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Ernie Ball - Model For Open-Source Transition?
fr0z writes "
Ernie Ball is a company that makes guitar strings. After being raided by the BSA in 2000 without warning and fined $100,000 for a few unlicensed copies of software, CEO Sterling Ball vowed not to give another cent to Microsoft and within 6 months, according to CNET News, had the whole company switched to Red Hat Linux, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla, and other free software."
Interesting that they even advertise here. Doubt their click-through is very good :)
On a more serious side: The BSA is good motivation for people to quit the Microsoft Endless_Upgrade suite of software. Most (people/companies) will use whatever works, until it doesn't work. When you are fined $100K, it doesn't seem to be working very well. All a person needs is one good reason...
You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
2. Switch to Linux et al.
3. Profit.
Other companies have likely done similar but it's the publicity that counts more than anything - an actual success story with Linux from a company with clout should turn a few heards in the direction of open source.
Organisations like the BSA are allowed to raid people and companies?
I thought only the police could do that - if they have a warrant.
They could have just told them to fuck off when they came to the door.
If is true that if you have to pay the legal expenses of the BSA while they prosecute you, then it is time for a flood of feeble "In Soviet America" jokes. Perhaps someone who is a lawyer could explain the situation?
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
Only if EULAs are indeed valid. That's still not been established fully.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
We have a number of medium sized enterprises *fully* migrated to Open Source software, and running *way* better on it.
Our best known (in the UK at least) case study is here.
In fact the Group consider Open Source to not merely be a 'substitute' for Microsoft Software, but to have delivered far more real, measurable business benefit than they ever received as a Microsoft Shop.
I am glad Ernie Ball are receiving this great press for their *complete* migration, but they are by no means the first (or the last!) decent-sized enterprise to have done this.
Mr. Ball sounds like a practical businessman, he sounds passionate and as if he enjoys what he does. I wonder if he would be receptive to a business proposition in which he would be featured in commercial advertisements and perhaps provide more precise figures about what it costs him (as he said that analysts are too pessimistic).
As more people like Mr. Ball speak out, the open source community is gaining more people who understand business and can convince other businesses. This man understands that free software can still cost money, and he has the personal experience and business acumen to be able to boil things down to the most important, concise points. He mentiones several important points in his interview, and probably has tons more knowledge that would be useful to making open source a better business solution, and making open source profitable.
It might not be such a bad idea for companies and individuals who are considering funding open source projects to listen to such people when considering project goals. And it would not be so difficult for free software organizations to initiate commerical projects including creating advertisements and articles based on solid, no-nonsense business cases for open source featuring real-world successes like Ernie Ball.
the companies i know indeed have such policies. and it works. they were 100 employees, okay, so it's managable, but it *works* if you take care.
How do you know it works if you've not been audited by the BSA? If these companies were audited, are you sure the BSA wouldn't find any unlicenced software? Tom in engineering wouldn't have given his computer to Berol in accounts when he got a new one and forgotten to wipe all the software off the hard disc, would he?
Hear Hear!
Keeping track of software licenses and so on is a real pain in the neck. So-much-so, MS will sell you tools to help you do it. Isn't that nice of them?
I like the way he's (Ball) looked on this though. PCs and their software are just tools. Does it matter what it is, as long as it does the job cheaply and effeciently? How many people have I asked what version of Windows/Office they have on their PC and receive the reply "Microsoft"? Far too many. Companies buy Microsoft because that's what you buy. Same way people only bought IBM PCs because nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.
Just wait, it'll all change.
But I've got to tell you, I couldn't have built my business without Microsoft, so I thank them. Now that I'm not so bitter, I'm glad I'm in the position I'm in. They made that possible, and I thank them.
I'll take that to mean that when he needed the software that Open Source wasn't around yet. But I wonder if we'll see that quote used by Microsoft anyway.
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
RTFA. He says the change started as emotional and reactionary, but now he is reaping financial and managerial rewards of his hot-headed decision.
