Answer: On your left hand is the red pill, take it, and free yourselves
from this slavery to the system.
Mohamad Rizatuddin Mohd Ramli wrote:
Why
is
Asia not open to open source?
Posted in By
The Way by Eileen Yu on 2008/08/22
00:29:21
One of the main
draws--and
selling point--of open source technology is its much celebrated
developer
ecosystem. But, according to an industry expert, this community spirit
seems to
be lacking in Asia.
In Singapore this week, co-founder of open source MySQL database David
Axmark,
observed that while more Asian companies are adopting open source
technology, few
are volunteering to provide related services.
So, businesses in the region have to rely on global open source vendors
and
settle for products that may not be customized to their market's needs.
Or,
they'll have to pay and wait for the vendors to tweak their products
and
integrate additional components that are localized for the Asian
market.
Axmark wasn't able to explain the lack of developer participation and
the
shortage of companies willing to step up and offer services to support
open
source adoption in the region--though he did add that these skills
weren't
lacking in Asia.
Perhaps, Red Hat can offer an explanation. The open source vendor this
week
reported a 32 percent increase in sales and 7 percent jump in profits.
Despite
the upward swing, however, Wall Street analysts lowered
the
company's shares rating based on views that Red Hat has few
opportunities
for continual growth.
Even former MySQL CEO Marten Mickos, who's now a Sun Microsystems
executive,
acknowledged that open source is "not a get-rich-quick scheme". Red
Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst also noted: "A pure service business is not
particularly defensible. Some open source companies have not truly
figured that
out."
On top of that, Linus Torvalds himself admitted that it's not
easy to become an efficient Linux programmer because the platform's
kernel
is complex and can be frustrating to develop on. Torvalds added: "The
kernel is about pretty harsh technical issues, and mistakes are really
frowned
upon."
So, developing for open source not only can be complex, it isn't always
exactly
lucrative for vendors that want to offer services on the platform. That
could
explain why few companies in Asia are willing to step up, and develop
applications for this market.
Does that mean open source is doomed to fail in the region, and
businesses that
have adopted the technology will be left stranded? I don't think so.
Open source has come a long way in establishing its place in the
enterprise
realm. Once perceived with skepticism that it's stable enough to
support
mission-critical business applications, open source is now evangelized
by major
vendors such as IBM, Oracle and HP. Today, it has gained market
credibility as
a viable business platform and is embraced by more enterprises
worldwide,
including Asia, than before.
As awareness and adoption of open source continues to spread, more
companies
will hopefully be encouraged to join the developer ecosystem and offer
services
on the platform. It will take time, as Mickos noted, before market
players can
see any returns. But there's no reason why Asia--led by software
powerhouses
China and India--can't contribute and offer its skills to the open
source
community.
All it takes is one step at a time--not unlike Torvald's advice to
Linux
developers: "start small" and focus on "trivial patches".
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