My attempt to understand Open Source-Part 2
How did the Apache community decide who are the trusted members?
"For Apache, we started with eight people who really trusted each other, and as new people showed up at the discussion forum and offered patch files posted to the discussion forum, we would gain trust in others, and that eight grew to over thousand."
When did open source first gain acceptance and backing from from professionally run companies?
IBM was trying to sell its own proprietary Web server, called GO, but couldnt succeed. Apache turned out to be better technolgy and free. So, IBM decided if it cant beat Apache, it must join hands with Apache.
This was an important turn in the history of open source. The worlds biggest computer company decided that its engineers could not beat the work of an ad hoc collection of geeks, so they threw out their own technology and decided to go with the geeks!
So, how did it benefit IBM monetarily?
IBM held a meaningful conversation with Apache people and helped create the nonprofit Apache Software Foundation. With the help of lawyers, they helped in creating a legal framework so that there would no copyright issues for IBM. IBM wanted to build application on top of Apache and charge money for them. IBM saw the value in having a standard vanilla web server architecture, which was constantly being improved for free by an open source community.
The legal framework said. "You need to be able to vet the code, sign an agreement, and deal with liability issues. Anybody can download the Apache code. The only obligation is that they acknowldge that it came from the site, and if they make any changes that they share them back." You were also allowed to out and build a patended commercial product on top of the Apache code, as IBM did with its WebSphere server product. While it wanted the foundations to be free and open to all, it recognized that it would remain strong and fresh if both the commercial and non commercial engineers had an incentive to participate.
This model has been widely adopted, after even one saw it propelled IBM's Web server business to commercial leadership in that category of softare, generating huge amounts of revenue.
THE FREE SOFTWARE MOVEMENT
The free softaware movement was and remains inspired by the ethical idea that software should be free and available to all, and it relies on open source collaboration to help produce the best fostware possible to be distributed for free.
This is a bit different from the approach of the intellectual commons. Apache saw open sourcing as a technically superior means of creating software and other innovations and it had no problem with commercial software being built on top of it.
However, the goal of the free software movement, was to get as many people as possible improving and distributing software for free, out of belief that this will empower everyone and free individuals from the grip of global coprparations. The free software movement structures its licenses so that if your commercial software draws directly from their free software copyright, they ent your software to be free too.
The GNU/GPL story
(to be contd...)
Posted at 06:04AM Aug 21, 2007 by rainmaker in Personal | Comments[0]
My attempt to understand Open Source-Part 1
Since long, I wanted to know more about the philosophy and the force that powers open source. But have been lazy to pick myself up and research on it. My earlier knowledge on open source was the result of half baked information that I picked from occasionally bumping into web sites or from water cooler gossips. Last week, when Anil Gupta, the VP of IEC exhorted each of his employees to brace up open source in a big way and have a crystal clear understanding of Sun's open source strategy, I considered it a befitting time to jump into understanding open source in and out. And this post is the result of my study.
But how does this collaboration work? How has it created such a huge impact in the world of software development? To understand this, we need to differentiate two varieties of open source:
1.The intellectual commons
2.Free software movement
The Intellectual Commons
The intellectual commons form of open sourcing stems from the academic and scientific communities, where collaborative communities of scientist come together through private networks to pool their knowledge and share insights.
Why people share knowledge and work in this way?
"IT people tend to be very bright people and they want everybody to know just how brilliant they are"-Mike, IT systems architect
"Open Source is nothing more than peer reviewed science. People contribute to these things because they make science, and they discover things, and the reward is reputation"-Marc Andreessen, man resposnible for the Internet revolution.(Will share his story in another post)
How did the first ever open source project began?
The first ever open source project in truest sense was Apache, known to be pioneered by Brian Behlendorf . When Marc Andeerssen developed the first generation web browser(till then Internet was just mailing lists,e-mail, FTP), it needed a Web server to host the sites. It started in a forum where Marc Andersson and Tim Berners Lee(known as Father of the Internet) were debating on how all Web technolgies should work together. Behlendorf kept himself updated with the forum discussions.
