September 11, 2009

Is cloud computing killing open source?

The expanded use of cloud computing is making many on-premise technologies fear the Grim Reaper

According to Andrea DiMaio, a member of the Gartner Blog Network, the increased use of cloud computing could be diminishing the use of open source. In this post, specifically looking at the government vertical, Andrea asserts that while cloud computing and open source are clearly linked, the hype and the political popularity surrounding cloud computing is turning attention away from the open source movement. Core to this issue is that the usage of both is driven around the cost advantages.

"Therefore some of the primary drivers to choose open source, i.e. cost and vendor independence, are just going away: In most cases cloud-based solution are going to be cheaper (and more elastic), and to use open source one has to go through a vendor anyhow. As a consequence I have seen a drop of interest in open source and corresponding surge of interest in cloud computing to solve pretty much the same problems (how do I reduce my dependence on Microsoft? how do I save on licensing costs?)," DiMaio wrote.

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I see the same trend in the marketplace as well. Typically, those who were advocates of open source technology are now turning to cloud computing, both inside the government and the Global 2000. They cite the following reasons:

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Gray_Hair 11-Sep-09 9:06am
1 reply

A zero sum game mentality will lead you astray. In terms of code execution world wide, OSS is still gaining ground for many many reasons. Whether and how many of those lines executed are in support of "cloud computing" is irrelevant.

ctryon 11-Sep-09 10:12am
I think it still matters. I don't think the fat client and the desktop will ever completely go away, especially outside of the enterprise, and it's on the desktop that FOSS has finally started to make slow progress. Cloud computing is going to take away some of the attention that people are spending on Linux and Open Source applications on the desktop. I'm not saying that it's a completely BAD thing, but it is going to have an somewhat negative impact on Linux adoption from the user's perspective. If I'm wrong, then it will probably be from the point of "normal" users and how much of their computer use migrates to the cloud. In a way, the Game community has been moving that way for years, in the form of MMO's. Lots of people are using Yahoo and Hotmail and Gmail. Netbooks are becoming more like phones and phones are becoming more like netbooks. Maybe this trend really will take hold. Time will tell.
jagane 11-Sep-09 12:52pm
The cloud will have a profound impact on the Open Source value proposition, because it boils the open source versus closed source argument down to its essence - is Enterprise Support of Open Source worth the price that profitable Open Source companies want for it? If a customer buys a cloud hosted Content Management System from an app vendor who used CentOS instead of Redhat, and offers comprehensive support, should the customer care, and insist on Redhat? In another sense, this argument has similarities to the GPLv2 versus GPLv3 argument. If someone cobbles together an application using Linux and other GPLv2 code, and sells it as a service running on EC2, he/she is not compelled to contribute any changes made to the open source stack, back to the community. Honest believers in open source may be OK with that since their software is, well, getting a lot of use. Disingenuous proponents of open source (think VC funded 'open' source companies) may be unhappy with that, and will surely squeal with outrage - and will extoll the virtues of GPLv3. Jagane Sundar Founder, Thinsy Corporation http://www.thinsy.com/
experienced 14-Sep-09 1:03pm
Open Source and the Cloud are at extreme opposite sides of the spectrum. Open Source emphasizes vendor independence whereas the Cloud entails selling out completely to a vendor. The article posits that the only vendors user organizations need independence from are Microsoft, IBM and Oracle. I suggest the author of this article read last week's Infoworld article "Dirty Vendor Tricks". There is no question that cloud users are more vulnerable to dirty tricks as described in the Infoworld article than non cloud users. The cloud empowers vendors to extract more from users exactly because the technology makes users so dependent on a vendor and destroys internal competence. This is why the IT industry is pushing this technology so strongly. Further the vendor not only is providing the software and hardware but is in possession of the user’s data. Non industry organizations would do well to monitor what is being pushed by the IT industry and run in the other direction.

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