While there is reason to be concerned about the long-run future of VC-funded OSS, MongoDB is in pretty good shape thanks to its hosted service. Then, AWS and platform incentives, and why battery replacements may have hurt iPhone sales.
AWS, MongoDB, and the Economic Realities of Open Source
Amazon’s latest offering highlights the economic challenges facing open source companies — and Amazon should pay attention.
IBM’s Old Playbook
IBM has bought Red Hat in an attempt to recreate its success in the 90s; it’s not clear, though, that the company or the market is the same.
The Cost of Developers
Microsoft paid a lot for GitHub, because it had to pay directly for access to developers. It doesn’t have the leverage of users the way that Apple does on the App Store.
Microsoft to Buy GitHub, A Win for GitHub, Facebook’s Data-Sharing Deals with Device Makers
Microsoft is reportedly buying GitHub, which makes a lot of sense for both Microsoft and GitHub, and all GitHub users. Then, why the latest Facebook scandal is probably overblown.
A Brief History of Build, The Linux Command Line, Open Source Xamarin
I know I’ve heaped a lot of praise on Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella over the last few years, but I can’t help but go at it again today. I hope, though, the subtle point I hope to make is clear: being an effective leader is about more than strategy.
WeWork Now Worth $16 Billion, Google Joins Open Compute Project
My attempt last summer to justify WeWork’s $10 billion valuation is looking pretty good, but I’m not sure I can pull off the trick for $16 billion. Plus, the brilliant strategy of Facebook’s Open Compute Project
Atlassian’s IPO and the Evolution of Dev Tools, Facebook Open-Sources Machine-Learning Hardware, Microsoft Open-Sources Chakra
More open-source news warrants a discussion about why exactly open-source matters for strategy.
Stratechery Gifts and Announcements, Apple Open-Sources Swift
Stratechery gift subscriptions are now available, plus an important site announcement. Then, we all knew Apple was going to open-source Swift. What was impressive was how the company went about doing it; hopefully it will prove to be an example for a clearly divided company.
TensorFlow and Monetizing Intellectual Property
Google has said repeatedly that machine learning is key to their future. Why, then, did they open source the secret sauce? Is it a mistake, or are there lessons to be learned for IP creators everywhere.