MESSAGE
| DATE | 2005-08-12 |
| FROM | From: "Inker, Evan"
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] Unhappiness drives open source adoption
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Unhappiness drives open source adoption
10th August 2005
By Rhonda Ascierto
http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=2BF1A6B8-C974-42DD-8903-75819
3AE36BF
A common reason why more governments and enterprises around the world are
moving to open source software is unhappiness, it was revealed during a
panel discussion at the LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco yesterday.
Google Inc open source programs manager Chris DiBona said the search giant
has stuck with Linux throughout the company's life, in part, because it was
unhappy with the terms of another software company.
For instance, DiBona pointed out that if Google used Windows, or any other
non-open source software program, to make changes to that system he would be
required to essentially ask permission from that vendor. "Why should we hand
over the control of our software support to another company?"
Other benefits of Linux for Google was being able to determine exactly what
was running on any server at any given time and being able to plan what kind
of power that machine would have, according to DiBona. This would not be
possible, he said, using proprietary software. "Worse than that, if I want
to expand ... I have to rip things out. But why would I want to spend money
on something for which I only want to use a small part?"
While showing a slide show of Google's hardware evolution, which began
humbly with an odds-and-ends collection of "spare computers that were lying
around Stanford" (hobbled together, literally, with pieces of Lego and duct
tape) and ended with a present-day photo of Google's current server room
(darkened to the point of being indistinguishable, for competitive reasons),
DiBona said Google has used Linux all the way.
Research firm and LinuxWorld sponsor IDC projects Linux revenue would reach
$35bn worldwide within the next three years. "It's growing twice as fast as
Windows," said CEO of Open Source Development Labs Inc Stuart Cohen. "If
you're skeptical, just visit the SAP booth -- here for the first time at
LinuxWorld."
More governments in the US and elsewhere are adopting Linux and to help pave
the way are striking down software patent legislation, said Red Hat VP of
corporate affairs Tom Rabon. During the past few months, governments in
India and the European Union have struck down software patents and the US
Congress is currently considering patent reform, Rabon said.
In addition to reducing total IT purchase costs, governments in several
countries have opted for Linux as an economic development decisions, he
said. "They hope that open source would encourage [the] growth of an
indigenous software industry," he said.
Also, "Unhappiness with the United State's lead in software" is driving some
countries' governments to move toward open source, Rabon said. Some
governments see open source as "a way to move away from US-based software
company products," he said.
More than 125 national open-source policies have been proposed worldwide
during the past few years, Rabon said. Governments are using open source to
run applications, entire agencies and, in some cases, entire governments. He
highlighted the Venezuelan government's decree on July 13 that within 90
days all government institutions in the country must present a migration
plan to move to open source software. "This is a presidential mandate ... so
we think it's going to happen," he said.
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