Re:Cracks are showing in Enterprise Open Source's foundations
by vlovich123 on Thursday January 28, 2021 @11:55AM
(#25944786)
Red Hat got VC money and went public working on open source software. Perhaps the exception that proves the rule of the difficulty, but not an oxymoron.
Re:Cracks are showing in Enterprise Open Source's foundations
by zokier on Thursday January 28, 2021 @02:20PM
(#25947461)
Red Hat IPOed over 20 years ago in the middle of one of the most spectacular bubbles we've seen. The world is very different now.
On top of that, yes I'd argue Red Hat is an outlier and exception whose success is as much result of good luck and timing than anything else.
Re:Cracks are showing in Enterprise Open Source's foundations
by vlovich123 on Thursday January 28, 2021 @06:05PM
(#25950822)
MongoDb then?
Open source will never be able to give the huge returns that VC firms expect.
However, open source can provide the basis for what is often derided as a “lifestyle business” that provides a sometimes very good income to a small group of people that are passionate about a project. SQLite comes to mind as an example.
Elastic is definitely bringing enough revenue for the “lifestyle” business without changing their license, however it is not enough for VC.
Be very wary of open source backed by VC.