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Dilution, Not Commercialisation, is the Problem of Open Source (Corrected)

Too hard to tell what is "open source" nowadays

There is a certain misconception which suggests that open source becomes the hostage of companies. It is, to a large degree, a self-serving hypothesis whose purpose is perhaps to demoralise volunteer contributors. Maybe it's even a Gartner-style self-fulfilling prophecy whose repetition strives to make it a reality. In this new interview with Eric Raymond he too denies this, ascribing it to the "trade press" (possible incentives here).

[Question:] Does widespread adoption and commercialization of open source software create new challenges or pressures for open source projects?

[Raymond:] I don't think it creates any new problems; it just changes the scale a bit on issues we've been coping with (fairly successfully) for at least the last decade. Frankly, all the "will commercialization spoil open source?" worrying that the trade press is so fond of already struck me as old and boring five years ago. Next question?


Dilution, not commercialisation, is the problem, as we last stressed a few days ago. There are also many open source fakers and the following new article seems like a good example. (See corrections in the comments below)

Open Source Trading Software Firm Marketcetera Raises $4 Million



[...]

Wouldn't big money like that call for expensive, proprietary trading platforms? Ravi Mohan says precisely the opposite is true: “Our investment will help Marketcetera provide trading firms a low cost scalable solution that better meets their needs than the expensive proprietary, trading platforms that they currently have access to." In other words, the expense of the proprietary trading platforms--including the expense of maintaing code--is the sticking point for many traders and investors, not the reliability of a competing open source platform.


They probably just use "open source" as a marketing ploy based on their Web site, which you can have a look at yourself for personal judgment. There is nothing open source about it. (See corrections in the comments below) Remember Aras and its marketing ploy with Microsoft. Microsoft will remain allergic to Open Source unless it can redefine the term to suit its own agenda.

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