Below is my reaction to a column by Mr. Joey Gurango. His column appeared in the July 12, 2004 issue of Computerworkld Philippines and can be accessed at this URL:
http://www.itnetcentral.com/computerworld/article.asp?id=13725&leveli=0&info=Computerworld Here is my reaction: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I was struck by the lack of imagination -- and the crass commercialism -- of Mr. Joey Gurango's column entitled "Open Source vs. Commercial Software" which appeared in July 12, 2004, issue of Computerworld Philippines. In particular, his closing paragraphs offer such a thoroughly myopic view of business and overly shrewd assessment of his customers that I felt the need to react. Mr. Gurango states: Today, the vast majority of your potential customers have existing investments in software -- operating systems, applications, tools etc. -- that will make them more favorably disposed to open urce or commercial platforms. They have already made their platform choice; therefore, it will take a lot of time, effort, and money to convince them to change their choice. You're better off spending that time, effort, and money convincing them to buy a solution that runs on their chosen platform. So, guess which software platform those potential customers have investments in -- open source or commercial? How would you like to spend your time, effort, and money -- selling or evangelizing? Judging from the questions Mr. Gurango wants us to ask, it is pretty obvious that he has missed the boat as far as the commercial viability of open source software is concerned. He seems to have conveniently forgotten two things: First, he seems to think that customers who have "made their platform choice" have cast this decision in stone, at least for the foreseeavble future. This idea is dead wrong. Smart customers look at the bottom line. They are not necessarily tied to a platform if they know there is a better, cheaper, or most cost-effective alternative. That is exactly what open source software offers, and that is what more and more companies are discovering. Mr. Gurango can continue to offer less cost-effective solutions to those who don't know any better, but how long can he count on that customer base to remain ignorant? The advantages of open source can no longer be hidden by Microsoft's (and others') deceptive advertising and marketing campaigns. The cat is out of the bag. The question developers and solutions providers should be asking is: will they be in a position to take advantage of the coming wave or be left behind? Second, Mr. Gurango seems to think that all businessmen are purely commerical animals who should seek only profit. Call me an idealist, but I think that even businessmen are supposed to offer customers quality first, and *then* make a profit because of their superior products. In other words, profit should go to those who choose to serve, not to those who choose to deceive. Part of the mission of an IT business, therefore, is precisely to evangelize. We should not be in busines *only* to make profit. We are in the IT business because we believe we can make a real contribution to our society. That is part and parcel of the ideals driving the open source movement. Since Mr. Gurango, however, makes his profits from selling products that restrict choice and lock-in customers, I can understand why he has failed to appreciate these ideals. But that's no excuse. We should be here to serve, not to act like corporate lemmings. God bless! -- Pro-Life Philippines website -- http://www.prolife.org.ph --[Manny [EMAIL PROTECTED] Member: Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications "Affordable Access for All" --[Open Minds Philippines]--------------------[openminds.linux.org.ph]-- -- Philippine Linux Users' Group (PLUG) Mailing List [EMAIL PROTECTED] (#PLUG @ irc.free.net.ph) Official Website: http://plug.linux.org.ph Searchable Archives: http://marc.free.net.ph . To leave, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/plug . Are you a Linux newbie? To join the newbie list, go to http://lists.q-linux.com/mailman/listinfo/ph-linux-newbie
