open-source success

Open-Source Success

Open Source Case for Business

By Llewellyn van der Merwe

Knowledge

Developer

User

Reliability

Stability

Auditability

Flexibility & Freedom

Support & Accountability

Cost Advantages for ALL

Reliability

Peer-Reviewed

Internet's Infrastructure

Real-world Evidence

Bulletproof at Maturity

Reliability

Open-source software is peer-reviewed software; not by one point of view among one group of developers but from a global, none biased perspective. Therefore much more reliable than closed, proprietary software.

Peer-Reviewed

Reliability

Makes the best possible proof of reliability. Consider only a few like DNS, sendmail, the various open-source TCP/IP stacks and utility suites, and the open-source scripting languages. Without these the internet will collapse.

Internet's Infrastructure

Reliability

In an independent, head-to-head reliability test, open-source Unix systems and utilities were less fragile - crashed or hung less often - than their proprietary counterparts.

Real-world

Evidence

Reliability

Mature open-source code is as bulletproof as software ever gets. When thousands continually look for weakness, and fix them as they are found, the most logic result is very strong fortification.

Bulletproof at Maturity

Stability

Communities

Documented Changes

Backward Compatibility

Stability

Around almost all open-source projects there are vibrant communities who serve as a stabling force to insure no unneeded changes are made.

Communities

Stability

Usually all changes made to open-source projects are documented. This insures that all involved can closely review what has been done and why.

Documented Changes

Stability

There is often strong reasons for open-source projects to offer backward compatibility to their software, or easy migration to insure co-developers are not driven away from the project.

Backward Compatibility

Auditability

Security

Freedom from Backdoors

Adherence to Standards

Auditability

Closed-source software forces its users to trust its security, where open-source can openly be examined to support the claim.

Security

Auditability

This also applies to privacy and integrity concerns. Open-source insures that you can check that no backdoors exist. Where as proprietary systems have notoriously failed us.

Freedom from

Backdoors

Auditability

Open-source can be checked that there is truly adherence to industry standards, where there is no sure proof that proprietary software does.

Adherence to

Standards


No Lock-in

Freedom from a single vendor

Freedom to modify your software


Proprietary data formats are often used by vendors to establish a locked-in environment with undocumented or even protected formats. Open-source simply is open and this kind of danger does not exist.

No Lock-in


Open-source allows that any vendor can access and edit the software, where in proprietary software this is not possible.

Freedom from a single

vendor


This goes without saying, and yet this one advantage should be more then enough reason since true freedom can in no other way be achieved.

Freedom to modify

your software


Source of Revenue

Proprietary (End User License Agreements)

ANY Developer @Support

Reliability


Due to the nature of open-source, good and reliable support is often the most promising avenue of revenue.

Source of

Revenue


There is often the argument of no accountability and yet the EULA (End User License Agreements) that almost all proprietary software use will dispel that myth, since it clearly and explicitly disclaim responsibility or liability. This means that both hold to the same protection and not just open-source software.

Proprietary (EULA)


Open-source software is by nature a very supportive community, this is mainly because any developer can read the code and explain why things work they way they do.

ANY Developer @Support


As open-source software matures, reliability increase, like with Apache, MySQL and similar projects. Therefore support dwindles as an issue.

Reliability

Cost Advantages for ALL

For Software Producers

For Software Merchants

For Entrepreneurs

For Investors

Cost Advantages For

Development Speed• The first developer in any given

market to go open-source will gain a substantial advantage since it will attract some of the best co-developers who will invest enough time in the project that they will most likely stick with it.

Software Producers

Cost Advantages For

Lower Overhead• With many developers freely

improving the software as contribution to the community the overheads reduction is clearly noticeable. This means smaller shops will be able to handle bigger projects.

Software Producers

Cost Advantages For

Closeness to the Customer• One of the most important keys of

software management advice is "know the customers needs." In today's fast-moving business climate it's more important than ever to do that, so you can as soon as possible be able to rapidly respond to those needs.

Software Merchants

Cost Advantages For

Broader Market• A great side-effect of the open-source

model will be a much wider reach for your software. Open-source authors frequently find themselves receiving, for free, port changes for operating systems and environments they barely know exist and can't afford developers to support. Each such port, of course, widens the market appeal of the product.

Software Merchants

Cost Advantages For

Going open-source is a way to grab mind-share. The best new concept in the world won't make money unless people know it's interesting. Whether this makes sense as a strategy depends on whether you think your main value proposition is in the software itself or in service and the expertise associated with the software. More often than one might think, the value is actually in service and integration.

Entrepreneurs

Cost Advantages For

Now for a higher-level, investor's point of view. There are at least four known business models for making money with open source:• Support Sellers• Loss Leader• Widget Frosting• Accessorizing

Investors

Cost Advantages For Investors

(otherwise known as "Give Away the Recipe, Open A Restaurant"): In this model, you (effectively) give away the software product, but sell distribution, branding, and after-sale service. This is what (for example) Red Hat does.

Support Sellers


In this model, you give away open-source as a loss-leader and market positioner for closed software. This is what Netscape is doing.

Loss Leader


In this model, a hardware company (for which software is a necessary adjunct but strictly a cost rather than profit center) goes open-source in order to get better drivers and interface tools cheaper. Silicon Graphics, for example, supports and ships Samba.

Widget Frosting


Selling accessories - books, compatible hardware, complete systems with open-source software pre-installed. It's easy to trivialize this (open-source T-shirts, coffee mugs, Linux penguin dolls) but at least the books and hardware underlay some clear successes: O'Reilly Associates, and SSC are among them.

Accessorizing

Open-source has WON!DON'T BELIEVE ME? LOOK AT WHAT MICROSOFT HAS BEEN DOING.

IN THE YEAR-AND-A-HALF SINCE NADELLA HAS TAKEN OVER AS MICROSOFT'S CEO,

THE COMPANY HAS GONE FULL THROTTLE IN ITS EMBRACE OF THE OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY.

AMONG SOME EXAMPLES CAN BE READ AT HTTP://VDM.BZ/MICROSOFT-EMBRACE

VDM open-source projects

https://github.com/SermonDistributorhttps://github.com/Namibiahttps://github.com/getBible

Useful Links & Question Timehttp://vdm.bz/case-4-business

http://vdm.bz/benefit-4-business

http://vdm.bz/big-companies

http://vdm.bz/not-expected

http://vdm.bz/security-and-quality

http://vdm.bz/open-source-world

http://vdm.bz/top-50-open-source

http://vdm.bz/cathedral-bazaar

http://vdm.bz/your-open-source-plan

http://vdm.bz/open-source-has-won

http://vdm.bz/microsoft-embrace

http://vdm.bz/commercial