Notice how he says open source but never uses the term linux. He know's that his company is dying because their one product is dying. Its almost laughable that he would openly admit this. But here is the real gem of the story:
"Do I think the financial climate will drive people towards Red Hat? Not in any great way," he said.
LOL! He clearly states people do not want linux! Something I've been saying for years, and now the CEO of Red Hat says it! There are going to be a lot of angry linux fanboys but they will need to accept this hard truth.
Red Hat CEO: Money crisis will boost open source
Summary
The global financial crisis will cause more companies to consider open-source software as an option, according to Red Hat chief executive Jim Whitehurst.
Topics
Sydney, Australia--The global economic crisis will provide a boost for open-source software, Red Hat chief executive Jim Whitehurst claimed during a visit to Sydney.
Whitehurst, who was in Australia as part of a tour of the Asia-Pacific region, said in an interview with ZDNet.com.au on Wednesday that the crisis would cause companies to consolidate their technology infrastructure and reduce spending.
"So the bad news is when things get tight, people stop investing as much in the future," he said. "I would expect to see a slowdown in spending for new functionality." However, the chief executive said this would cause more companies to consider open-source software as an option.
"What I do know is that open source will be in much better shape coming out of [the financial crisis], that going into it relative to our propriety competitors," he said.
Whitehurst said that this was because open-source software provided a better economic model for creating software.However, Kevin McIsaac, a Sydney-based analyst for Intelligent Business Research Services, said he did not expect this to increase the market share of companies such as Red Hat.
"Do I think the financial climate will drive people towards Red Hat? Not in any great way," he said. "Do I think a deteriorating economic environment is good for open source? Probably [there will be] no great impact."
This was because enterprise level open-source software presented significant costs.
"A lot of my customers who I have spoken to, have said that the support costs are really quite high... a few people have commented on is how much cheaper Oracle support for Red Hat Linux was, than Red Hat itself," McIsaac said.
McIssac suggested alternative ways of cutting costs: "One of the ways to cut your costs is simply to go and audit your licenses and get rid of the ones you don't need."
He also warned IT managers to expect budget cuts. "The CFO will be coming into the CIO's office and saying, 'We need to find a way to cut costs'; smart CIOs will already have a plan in their top drawer."
Talkback Most Recent of 24 Talkback(s)
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Loverock Davidson16th Oct 2008 -
"Its almost laughable that he would openly admit this."
Well...close...but no cigar. You might want to re-read the article.
The CEO of Red Hat DID NOT make that statement...it was "Kevin McIsaac, a Sydney-based analyst for Intelligent Business Research Services."
Mark-Twain16th Oct 2008 -
Same difference
They both know linux is a dying platform and admit to it.Loverock Davidson16th Oct 2008 -
ha ha ha loverock
Oh what a retard, looks like no only cant Loverock write but he cant read. the dude from Red Hat didn't say that, try re-reading the article then make a comment. BTW I don't like Microsoft or Linux or Mac OS so dont even play those cards.
Syst3mZero16th Oct 2008 -
Quebec-french16th Oct 2008 -
Don't feed you, got it! (NT)
{}{}{}{}{}{}{}{}}{}Loverock Davidson16th Oct 2008 -
Same difference
They both know linux is dying and admit it.Loverock Davidson16th Oct 2008 -
One has to wonder...
What with your smugness and arrogance, you would have to be a fanatic Apple user. Nothing else could explain it, maybe.
You clearly know that on the Apple side the cookies are tastier, and more satisfying. Either that or you're in a state of seeing imaginary green penguins as a consequence of spending too much time watching the new "ribbons" and such in Microsoft's offerings.
zkiwi16th Oct 2008 -
Oracle's Linux support much cheaper than RedHat
I cannot help laughing every time open source companies bragging about saving cost for customers. For whatever reason they assume customers are fools willing to pay their insane service fees. 150/hr just to tweak some configurations, huh? And under this economy crisis? Customers have long figured out the labor fee tricks behind these scamming companies. Keep dreaming on that boost.
LBiege16th Oct 2008 -
Using OSS, you can either...
... Invest your time and acquire new skills,
or
Pay the going rate for someone who has.
Ever tried to configure a complex ERP system? If you don't want to learn, you must pay someone to do it for you.
It comes down to this: If you're competent, and able to invest some time, Linux and OSS in general are cheaper to implement and support. If you're incompetent, or don't have the time to invest in learning, your ROI will be about the same as Windows.
User0773417th Oct 2008 -
Will Oracle buy Red Hat?
It's reasonable that companies which do not want to expend cash will not make changes to their software. Future gains are less important than current outflow. So Red Hat will probably not gain significantly from the current situation.
But the stock market situation is likely to reduce the share price of Red Hat for some time. Why should that company be any different?
Oracle has shown a willingness to buy open source software companies when sales of the software and use of the customer lists increase profits. And Oracle has already indicated its interest in controlling Red Hat's linux.
So why shouldn't Oracle take advantage of Red Hat's temporary but continuing share price weakness to buy the company and assure the success of its strategy around Red Hat's linux?
That would seem to make business sense. And continue the ongoing process of making open source software only an adjunct to proprietary products.
Anton Philidor16th Oct 2008 -
Waiting for the right price I guess.
They will get a good one after the economy sinks deeper.LBiege16th Oct 2008 -
This Dr Kevin McIsaac?
"Noted IT industry analyst, Dr Kevin McIsaac, predicts that
MIcrosoft Office will give way to open source products as
governments and other large organisations move to open
standards for storing documents."
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/2198/49/
Yet on ZDNet;-)
Richard Flude16th Oct 2008 -
Maybe "Software as a Service" has a better chance?
We sold RedHat in my last company and we found the cost of support had a significant impact on the value proposition of "cost effective open source software".
Maybe "Cloud Computing" aka "Software as a Service" has a better chance in these slowing economic times. As a small business I am attracted to Googledocs and pay-by-the-month services like MessageLabs and Salesforce.com because they represent an investment that is low risk with low upfront spend.
powerbuy16th Oct 2008 -
RE: Red Hat CEO: Money crisis will boost open source
I believe the remark is right on the money. As an open-source
software company [1], I am expecting increased revenue in the
slowdown. In fact, the number of high profile requests we have
had lately is amazing and clearly shows this trend. This is not
about Linux or other OS's. It is about Open-Source Software,
which has clear cost benefits over proprietary software. This
stems mainly from a drastically different approach in distribution,
marketing and sales of that software, so the cost benefit has
nothing to do with quality, it has to do with process. If you don't
have the money to spend on feeding your vendor's expensive
senior sales guys' bonuses, Open-Source is a brilliant alternative.
You won't get the chit-chat on the golf course, an no invitation
to dinner in expensive restaurants, but then again, that was paid
with your money anyways.
[1] http://www.magnolia-cms.com/
Boris Kraft17th Oct 2008
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