21 December 2007 - 00:13"Commercial Open Source"?
Jeff Gould of Interop News asks the question, "Is commercial open source really open?". His answer is, roughly, probably not. Not that he thinks you shouldn't use it if it works for you. He's just saying you should look for the really good software at the right price with terms you can live with. A message we at Symas Corporation agree with.
The interesting part of the article is the section on subsidies and the subsidizing of Linux. It's quite a strong statement and one that we agree deserves attention. They may not have been willing to band together in the early '90s to make Unix a competitor but they've certainly done so now it seems.
Another angle worth noting is the sarcasm around "the holy GPL". He's neither taking a stand for or against the license. He merely points out the gaming that's being done around the license. There has been plenty of that and most of it is an attempt to do two things at once: elicit contributions to corporate assets from volunteers who are not financially compensated (mebbe good, mebbe bad) and attract buyers seeking Open Source. Sound cynical? Maybe and meybe not.
There's nothing wrong with letting enthusiasts help. As long as they enter into the relationship and the work voluntarily and with a clear understanding of how it's set up, they have the right to help you out for nothing. And enthusiasts will do so without expectation of compensation if they are excited about what you, collectively, are building. No harm no foul there. There is lots of risk, long term, that the "business" will make decisions and take actions that the enthusiasts resent. That's a concern and governance and communication are really important if you want to avoid bad blood.
The Open Source as a sales point issue is another fluff ball. It's fashionable but shallow. Enterprises need to seek the best competitive software at the lowest costs. Any software, to be competitive, has to demonstrate excellence and, as more options open up in a category, multiple excellent options will appear. When that happens, cost becomes important. Community build and community supported software tends to be less expensive and, over time, will come to offer the best value.
Interesting article even if it mostly says the sky is blue.
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