The role of Open Source and Foundations in Enterprises
I had the pleasure of joining a panel discussion that included several instrumental folks including Duncan Johnston-Watt, Sam Ramji & Monty Taylor on the role of the foundation. Without getting too far into the nitty gritty, there were some very interesting themes that came up…of which I will try to summarize here.
MATURITY OF ENGAGEMENT
Many of the foundations are working with Open Source Software as a means to bring collaboration and organization to a collective of like-minded folks. In many ways, the role of the foundation is to bring organization to chaos.
During the conversation, a core conversation topic is the maturity model of engagement for customers. The model encompasses a number of different attributes. One of which is the relationship between individuals, foundations and commercial organizations.
One of the big misnomers with Open Source Software is that it is free. Open Source Software is not free. As one panelist equated: taking software without paying (or contributing back) is theft. At the opposite end of the spectrum is commercial software where a commercial agreement outlines the exchange of software for money. And, of course, there are a myriad of different attributes in between.
While this is only one way to slice the conversation, there are many ways in which one could look at how individuals engage with Open Source Software and how it, in turn, relates to foundations.
THREE COMPLEXITIES TO FOUNDATIONS
Each foundation follows a varied mission. However, there are three facets that often cover the core aspects of the foundation’s mission: Political, Economic and Technical. Many foundations will focus on the technical attributes without consideration of the economic nor political components. Unfortunately, only focusing on one facet leads to challenges that will manifest in a number of ways.
Not all foundations will, or need to, serve each of these dynamics. However, there is a reality setting in that the majority of foundations will need to address each of them in order. To ignore one or two (ie: political or economic) provides a significant, if not unsurmountable challenge.
FOCUS ON THE VALUE
In the end, foundations are complex. For the enterprise, it is important to understand the role of the foundation and how it aligns with your own vision and needs. It is important to find the appropriate ways to engage in a collaborative fashion.
CIO Strategic Advisor at AVOA
9 年I should have noted Cole and John that the post was not intended to be perfect but rather to invoke discussion. I'm certain there are a number of different perspectives on the subject and would welcome learning about yours.
Science Director
9 年Hi Tim- the diagram you presented and discussion of maturity of engagement do not quite match my understanding of the relationship between individuals, foundations and corporations as the divisions are often (usually?) not very clear cut. As I can't include graphics here, I've posted an alternative diagram and some longer commentary on how all three groups are involved in moving open source software forward on my LinkedIn page here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/role-enterprises-opensource-software-foundations-john-starmer Thanks for posting such a thought provoking article.
CEO / Founder @ Vapor IO and YPO member
9 年Having built and/or matured 4 non profits I have a different opinion on this.
Many time founder & 5 exits - lots of open source - now working to reimagine cyber security with deep learning
9 年Thanks Tim. There remains a lot of misunderstanding about open source and this introduction to open source governance should help folks wrap their heads around it.