>>>>> "Johan" == Johan Vromans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>>>>> "Elaine" == Elaine -HFB- Ashton <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Johan> The longer I think about it, the more I start wondering whether
Johan> Perl should try to compete with Java at all.
Johan> Java is big, hype, has megabucks of marketing funds, is backed
Johan> by several big companies, has a lot of hype applications. C# is
Johan> big hype, has megabucks of marketing funds, is backed by one
Johan> very big company.
And as a result, there will be a huge section of the market that will
flock to them like lemmings over the cliffs... Let them.
The management mindset at most large beaurocracies still thinks that
buying a proiprietary, "vendor supported" software package is less
risk than Open Source. You get an 800 number to call, and someone to
specifically blame for any problems that arise. This leads to the
false assumption that solutions will be readily forthcoming as a
result.
Johan> Maybe it is a better strategy to aim at the smaller companies,
Johan> show them Perl-based solutions for their problems, and make
Johan> sure that we get a good grip on that part of the market that
Johan> _can_ serve.
Elaine> Or individuals. Companies of any size are made of
Elaine> ... people. Exactly my point.
I find it interesting that Open Source, in general, has been most
successful in small to medium sized companies.
The larger the company, the less dependent they are on OSS....
officially.
However, Elaine's point is very relevant. Let me use my own firm as
an example.
We, like other large beaurocracies, make lots of noise about C++ and
Java. Yet perl is easily much more heavily used in production than
Java (but probably not C++). Not because management made some
strategic decision to use perl, but because individuals like myself
used it to solve real problems.
Perl came into MSDW as a grass-roots effort, and grew into a mission
critical language without official management blessing.
Thus, as long as perl "markets" itself to serious programmers, it will
find its way into corporate infrastructure. The challenge, IM!HO, is
to awaken corporate management to the fact that their enterprises
probably depend on perl without their knowledge.
Its a fact that most large companies are using Open Source in their
infrastucture, brought in by the administrators and developers left to
do the real work.
Its sad that they don't know it, and therefore don't appreciate how
they benefit from it.
