Comments on: Open Source, Viral Adoption, and “A Bag Of Junk” http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/ Dave Stephens on technology and business trends Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:20:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Dave Stephens http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1128 Fri, 11 Aug 2006 15:18:04 +0000 https://procurement.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1128 i thought the last comment was really good – minus the conclusion. the history and links are much appreciated. my view is that open source becomes easier as it gets closer to the end user – that it was hardest to gain traction back on O/S and web server. time will tell. and hey, what’s the matter with us bean counters? we just might be geeks too! :)

]]> By: AnonymousCoward http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1123 Fri, 11 Aug 2006 05:32:29 +0000 https://procurement.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1123 As much as I would like to believe in “First we made games …”, I some how feel that there is a big difference.

See the humble history of Linux,

“Hello everybody out there using minix -
I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.” …

And the rest, you know, is http://www.linux10.org/history/

Let’s take Apache

“In February of 1995, the most popular server software on the Web was the public domain HTTP daemon developed by Rob McCool at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. However, development of that httpd had stalled after Rob left NCSA in mid-1994, and many webmasters had developed their own extensions and bug fixes that were in need of a common distribution.”

and more at http://httpd.apache.org/ABOUT_APACHE.html

Here, the users of the applications are actually also the developers, the web masters (ofcourse, not all web masters need to be developers). Imagine the guy cutting POs on one computer writing code to fix the routing logic of the PO in the other!

Come to this new era, unlike the humble starting of the great software from college kids and univesity scientists, these softwares are being started from the beginning by people with titles and enterprise settings, to name one, http://www.coupa.com/aboutus.html

It’s one thing for another college kid or a web master to develop interest and in the process perhaps even contribute using their knowledge for the open source community and it’s entirely different for individuals to develop open source for enterprise applications.

>You see, open source success may not always be viral, but it sure is infectious. :)

You see, open source is meant for the geeks, not the bean counters. Perhaps, that’s where the infection is!

]]> By: Matthew W. Grant http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1093 Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:22:23 +0000 https://procurement.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1093 I would like to comment on that part that mentions using technology “under the radar and without management’s consent.” In this day and age of computer security policies and computer security threats, how likely is it that someone would attempt to do that? If an amployee did use unauthorized hardware or software, I would think the penalty would probably be dismissal. Furthermore, which empployee would want to be responsible for doing something that could potentially damage the entire company’s computer network?

I’m not saying that this means using open source technology would lead to any of those things, but just the fact that using it without permission from IT is an issue regardless of whether the technology turns out to be damaging.

]]> By: Dave Stephens http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1090 Wed, 09 Aug 2006 17:09:04 +0000 https://procurement.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1090 Eric, viral adoption is a very nice way to spread the solution while never really engaging in traditional sales processes. It can help form the community faster to be sure. And there are a few ways Coupa eProcurement can spread virally which, pls forgive me, i’ll hold close to the vest for now. But communities can form wherever there are common interests and so I think it’s too early to judge how well that will happen w Coupa and other open source enterprise apps plays.

There are no easy answers when it comes to figuring out how to protect innovative intellectual property to sustain your business venture while promoting as much as possible to the open source community. The path BIQ is on might be exactly the right way to go for your efforts & I certainly wish you continued success!

]]> By: Eric Strovink http://stephensnexus.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1086 Wed, 09 Aug 2006 14:46:31 +0000 https://procurement.wordpress.com/2006/08/08/open-source-viral-adoption-and-a-bag-of-junk/#comment-1086 Dave, one argument you missed: with open source, there’s a chance that one can fix a problem on one’s own — at least theoretically. With closed source, there’s no theoretical solution — the vendor has to fix the problem. That’s OK if the vendor has a track record of responding promptly with workarounds and fixes. But it’s not OK if the vendor (your alma mater, Oracle, was a big offender in the old days) is slow to respond.

However, one doesn’t have to be “open source” in order to provide relief in this area. For example, BIQ cheerfully escrows source code for our customers — so if we all get hit by a truck, or something, it’s not the end of the road. We also structure our deals without up front payments (i.e., cancel the deal any time you want), which (unlike Oracle) puts us squarely on the hook for a prompt fix or workaround. With regard to open source, though, we do some very innovative things with our product that we’re not willing to hand to our competitors for free! So much as I like open source, we’ll be holding back for now.

The weakest argument for Coupa open-source-wise is viral adoption. If nobody’s looking at the source code except Coupa (due to lack of interest), then you don’t pick up the “many eyes” benefit. I think that’s a valid criticism. Nevertheless, all it takes is a small number of people joining hands with you, and you’ll see immediate benefit!

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