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General Motors Embraces Open Source for New Community Site

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the let-em-have-it dept.

An anonymous reader writes "GM has introduced a new website called GMnext. The site utilizes Wordpress and launching in spring a Wiki allowing General Motors to get better feedback on topics such as energy, design and technology from the community. The interesting part is the executives at GM are participating in the collaborative website. 'We're starting our second century at a time of fundamental change in the auto industry,' said GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. 'We'll use GMnext to introduce some of our ideas for addressing critical issues concerning energy, the environment and globalization. In the process, we also hope to spark a broader, global discussion on these important topics.'"

10 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Orginizational Participation is Key by milsoRgen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like the idea but I don't see it going very far or very long. GM isn't really going to support any negative few points, maybe if you're really careful with your wording. But I see censorship being the issue short term and actual GM participation being the long term question. That being said, I would love to see something like this from an organization like Consumer Reports.

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    I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask where they're goin' and hook up with 'em later.
  2. Pffffft. by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Informative

    I worked for GM. And when I worked there, the use of FOSS was absolutely, positively forbidden. Good to see them finally getting a clue.

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    My blog
    1. Re:Pffffft. by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 4, Informative

      GM was not an all-Microsoft shop when I worked there. Most of the engineering servers were running some form of UNIX -- either HP-UX or Solaris. They served to a mix of Windows and UNIX clients -- UNIX clients via NFS and Windows clients via CIFS9000 (yeah, yeah, I know. CIFS9000 == Samba. Tell them that.)

      The file and app servers actually used high-availability clustering -- commercial stuff, not open source.

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      My blog
  3. WTF? by sxeraverx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Saying using Wordpress is embracing open source is like saying using the LAMP stack for a webserver is embracing open source. In that sense, almost ever company out there has embraced open source by now. But we know that to not be the case.

  4. open source? by AdamReyher · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't get me wrong: I think the idea is great. But you're going to tell me that GM is "embracing" Open Source simply by creating a blog and a wiki by using the two most popular software titles in those categories?

    All of a sudden GM is elevated to the Google or Sun status in terms of FOSS on Slashdot. Typical.

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    The Computations of AdamR
    http://www.adamreyher.com
  5. Re:Ugly .NET site with Wordpress knee-jerked in it by corsec67 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not even slashdot passes that test
    Looks like some unencoded ampersands and style attributes.

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  6. It Should Be Noted... by longacre · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The timing of this was not random...GM CEO Rick Wagoner is a keynote speaker at CES this weekend, and next weekend is their bread and butter, the Detroit Auto Show. Undoubtedly this was timed to create buzz for them at these events. It is a pretty cool idea, and I hope GM and their customers make the most of it. Bob Lutz seems like the kind of guy who would love this. But I also wouldn't be surprised if we never hear much about it again after the next couple of weeks.

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    Airplane Photos, Airline News, Planespotting Guides
  7. Open source Volt! by dusanv · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How about open sourcing the Volt? And standardizing its batteries (to spur innovation for replacements down the line)? And delivering it before 2010? That'd be something to get excited about...

    1. Re:Open source Volt! by leoxx · · Score: 3, Interesting
      The only question left is...can it run Linux?


      In my mind that would be a key feature. Historically speaking, cars have been "hackable" in the sense that anyone could open the hood and fix problems or make improvements. With the move to more and more computer technology in modern vehicles, the ability of the garage mechanic to mess around with the guts of the car has been severely limited. With Ford officially adopting Windows for their vehicles, it would make a very strong statement for GM to move to Linux (or BSD or some other open source operating system). Posting a blog using Wordpress is hardly what I would call "embracing open source", but leveraging the benefits of the open source process to improve the state of the art in vehicle control and management systems would be. With the inevitable move to all-electric cars such as the Volt, the software side of things is going to become even more important.

  8. As a GM performance tuner... by pongo000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...who programs GM computers for performance applications, I'll buy into GM "embracing" open source when they release the programming specs and memory layout for their PCMs, ECMs, and TCMs (powertrain, engine, and transmission control modules). Short of that, their use of WordPress really doesn't impress me (pun intended).