> I think what he means is that individuals or companies who come to develop
> their expertise on an OS product, and end up being (at least partly)
reliant
> on the user base of that product for their economic survival will indeed
> have a financial interest - if they don't stay involved and do a good job,
> then their reputation as support/enhancement/config specialists for teh
> product diasappears, and so do their customers. Won't hurt a software
giant,
> but it will hurt smaller dedicated companies.
The above scenario is most likely when the software is monolithic rather
than assembled from components...which is the way most legacy systems are
today. Smaller reusable chunks will support smaller organizations. Secondly
anyone planning to make money in Open Source better be skillful in the art
of creative destruction, the analogy I have used is that it is like building
a rope bridge then setting fire to it and successfully running to the other
side of the gorge while it burns behind you.
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