The best part of the article, though, is here:
The other thing is that if you look at productivity. If you put a bunch of stuff on people's desktops they don't need to do their job, chances are they're going to use it. I don't have that problem. If all you need is word processing, that's all you're going to have on your desktop, a word processor. It's not going to have Paint or PowerPoint. I tell you what, our hits to eBay went down greatly when not everybody had a Web browser. For somebody whose job is filling out forms all day, invoicing and exporting, why do they need a Web browser? The idea that if you have 2,000 terminals they all have to have a Web browser, that's crazy. It just creates distractions.
Remember this next time someone does a TCO study. Betcha they don't count the actual productivity of the users as part of TCO.
Send lawyers, guns, and money. Dad, get me out of this.
[...] the developers need to start writing the real-world applications people need to run a business...engineering, art and design tools, that kind of stuff...They're all trying to build servers that already exist and do a whole bunch of stuff that's already out there...I think there's a lot of room to not just create an alternative to Microsoft but really take the next step and do something new.
This is the argument I always get into when my friends ask me why I don't use Linux or BSD or whatever. There is not enough non-server software out there. GIMP is pretty much the only raster graphics package out there, Win32 has Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, Corel Photo Paint, Fireworks, Painter, etc. I can chose between Illustrator, Freehand and Corel Draw for vector graphics. Combustion, Avid, Premiere, After Effects, etc. It's all good and fine that I can write a letter, do my taxes and the like on a *nix machine, but I need to actually work now and then and the applications *still* aren't there.
I found his answer to the question (paraphrased) "did you find everything you needed from open source?" was a good point; that most OSS is developer-centric. Check out SourceForge for the number of PHP content management systems, for example. Yikes, what's an OSS advocate to do...
On the other hand, where I work (UK public sector) is desperately short of money, composed of lots of small organisations who can hire one or two developers each at most, and yet very tight-knit - there are partnerships going on all the time. One of the things we're after is records management - document management on stereoids, if you like. Unfortunately, there's no OSS equivalent for me to recommend to others in the partnership.
Are content management systems all that exciting to code? I dunno (and I've written one)..but I think the OSS world needs to branch out into other markets beyond the "let's fork another HTTP server and put Linux on an iPod" type of project - surely the only way to reduce Microsoft's ubiquity is to be a ubiquitous alternative yourself? How about some OSS records management, workflow, online forms, asset management, planning applications, licensing apps?
PS: If anyone knows of such OSS projects, advice gratefully accepted... :-)
"This is why men never share their feelings; because women always remember." -Just Shoot Me.
when did the BSA (Boyscouts of America) start doing raids?!?
A friend of mine got "raided" once. In Holland, they
do this by saying that they will charge them with a crime. If the victim doesn't happen to know that the BSA is a commercial organisation and therefore doesn't have that power, the victim will let them in and they will gather evidence which will then be used in a civilian lawsuit. If you don't let them in, nothing happens, because they know that the public prosecutor is not going to bother with these cases and they don't have any other way to force you to reveal the incriminating information.
I have had to take a heavy hand to the machines and employees here a few times in recent past due to unlicensed software usage. A couple people took it upon themselves to install copies of Autocad on their machines to 'improve their efficeincy'. We do have a couple AC licenses, but not for these machines. One person was suspended the other just given a warning.
As a geek, Ernie's story is pretty cool, and I am happy to say I support the company financially as well by buying their strings.
tinfoilmedia
No it isn't,
1: I have five computers. A sixth person joins my company so I buy them a new computer to use.
2: I have five computers. One of them breaks and needs to be replaced.
In both cases they'll need the same OS as the other machines even if they have newer physical hardware.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. (Einstein)
Yeah, there are some things that are tough to find, like payroll software. We found something, and it works well. But the developers need to start writing the real-world applications people need to run a business...engineering, art and design tools, that kind of stuff...They're all trying to build servers that already exist and do a whole bunch of stuff that's already out there...I think there's a lot of room to not just create an alternative to Microsoft but really take the next step and do something new.
Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
My first reaction before reading any postings was "How?".
I understand that the BSA is a civil organization. They can suspect me of software piracy and
wish to audit me, but until they produce a legal search warrant signed by a judge they are
powerless. I would be within my rights to tell them to simply "F*** OFF!".
