When R 4.7 came off support, I think I suggested in the forum that IBM open source it because at the time, they were running it into the ground with the direction R5 was taking. Since then, it has gotten a lot better... a whole lot better. They even (FINALLY) redid the print interface.
But, all af the recent improvements have been reactionary changes that came at the behest of the developer and user community. Just imagine if IBM unleashed the -current- code base as Open Source and sponsored a foundation to further develop the product. Instead of being reactionary, they could be developing the software proactively.
Business wise, this only leaves out the money made on licenses, which, from what I can tell, isn't that great anyway. There is far more money te be made in consulting services. They seem to get it (IBM) when it comes to their Z-series mainframes, but have this pyramid marketing quagmire (business partners carying the evangelism ball) when it comes to Notes?
I know a few IBMers read here occassionally... any takers on this idea? Has Firefox not been convincing in it's fight for market share against IE? What is IE 7 but an attempt at old school institutional software development trying to mimic Firefox? What is Vista but the same of OS X (based on Free BSD, with a healthy dash of proprietaryness thrown in for laughs apparently).
When R 4.7 came off support, I think I suggested in the forum that IBM open source it because at the time, they were running it into the ground with the direction R5 was taking. Since then, it has gotten a lot better... a whole lot better. They even (FINALLY) redid the print interface.
But, all af the recent improvements have been reactionary changes that came at the behest of the developer and user community. Just imagine if IBM unleashed the -current- code base as Open Source and sponsored a foundation to further develop the product. Instead of being reactionary, they could be developing the software proactively.
Business wise, this only leaves out the money made on licenses, which, from what I can tell, isn't that great anyway. There is far more money te be made in consulting services. They seem to get it (IBM) when it comes to their Z-series mainframes, but have this pyramid marketing quagmire (business partners carying the evangelism ball) when it comes to Notes?
I know a few IBMers read here occassionally... any takers on this idea? Has Firefox not been convincing in it's fight for market share against IE? What is IE 7 but an attempt at old school institutional software development trying to mimic Firefox? What is Vista but the same of OS X (based on Free BSD, with a healthy dash of proprietaryness thrown in for laughs apparently).