In hearings of 17 May 2004, Linux advocate Mr Russell adduced Google as an example of open source, based on the fact that the company runs its software on Linux. (Hansard, 2004a: 57)
This is misleading. Google's preeminence arises from the power and sophistication of its search and matching technology, which performs 200 million searches each day, finding matches in a 20 terabyte data stack. That powerful search and matching technology is closely guarded, and certainly not -released to the community" as open sourcers advocate. The fact that the software runs on Linux is little more important than which brand of computer it runs on.
Google is thus a good example of the merits of the commercial model for software, not open source. Google's guarding of its intellectual property is part of the reason the company is valued at AU$50 billion.
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"Open Source is bad for Australia" is such a blanket statement that I would have to disagree.
The author makes valid points about GPL on occasions hindering, rather than enhancing business, but GPL is not the only Open Source model. GPL is often used with the attitude "I am not making any money out of publishing this code, so why should anyone else." Unfortunately, R&D investment can not be warranted "commercially" on a GPL system, because the entity spending the money does not get any benefit (except knowing they might make the world a better place).
There are also instances where Open Source would be detrimental to commercial interests in Australia. But Open Source often brings benefits, which is why I disagree. One of the problems with proprietary source code is that if the particular vendor goes bankrupt, or a relationship sours with a vendor, your data is effectively held hostage (Most of the time, you can not simply port to another vendor's package). Whilst open source doesn't guarentee flexibility (there may be binding contracts even in open source), in my view you are certainly more secure.
Secondly, many open source products are free. This is not co-incidental, but a consequence of GPL and alike. In fact, this is one of the factors hinted at in the article. I would like to suggest that Open Source classes, databases, languages, APIs and alike can significantly reduce development time. Most open source products have public documentation, so they don't need to be re-documented. Furthermore, not having to pay license fees can assist a software company to be more profitable.
Thirdly, on following on from point two, cheaper development costs inevitably lead to more competitive markets and cheaper prices to the end user. This makes software more accessable to Australians.