The article discusses how businesses can leverage open source innovation while maintaining profitability. It emphasizes the importance of platforms and multi-layered product strategies, including free and paid offerings. The text advises on the significance of intellectual property protection and adapting to emerging agentic engineering to thrive in evolving competitive landscapes.
Want to affect change in large organizations? Don't create grand visions and set unreasonable expectations. Apply the lessons from open source: prototype, bootstrap, iterate.
The post emphasizes the importance of "lift" in platform strategies, focusing on user and developer lift for technology products. It discusses aligning community strategies with specific goals and target audiences, using examples from Kubernetes and Hyperic to illustrate platform-community fit. The key takeaway is that proper alignment is crucial for achieving expected growth.
The commercial open source landscape has seen a revival, driven by startups focusing on generative AI. Entrepreneurs are encouraged to adopt a strategic approach, evaluating platform ecosystems, open core, and product focus. Successful startups should prioritize community engagement and user adoption to ensure a sustainable business model, while carefully navigating intellectual property considerations.
In January, 2006, I published this article on O'Reilly's OnLAMP.com site, which was recently shut down. I've always been proud of this essay, because I think I got a lot right. I'm republishing it now in the hopes that it will continue to educate others - and perhaps allow others to critically evaluate where… Continue reading There is No Open Source Community
This post first appeared on Medium. It is reprinted here with permission. OH: “Every evangelist of yesteryear is now a Community Manager … at least on their biz card.” This statement best captures a question that comes up regularly in the open source community world when you have corporations involved. Does your community manager report to… Continue reading “Every evangelist of yesteryear is now a Community Manager ….”
Back in the early days of open source software, we were constantly looking for milestones to indicate how far we had progressed. Major vendor support: check (Oracle and IBM in 1998). An open source IPO: check (Red Hat and VA Linux in 1999). Major trade show: check (LinuxWorld in 1999). And then, of course, a… Continue reading How Silicon Valley Ruined Open Source Business
This post first appeared on Medium. It is reprinted here with permission. During his inaugural speech on Jan. 20, 1961, U.S. President John F. Kennedy uttered the challenge, “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Its simple meaning was to challenge… Continue reading Ask Not What Your Community Can Do For You
Stephen Walli educates the reader on what open source development is - and is not - about.
