<i>
WHY would someone pick a non open source product?<br><br></i>The blame factor plays a large part in choosing enterprise level software. If something goes wrong, I can blame M$ and possibly recoup losses. With OSS, that may not be the case. <i><br>
</i><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 7:12 PM, matti <<a href="mailto:mathew_2000@yahoo.com">mathew_2000@yahoo.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
Hi,<br>
<br>
> > ... It occurred to me that they might continue to do<br>
> SQL Server<br>
> > giveaways until they actually ship the product.<br>
><br>
> How can the availability of an open source SQL Server be<br>
> accelerated<br>
> so these MS inducements to relapse lose their appeal?<br>
<br>
that leads to some good questions.<br>
<br>
WHY would someone pick a non open source product?<br>
<br>
Honestly, I believe much of this is marketing/fud,<br>
applications, and real/or perceived easy of use/deploy.<br>
<br>
The reasons I have seen people pick MS SQL often<br>
has to do with an application which uses/needs it,<br>
or the perception by the business owner that it<br>
will be "cheaper" to run Microsoft based solutions.<br>
<br>
To counter this, open source needs more developers<br>
and others to make open source products better<br>
and easier to use, AND there needs to be marketing/pr<br>
to sell such solutions to businesses.<br>
<br>
Also, there needs to be an ability in various<br>
Open Source projects to have development herded<br>
in particular directions which the customers would<br>
want. (Easier for MS to do this, as they have the<br>
manpower, organization, and cash... )<br>
<br>
To attract developers: tools which make their job<br>
easier are very useful. (i.e. Open Source tools,<br>
and tutorials to use those tools need to be<br>
competitive and available.)<br>
<br>
and, the chicken/egg issue.. a large installed<br>
base of linux/open source system on which to<br>
install the applications.<br>
<br>
MS has the resources and willingness to actively<br>
attract developers and produce good tools for them.<br>
<br>
Anyone wishing to counter them should be looking to<br>
encourage those in high school and college to develop<br>
on open source platforms. (which IS how linux came to<br>
be.. thanks to GNU gcc.. )<br>
<br>
that stated, Open Source has done very well with<br>
it's various success stories, and does have a large<br>
number of companies behind various open source<br>
projects. (google is one example.. such as supporting<br>
Python and having it used in Google AppEngine.. )<br>
<br>
well, I'm ranting too much.. and not learning to<br>
use tools enough ;)<br>
<br>
cheers<br>
<font color="#888888">matti<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font></blockquote></div><br>