[kwlug-disc] the intertoobz never forget

[unsolicited]

john at netdirect.ca wrote, On 10/09/2009 12:08 PM:
> kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org wrote on 10/09/2009 11:20:00 AM:
> 
>> From: "Insurance Squared Inc." <gcooke at insurancesquared.com>
>>
>> 1) Microsoft still got their money for the initial install.
> 
> It *is* taking money away from Microsoft. They won't get next year's 
> support and license payments. And they won't get it from the other 
> exchanges as well. More opportunities will be lost to Open Source taking 
> money away from Microsoft. This one loss triggers a cascade of other 
> losses.

Did you mean "More opportunities will be _gained by_ Open Source"? Not 
'lost to'?

.
.
.
> Open Source doesn't need money, it needs market share. Money is the 
> byproduct of market share. As more people use it more people will 
> contribute and more money will flow to consultants and other vendors who 
> will in turn improve in Open Source.

The thought that occurs to me, if I'm reading this right, is ... a lot 
of 'sites' customize (the heck) out of software. (Proprietary or not.) 
  And the open source 'value' here is that those proprietary 
customizations get contributed back to the community? Thus dollars get 
spent on customization, and those customizations get contributed - 
this is how dollars flow from market share flow from awareness? (Or 
something.)

	And the problem is sites view those customizations as 'business 
secrets' not to be revealed to the competition, and so may not 
contribute the results back? [It's a database people, how many 
different ways can you do X, anyways. It's about the people using that 
database that bring value to your business. <sigh>]

Am I following your point at all correctly?