FYI... For more information on this item please visit the CANARIE CA*net 4 Optical Internet program web site at http://www.canarie.ca/canet4/library/list.html ------------------------------------------- [Many people have debated the merits of open source as it pertains to a single desktop in particular as to whether Linux will replace Windows. But as this article eloquently explains the value of open source is " as software above the level of a single device. The boundaries between cell phones, wirelessly connected laptops, and even consumer devices like the iPod or TiVO, are all blurring. Each now gets a large part of its value from software that resides elsewhere as a service." Web services, grids, service oriented architectures are all part of this paradigm shift of the impact of open source. From Dave Farber's Iper list -- BSA Begin forwarded message: From: Tim O'Reilly <tim [ at ] oreilly [ dot ] com> Date: June 26, 2004 12:57:30 PM EDT To: Dave Farber <dave [ at ] farber [ dot ] net> Subject: The open source paradigm shift Dave, this may be of interest to your readers. I finally got around to writing up the talk I've been giving for the past year or so, at locations as divergent as Red Hat and Microsoft, about the way that the commoditization of software is driving value up the stack to web apps, and how these apps leverage network effects (and in particular what I've been calling "the architecture of participation") as their key tool in gaining competitive advantage. I also talk about how the "Intel Inside" positioning is being rediscovered in various software niches, and how commodity software means that assembly of custom Linux distributions (rather than added value) may be a key competency. http://tim.oreilly.com/opensource/paradigmshift_0504.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tim O'Reilly @ O'Reilly Media, Inc. 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-827-7000 http://www.oreilly.com (company), http://tim.oreilly.com (personal)