Apparently this is not the case and I'd like a posting by a more learned mind correcting my information.
This post encoded with ROT26. If you can read it, you've violated the DMCA. Handcuffs please, sergeant.
Because he says so?
We break the law every day. We drive above the speed limit. Hell, we make illegal copies of music CDs.
We have pay the price accordingly. The question is, how high a price should you have to pay for stolen software?
Is it a misdemeanor or a felony? I'm asking because the overall way we treat it seems like a misconception. We all seem to think that breaking the law with not paying for software is a minor thing, don't we?
If piracy *is* a serious crime, then not knowing what's on your computer is like not remembering whether you paid your taxes. No one cares about it, it's your responsibility. Check your computers twice a day if you can't keep track of whatever you have installed there.
At my last job, we didn't install restricted versions of 98, instead set the firewall up so that those machines that didn't need the internet couldn't access it. Everyone was still able to access the internal web site for various company related things, but there was no way to browse the net from them.
Worked good for us.
Zro . two
"I come from Canada...they say I'm slow....eh?"
And they dumped SCO a while back too according to Netcraft.
/.'ers can love or what? ;)
Man, is the a company
But you are both missing the point. The vast majority of OSS developers write software for their own needs and wants. When I write free code, it is for me and/or for my friends. If you want a record management package - pay for it. Now the question is how it gets paid. If there is a real need then the organizations that want/need it can fund a developer(s) to write and customize it for them. OSS does not mean you can make me change my hobbies and interests to do free (as in beer) work to meet your needs.
The real power of OSS is that you get to build on the wants and needs of everyone else - you can be (you are welcome to assist too) a free loader if everything you need is already done. If not you can ignore OSS because the package(s) you need are not sitting out there (and turn around and pay for closed source packages) or you choose - either on your own or in concert with other people of similar needs to develop the base. In the long run, I believe virtually all general purpose software will have powerful OSS choices available as will most niche software, but this will take time - and first adopters will out of necessity contribute more so their own needs are met. Eventually more stories like this one by bigger and bigger companies will develop.
I am still waiting for a huge company (e.g. General Motors) that has clout to pull its suppliers along with it to make a long term commitment - the cost to a really big company when they do decide to upgrade their platforms (say from Win98 to WinXP) is enourmous - and the software cost is only a small part of that - at some point they will add it up and realize that they already have 99% of the support infrastructure in place they can save millions of dollars a year (which can fund internal or external development of they applications and customization that they require) and gives them long term control of an integral part of their business that they currently give to Microsoft.
Home Automation & Linux -- now I know I'm a geek
Wouldn't going to the cafeteria or out on the balcony for a 10 minute talk, laugh, cup of coffee or a smoke help someone relax better than playing Minesweeper or browsing the Web? It would helps the body and the mind better than keeping on crouching in front of the computer. I've seen a company once where they had a lounge room complete with toy basketball sponge ball and hoop. As long as people remind to not abuse the privilege it works better than anything they could've done on their PC to "relax".
What about the rest of the Office "family"? Both Access. and Project have changed file formats. Sure you can downgrade when you save your files as previous versions, but you lose many of the features that are available in the newer version -- essentially crippling your software.
Why did you spend $500 for crippled software again?
The last, most compelling reason why you must upgrade is that when your copy of office hits the End-of-Life (c)(r)(tm) stage, then you can kiss support, PATCHES and tools goodbye. Hope you didn't need a security patch for your software, 'cause it is EOL'd. Sucker.
Yeah, right.
You are right. Next time I need strings I'm buying Ernie Ball even if they are a couple of dollars more. I'm going to support these guys.
Zoid.com
This is what I keep thinking when Slashdotters criticize the BSA's heavy-handed methods or Microsoft's draconian EULAs... that's all self-inflicted! All those users are doing it to themselves. I say let the proprietary software world go on like this; they are slowly running out of steam anyway. And it all just serves to illustrate what you get yourself into when you choose to run monopolyware. Anyone who wants to avoid this has plenty of alternatives open to them.
