Open Source vs. Profit: Google Android (iPhone 3G), Linux (Microsoft Vista)
Filed under: Computers, Software
The world of software for computers, cell phones and other gadgets has been changing to benefit the consumer for a while now and today change is moving faster than ever. Thanks to the world of Open Source we have many options to get great software for free, sadly not every consumer knows this and still decide to buy software that can be downloaded in a similar form for free thanks to Open Source.
There are many factors to think about when considering Open Source vs. For Profit software, but one of the biggest and prominent examples of free software and open source development would be the Linux operating system. This alternative to Microsoft Vista is free and if you get it installed with laptops then you will save a lot of money off the price, just look at the Eee PC.
You may not want to change all the underlying source code of Linux, but if you choose that option, you can. There are some benefits to buying Vista, but are these still worth the price compared to today’s versions of Linux?
Open Office is another software package that is available thanks to open source, this project gives you some free to download software that’s compatible with all other major office suites. This software is packed with features including databases, graphics, presentations, spreadsheets and word processing. You are able to read and write files from some of the top office software packages.
When it comes to the cell phone world it has been rocked since the launch of the Apple iPhone and this has a lot to do with the expandability of the device and with the 3G iPhone coming this year, things will only get better. When it comes to phones another application is about to rock that world and this will be from the Open Handset Alliance.
This is a group of more than 30 mobile and technology companies, they have joined to give the very first “complete, open and free mobile platform”. When Google Android hits the market later this year we will see it become a direct competitor to the iPhone, what will the outcome bring?
Open source will keep growing and as it makes its way to more devices in our homes like Linux, the user will want more open source software for the savings it brings. How has Open Source affected your life?
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The biggest problem that I have with the open source ecosystem is that it obfuscates its commercial motives behind this banner of altruism. The attempted distinction between commercial vs. open-source, with the implication that open source is somehow not commercial, is a red herring.
Open-source is also commercial. Look at the companies behind Linux – IBM, Google, Oracle, Sun, Novell, Red Hat. Does anyone really believe their support of Linux is altruistic or that they’re motivated by the distribution of “free” software? If profit is not their motive, someone better tell their shareholders!
Under what terms does Google license Linux? How much does it “give back”? I’m suggesting that it is highly selective as to what it “gives back” to the open source community, and makes these decisions based on its own self-interest, not out of some altruistic motive. Google search algorithms are deeply guarded secrets, and its vaunted server farm architecture is “proprietary”. Is there anything wrong with this? Of course not. Just don’t pretend that you’re somehow better than the “commercial” vendors because you promote open source development opportunistically.
That’s my .02!
Martin Suter
BLOG: http://www.iplicensing.net
Martin you clearly do not under stand the meaning of open source, no offense but I think u should get ur facts right before pointing an accusing finger.
Most of these companies have reached where they are through perfecting open source products, so I dont see any thing wrong with them giving back alittle.
No offense Kenn, but I’ve been in the commercial software business for the past 20 years and absolutely understand open source. You seem to have missed the point of my article completely. We’re in agreement that “most of these companies have reached where they are through perfecting open source.” That’s actually my point – they are able to take advantage (exploit?) the work product of thousands of developers without compensating them for their IP.
In this sense, it’s an asymmetrical relationship, with these companies being net takers rather than net contributors to the open source community. They are commercial entities with the objective of making a profit not charities with the objective of improving society. As a capitalist, I am for all about the profit motive, but it’s their flying a false banner of altruism that I find to be hypocritical.
That’s my .02.
wow, the captcha says ‘ikea’, very clever…. yea I know perhaps next week.
The funny thing about open source is that it costs money! Companies have figured out that it is sometimes better to band together than to compete outright which causes greater unrecovered cost. The early days of unix is a great example of how a unified idea can be soured when companies attempt to compete against one another and differentiate it as a means to gain lock-in. The technology dies.
So in the face of apple to attempt to compete against that alone is foolish because they’ve already got a strangle hold on the market.
The biggest loser in the face of android is microsoft. If I were microsoft I would start winding down that staff now rather than fight a losing battle. Or perhaps the market is too small to really matter.