Open source: is it so open as we think (ISV's need to be careful)

In today's Finnish IT publication online article, the CEO of MySQL (now part of Sun) openly discusses of open source code and the need to keep some of the parts closed. I have discussed in multiple occasions that it is naive to think that fully open source will create a good business if you sole purpose is to be an independent software vendor. If you combine this with services like IBM does, you might make some money. As an entrepreneur, I have studied this topic and even participated in an academic article "Internet-enabled co-production: Partnering or competing with customers?" where my part was to view open source from an entrepreneurial perspective.

The article today in the Finnish Tietoviikko explains that MySQL was in the process of getting listed (IPO) and part of the plan was to have software modules that would be fully closed and this tells me that open source without some proprietary software modules is just fantasy. My recommendation for entrepreneurs is to be very, very careful using open source in core IP (intellectual property) specifically if the company does not understand the different licensing models.

Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era

I am in the proces of reading an interesting non-authorized book by Mary Jo Foley that has been tracking Microsoft for the past 25 years. I am in the beginning of the book, so I will get back with a new blog post when I have completed reading the book. What was interesting is that this book can not be purchased using Amazon.com Kindle device. I wonder why Wiley and Amazon.com did not make that possible? In the beginning of this book, there are some interesting comments on the blog called Mini-Microsoft that nobody knows who maintains the blog itself. Stay tuned!

The New Age of Innovation by management Guru C.K. Prahlad.

A new book from the Bottom of the Pyramid guru lays out the new landscape of business, driven by consumer co-creation and service customization. Yet another very interesting book from Prahlad and I just purchased using my Amazon.com Kindle device. This way I can have my hundreds of books with me whereever I go in the world and specifically now when my airliner American Airlines has started to nicle and dime travelers like me for everything we do. I am not specifically happy of the announcements that American Airlines did yesterday with the changes. I do understand that they are bleeding, but the way they are making the changes will make my travel even harder. I have close to 3 million miles on them, so I know what it is to spend time on the road and planes.

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