"It's going to start outside"
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| chappaquachap Jun 22, 2005 9:06 AM EDT |
The most perceptive comment in this article is The other comment I'll make is that it's not going to start in the States; it's going to start outside. And it's not going to start with big corporations but with smaller ones and with government entities. Open source has been and will continue to be most successful away from the U.S. and away from large corporations. That's a point often forgotten, that the greatest force driving increased use of Open Source is the compelling economic case for other countries. For example, see the Wikipedia article on GDP, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_domestic_product, which includes the following per capita GDA figures in dollars: United States 42,000 Japan 38,000 People's Republic of China 1400 India 700 A price for a full copy of Microsoft Office is about $400. The US GDP is about $200/work day, so Office costs about two work days of GDP. But in mainland China, the cost is about 3 months; in India, over 6 months. Turning those figures around, suppose we in the US had to pay six months worth of average GDP, or over $20,000 per copy, for MS Office. Wouldn't we be taking an even harder look at Open Source alternatives? |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!