[PSNUG.org News] Wall Street Journal view of Open Source Software

[Brandon Fouts]

WSJ Interview with MySQL Mikos


*BUSINESS INSIGHT:* *And what is their [contributors] motivation, as far as
you can tell?*

*MR. MICKOS:* Those who contribute to us are as selfish as anybody else.
There's rarely any charitable aspect of this. Their No. 1 reason is that
they are contributing so that they will get, in return, a better-functioning
product. They are looking after their own business interests. No. 2, and
almost equally important, is their desire to build a reputation for
themselves. We will say publicly what they have done. So they get great
recognition for being smart engineers and brilliant programmers. That gives
them better job offers and it gives them a feeling of usefulness in the
world. They get a lot of emotional and practical benefits.
*BUSINESS INSIGHT:* *Couldn't a potential competitor use your code as a
starting point to get into the business -- and crush you?*

*MR. MICKOS:* Even if someone studied us in tiny detail, I don't think they
could really match us. We've shown them our code, and nobody has been able
to measure up against what we have.

*BUSINESS INSIGHT:* *Why is that?*

*MR. MICKOS:* Even if I showed you my DNA, you wouldn't know how to become
me.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121494378874020445.html


http://www.pcworld.com/article/147879/move_your_business_from_windows_to_linux.html
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