If I have read the Article correctly the BSA was accompanied by armed marshals and therefore must have had a search warrant for the offices of Ernie Ball. What I do not understand is why the BSA even could get such warrants.
In Germany where I live only the district attorney can issue such warrants and only the police or federal agencies may search buildings using that warrant. The person(s) who made the allegations may not even be present during the search.
And since shrink-wrap licences are (still) illegal in germany the BSA would not even get the district attorney to issue such a warrant since only common contractual law applies to software purchases.
So they can go to my office but I don't have to let them in.
Giving some pressure group federal powers seems a bit odd to me.
even though the cutover must have been hell for the workers to relearn how to use their workstation
Apparently it wasn't. He says as much in the article.
I just don't understand why you'd blame it on MS if the core of your workstations were licensed properly.
He doesn't. He admits they were not licenced properly but takes issue with the way in which the BSA (And by extension, Microsoft) handled the matter. Ernie Ball did not take kindly to having armed marshells turn up at their door, nor did they appreciate being made an "example" of by the BSA in advertising material. Thats why Ernie Ball made the switch, not because they blame Microsoft for themselves not being in full compliance.
I realize this may be slightly off-topic, but could someone from /. get that IT department to possibly field a few questions? Such as how they planned & executed the move, the size of the installed base, etc...I'd really like to see how they got that move made so fast.
There have always been anti copying measures available. MS could have forced all office users to have a $2 dongle so that they could run MS.
Part of their scheme seems to be make software easy to copy to get a large installed base. If people can take it home and pirate it, they will think they need it at work and have their business shell out $400 per seat for office.
With respect to your car replicator, you are almost making the buggy whip argument: we should not have disruptive technology because it kills established business. Software survives on IP protection (patent / copyright).
If the consumer gets too screwed, eventually they work around the solution. Illegal downloads for music industry, legal GPL and distributed development for software.
Let's see, how can we support/justify this particular thief?
/. route...
Let's go the usual
1. But he didn't steal alot of software!
The article says an audit "turned up a few dozen unlicensed copies of programs". The guy himself is quoted as saying that 8% of all his desktops were "out of compliance" (read: Containing stolen software). Thats enough.
2. But he wasn't purposefully trying to steal the software!
Ignoring EULAs and then crying ignorance just don't cut it anymore bubba. Paying closer attention to his operations, including IT licesning, probably would have prevented any problems at all, no?
3. But he wasn't warned over and over again about his stealing of software!
No, they didn't hold his hand and say "We forgive you for stealing all our shit, good buddy. But please phase it out whenever you feel like it."
4. But he's the poor 'little guy' being targeted and pushed around by the big bad BSA!
No excuse. Two wrongs can't spit out a right. Don't project your own misdeeds onto another. Individual accountablity anyone?
5. But he didn't get to choose his own punishment for getting caught stealing software!
Someone wrote earlier..."He was willing to make restitution, providing MS had offered him a voluntary audit and a fair price..."
LOL, guess what? When you break the law and get caught, you aren't the one calling the shots. How very gracious of this guy to offer to make ammends for his thefts...on his own terms.
I can't stand lame defenses for theft, but I did enjoy the article. Captialism at its finest. No monopolies to see here, move along. A Buyer dooesn't like a product or how a seller treats them? Finds a new product and seller. Good stuff. Free market baby, its not just for breakfast anymore.
It actually worked pretty well. By the time you were granted net access, you had a good understanding of the equipment/software being supported, and had a good feel for how much time you needed to be devoting to documenting calls, etc.
Regardless, supervisors would closely monitor your work performance, and any excessive "play" would be noticed very quickly, especially with the kind of statistics logged at this particular call center.
***
Radio Shack. You've got questions...we've got blank stares(TM).
Hello, I am the Chief Visionary Officer for a small consulting firm in San Antonio, Texas called xGates. We know EXACTLY what you mean. We started asking ourselves three years ago "why is there not a completely integrated Open Source Point of Sale, Ecommerce, and Financials (Enterprise Resource Planning)?" Well, we are now in the process of converting three companies that are retail, wholesale, and distribution, all doing well over $50 million annual revenue from JD Edwards to our totally integrated Open Source Point of Sale, Ecommerce, and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP/Financials). Email: DavidJemeyson@DavidJemeyson.com for URLs to examples please. I will be glad to further discuss this with anyone interested.
