M ailbag
Q. I th ou gh t ope n sou rce m e ant fre e
softw are . H ow can you ru n a b u sine ss if
you are giving th e softw are aw ay for
fre e ?
A. Le t's start by de fining fre e softw are
from th e pe rspe ctive of th e Fre e Softw are
Fou ndation. Th e ir Fre e Softw are D e fini-
tion state s:
Fre e softw are is a m atte r of l
ib e rty, not
price . Fre e softw are is a m atte r of th e
u se rs' fre e d om to ru n, copy, d istrib u te ,
stu d y, ch ange and im prove th e softw are .
M ore pre cise l
y, it re fe rs to fou r k ind s of
fre e d om , for th e u se rs of th e softw are :
1. Th e fre e d om to ru n th e program , for any
pu rpose (fre e d om 0).
2. Th e fre e d om to stu d y h ow th e program
w ork s, and ad apt it to you r ne e d s (fre e -
d om 1). Acce ss to th e sou rce cod e is a pre -
cond ition for th is.
3. Th e fre e d om to re d istrib u te copie s so
you can h e l
p you r ne igh b or (fre e d om 2).
4. Th e fre e d om to im prove th e program ,
and re l
e ase you r im prove m e nts to th e pu b -
l
ic, so th at th e w h ol
e com m u nity b e ne fits
(fre e d om 3). Acce ss to th e sou rce cod e is a
pre cond ition for th is.
Th is is th e m ost pu b l
iciz e d de finition of
fre e softw are from th e ope n sou rce pe r-
spe ctive . Fu rth e r, th e re are m any w ays to
m ak e m one y from ope n sou rce oth e r
th an ju st ch arging for th e softw are itse l
f.
It is inte re sting to note th at th e cu rre nt
tre nd in b u sine ss is to m ove aw ay from
th e m ode l
of ch arging for softw are and to-
w ards a SO A (Se rvice O rie nte d Arch ite c-
tu re ) m ode l
.
Q. O pe n sou rce is so ne w . Isn't it risk y to
appl
y u nprove n te ch nol
ogy to b u sine ss
practice s?
A. W h il
e th e ope n sou rce de finition is
fairl
y ne w , th e practice s b e h ind th at
de finition are as ol
d as softw are itse l
f. In
fact, th e se practice s pre - date th e adve nt
of com m e rcial
softw are by ove r a de cade .
W h e n com pu ting h ardw are b e cam e
avail
ab l
e in th e 19 50s, it w as ve ry
e xpe nsive . Typical
l
y softw are w asn't
incl
u de d as u se rs w e re e xpe cte d to cre ate
th e ir ow n program s; any softw are th at
w as incl
u de d w as th row n in as a fre e add-
on. Com pu te r u se rs q u ick l
y saw th e
b e ne fit of cre ating u se r grou ps in orde r to
col
l
ab orate in th e cre ation and sh aring of
program s. Th at m any of th e se grou ps stil
l
e xist today (for e xam pl
e IBM 's SH AR E
and H P's Encom pass w h ich starte d l
ife as
D igital
's D ECU S) is te stam e nt to th e
su cce ss of ope n col
l
ab oration.
H istory aside , it is com m on b u sine ss
practice for com pe titors to col
l
ab orate .
Consortia are form e d by ve ndors in orde r
to cre ate com m on standards to fast track
ne w te ch nol
ogie s. W h il
e th e standard is
sh are d, e ach ve ndor e xpe cts to re cou p
th e ir inve stm e nt by th e b randing and
diffe re ntiating fe atu re s th e ir produ ct
adds to th at standard.
In oth e r w ords, ope n sou rce isn't ne w . It
doe sn't incre ase or de cre ase risk . Ju st l
ik e
any oth e r te ch nol
ogy, it ne e ds to b e
w e igh e d on its ow n m e rit. For e xam pl
e ,
doe s a particu l
ar ope n sou rce appl
ication
m e e t a b u sine ss ne e d? D oe s it provide
th e re q u ire d fe atu re s? H ow doe s it
com pare to oth e r sim il
ar appl
ications?
Th e se are th e type s of q u e stions to b e
ask e d w h e n e val
u ating any softw are ,
w h e th e r it b e ope n or cl
ose d.
24
Additional
R e ading
Fre e Softw are Fou ndation :
h ttp://w w w .fsf.org/
Eric Raym ond, A Brie f H istory of H ack e rdom :
h ttp://w w w .catb.org/~ e sr/w ritings/cath e dral
-
b az aar/
