Most days Matt Asay's blind love for OSS makes me laugh. Today is no different. In giving advice to Ballmer, Matt has the following particularly hilarious quotes: "Ballmer lacks the imagination to conceive of a world where Microsoft could open source code and still make a lot of money (He's apparently not heard of "Google"):" Umm, just so we're clear, we're taking about the same Google that makes billions on its Most days Matt Asay’s blind love for OSS makes me laugh. Today is no different.In giving advice to Ballmer, Matt has the following particularly hilarious quotes:“Ballmer lacks the imagination to conceive of a world where Microsoft could open source code and still make a lot of money (He’s apparently not heard of “Google”):”Umm, just so we’re clear, we’re taking about the same Google that makes billions on its proprietary search & AdSense algorithms encoded in proprietary software? Just because Google decides to open source some ancillary pieces of their infrastructure and supports OSS projects that they consume in-house, means Google is a model for Microsoft? Another gem:“But at least he’s willing to work with those who do grok that the future of software business (meaning: money) is open source:”Yep, the future, as in 1.3% of the software business in 2012. Matt, you know I love ya, but this is getting old. You say the future is OSS, and have absolutely no data to back it up. I don’t doubt that Alfresco is doing well. I don’t doubt that Red Hat is doing well. I do doubt that any OSS vendor, or the OSS vendor ecosystem as a whole will be able to grow to the size of a Microsoft, IBM or Oracle. And as a result, the future of the software business is in no shape or form wholly reliant on open source. Is OSS going to be a component of the market? Absolutely. But “a component” and “the only way forward” are two very different predictions.With news that FSJ is shutting down shop, I wonder if I should start a Fake Matt Asay blog and make outlandish claims like: “Sources tell me that Red Hat in talks to buy Microsoft in 2012”, or, “OSS to help Sun drive $100 Billion in annual revenues by 2013”. Nah, someone wise once said: “There can be only one”. 🙂 PS: I should state: “The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.” Open Source