The company had purchased licenses for AutoCAD and M$ software, just not enough for everyone. This was pretty well-known, but like many companies, overlooked. Employees commonly burned copies of licensed software for personal use, and the license management system was...well...nonexistent.
One day the owner got a form letter from the BSA...one of the infamous "we'll give you 3 months to come into compliance, otherwise you could face an audit." This sent the owner into a flurry of making sure all software was properly licensed.
The BSA never came knocking on the door, and the owner probably spent thousands on licenses. This was probably a good thing overall, but I question the "flurry" of activity that took place at the receipt of a form letter.
I know the original article here said federal marshalls came knocking on the door, but is this common? Should one take this to mean there was a warrant? Can a warrant only be obtained when the BSA has firsthand info, such as from a disgruntled employee?
I would not have been nearly as quick to jump at the BSA letter as was the owner of the company I worked for...at least not without having consulted an attorney first.
***
Radio Shack. You've got questions...we've got blank stares(TM).
...the Deck is stacked in favor of BSA:
Did you want to settle?
Never, never. That's the difference between the way an employee and an owner thinks. They attacked my family's name and came into my community and made us look bad. There was never an instance of me wanting to give in. I would have loved to have fought it. But when (the BSA) went to Congress to get their powers, part of what they got is that I automatically have to pay their legal fees from day one. That's why nobody's ever challenged them--they can't afford it. My attorney said it was going to cost our side a quarter million dollars to fight them, and since you're paying their side, too, figure at least half a million. It's not worth it. You pay the fine and get on with your business. What most people do is get terrified and pay their license and continue to pay their licenses. And they do that no matter what the license program turns into.
Question is, even if you win, do you still have to pay the BSA lawyers?
Mod Karma -1: I sed bad wurds. If I cep my mouf shut, I wud be at riyses.
That's what you get for creating disgruntled employees...
Still, unless you have a prosecutor willing to prosecute a crime, (a *CRIME*, not a civil matter), and unless you have a magistrate willing to hear the case, there should never be a search warrant issued for anything!
I hear about "BSA" raids, but they are really government raids with the BSA acting as a witness for the prosecution. The prosecutor is never named in these articles. Neither is the judge who signed the order.
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Even with a $100,000 fine, the interviewee, Sterling Ball, said that he is ahead of the game financially by switching to open source. That is pretty amazing.
His company should consider starting up a subsidiary that switches business over to free software. He's got the expertise, he should leverage it.
evanchik.net
Policing existing software isn't too bad. New licenses get either stuck in a master drawer, or better with the computer they are used on so you don't have to do a count.
Now, if you are a larger organization, you can do network installations and then limit the amount of client connections. This usually works with a lot of licenses, because you can ensure that no more than X users are ever able to run software at a time - though it may be accessible on >1 machine (samba does this nicely, BTW).
However, here is where the shit hits the fan: users. Users that have a program at home, and want to use it at work. Users who know anti-piracy rules, but seem to think that "installing this little program" isn't a problem. So, here, we freeze all our computers so that on reboot they revert to a previous state. Only those with a password (aka the techs) can install software.
And of course, we have to ensure that kazaa, etc are blocked in the firewall, etc etc. Again, the users. Oh, and as a note, I work in schools, and the users I speak of are more-often-than-not staff, not students. It's a bit sad really...
That's a logo they used to put on t-shirts they gave away to retailers.
As a professional musician I've decided that I'll purchase their strings exclusively. Bless their heads for making the right decision for the right reasons !
My biggest reservation about open and free software is that it's not obvious how I would make a living if the whole world switched. Programming is my most marketable skill* and has kept me employed for many years. I know Stallman says that we could make money supporting free software and filling in the holes, but I've always been skeptical of the demand. Ernie Ball seems to support my concern.
* My other career option is writing. That doesn't pay the bills, and, if we totally kill rather than fix copyright laws, it'll never pay.