I used to work for the open source innovation arm of BT, during which time I wrote this blog post on the subject:
http://philwhitehouse.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-make-money-from-open-source.html Your email brings to mind the joke where someone was asked for directions, and the response was "You shouldn't start from here". Essentially open source is viable in some cases and less so in others - but it depends on many factors. Cheers, Phil On Tue, Aug 4, 2009 at 11:07 AM, Alun Rowe <[email protected]>wrote: > > Yes I have but it is fairly unique. > > How would you obtain funding for an idea which had no IP of it own? > > “Do you own the patent on this?” - er no it’s open source. > “Can anyone arrive in the marketplace tomorrow and replicate what you do?” > - er yes. > > Like I say I love the utopian model but I can’t see it happening for a long > long time. Companies NEED to be able to maintain their own technology > without simply passing it to their competitors on a plate. > > Anyway it’s no surprise people pay Red Hat for support. Mere users don’t > stand a chance with anything Linux based. It’s far too geeky to use still. > > Alun > > > > On 04/08/2009 08:13, "Dave Crossland" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Have you heard of Red Hat? > > On 4 Aug 2009, 7:02 AM, "Alun Rowe" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > The problem with a 'free digital society' is that people need salaries. > > Ask the music/film industry what they think. > > I love the idea of utopia but we all know that unicorns don't exist, right? > On 3 Aug 2009, at 20:14, "Dave Crossland" <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > > What about the case fo... > > Alun Rowe Pentangle Internet Limited 2 Buttermarket Thame Oxfordshire OX9 > 3EW Tel: +44 8700 33... > > > > This message (and any associated files) is intended only for the use of the > individual or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information > that is confidential, subject to copyright or constitutes a trade secret. If > you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any > dissemination, copying or distribution of this message, or files associated > with this message, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message > in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and > deleting it from your computer. Messages sent to and from us may be > monitored. > > > > Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be secure or error-free as > information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or > incomplete, or contain viruses. Therefore, we do not accept responsibility > for any errors or omissions that are present in this message, or any > attachment, that have arisen as a result of e-mail transmission. If > verification is required, please request a hard-copy version. Any views or > opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily > represent those of the company. > > > > *Alun Rowe* > > *Pentangle Internet Limited* > > 2 Buttermarket > > Thame > > Oxfordshire > > OX9 3EW > > Tel: +44 8700 339905 > > Fax: +44 8700 339906 > *Please direct all support requests to > **[email protected]*<[email protected]> > > Pentangle Internet Limited is a limited company registered in England and > Wales. Registered number: 3960918. Registered office: 1 Lauras Close, Great > Staughton, Cambridgeshire PE19 5DP > -- http://philwhitehouse.blogspot.com
