The true value of ActiveState
The new ActiveState logo includes the name of its new owner, Sophos.
I went to the Python.org website. The only downloads for Windows were those made by ActiveState.
I learned that ActiveState’s value was 23 millions. They had only around 100 employees and it was enough to make them a referrence for Microsoft.
I think that Sophos will put a hold on Tcl, Perl and this kind of stuff, on some stupid reason, like the need to protect our mailboxes which needs some extra stuff, something that the Bayesian filter are supposedly not able to match.
This brings me to another point. It seems that an Open Source project, be it as good as any commercial alternative, is rejected by enterprises because 1. there are no nice logos and 2. there is no real support. The solution would be that any Open Source project should be cloned into a commercial application, which will be sold to mega-buyers. If the users will pay, they will feel more confortable.
Getting more offtopic, that explains the succes Java had. No open source, had no real community control, expensive tools. These This is opposed to anything open sourced, which brings fear to the user. In order to trust, users must pay and programmers must hide the source. Perhaps it explains the succes ActiveState and Microsoft had and perhaps this is the key to another future for Linux. Just ask for money and the user count will grow.
Anyway. My main worry is the next Perl distribution provider. Will there be any?