Conquering Open Source Fears
I just found this great interview with Robert Sutor. Sutor is IBM’s VP of Standards and Open Source, which makes him a really cool guy in my book. The interview is reposted here because I don’t want to link to a PDF.
Related to this interview Robert recently blogged about IBM’s new site devoted to open source and business.
Conquering Open-Source Fears
BY SHIRLEY S. SAVAGEALL TOO OFTEN, companies greet the idea of open-source computing as a threat to the way business is currently done. One of the challenges faced by open-source advocates is to change that perspective. Open-source computing will change business as we know it. But rather than viewing it as a threat, it’s helpful to see opensource computing as a business opportunity that needs to be embraced. Linux Executive Report (LER) recently spoke with Dr. Robert S. Sutor, vice president, Standards and Open Source at IBM, to gain some insight on how to accomplish that change of view successfully. (If you’d like to read more about Sutor’s thoughts on life, open standards, and open source, visit: http://sutor.com/blog.)
LER: Why is it so difficult for companies to adjust to open-source computing?
RS: It’s not unreasonable for people to have a natural resistance to opensourcing software, particularly if they grew up in a culture that was about developing and then licensing software for money. Therefore, executives need to be much more explicit about opensource goals and laying down a number of steps to reach that goal. One of those steps is a business plan. If a company is trying to move to an opensourcing world, what are the business goals? What will the company look like in terms of its products, the people to help make this transition, and the revenue structure? Executives need to ask: Is my company currently equipped personnelwise to make the transition to open sourcing? I’m not suggesting that you fire everyone. Rather, there needs to be training, discussion, and very open communication since people can harbor deep-seated reservations about moving to open sourcing.
LER: Isn’t it all about conquering the fear of the unknown?
RS: In the last 150 years or so, people have gotten used to the concept of ideas being discovered and then owned. If you go back farther in history to everyone’s favorite inventor and master, Leonardo da Vinci, the goal in making discoveries was to advance the general knowledge of civilization. Much of this knowledge created hundreds of years ago was a rediscovery of what people once knew as well as an incredible burst of creativity. In da Vinci’s time, there was a lot of free sharing of ideas, which enabled people to make new connections between them. IBM very much believes that nurturing and participating in a strong open-source community can lead to a lot of innovation, which will help up create those connections and build things that people haven’t previously envisioned. When innovation happens, there will be a lot of growth opportunities for those who choose seize them.
LER: What is your advice to those who are reluctant to embrace opensource computing?
RS: View open sourcing as a way for brand-new markets to be created, to have new product categories, and to have new ways to serve your customers. Those new ways might not be traditional, but could be profitable. We’re living in an age now that’s almost a Renaissance period for software. People are more willing to experiment with the technology and the business models. We don’t know where it’s going. But at least we are creating the environment in which wonderful things can happen.
Shirley S. Savage, a Maine-based freelance writer, has written articles for IBM Systems Magazine. Shirley can be reached at ssavage@maine.rr.com.
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<li> Developers will be paid by those who believe it is in their best interest to improve the software. Companies like IBM, Novell, and Apple have whole sections devoted to improving the open source software they use. </li>
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Who will be managing these server farms that this toilet paper land is rolled out on?
How much will be invested into each new simulator that is put online? What is the maintenance cost to keep it running? I think that will determine how we value land.
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<li>Intellectual property is easy! We don't handle it, you do. Your IP is your responsibility.</li>
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- Prokofy Compared to what? We the users will pay the developers just as we do now. Virtual property will be worth more in one world than another based on demand just as property in one sim or another based on various factors now. We will protect our own property rights via real world registrations and lawsuits just like we do now. At this point in time, Linden Lab only provides a clearing mechanism to fund developers that operate a closed, proprietary world. The severe limitations they impose, through feature restrictions and a centralized architecture, are barely tolerated by the growing userbase of Internet conditioned people. That arrangement can't last much longer. Considering the other two points, they do nothing to ensure virtual property values or protection of property rights. They never have and, frankly, I believe they never will.
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