Large Behomeths, Small Startups, and Open Source

So Paul Graham has come out and said that Microsoft is dead. That's a pretty big claim on a company about to get several million sheep to pay several hundred dollars each to upgrade to the latest offerings of Vista and Office. But it might not be fatal - if they have the will and are willing to use the tens of billions of dollars they have in the bank, it would be possible to change corporate culture - but it would be a monumental change. There are good signs already (and some negative ones), but it's really all small stuff.

The issue is that lumbering behomeths have trouble being agile. Innovative software doesn't get written by large companies with long-standing culture practices and heavy-weight processes; but rather by small nimble startups, where hours worked are long, and everything can be challenged. Demotivation is limited because there are no boundaries.

One particular instance where there are no boundaries (read this as disruptive technology) is of course an Open Source development model. The keys here are software freedom, distributed development, collaboration, international 24x7x365 involvement with full internationalisation.

While I have my own personal biases (blind-spots?), I think the Open-Source Software snowball is rolling down the hill, gaining momentum, and can't be stopped. Jump on board, or be overtaken.

tech/code | 11 Apr 2007 | #