Date post: | 08-Jan-2017 |
Category: |
Technology |
Upload: | shinolajla |
View: | 907 times |
Download: | 0 times |
FOSS is in Jeopardy
Jamie Allen
Contributors to open source
Who gets paid to write open source?
Enterprise support is key
● Many organizations won’t consider using FOSS solutions without it
● Allows key contributors to earn a living while building the projects they love
● Provides stable releases for everyone
However…
● It’s hard to sell free software
Is VC money helping?
● There is nothing wrong with Venture Capitalists● Without their investment, many projects would
never have come as far as they have
Investors & customers want different things
● Customers: “I just want someone here who can make sure things are okay”
● Investors: “Be a product company for a higher valuation”
FOSS enterprise offerings
● ?aaS● Monitoring● Production tooling● Support contracts● Commercial licenses● Indemnity and warranties● Minimal services
Competition for revenue
● Each FOSS company is competing for finite budget
● Meanwhile, large traditional ISVs have massive legacy contracts
Impact
● FOSS enterprise support companies cannot focus on their communities as much as they wish they could
● Feature roadmap has to support the enterprise customer
● The community feels left out
FOSS companies must grow
● This can only come from providing what customers want: SERVICES
● FOSS companies should sell services until they reach profitability and can fund the enterprise features existing customers actually want
Global systems integrators
● A long-standing point of contention between FOSS creators and the SI community
● They must invest in training their people● They have the vendor relationships● How do we incentivize them?● Boutique services firms are the best channel for
help, can they be absorbed in a meaningful way into the FOSS company for scale?
Wampler’s conjecture
● What is the impact if we can’t change?● Will mature OSS only come from companies
who open source their own libraries● Who wins?
Why Scala is different
Winter is coming
● Several large corporations will vie for control of Scala and other critical path FOSS projects
● Scala Center is insurance for the community
We need a way to support FOSS
● But what about other projects and languages?● Some beautiful projects are trending poorly in
adoption and support● Some have the support but no longer focus on
the community● Some have lost enterprise support, possibly
stunting adoption growth
Comparison of supportLanguage Academia Community Corporate Enterprise Government
Scala
Clojure
Go
Groovy ?
Java
Javascript ?
Pony
But what about the ecosystem?
● Key projects must be sponsored● Beyond consulting dollars for creators● Hiring the creators and keeping them to
themselves is not the answer
Are coalitions the key?
● If so, how do we fund them?● Do we become limited to only supporting their
offerings?● What about high-value independents?● The enterprise doesn’t want to have to manage
infinite support contracts● Is it enough?
Can we create a site to help?
● Online checkout via a corporate-friendly funding site
● Give recognition and some level of priority to those who support
● Allows project owners to hire help and remain community focused
BountySource.com
Vendor Management
● Large corporations need to have approved vendors
● Global SIs and big vendors have these relationships in place
● We may still need a bridge
We need to support the ecosystem
● Scala’s success is not just because of money, but also because of the work of the community
● Enterprises must support the projects upon which they depend
● We must work together to help them do so
Thank you!
Questions?