Companies drive open source success?

See the question mark in the title? Thats where you should focus.

The little companies (who hope to get bigger) are the ones pushing OSS (Open Source Success). HeliOS Solutions and HeliOS Solutions West, our good buddy tracy down in Australia. And Sander, can't forget him. Zareason pushing those Linux boxes (nice stuff BTW). And all the other weird nix folks that are doing what they love and doing it for love.

Humans are winning this fight. Hey, those Big Corps are somewhat on the side of FOSS so maybe they are forces for good, maybe.

He/she who uninstalls the most windows systems WINS.

At last year's Ohio Linux Fest, I conversed on this specific topic with a prominent member of the Linux advocacy community, and that is the gist of what he said.

And, given the current perceived state of the economy, people and companies are less willing to pay US$189 to get Microsoft's strongest, shiniest shackles (the "Ultimate" edition). Between the economic enslavement of the upgrade cycle, and the crippling presumption of guilt in the pervasive DRM, the notion that software can be both free and freeing is gaining appeal.

Hence, the fantastic opportunities for Ken, Larry, Tracyanne (sp?), Carla, Sander, and how many others I don't know about. Here's to you all, and may you find others' discontent profitable for yourselves.

"and may you find others' discontent profitable for yourselves."

All human action is directed toward decreasing uneasiness.

The greater the uneasiness, the more profit in decreasing it.

I could not disagree both more and less.

Lots of little companies (startups and the like) take good advantage of both the gratis and libertas freedoms in free software, but big companies with big dollars and big reputations have played a major role in the success of free software.

The word choice is important -- success and goodness are not the same thing. Great stuff done in free software with or without company money, but... companies fund things that don't make geeks itch, and hence don't get scratch.

Companies also have sales forces and marketing plans, geeks not so much.

Geeks make great geeks, lousy marketers.

Think about the term "Open Source" -- great example of geek marketing. Focuses on an instrumentality, diverts attention away from many business benefits of free software -- businesses benefit mightily from libertas, just like individuals.

So -- yes! Companies have played a major role in driving the success of free software.