source companies — all of them."

12 of 237 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 2, Funny

    We'll start the bidding at -$5.00

    (Yes, you pay us to take you over)

  2. What If . . . by hardburn · · Score: 5, Funny

    What if squirrels had wings and shot cruise missiles out of their tail? That's about as grounded in reality as Oracle buying up everything.

    --
    Not a typewriter
    1. Re:What If . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      What if squirrels had wings and shot cruise missiles out of their tail?

      I'm intrigued by your ideas, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter...

    2. Re:What If . . . by ozbird · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Again?! That trick nevers works."

  3. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by igny · · Score: 4, Funny

    We'll start the bidding at -$5.00

    (Yes, you pay us to take you over)

    I bid -$10.00.

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    In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. - Yogi Berra
  4. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by chemisus · · Score: 3, Funny

    do i hear a -$15.00?

  5. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by Surt · · Score: 3, Funny

    So now we're in a price-is-right bidding war, trying to find the largest sum that Gordonjcp can afford to pay to have his company taken over, without going over (after all, if he can't pay up, it'd really be wrong of him not to reject your bid). -$50,000.00!

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
  6. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by jgagnon · · Score: 4, Funny

    I bid negative infinity squared!

    Wait... erm... nevermind.

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    Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
  7. 'Acquire' free software? by bluhatter · · Score: 3, Funny

    $10B for open source software? They do know they can download it for free... right?

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    bluHatter
  8. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You want cubed - that will retain the sign.

  9. Re:Hi. I'm an open-source developer. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You're not fooling anyone. You can be replaced by about 10 MS Word templates.

  10. You sound like a worse salesperson than him by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    there's a reason oracle bought mysql; it's the superior product bar none. And it takes high paying DBA jobs away from oracle admins.