Open for Business

Frank Hayes   Today’s Top Stories   or  Other Operating Systems Stories  

Bringing Order and Security to your Mobile Workforce: Corporate Mobility Policy and Device Management Take Control! Managing Your Application Library The Advantages of Migrating to Windows Vista® and Office 2007 Simultaneously The Trend from Unix to Linux in SAP Data Centers Get Ready for Windows Vista® Best Practices: Safe and Secure Hardware Asset Recovery The Business Value of Tape Storage Computerworld Technology Briefing: An open-source path to optimal virtualization Learn-Fast Guide: Get Up to Speed on Green IT Sign up to receive Operating Systems Resource Alerts

July 14, 2003 (Computerworld) -- What, oh what, has happened to these open-source people? At last week's O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, Ore., I didn't hear a lot about the philosophy and politics of "the movement." I didn't hear bitter fights over which open-source license is best, or endless fretting about the confusion over what the free in free software means -- free as in beer? Free as in ride? Free as in not in jail?
What I did hear a lot about was business.
And not just the business of selling Linux operating systems, or selling hardware bundled with MySQL databases, or selling services to install and maintain Apache Web servers and Perl scripts. No, these open-source people were talking about the kind of business issues that matter to corporate IT: how to cost-justify projects, how to stay connected with user needs, how a company can innovate by using free software -- not just profit by selling it.
So here was book publisher Tim O'Reilly, sponsor of the conference, talking about a paradigm shift in business models, in which "open-source application" doesn't just mean OpenOffice but also refers to Google and Yahoo and Amazon.com -- companies running on open-source software but using it in some very proprietary ways.
And over there was Ward Cunningham, one of the creators of the extreme programming approach to software development, talking about Fit, an open-source testing tool designed to link managers, developers and business users while applications are being developed.
Wait -- managers? Business models? Since when does the unstructured, unbusinesslike open-source world worry about this stuff? And O'Reilly and Cunningham weren't alone - the program was full of presentations on open-source business models that matter to corporate IT, not just Red Hat wannabes, and on open-source software and techniques that apply directly to what corporate IT shops do.
What happened to all the anticapitalist, anticorporate rhetoric that used to make the free-software crowd so easy for corporate IT people to dismiss? Oh, it's still around. It's just not where the action is anymore.
Now the action lies in doing business with open-source.
That means staying focused on the fact that you get your business advantage from your data, not your applications. And the fact that business conditions change constantly, so your software has to keep changing or it will fall out of sync. And the fact that real enterprise software depends on the people who use it as much as those people depend on the software.
Yeah, that's all stuff they were discussing in Portland. A long way from debates about politics, isn't it?
No wonder every big software vendor is playing an open-source card. Open-source

Continued...
1 | 2 | NEXT  

Print this Story

Send Us Feedback

E-mail this Story

Digg this Story

Slashdot this Story

Mozilla updates Firefox 3.1 with Alpha 2 build Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser' Mozilla: Firefox is faster than Chrome More top stories...

iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes At 10, Google reiterates commitment to CIOs Analysts: Google spreading itself too thin

