How can we make a living

1
How can we make a living if we give it all
away? Mike Taylor Index Data mike_at_indexdata.com
2
It's not about Why open source? any more. It's
about How open source?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
3
It's not about Why open source? any more. It's
about How open source? Won't programmers
starve?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
4
But briefly on why ... Six Myths countered
by Ingres 1. OS is a niche IT sector 2. OS
cannot support mission-critical applications 3.
OS companies do not own their intellectual
property 4. OS technology does not offer
professional level support 5. OS is unregulated
and anyone can contribute code 6. OS software is
not secure
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
5
But briefly on why ... Six Myths countered
by Ingres 1. OS is a niche IT sector 2. OS
cannot support mission-critical applications 3.
OS companies do not own their intellectual
property 4. OS technology does not offer
professional level support 5. OS is unregulated
and anyone can contribute code 6. OS software is
not secure Remember, this was Ingres, not Index
Data!
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
6
The key question How can we make a living if we
give it away?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
7
The key question How can we make a living if we
give it away? Because after we give it away, we
still have it!
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
8
After we give it away, we still have it This
only works because copying is zero-cost for
software. Because copying is expensive for
hardware, it took people a long time to grasp
this. (And even now, not everyone gets it.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
9
Another take on the key question How can we
make a living if we give it away?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
10
Another take on the key question How can we
make a living if we give it away? It depends on
what you mean by it.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
11
It depends on what you mean by it. In fact, we
don't give away ownership of the software, and we
don't give away our time. We just give away a
perfect copy. We still own the software no-one
can sell a proprietary derivative. (The GNU GPL
makes this very clear.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
12
So what is the point of open source? It changes
the vendor/customer relationship No longer
adversarial but in partnership.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
13
So what is the point of open source? It changes
the vendor/customer relationship No longer
adversarial but in partnership. We make a living
by giving you what you want Proprietary software
earns money by denying you what you want.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
14
Free as in freedom Free speech vs. free
beer. Free beer is bad for the barman, but
free speech is good for everyone.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
15
Free as in freedom Free speech vs. free
beer. Free beer is bad for the barman, but
free speech is good for everyone. (Except
George W. Bush, of course.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
16
Information wants to be free
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
17
Information wants to be tied up and spanked
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
18
Information wants to be anthropomorphised
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
19
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for customers? No vendor lock-in
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
20
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for customers? No vendor lock-in
Change the product yourself
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
21
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for customers? No vendor lock-in
Change the product yourself No product
end-of-life
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
22
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for customers? No vendor lock-in
Change the product yourself No product
end-of-life Level playing field
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
23
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for customers? No vendor lock-in
Change the product yourself No product
end-of-life Level playing field Open source
gt open standards
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
24
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for us? Our customers trust us (in the
post-FUD era)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
25
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for us? Our customers trust us (in the
post-FUD era)? We don't spend on closed-source
overheads
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
26
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for us? Our customers trust us (in the
post-FUD era)? We don't spend on closed-source
overheads We catalyse contributions
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
27
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for us? Our customers trust us (in the
post-FUD era)? We don't spend on closed-source
overheads We catalyse contributions We get to
make cool things
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
28
Back down to earth some practicalities What's
in it for us? Our customers trust us (in the
post-FUD era)? We don't spend on closed-source
overheads We catalyse contributions We get to
make cool things It's just a better way to live
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
29
Perhaps an important question librarians should
now be asking their vendors is Who are the
highest paid the people in your organization?
Your salespeople or your service
people? Carl Grant.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
30
Perhaps an important question librarians should
now be asking their vendors is Who are the
highest paid the people in your organization?
Your salespeople or your service
people? Carl Grant. (Since I am
not a sales person, I want the answer to be
support people.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
31
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
32
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
33
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)? Hosted solutions
(small but growing)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
34
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)? Hosted solutions
(small but growing)? Custom development
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
35
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)? Hosted solutions
(small but growing)? Custom development
Support
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
36
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)? Hosted solutions
(small but growing)? Custom development
Support Training
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
37
So how do we actually make money? Sponsored
development of core tools Integration (e.g.
with existing auth systems)? Hosted solutions
(small but growing)? Custom development
Support Training Non-free licences for
proprietary derivatives (only works with GPL.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
38
Software is largely a service industry operating
under the persistent but unfounded delusion that
it is a manufacturing industry. Eric
S. Raymond.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
39
Software is largely a service industry operating
under the persistent but unfounded delusion that
it is a manufacturing industry. Eric
S. Raymond. IBM understand this.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
40
Software is largely a service industry operating
under the persistent but unfounded delusion that
it is a manufacturing industry. Eric
S. Raymond. IBM understand this. Anyone who
doesn't, provides lousy service.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
41
Do not underestimate the power of the dark
side We will never get very rich through
OS. You can only do that by selling the same
thing many times. We only get paid for work
that we actually do.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
42
The temptation to go proprietary We have tried
this a couple of times Z'mbol Metaproxy It
just makes us miserable. Showed us the costs of
not being open. (But we might do it again one
day, given the right product.)?
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com
43
Summary Software is more about service than
product Giving away product costs us very
little (probably less than nothing)? This
catalyses service contracts The vendor-customer
relationship is completely different in OS
projects.
How can we make a living? Mike Taylor, Index
Data, mike_at_indexdata.com