December 2nd, 2008
The code is all right
It came to me while reading another “the model is broken” screed, this one published in Business Week under the byline of former OSDL head Stuart Cohen (right).
Open source code is generally great code, not requiring much support.
So how do you make money with it? We assumed that you sold support, or “services” that amounted to much the same thing. But if the stuff just runs-and-runs you’re like my dad, who was a TV repairman. They don’t need you.
Of course my dad had another saying as well. “When old friends die it’s God’s way of telling you to make new friends.”
In the case of open source this means you might do what Cohen himself does, organize projects by finding some people who all need the same solution, then making it for them.
That’s a business model. It uses open source, but it’s not what is usually called an “open source business model.” Still, it works, which is the point here. Find something that works, don’t worry about what it’s called.
Other things work, too. Stick the software into hardware and sell that. Run the software and sell a SaaS service. True, you’re no longer in the “software” business, but who wants to be a TV repairman.
When open source was new, and we talked confidently about breaking the business models of companies like Microsoft and Oracle, we made the mistake of thinking that meant breaking their models, not ours.
But that’s how it has evolved. Open source software is great. It is becoming like modern electronics — it just goes and goes. Only without that replacement cycle.
So either create one, or find another way to make new code. Or just enjoy the benefits.
Business models are a two-way street, and regardless of how open source is doing for vendors no one doubts any more that it’s great for users. So be a user.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 12/02/08
