Killer Sun Gosling Quote

"The average software developer spends more on lattes than they do on tools."
Gosling, Sun Microsystems [taken from this great article)

I thought this was brilliant 8-)

I've just done my first years accounts and I'm ashamed to admit that, for me at least, Goslings statement holds true! It's amazing how I expect so many "bread and butter" tools to be available for free. What? Pay for an enterprise class database management system? You must be kidding. Surely they should be available for FREE! Hehe, it's really screwed up, but it's the way I think. And that's the way things are going.

I like the idea of comparing these software tools to supermarkets and utility companies. Having a database server for a business application is a bit like having electricity for your home. It's mandatory, but it's also a pain to buy, if not mundane. You just want to find a cheap provider and get on with the interesting stuff. From where I'm sitting it looks like a lot of software is falling into this category.

I'm currently a solo contractor who often thinks about launching a product or getting into something with more leverage than my hourly rate. Staying on the right side of the commodotisation line seems like *really* good advice. It seems like bespoke and custom software is a safe place to be these days. If I read this post (#11) correctly then I think Database engines, email clients, web browsers, CRMs, CMSs etc simply don't provide enough competitive advantage to justify huge expendature.

On a complete tangent, I think about Resharper (www.jetbrains.com/resharper). This is a tool I love, it offers so many great features for refactoring in Visual Studio.NET. But, I wonder if this class of tool is becoming commoditised? Will I expect to be paying for .NET refactoring tools in 2 years time? How will JetBrains be able to convince people to buy their products when refactoring utilities are built right into the IDE? What happens when a good Open Source refactoring tool emerges for .NET?

Ok, enough mindless rambling for one day!...