IBM Frees Cloudscape Into The Open Source Skies…
from the more-open-source-databases dept
There are plenty of sites that cover various “open source” news stories that we usually avoid around here, but it’s worth noting that IBM has decided to release the source code for the Cloudscape Java database technology that they own. Obviously there are already some very popular open source databases out there, but the fact that IBM is donating a fairly large product into the open source world shows that they seem to understand at least some of the benefits of open source, while other companies still continue to insist there’s something evil about open source technologies. Recognizing that (a) the product isn’t central to their strategy and (b) more active development around it may drive more demand for their own Websphere offering, it makes perfect sense to open source Cloudscape (now to be known as Derby). It would be nice if more companies began to realize that not everything they’ve worked on needs to be sold. If it can be used as a form of a promotion that drives more sales for other products, that can often be a very intelligent strategy.
Comments on “IBM Frees Cloudscape Into The Open Source Skies…”
No Subject Given
Think you’re over simplifying here. IBM can afford to open source this as it doesn’t drive there revenue flow and in fact can only help. If they had done this with DB2 it would be big news.
You can’t expect a company such as Oracle or Sybase to open source their primary source for revenue until they are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that it will add to their bottom line both in the near term and in the long term.
Larger Companies that are tentatively embracing the open source movement are generally doing so with lesser products (IBM and Apple) or companies (think Sun and Novell) who are watching their revenues decline and see this as a strategy to return to growth in the long term. Whether these strategies are successful for these larger companies has yet to be determined and because these companies have to answer to stock holders, they won’t be running to give away code until they can explain how this makes their company more valuable.
Re: No Subject Given
Er… that’s exactly what I said. “the product isn’t central to their strategy.” Where did I say they should open source their primary source for revenue?
Re: Re: No Subject Given
Sorry, you did. There was a slight implication that other companies should follow suit with their products.. BUT THAT WAS MY MIS-INTERPRETATION of your statement.
Summary: my bad.
RE: Open Source and Big Companies
The thing to note here is not that open-source only helps websphere sales, but that open-source provides a rich toolset to be consumed and repackaged by IBM Global Services. So they get free tools and software and get to be the biggest, baddest java consulting firm around. Sounds like a good deal for IBM… they get an army of developers working on their tools for free!
Re: Open Source and Big Companies
Agreed that this is a wonderful idea and it goes back to my original chain of thought, that if you’re big enough and not dependent upon the product, it’s pretty much a win win for your company. Larger companies, think microsoft and adobe, are very good about providing free products that add value or create a need for the other fee based products. It’s the smaller companies or companies that have products that their revenue stream depends on who can’t readily make this jump.
One of the reason’s you won’t see the music industry adopting the idea of free music downloads anytime in the near future. It’s their primary revenue stream and it won’t enhance their other products. On the other hand, the musician who has no need for the backing of a company would easily rake in higher profits by tossing their music off for free and then hitting the road to tour.