Microsoft warns of IE8 lock-in with XP SP3 Users of Windows XP SP3 who try out IE8 Beta 2 won't be able to uninstall either one under certain circumstances. Opinion: Why Google has lost its mojo -- and why you should care Google has gone from innovative upstart to fat-and-happy industry leader in what seems like record time. Preston Gralla explains. Review: Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 offers some nifty new features Microsoft's latest beta of IE8 includes better tab management, new services such as Web Slices and Accelerators, and the new 'porn mode.' IT Schools to Watch 2008 These leading-edge graduate schools are moving at the pace of the IT workplace, delivering coursework that's relevant to today's IT professionals. Windows Vista A to Z Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS. More Continuing Coverage After 9/11: Homeland Security Apple's iPhone Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Bill Gates steps down BlackBerry Legal Battle Data Security Breaches Electronic Voting Firefox H-1B Visas HP's Boardroom Scandal Handheld Devices Hurricane Katrina Aftermath Microsoft Legal Issues Microsoft's Vista Open Source RFID Technology SCO's Linux Fight Sarbanes-Oxley Act Spam Voice Over IP Wi-Fi Windows Meta File Vulnerability Windows XP Service Pack 3 IT Careers 2010 Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready? More Special Reports Premier 100 IT Leaders 2007 Best in Class 2006 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2006 Premier 100 IT Leaders 2006 Salary Survey 2007 Best Places to Work in IT 2007 IT Forecast 2007 Premier 100 IT Leaders 40 Years of Computerworld ASPs, Take Two Best Places to Work in IT 2003 Best Places to Work in IT 2004 Best Places to Work in IT 2005 Best Places to Work in IT 2006 Business Intelligence Home Runs Business Intelligence: Smarter BI Business Intelligence: The Future of BI CRM Goes Vertical CRM: Sober CRM Career Planning Guide 2005 Careers: IT Profession 2010 Computerworld Horizon Awards 2005 Data Management: Mining for Gems Data Management: Taming Data Chaos Development: Hard-Workin' Web Sites Development: New Tools New Choices Development: The New World of Application Development Development: The Web Services Tsunami Development: Web Services Hurdles Disaster Recovery: Preparing for the Worst E-commerce Grows Up E-mail/Groupware: Big Decisions Faces of Mobile IT Forecast 2006 Global Mobile Hardware: Multiple Cores, Multiple Challenges Hardware: On-Demand Un-Hyped Hardware: The Shape of Things to Come Horizon Awards: 10 Cool Cutting Edge Technologies IT Management: Guide to Managing Vendors IT Management: Navigating Global IT IT Management: Recovery Ahead IT Management: The Future of IT IT Management: The Resourceful Project Manager Innovative Technology Awards 2004 Management: Reinventing IT Microsoft in Transition Mobile/Wireless Leaders and Laggards Mobile/Wireless: The Untethered Worker Mobile/Wireless: Tiny Gadgets, Huge Costs Network Management: Taking Control Networking: Turbulence Ahead! Networking: VoIP Goes Mainstream Operating Systems: In the Slow Lane Operating Systems: Linux Goes Global Operating Systems: Should You Nix Unix? Outsourcing: Offshore Buyer's Guide Outsourcing: Outsourcing Dangers Premier 100 IT Leaders 2004 Best in Class Premier 100 IT Leaders 2005 Best in Class ROI: Do the Math! Salary Survey 2003 Salary Survey 2004 Salary Survey 2005 Security Action Plan Security: Compliance Headaches Security: Proactive Security Security: Risk and Reward Security: Tips From Security Pros Souped-up Security Storage: Battling Complexity Storage: Cheap & Secure Data Stores Storage: Stretching Your Storage Dollars Storage: The Lean Storage Machine Storage: The New Rules of Storage Storage: The Ultimate Backup Guide Supply Chain: Missing Links Supply Chain: RFID Reality Check The Business of Security Web 2.0 Security Wireless: Wireless At Work All Zones Application Performance Zone Business Continuity Zone The File Data Management Zone Security Management Zone ITIL Best Practices Zone The SAS Zone Business Intelligence and Analytics Zone Windows Protection Zone Identity & Security Management Zone See your link here

Energy Logic: Cutting Data Center Energy Costs By 50 Percent or More Energy Logic: Cutting Data Center Energy Costs By 50 Percent or More View this webcast now! Go to the webcast  Linux Rising Get this Computerworld report free (a $195 value) for a limited time, compliments of Novell. Linux is now firmly entrenched in the enterprise. Computerworld's new Executive Bulletin on the open-source operating system will get IT managers up to speed on the latest Linux developments, ranging from its impact on database sales to competition with other operating systems. Download this executive briefing  White Papers Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. Death to PST: Hidden Cost of Email Mismanagement Extend, Replace, or Convert; which is the best way forward for COBOL Applications? The Trend from Unix to Linux in SAP Data Centers View more whitepapers

• Mozilla updates Firefox 3.1 with Alpha 2 build
• iPhone 3G owner sues Apple, AT&T over dropped calls, app crashes
• Microsoft explains Seinfeld-Windows TV ad: just a 'teaser'
• More top stories 

SQL Anywhere Developer Edition Download SQL Anywhere is the industry-leading mobile and embedded database. Designed for database-powered applications that operate in frontline environments without onsite IT support, SQL Anywhere offers enterprise-caliber features in a database that is easily embedded and widely deployed in server, desktop, remote office and mobile applications. Download the free SQL Anywhere Developer Edition

Customer Satisfaction with Email Archiving Systems Osterman Research conducted a primary survey asking organizations about a variety of archiving systems to understand the level of satisfaction that customers of Sunbelt Exchange Archiver (SEA) and other email archiving offerings report on a variety of metrics related to product and vendor performance. Download this white paper now!

Best Places to Work in IT Where can you earn top dollar, get the best benefits, the latest IT and more? Find out in our 14th annual survey.