Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 27th Jun 2008 15:13 UTC
Sun UK's chief open-source officer, Simon Phipps, has a high-profile role to play as the company is seeking a complete its move to 100 percent open software development. When asked about the criticism over its commitment to open source, Simon re-iterate its commitment with a "Pig and a Chicken" story: "Both animals were asked by the farmer to bring something along for breakfast one morning to show their worth. The chicken turns up with an egg, while the pig turns up with a side of bacon. The farmer looks over the offerings and says: "Well, the chicken has contributed, but the pig is committed."
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Member since:
2005-07-06
OLD:
1. A company employs a team of developers.
2. It figures out what it believes other companies want.
3. It codes up the amazing solution.
4. Pictures, whitepapers and demos of the awesome application are proffered.
5. Companies decide they want it, pay the price, and install the app.
6. If something doesn't quite work, the companies whine and moan to the vendor. Often little _real_ support is available, unless you are a large organization with a lot of money.
7. If enough noise is made, changes are implemented and released over the wall, otherwise consider a competing product.
NEW:
1. A company either grows or joins the community around a cool product
2. The company leads and drives the open development of the product. It employs experts and contributors in the product.
3. The company creates stable, tested, SUPPORTED snapshots of the product.
4. Companies purchase supported versions of the product.
5. If something doesn't quite work, the purchasing company uses their support to request intervention, often from actual engineers involved in the product. Larger companies may actually employ their own experts to modify and patch the product.
The key difference is that a company that generates revenue off an open-source product must maintain a high degree of expertise in the product and provide first-line support that is worth paying for. In the closed world, the hiding of information locks the purchaser into the vendor. The focus is on the purchase, not the support. This is why I get much better support for my non-paid Ubuntu OS, than I do for my expensive Window's OS. For closed products, support is more of an afterthought, and usually more geared for enterprises with VERY deep pockets. For open-source products, support is in essence the product!