Microsoft Won't Buy Yahoo: Good for Open Source?
After several months of discussion and speculation, the Microsoft-Yahoo buyout deal is apparently off. At least, that's what both Microsoft and Yahoo announced over the weekend. There is some speculation that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made his announcement in order to topple Yahoo's share price, in order to make another offer at a lower price. But for now, Yahoo is saying that they have come out of this fight stronger and more focused than before. Does this mean that we will see a change in Yahoo's commitment to open source?
Back when Microsoft announced its intention to buy Yahoo, many of us wondered whether Yahoo would be forced to get rid of its open-source projects in the wake of such a purchase. But after reading the press releases put out by Yahoo, in which they seem to indicate that they're aiming not only to survive, but to become a stronger and more profitable company, I have to wonder whether this might force Yahoo to give up some of its open-source projects.
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Yahoo is BSD ? Not business savvy ? Baidu beats Google easy ?
Often open source community demands open sourced codes. Yahoo codes are not open sourced but based on Berkley BSD, pretty much written by Jerry Yang as a student in its early days.
Yahoo is not business savvy, same as MSN, failed miserably in auction software. Auction software of ebay has ebay employees buying and selling goods listed, or flipped the merchandise on ebay. They have to learn how business is done, before they write software. Microsoft and Baidu merger maybe more interesting, but Baidu has Chinese language limitations.
Google is html. Google pay customers to click. Yahoo and MSN do not pay customers to click. This is also important to know Google simplified webpages are not appealing to users. While xml is too much of a demand on computer power, Yahoo has a good compromise of experience visually. Yahoo has yet to address cellphone world to get more advertizing. Baidu has so much business that denial of service will need on-demand video servers to keep their customers from deflecting. Google server farm lost many submitted websites for their search engine.
Conclusion is that when organization gets too large, changing direction is difficult because of momentum. Usually, venture capitalists bring in business savvy management from really big business, where they have experience handling big money too. Yahoo is the only one going from outsider back to founder mentality. Search for new management for Yahoo is the only way to grow. Wall street not familiar with Silicon Valley growth strategy tried the wrong business plan to grow Yahoo.
it's not over yet. (But...)
But here's the good bit:
Yahoo Bid Left Microsoft $24 Billion More Worthless
Microsoft's Yahoo foray signals its shaky grip on the desktop
WHO'S THE bigger loser from Microsoft's withdrawn bid for Yahoo? Investors certainly punished the Internet company on Monday for letting the prospective deal go away, and they enthusiastically cheered Microsoft's abandonment of a $42 billion bid. But a jog through the numbers, starting from before the software giant showed its hand, suggests that it's actually Microsoft that has emerged most damaged from the affair.
The truth is, Microsoft shareholders were never entirely sold on the Yahoo takeover. At one point in early March, they had sliced more than $50 billion off the software giant's pre-bid market value.
[...]
Even after Monday's relief rally, Microsoft is worth some $24 billion less than it was before it bid for Yahoo on Feb. 1.
[...]
Microsoft's bid for Yahoo was seen by many as a signal the company recognized its grip on the desktop may be slipping. That, more than anything else, may account for the billions that have gone missing from Microsoft's value.