>> So how does INPR make any money if they are giving Linux >> tools away free?
This is a dilemma a lot of Internet companies are facing
and attempting to solve. At this early stage in the game
Inprise has to establish a market share and an overwhelming
presence in this growing market segment. Ultimately they
will have to charge for software or services in order to
make money. The software they charge for, may be the
upgrade, or it may be the next generation of some utilities
(spreadsheet, database, wordprocessor).
I think Inprise should leverage its cross-platform ability.
Inprise has demonstrated that it can deliver a
sophisticated cross-platform java IDE, by releasing it on
Windows, NT, Linux and Solaris.
Next step along this line would be to create a small
bundle of spreadsheet (from the JBuilder product),
database (also in the JBuilder product) and word-processing
(slightly enhanced version from its JBuilder editor).
This package would run on the diverse platforms.
For Unix versions, the package should include an xterminal
emulator (since many Unix users actually have a PC on their
desk !).
This project could be spun off as a separated company,
partially owned by Borland, partially by Sun, IBM, Oracle, etc. and partially by a public IPO as a pure internet play.
As far as the $100m infusion from Microsoft, this requires
continued development for the Windows platform. This is
fine and in Borland's interest, since the Windows
platform is the main moneymaker currently. However, the
cross-platform ability will garner revenues from new
market segments.
Bipin Prasad |
