Re: Are Large Cloud Providers a Threat To Open Source Vendors?

On Mon, 18 Mar 2019 12:34:31 +1300, Peter Reutemann quoted:

> “In the last twelve to eighteen months...a switch has been flipped.
> Companies have gone from regarding cloud providers like Amazon, Google
> or Microsoft as not even worth mentioning as competition to dreadful,
> existential threat. The fear of these cloud providers has become so
> overpowering, in fact, that commercial open source vendors have chosen
> -- against counsel, in many cases -- to walk down strategic paths that
> violate open source cultural norms, trigger massive and sustained
> negative PR and jeopardize relationships with developers, partners and
> customers.”

All I can say is, there are parallels with what happens elsewhere in
life. A certain group arises which seems to pose an existential threat
to your side -- how should you react? Should you sacrifice your
long-cherished principles of freedom and tolerance, just for a little
while? Just for long enough to clamp down on the enemy and get rid of
the threat? Then you can go back to being free as normal again?

History shows that that doesn’t work. What makes our side the good
guys? The fact that we don’t behave like the bad guys. Once we start
copying what they do, how can anybody tell the sides apart?
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