There really should be a thread on this list about business plans (I
believe I am echoing Thomas). I suppose that, while code may be open
source, business plans may be considered to be proprietary. In addition,
there are purists, I believe, who will say that any mention of business
plans goes against the spirit if not the letter of open
source. Nevertheless, software costs money. Where will it come from?
Two questions interest me. One, what is OIO's business model? Two, if
government funding is accepted as the appropriate mechanism to promote open
source (it hasn't been, this is a gedanken experiment), how will that model
be brought to fruition in the United States? This last is an interesting
question due to the existence of VISTA/CPRS which almost perfectly embodies
the model, but which is commonly accepted to be doomed to remain forever
within the boundaries that it currently occupies.
I am referring here strictly to business models. All my annoying comments
about Java etc. are not on the table.
John
