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Re: Enterprise Sponsors and the Open Source Community: An Uneasy Symbiosis?
Posted by: Jim Offner 2009-02-14 00:01:43
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Not many years ago, the open source software ecosystem and proprietary models might have been thought of as incompatible. About 10 years ago, though, the two systems began converging. IBM began to support Linux, providing what many analysts described as "legitimacy" to the fledging operating system among enterprise customers and developers. IBM has continued to support Linux and other open source efforts ever since. Indeed, in the last year alone, IBM made a number of contributions to the open source universe.
When corporations sponsor an open source project, they get something in return. Those bright minds that attach themselves to the project are in effect working for free, to the benefit of the corporation. R&D people aren't cheap. They may be the second most expensive people within the corporation (behind management, of course). Supposing that a dozen college kids, and half a dozen professional IT people get into the collaberation, donating 5 hours per week on average, the sponsor has gained a LOT in R&D, at just about no cost. Projects which capture the imagination of many college kids and professionals will of course benefit much more. But, the principal of having people do your research and testing for free has to entice a lot of corporations toward open source.
Also, one needs to remember that the specific license under which the open source project is released affects the "Intellectual Property" value a great deal. What license is Microsoft using? I've never looked at it, but I'll bet it's the most restrictive license they could dream up, and still call it "open source". Several companies have open sourced their basic code, then enabled some "addon" functionality to a more proprietary package. There are tricks, and there are tricks to open source software.
Also, one needs to remember that the specific license under which the open source project is released affects the "Intellectual Property" value a great deal. What license is Microsoft using? I've never looked at it, but I'll bet it's the most restrictive license they could dream up, and still call it "open source". Several companies have open sourced their basic code, then enabled some "addon" functionality to a more proprietary package. There are tricks, and there are tricks to open source software.
