Datamation Logo

Red Hat CEO: Open Source is Not Just About Cost

June 12, 2013
Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

BOSTON. Red Hat is a company that generates over $1 billion a year in revenues from open source software.

It should come as no surprise then, that the CEO of Red Hat sees being open as the key to innovation. Speaking at the opening keynote for the Red Hat Summit, CEO Jim Whitehurst stressed that open isn’t just a marketing slogan, it’s the only way that modern IT companies can survive.

“Open collaboration is the social technology that underpins our ability to move from client server to the cloud social era of computing,” Whitehurst said. “With the closed model you’re guessing what customers want and can only leverage the ideas that you come up with yourself.”

In Whitehurst’s view, the new paradigm of how things are created is where we can leverage the wisdom of the crowds. At some point in the last year or two, the industry has hit an inflection point where more innovation is happening in open communities than what is coming out of traditional proprietary communities.

“The most negative thing you could say today is open source only delivers incremental innovation,” Whitehurst said.

In the beginning of the open source era, however, incremental innovation was the norm. For example, many initially viewed Linux as a better implementation of Unix and MySQL, as an incremental innovation of a database.

With the emergence of cloud, Whitehurst argued that all of the core innovations are coming from open source, except for one.

“Name an innovation that isn’t happening in open source – other than Azure,” Whitehurst said.

Why Now?

As to why open source is the leading source for innovation now, as opposed to some point in the past, it all has to do with technology enablement, specifically the ubiquity of broadband connectivity.

“The technology now finally exist that allows for mass collaboration, the pipe and sewers that enable high bandwidth,” Whitehurst said.

Cost

While some in the past have associated open source with cost  – it’s the cheaper alternative to proprietary approaches – that’s not the point anymore. The innovation model for open collaboration enables multiple competitive vendors to co-operate on core functionality and then compete on value added support and services.

“The most strategic users of open source are not doing it because of cost,” Whitehurst said. “There are doing it because it is more agile and more flexible.”

ron whitehurst, Red Hat CEO

Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at Datamation and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

  SEE ALL
ARTICLES
 

Subscribe to Data Insider

Learn the latest news and best practices about data science, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, data security, and more.

Datamation Logo

Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.

Advertisers

Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on Datamation and our other data and technology-focused platforms.

Advertise with Us

Our Brands


Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions About Contact Advertise California - Do Not Sell My Information

Property of TechnologyAdvice.
© 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.