Linked by David Adams on Mon 2nd Aug 2010 03:53 UTC, submitted by fsmag
We are heading towards a world where we no longer own the hardware we buy -- and there is no point in having free software if you can't own your hardware.
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RE[3]: Is it good or bad?
by lemur2 on Mon 2nd Aug 2010 13:12
in reply to "RE[2]: Is it good or bad?"
Member since:2007-02-17
In a Utopian environment, I think this would be an excellent idea. But in reality, I think it would create even more bloated, expensive, garbage software that just got in the way of production and innovation.
This exact system of collaboration in software development in a consumer's cooperative organisation, involving companies whose main product is not software, has already produced a significant number of very fine, very low cost, general purpose software products that participating organisations can use to significantly reduce their costs.
Some examples of companies & organisations saving millions for you:
http://www.blackducksoftware.com/development-cost-of-open-source
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/google/google-axes-windows-saves-millions...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Tv_dvUonEzYJ:www.opensour...
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:YzentgjnO7kJ:pascal.case....
http://www.ursolutions.ph/node/128
http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/IBM-Throws-Out-Microsoft-...
http://gearcrave.com/2009-03-12/french-police-adopt-ubuntu/
http://www.cio.com/article/463664/Open_Source_in_Every_Business_wit...
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Linux-and-Open-Source/Linux-Arrives-on-500...
http://www.silicon.fr/fr/news/2009/01/23/55_000_collegiens_equipes_...
http://www.bytebot.net/blog/archives/2010/07/05/open-source-saves-m...
http://blueoxen.com/paper/foss-adoption-in-brazil/
I could go on, but I think that is enough to make the point.
Some companies/organisations don't have to employ more than a handful of software people of their own in order to enjoy almost for free a software product that cost billions to develop:
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/insurer-slashes-1m-fr...
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Neat, hey?
There are two ways to increase profits, not just one: one can either increase prices, or reduce costs.
Software made by a consumer's co-operative organisation is an absolutely excellent way for businesses (the vast majority of whom are net software consumers) to reduce their costs.
The main problem I see with this is that most companies know very little or nothing about software development. This, combined with the general nature of corporate behaviors, can easily make software much more expensive to develop in-house, even if several companies collaborated together.
If a piece of software was developed in-house by three companies working together, it would probably start out strong with clear goals defined. Following corporate trends, it would quickly become so feature-full that it would be impossible to complete on time, once it was completed it wouldn't work right, and even more money would be spent after completion to fix these problems due to over-engineering and bloat. So then they are left with a half-ass piece of bloated software that is costing more money than it generates.
Its not just programmer costs you have to consider, either. Consider how much R&D goes into some of the bigger software projects. Then you have design teams, Q/A teams, managers, etc.
In a Utopian environment, I think this would be an excellent idea. But in reality, I think it would create even more bloated, expensive, garbage software that just got in the way of production and innovation.