An Analysis of 2006 Initiatives and 2007 Trends in Open Source Software IT Industry Leaders Co-Opt the Open-Source Software Movement, Offer “Open Choice” This complete review of open source software (OSS) initiatives and trends affecting the IT Top 12 and others is available for purchase. Below is an abstract of this 30-plus-page analysis, here is a sample of the research, and details about how to order are here.
Abstract: Questions about the past and future of the open source software (OSS) engineering movement and the OSS business model are leading indicators of almost everything else that is going on in the IT market. For example, ask yourself: - Will Linux (the OSS UNIX) break out of its role in OEM support and in a few large enterprises—especially governments—to threaten
- zOS systems at one end of the compute load spectrum?
- Vista/Windows NT/Longhorn at the other?
- Will the broader OSS movement ever recover the “purity” that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) defined when its founder laid out a plan for a free UNIX in 1986?
- Will Microsoft adapt successfully to the FSF/OSS (FOSS) threat?
- Will ISVs, OEMs, service providers, and enterprises of all sizes embrace the OSS approach or an “open choice” approach more like today’s status quo
This December 2006 analysis answers these questions and looks at likely trends in the OSS movement for 2007 and beyond, concentrating on how the IT Top 12—including Microsoft—has reacted to the changes in the IT marketplace that have been accelerated by the OSS movement. The document explains the concept of “open choice,” the preferred platform for most enterprises over “open source.” Many events in 2006, particularly the November 2006 Microsoft-Novell announcement concerning Windows-Linux interoperability, are furthering the “open choice” era.
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