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Microsoft made two stunning moves this
week in the Open Source and SME spaces. It makes one stand up and
think that there is life in the old dog yet.
First Microsoft signs the Joomla
Contributor Agreement and then in South Africa they strike a BEE
deal with the DTI that is specifically aimed at the SME sector.
Why is this important for Open Source and why is it important for
TurboCASH in particular?
Way back in 2007 I predicted that Open
Source would be forever bound to Windows (see Living
with the Beast). Those that have followed my blog know that I
have run a love/hate relationship with Microsoft for over 20 years.
(see Bill
Gates My part in his downfall). Fortunately I have a Jekyll and
Hyde character, because I seem to spend my life criticising
Microsoft to the public and defending them vigorously to the Open
Source movement. Hate Microsoft for their monopolistic practices, but
those that have been around long enough to have suffered under Apple,
IBM or Novell, know you have to love Microsoft for being a far more
benign exploiter.
The Joomla move is an acknowlegement by
the world biggest software company that even Open Source Application
projects are important. Microsoft now sees that you don't have to
own, dominate and sell licences for a product to be useful to you.
Open source is an interconnected world. The TurboCASH project
runs on Joomla. The page that you are now reading is served by
Joomla. It is a great feeling to know that TurboCASH is now receiving
Open Source upstreaming contributions from Microsoft. Makes me want
to go out and work on improving the interface of our TurboCASH
Data interface to Joomla. (We already link with the Virtuemart Shop
in Joomla). In return we give Microsoft the downstream benefit that
working on Joomla is now going to make us happy to carry on working
in Windows.
The BEE deal (Black Economic
Empowerment) is more parochial to South Africa, but SA is still
TurboCASH's largest single market (30% of our users). Under the terms
of the deal Microsoft will make $60M in Angel investments in Black SME
software companies. These investments will be supplemented with
mentoring. It is great that Microsoft are recognising the importance
of the SME segment. Indirectly this is also a tipping of the cap to
Open Source, as the SME sector is where Open Source is getting its
strongest growth. There are many SME markets, like Joomla, where open
source is dominant.
This recognition by Microsoft that open
source is not the enemy and that there are projects like TurboCASH
in which 95% of our users use Windows desktops, opens up a world of
possibility for cooperation. Similarly from our point of view we need
to recognise that in the real world of Open Source contributions,
even from commercial companies, are still priceless.
This brings us to an interesting
opportunity. It is not clear yet what the terms of the Microsoft BEE
offering are, but what is certain is that TurboCASH is the
leading Open Source project from Africa and that we do have a global
footprint and a global strategy. Microsoft will be unlikely to find
more suitable partners in the SME market than TurboCASH. With 100
000 users in 80 countries and a consulting network of thousands of
contributor, we too have some ideas to offer Microsoft on how to
compete in the SME market. The fact of the matter is that we are
still standing today and Money and Office Accounting Express are not.
I would like to hear your thoughts on us participating in this offer,
If you have any ideas on contribution or participation with
Microsoft, lets hear it. I have opened a forum topic.
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