The
Missing Future On Random
Hacks, Eric Kidd
says:
... that between MS and
open source initiatives, there will be no room in the marketplace
for small software companies.
This is an interesting article
, one that brings up many good points. Overall, I
don't really agree with him. I think, for the most part,
commercial software companies will still be able to co-exist
with MS and open source in the market place.
Open source software is great, and
I think its a great resource of applications for technologically
savvy people (especially developers), but it's still not targeted
at novice end users (like my mom). Will this change in the future?
Probably to some extent, but I still think open source will lag
behind commercial software vendors due to lack of marketing and
polishing.
On the other hand, I do see a
specific niche of the software development market dieing out in the
next few years due to the open source movement: custom control
vendors. These guys have been lucky for the past decade because
most development shops don't want to spend the time writing the
next cool button bar, but many developers on their own time love
this kind of development. Just look at Code
Project. Anytime we need a
control for one of our apps, Code
Project is the first place
we go. Why? Well, not only do we get great controls, we get the
source! This way, if something is screwed up (which is has been),
we can fix the bug and move on (which we do [and send it to the
control developer]).
BTW, if anyone thinks that a small
development shop can't exist when competing against the likes of MS
and open source, check out fog creek
software. Joel has managed to create a
profitable software company, that sells a few great
products, make a little bit of money and provide his
developers offices.
One
day maybe I'll be fortunate enough to work for
Joel!
[via WebLogs @
ASP.NET]
OpenLink Software has
been able to build a profitable business selling ODBC Drivers
against a backdrop of Open Source and Free commercial alternatives.
Now this is all well and good if decision makers understand our
value proposition