I don't usually comment too much on other people's blogs --it just becomes too much of an echo chamber --but I thought a recent posting by Savio on the adoption-led model could benefit from another perspective. I'm not sure what caused Savio to dismiss the adoption-led model as a move back to shareware. Maybe all the snow back east is giving him cabin fever! My perspective is a bit different. I don't think the a I don’t usually comment too much on other people’s blogs –it just becomes too much of an echo chamber –but I thought a recent posting by Savio on the adoption-led model could benefit from another perspective. I’m not sure what caused Savio to dismiss the adoption-led model as a move back to shareware. Maybe all the snow back east is giving him cabin fever! My perspective is a bit different. I don’t think the adoption model is a step backwards except in one very important sense: it restores more power into the hands of buyers. To me that’s one of the great benefits of open source software. As Simon Phipps points out, developers can try out the software and decide what works best to meet their needs.The reason I joined MySQL 4 1/2 years ago was because I felt that the old model of selling Enterprise software was broken. Companies charged millions of dollars for Enterprise software that rarely performed as needed. Few IT departments were successful in implementing all these applications and return on investment was miserable. Most implementations I saw ran years late and cost millions more in budget overruns. And Enterprise software companies were always pushing “the next big thing” –some new set of features that added more complexity and bloat. Open source has returned some of the power to buyers by letting them download and use the software without having to deal with smooth-talking Armani-wearing sales reps. The result: less complexity, lower cost of sales and greater efficiency both for buyers and for vendors. I’m not suggesting that all closed source enterprise software is bloated or over-priced or that all open source software is perfect. It’s up to the users to decide what works best to solve their problems. With open source, they have that option.Has the adoption-led model been successful? I think there’s compelling evidence, both in closed source and in open source. Consider McAfee anti-virus software, ZoneLabs intrusion detection software, SNORT security software, MySQL, Linux, JBoss, Eclipse, to name a few… Maybe there are other examples that come to mind. Or am I just basking in too much California optimism? Let me know what you think. Open Source