Release 1.0, the newsletter of software industry pundit Esther Dyson, has published a very lucid report called "Open Source Community: How to win friends and influence developers." Consistent with the whole open source model, the report, ah, requires registration. Ok, well, at least it's available online free. Not everything in the report is 100% correct, but author David Rosenberg has done his homework, and he provides a good overview of the value of community and the different models for working with an open source community. If you're thinking of starting an open source company, working for one, or investing in one, then this report is worth reading.
It's safe to say that companies like MySQL would not exist today if it were not for the hard work of the community. While MySQL has always been a commercial company as founded by Monty Widenius and David Axmark ten years ago (and they are still very much involved in guiding the direction) the company has always been focused on doing the right thing for our community. That means not giving in to short term thinking, even if it would give us a short term gain, in order to ensure long term success. Sometimes that's a challenge. For example, it has meant a longer development cycle for MySQL 5.0 as we've added important features and need to make sure that we have the absolute highest quality. While customers will forgive us if we are not that good at predicting dates, no one will forgive us if sacrifice quality. (Sybase System 10 anyone?)
What isn't said in the report, is that if MySQL in particular, and open source in general, is revolutionary it is because of the community. Who really cares if there's another DBMS on the market? What makes MySQL interesting is that because it is open source it has more than 6 million active installations with somewhere around 50,000 new downloads per day. So there are a lot of people using MySQL who would never have been able to afford an Oracle or a Microsoft SQL Server. So whether MySQL is powering Wikipedia, Slashdot, Technorati, Yahoo, Google or some hot new startup, it is empowering more people access information more easily and at a lower cost. To me, that's the promise of open source. What new avenues to information can be opened if we lower the cost?
At any rate, check out the report, it's well worth the registration effort. There's also a somewhat fluffy video interview from PC Forum earlier this year with Mitchell Baker and Kim Polese.
It's safe to say that companies like MySQL would not exist today if it were not for the hard work of the community. While MySQL has always been a commercial company as founded by Monty Widenius and David Axmark ten years ago (and they are still very much involved in guiding the direction) the company has always been focused on doing the right thing for our community. That means not giving in to short term thinking, even if it would give us a short term gain, in order to ensure long term success. Sometimes that's a challenge. For example, it has meant a longer development cycle for MySQL 5.0 as we've added important features and need to make sure that we have the absolute highest quality. While customers will forgive us if we are not that good at predicting dates, no one will forgive us if sacrifice quality. (Sybase System 10 anyone?)
What isn't said in the report, is that if MySQL in particular, and open source in general, is revolutionary it is because of the community. Who really cares if there's another DBMS on the market? What makes MySQL interesting is that because it is open source it has more than 6 million active installations with somewhere around 50,000 new downloads per day. So there are a lot of people using MySQL who would never have been able to afford an Oracle or a Microsoft SQL Server. So whether MySQL is powering Wikipedia, Slashdot, Technorati, Yahoo, Google or some hot new startup, it is empowering more people access information more easily and at a lower cost. To me, that's the promise of open source. What new avenues to information can be opened if we lower the cost?
At any rate, check out the report, it's well worth the registration effort. There's also a somewhat fluffy video interview from PC Forum earlier this year with Mitchell Baker and Kim Polese.
- Release 1.0: Open Source Community
- PC Forum Webcast: Opening the Door on Open Source
Hi Zack,
I agree that the community is the key to the whole shebang, in fact that was the underlying premise of the whole piece. Really, MySQL is the model that every other company would like to emulate but find themselves incapable of, that's due to a variety of reasons but the biggest is the community involvement.
best,
dave
Posted by: dave rosenberg | July 31, 2005 at 11:14 AM