Letter
To The Editor 9/2/2004
The Value Of Small
ISVS
After
reading my report on LinuxWorld, Michael Grove, the CEO of Open
Country, a Linux infrastructure software company, wrote in to
comment that it would be too bad if the Linux market were finished
with small companies. But
you should read what he said:
One
sad thing about LW
[LinuxWorld] summary, it
was all big guys throwing their weight around.
I didn't see a word about
innovation, fresh marketing ideas,
etc. Linux is becoming a unified UNIX
and mostly a marketing label to
sell more stuff. This
is in contrast to the roots of
Open Source. [I believe that] for
every action [of] big
corporations consolidating
power, there is a reaction, like
more choices. Let's
hope so or watch US productivity
go down the drain.
Mike
Grove
Open Country
I
replied:
Mike,
I think you're right, but I also think
it's what's going on. Linux
is moving from a stage where it was all about little guys to a
stage where it's mostly about big guys.
That
doesn't mean there's no room for the little guys -- it means they
play a different role, creating innovations that will probably be
sold in partnership with big guys.
I
don't know whether that's better or worse, but it IS.
Amy
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