[SGVLUG] Open Source products competitiveness/appeal

[matti]

Hi,

> > ... It occurred to me that they might continue to do
> SQL Server
> > giveaways until they actually ship the product.
> 
> How can the availability of an open source SQL Server be
> accelerated
> so these MS inducements to relapse lose their appeal?

that leads to some good questions.

WHY would someone pick a non open source product?

Honestly, I believe much of this is marketing/fud,
applications, and real/or perceived easy of use/deploy.

The reasons I have seen people pick MS SQL often
has to do with an application which uses/needs it,
or the perception by the business owner that it
will be "cheaper" to run Microsoft based solutions.

To counter this, open source needs more developers
and others to make open source products better
and easier to use, AND there needs to be marketing/pr
to sell such solutions to businesses.

Also, there needs to be an ability in various
Open Source projects to have development herded
in particular directions which the customers would
want. (Easier for MS to do this, as they have the
manpower, organization, and cash... )

To attract developers: tools which make their job
easier are very useful. (i.e. Open Source tools,
and tutorials to use those tools need to be
competitive and available.)

and, the chicken/egg issue.. a large installed
base of linux/open source system on which to
install the applications.

MS has the resources and willingness to actively
attract developers and produce good tools for them.

Anyone wishing to counter them should be looking to
encourage those in high school and college to develop
on open source platforms. (which IS how linux came to
be.. thanks to GNU gcc.. )

that stated, Open Source has done very well with
it's various success stories, and does have a large
number of companies behind various open source
projects. (google is one example.. such as supporting 
Python and having it used in Google AppEngine.. )

well, I'm ranting too much.. and not learning to
use tools enough ;)

cheers
matti