How to sell Python ( and OpenSoruce )

[Paul Prescod]

Thomas Weholt wrote:
> 
>...
>
> I want to convince alot of my co-workers that OpenSource software,
> especially Python, is ready for big business. ( is it ?! )

It sure is! Even after the general market decline, Red Hat is almost a 4
Billion dollar company. That's with a "B". I don't know how they'll
justify that market cap but clearly Wall Street has bought into Open
Source.
  
> How do I sell an OpenSource solution like Python to hardheaded
> closedsource-fanatics? I know they care about money, so that would be
> my best angle. If anybody has any good examples of companies using
> Python, or similar technology, with profit, that would be great.

Luckily there is a group dedicated to selling open source to companies: 

http://www.opensource.org/

Lookit, any company that thinks that a product is not reliable or
supported because it is open source must be willfully closing their eyes
to the fact that the entire Internet depends on open source technologies
like Apache, bind, sendmail and the scripting languages. 

It sounds like your guys want to be "mainstream". Tell them that Yahoo
and Amazon both use free software to serve their websites. IBM is a big
backer of free software also.

http://www.netcraft.com/whats/?host=www.amazon.com (apache)
http://www.netcraft.com/whats/?host=www.yahoo.com (freebsd)
http://www.netcraft.com/whats/?host=www.hotmail.com (apache/freebsd)
http://www.netcraft.com/whats/?host=www.google.com (Python/Linux)

-- 
 Paul Prescod  - ISOGEN Consulting Engineer speaking for himself
"Music is the stuff between the notes." - Claude Debussy