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Corporations Getting Into The Open Source Spirit

Posted by timothy on from the defuse-use-abuse-reuse-infuse dept.

Anonymous writes "Some bastions of capitalism are getting into the open-source spirit -- not only using the software, but contributing code fixes and other mods, according to an article in today's Computerworld."

7 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. This corporate angle... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    ...has spawned a whole magazine already. That does certainly suggest Linux is ready for prime time.

  2. The Architecture of Participation by GerardM · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tim O'Reilly had an interesting discussion with Adam Turoff on why Open Source communities do work so well.

    http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/3017

    Thanks,
    Gerard

  3. More evidence of the 'growing wave of Open Source" by kevinbedell · · Score: 4, Informative

    I recently posted a short article on this subject on SYS-CON's SYS-CON's Linux Business and Technology (the publishers of Java Developer's Journal). I think an even better article on Corporate open source adoption is the one in the March 15th issue of CIO magazine.

  4. Doesn't this seem totally obvious. by Dr_Marvin_Monroe · · Score: 2, Informative

    After I read ESR's C&B, this seemed totally obvious to me...not on a philisophical basis, but on a business basis.

    The fact that companies are finding it in their "mutual best interest" to contribute code changes and whatnot to OSS should come as no suprise to anyone, they all stand to gain without having to invest huge sums against the "barrier to entry" that MS has created.

    MS and closed source companies are the ONLY one's who benefit by NOT to distributing changes/making public.....for all others, it follows the rules set out in "Magic Cauldron" chapter....do a few hours work to fix a bug for yourself and pass that on to all others!......In the end, you can have everything you want for just a few hours of work. Unlike typical "products", sharing software has NO cost to the giver and does not remove ANY functionality from the giver....AND increases the value of the product through widespread adoption.

    OSS is a superior business model, UNLESS you are MS.

    What goes around, comes around.....

  5. Re:Bastions of capitalism... by Dan+Ost · · Score: 4, Informative

    Anyone who has used the code licensed under
    'viral' (read GPL) open-source licenses cannot
    close their source code.

    This is blatantly false. The GPL only requires
    you to GPL your code if you distribute it. This
    means that company X is allowed to take GPL'd
    code, modify it for their own use and use it
    internally for as long as they like without
    ever releasing their changes to their competitors.

    While it's true that they can't sell their
    software without GPLing it, 99.9% of software
    written isn't written to be sold as a product,
    it's written to meet internal needs of an
    organization. That's what "in-house" development
    is.

    --

    *sigh* back to work...
  6. Re:yea, but how? by new-black-hand · · Score: 3, Informative

    Carefully consider this, it could make or break your business if you do not proceed carefully.

    Take some time out to read:

    The Magic Cauldron
    Open Source: A Case for Business
    Zope: How we reached the decision
    Open Source as a Business Strategy

    There is a lot more information on the topic, feel free to email me if you need a hand with anything

  7. Merrill Lynch by BrianB · · Score: 2, Informative

    There's a guy from ML on one of my projects who has submitted a wealth of code. kinda cool to see that this isn't an isolated thing but instead a culture within the company.

    Unfortunately their firewall still prevents him from direct CVS checkins so everything has to be funneled through other committers.