John Newton, my colleague at Alfresco, has joined ZDNet as a blogger (Check out Newton's Theory, which tracks the evolution of information management), and is off to a bang with this ditty. (John is particularly credible because he largely invented one of the industry's big software markets, and because he helped to create a billion-dollar software business...from $0.00.)After three decades of this process, it’s John Newton, my colleague at Alfresco, has joined ZDNet as a blogger (Check out Newton’s Theory, which tracks the evolution of information management), and is off to a bang with this ditty. (John is particularly credible because he largely invented one of the industry’s big software markets, and because he helped to create a billion-dollar software business…from $0.00.)After three decades of this process, it’s reasonable to say that customers have pain fatigue. The software industry has produced so many pain and pain relief stories, that people just don’t believe it any more. Any software product that claims to reduce costs, increase compliance, avoid attrition or eliminate customer churn is met with a demand to prove it. Even customer success stories are viewed as helpful, but not necessarily proof. Customers now view ROI calculators as a joke. It’s a clear sign of the maturation of the enterprise software industry…. Open source on the other hand is about something you want even more than you need. The want must be something where need is already well established. It could be something as simple as providing an enterprise system that has enough of the features I need and doesn’t cost much or anything. It may also be the desire to have access to the source code to modify it for my own needs. It could be the attractiveness of having the latest hot downloaded piece of software. Finally, it may be about participation in a development community that recognizes the work that I have contributed. All of these wants or desires drive open source adoption rather than being convinced by a sales person.In other words, open source is not driven by pain, but by the pleasure of added benefits. Because, as John indicated, open source doesn’t come with a pain-spewing salesperson, we never get to make that argument, anyway. Some enterprise software companies do a good job of selling similar value. Microsoft, oddly enough, is one of them. Microsoft focuses on providing an ecosystem of value. My problem is with its efforts to lock in that value and scare anyone that would dare to go elsewhere, but the core of Microsoft’s message and technology is a good one. Anyway, welcome to ZDNet, John, and I heartily welcome the “pleasure” of open source business. Open Source