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]]>On the surface a two-month delay in Red Hat’s release of Global Desktop Linux is no big deal. (Picture of a Dell laptop running Ubuntu from Indiecom.)
Through 2008, less than 10 percent of Global 1000 companies will deploy open-source portals at the enterprise level because of lack of compelling advantages in cost, support, functionality and finish (0.8 probability). However, Gartner does not expect this trend to continue indefinitely. The technology in Java-based horizontal OSS portals, such as that provided by JBoss (recently acquired by Red Hat), is maturing, and vendor-independent portal standards, such as JSR 168, are reducing concerns about vendor lock-in. Additionally, some large ISVs have continued to exploit OSS technology in their portals, highlighted by Sun Microsystems' new strategy of open sourcing its entire infrastructure stack, including its portal. Open-source portal solutions could pose a threat to large ISVs' traditional license sales. At the same time, open source provides large ISVs with opportunities to generate revenue from services supporting open-source initiatives.
Red Hat's acquisition of JBoss signals a more aggressive move into middleware and a new era of business maturity for open source software. This deal means that the industry is headed for a period of remarkable growth for open source, and it will be led by the JBoss Java middleware platform.
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