Open Source Robustness

Lest any people scoff at the ability the open source model has in making money, again look to Red Hat.

When the market was going up, they made money. Even with the market is tumbling they are making money. In fact, they are doing better than anyone. While just about every other tech company is making layoffs or hiring freezes, Red Hat hasn't slowed one bit. From Internet News:

While the wider economy is in a slowdown, Linux vendor Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) is bucking the trend with its year-end fiscal 2009 financial results, showing strong revenue gains and adding 40,000 new customers during the year...

For its fourth quarter ending Feb. 28, Red Hat reported revenues of $166.2 million, which is an 18 percent increase over its fourth quarter 2008 tally. For the full year, Red Hat reported a 25 percent gain over fiscal 2008, with total revenue of $652.6 million.

Earnings before charges totaled 22 cents per share, beating Wall Street forecast of 20 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

So, I'm going to argue that not only is the open source model the best for innovation, it is the most robust model in good times and in bad. (Below is a corny video that was recently made.)

OSBC2009 - Welcome Video from Matt Asay on Vimeo.