Similarities between Linux and the "open web" +

I just came across this very well-written and thought-provoking piece by Alex Russell on the similarities between Linux and the open web.

The almost religious belief that choice is good ignores the inability of most people (myself included) to fully judge the long-run costs of any given technology decision. Oddly, the web browser world seems stuck in a similar position. Choice in browsers is promoted like some sort of panacea, when in fact our big problem isn’t choice, it’s that browsers simply can’t natively attempt the feats we need them to accomplish. […]

Background: Proprietary platforms like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight are now being seen as a threat to traditional web technologies such as HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, which are based on open standards (hence “open web”) with multiple competing implementations.

Innovation has always been brought about in the form of proprietary technologies. Let’s not forget that Linux itself is a clone of a 30-year-old proprietary operating system (UNIX). In our industry, there are waves of innovation fuelled by proprietary interest. When the waves settle, we enter a phase of consolidation, which leads to standardisation. The standards then open up avenues for further innovation … and the cycle repeats.

There will be consolidation among the major players in the rich internet applications (RIA) space, technologies will converge, and we’ll see new standards emerge.