Fifteen years ago I spent a good deal of my time evangelizing open source software. I was an advocate in for emerging software like Linux and the rest of the LAMP (Apache, MySQL, PHP) for web applications. Over time I was quick to jump on the Linux server and desktop, JBoss, MySQL and Zimbra bandwagons. Conservative IT managers asked questions about IP assurance and enterprise scalability. Those days are mostly gone. Today I spend more time educating perspective open source participants on how they can leverage open source to reduce development costs, improve operational efficiency and drive customization for their own purposes.
Open Source a Clear Leader Data Center to Handset
The difference is clear. Today the catalog of battle-proven software is much larger. Linux for one has been the stalwart, owning the data center for high performance computing and web-scale apps. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker Linux server demand is growing.
Linux server demand was positively impacted by high performance computing (HPC) and cloud infrastructure deployments, as hardware revenue improved 12.7% year over year in 4Q12 to $3.0 billion. Linux servers now represent 20.4% of all server revenue, up 1.7 points when compared with the fourth quarter of 2011.
That number is probably very understated given that Linux is often downloaded for free. It’s also behind the scenes; my zeal for the Linux desktop was never realized per say, but Google’s execution of the Chrome operating system and Android on the tablet come pretty close to some of the things I was advocating back in 2006.
In the world of Internet of Things and mobile, Linux has taken a strong position as well. Embedded Linux on connected devices combined with an ever-growing number of smarter, connected devices. The following graph shows the exponential adoption rate of Android (based on the Linux kernel) going from non-existent to dominant market share in six short years.
Source: Smartmo
Leveraging Open Source
So the question in 2014 is no longer, “Should I use open source software?” but “How do I leverage open source software?” End-users and solution providers alike benefit from freely available building block (libraries, OS and tools) and applications, but to maximize the potential of open source you could take things a step further. Here are some strategies to maximize your potential return on investment.
Work on Stuff that Matters (to others not just you) – Tech publisher Tim O’Reilly gives some of the best advice in his First Principles blog post which should be required reading for anyone looking to get involved in open source. If you pick a goal bigger than that of your organization, you are more likely to see a large diverse, self-sustaining community that can help provide for your needs in the long-term. Adding more value than you capture is a key tenant. That doesn’t mean that you don’t turn a profit when you develop something in the open. Rather you should think in terms of making the collective effort into something that is beyond the scope of your business. This benefits you by having a rich ecosystem of developers and users to help test, evangelize and extend the open source software. In the end the economic benefits may be a strong brand associated with your company, innovations developed by others and a project that drives awareness greater than that of your organization’s individual efforts. Take the case of the open source cloud community OpenStack (contrived by Rackspace), they’ve created almost a cult-like following in a very short time. They’ve been so successful in less than four short years that even tech giants IBM, Cisco, Dell and HP are all trying to cash in.
Don’t be a Tourist – If you want to maximize your benefit from open source software don’t just drop in when convenient. If you develop a feature, take ownership for its long-term maintenance. If you want to help drive the direction of the project, than be a consistent contributor. These things are key to the meritocracy that is present in most open source projects. Many organizations benefit from freely available software, but companies that really see advantages from open source software, like IBM, Netflix, Twitter, Google and Facebook, take leadership roles by being a consistent contributor. They then use those building blocks to build scalable infrastructure or utilize open source software that reduces their operating costs and/or research and development expenditures.
Create Opportunities for Discrete Contribution – One of the key factors for open source momentum is that a large, diverse group of people can contribute without a high degree of coordination. When development is completely dependent on coordination of development efforts, the same overhead exists as their does with proprietary software. However, when contributions can be distributed, individuals can contribute without having to take into account the efforts of all other developers. One of the most effective ways to allow for distributed development is by creating pluggable architecture where plugins extend the functionality of the product without impacting other developers. Examples of this include the Google Chrome extensions, Chef configuration management cookbooks and WordPress blog plugins.
How Everyone Wins: More John Nash Not Tom Sawyer
Open source users benefit not only from free software, but the ability to customize solutions to your needs for added agility in your IT infrastructure. If IT is a differentiator in your business, then you should approach your participation in a way that allows you to share the load of non-differentiating features with a broader group, while still keeping your differentiating secret sauce closer-to-the-vest. Don’t be divisive, thinking of Tom Sawyer-like ploys to get someone to paint your fence are the rare and shortsighted. You won’t get far trying to get people to do things that only benefit you; you’re better off to follow the strategy of John Nash (see the scene in a Beautiful Mind where the grad students try to meet young ladies). If everyone involved in an open source project does not only what’s best for themselves but what is good for the group, then you can create a situation where everyone benefits. This is called governing dynamics, and when that exists you can gain exceptional leverage from open source.