Posted by: HarryLeBlanc
on January 30, 2003 01:04 AM
The "whole industry" is mostly custom software built around product-ized components. If I can meet my client's needs with Linux/PostgreSQL/JBoss/Tomcat/Apache, and still spend 500 hours writing the custom application, instead of MSXP/SQLServer/IIS/ASP plus 500 hours (or 700 hours, add another 200 for buggy platform and UDP attacks), only Microsoft ends up with less money. But open-source is self-selecting for quality, since nobody can spot a good programmer like another good programmer.
For the vast majority of companies, IT is a cost center, not a profit center. If an IT group (internal or consulting) can deliver the goods for less money, they'll have all the work they can handle and then some. Let's face it, business is leery of IT because there are so many crappy programmers out there, both in and out of shrinkwrap companies like Microsoft. Companies hunger for quality, and will pay huge for it when they find it. That's why commercial software is so expensive -- they're selling the illusion of competence, so they can afford to pay the 10 lousy programmers held up by the 1 good one.
The fewer dollars sucked into the black hole of Microsoft et al, the more dollars for people providing real solutions at affordable cost with terrific open-source tools. Monopolies are bad for the economy, remember?
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IT is not shrink wrapped
Posted by: HarryLeBlanc on January 30, 2003 01:04 AMFor the vast majority of companies, IT is a cost center, not a profit center. If an IT group (internal or consulting) can deliver the goods for less money, they'll have all the work they can handle and then some. Let's face it, business is leery of IT because there are so many crappy programmers out there, both in and out of shrinkwrap companies like Microsoft. Companies hunger for quality, and will pay huge for it when they find it. That's why commercial software is so expensive -- they're selling the illusion of competence, so they can afford to pay the 10 lousy programmers held up by the 1 good one.
The fewer dollars sucked into the black hole of Microsoft et al, the more dollars for people providing real solutions at affordable cost with terrific open-source tools. Monopolies are bad for the economy, remember?
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