> I'd beg to differ with Lynn that this stuff is only for the > big boys - like Adobe, IBM, Google or Yahoo. The developers > of Base Camp have a good business, they build upon the > developer community they created with Ruby on Rails. They get > a lot of work. Nor did they need to raise heaps of cash to > get there. If I had a vote - I'd at least be seriously > exploring moving over to that sort of model - together with > dual licensing for companies wanting closed source solutions > for their customers.
Dave, this mispresents my point. These companies have achieved dominance in very highly profitable market segments. That is one major, characteristic difference. The devil is in the details. I don't know the inside story of 37 Signals, just what is available in the press. There are some winning moves they have made that have given them some prosperity in recent years - there are some similarities I can see between 37 Signals and Runtime, but a whole lot of differences too. That doesn't mean those moves are going to be equally successful for any other company. There is a lot to like in Open Source software (speaking of which - are you going to OSCON? I am! :-)) and there is a lot I like about it. But Id like to draw a funny comparision between Open Source and a phenomenon in business from the late 70's - 90's when the "west" started to become obsessed with business success of Japanese corporations. A number of western company strategists came up with the notion that if they emulated the superficial, observed behaviors of these companies and their employees that somehow they would achive greater productivity. Those few who *really* dug into various methodologies gleaned some benefit, like Just in Time manufacturing and Kaizen quality perspectives (or had to come up with competing strategies). Those who dug in further may have realized what absolutely is not transferable because of the connection between these methods, Japanese culture, and the international business climate of the time. But what struck me as hilarious were those companies that thought having an entire team soak in a onsen together and drink sake or have morning company workouts at your desk will somehow achieve some sort of gain. Now fast forward to 2007. Japan is achiving some economic rebound, but the machine that seemed unstoppable in the late '80s and early '90s is a shadow of its former self. I am very interested in open source. But the problem Ive had to date is that, there are a great number of companies stuck at that "soaking in the onsen phase" - most explanations of why open source is good have been superficial and unconvincing when it comes to general business practice, though Ive seen some specific, isolated instances where its made great sense. It isnt obvious that what's good for Adobe is good for Runtime, any more than soaking in an onsen will suddenly make me more competive with the Japanese. Best regards, Lynn Fredricks Worldwide Business Operations Runtime Revolution Ltd http://www.runrev.com _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list use-revolution@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution