Eclips e: A Prem ier

Open S ource Com m unity

"I l

ove d e ad l

ine s. I l

ik e th e w h oosh ing

sou nd th e y m ak e as th e y fl

y b y."

D ou gl

as Adam s

Th e Ecl

ipse com m u nity h as e stab l

ish e d

th e b e st e xisting m ode l

for m u l

tipl

e cor-

porations to cre ate innovation ne tw ork s,
e nab l

ing co- ope ration on th e de ve l

op-

m e nt of produ ct- re ady ope n sou rce soft-
w are . Th is re al

l

y is th e b e st of b oth

w orl

ds: th e ope nne ss, transpare ncy and

m e ritocracy of ope n sou rce w ith th e re -
sou rce s and com m itm e nt of corporations
b oth l

arge and sm al

l

.

Th is articl

e de scrib e s som e of th e l

e ssons

l

e arne d ove r th e past five ye ars of grow th

of th e Ecl

ipse e cosyste m . Bu t first, it is

im portant to u nde rstand th e distinction
b e tw e e n th e Ecl

ipse te ch nol

ogy and th e

Ecl

ipse Fou nd ation.

Ecl

ipse is an ope n sou rce com m u nity,

w h ose proje cts are focu se d on b u il

ding

an ope n de ve l

opm e nt pl

atform com -

prise d of e xte nsib l

e fram e w ork s, tool

s

and ru ntim e s for b u il

ding, de pl

oying and

m anaging softw are across th e l

ife cycl

e .

Th e re are ove r se ve nty proje cts h oste d at
Ecl

ipse th at are focu se d on b u il

ding th e

Ecl

ipse te ch nol

ogy.

Th e Ecl

ipse Fou nd ation is a not- for-

profit, m e m b e r su pporte d corporation
th at h osts th e Ecl

ipse proje cts and h e l

ps

cu l

tivate b oth an ope n sou rce com -

m u nity and an e cosyste m of com pl

e -

m e ntary produ cts and se rvice s.

A Brie f H istory

2001: IBM cre ate s