At that time, Wired magazine wanted to set up its own website that supported password authentication and hired Behlendorf at 10$ an hour. In those days, most webmasters depended on a web server program developed by National Center for Supercomputing Applications(NCSA). But NCSA web servers couldn't handle password authentication on the scale that HotWired needed. Incidently the NCSA Web sever was in the public domain as a result the source code was freely available. Behlendorf wrote a patch to the NCSA code that took care of the password authentication. But it was not Behlendorf alone who was working on patches. Webmasters all across the web were finding it necessary to keep adding patches to support the growing demand. Slowly the patches were building a new modern Web sever in an ad hoc open-source manner.
NCSA in the meanwhile was acting unprofessional. NCSA was not answering to the emails of little working group on patches. They were neither integrating patches neither responding to their feedback. This worried Behlendorf on the future of webservers. He then started to contact the other people who were trading with patches. They then decided mutually, "Why dont we take our future into our hands and release our own web sever that incorporated all our patches?". Since none of them had time to be a full time web server developer, they combined time and did it in a public way that could create something better.
This was how Apache
started. The first open source project
(To be contd...)
N.B. : My desperate attempts to get proper and authentic resource on open source finally found solace with the book, World is Flat, by Thomas Friedman. So, most of the things I wrote about open source is picked from this book.
Posted at 04:26AM Aug 20, 2007 by rainmaker in Software technologies | Comments[0]
BarCamp Bangalore 4
I wouldn't take pains in explaining what a BARCAMP is because there are numerous resources already about BARCAMP scattered all across the Internet. For the uninitiated, read this article, http://businessworldindia.com/oct0206/coverstory02.asp . I was fortunate to attend my first BARCAMP in Bangalore this July, courtesy Bangalore Open Java User Group(BOJUG), through which I came to know about this exciting phenomenon.
I doubt if my blog would be able to convey the level of excitement that I experienced right there at the precinct of IIM Bangalore where the event was hosted. First and foremost, this was the first time ever I set my foot on an IIM campus. I could sense the halo that an IIM campus exudes. The huge expanse of green cover that drapes the campus only adds to its glory .
To tell you honestly, I had not understood the concept of BARCAMP till I actually saw it unfold in front of myself. BARCAMP 4 was a collectives edition this time, where each collective was meant for a particular self interest group. BARCAMP describes collectives as:
Collectives are groups of people (generally people) who aggregate around common topics/concerns/ideologies/peeves. They are like niche rooms devised to encourage individuals who, otherwise, spend a lot of energy in inventing the same wheel in different locations, oblivious to the efforts of the others. We introduce Collectives as a way of forming your initial networks before you reach the physical venue. Collectives are specifically, NOT your social networking system replacements – aim for quality of discussion and emergent results rather than numbers.
* 1 Technology Collectives
o 1.1 Mobile Collective
o 1.2 Internet Collective
o 1.3 Free and Open Source Software
o 1.4 Content Management Systems Collective
o 1.5 Programming Languages and Compiler Design
* 2 Developer Collectives
o 2.1 BangPypers
o 2.2 Bangalore Open Java User Group
o 2.3 Ruby Collective
o 2.4 BangAJAX Collective
o 2.5 Buffer OverFlows & Code Injection
o 2.6 BandFun Collective
o 2.7 Sysadmins Collective
o 2.8 PHP collective
* 3 Startups Collective
* 4 Enterprise Collectives
o 4.1 FOSS in the Enterprise Collective
* 5 Special interests collectives
o 5.1 Gizmofreaks collective
o 5.2 Photo Collective
o 5.3 Bloggers Collective
o 5.4 User Interface Design & Usability Collective
o 5.5 Wikis Collective
o 5.6 UnBand Collective
o 5.7 Gaming Collective
o 5.8 Investor$ Collective
o 5.9 Bicycling in Bangalore Collective
* 6 Society and Government Collectives
o 6.1 SocialTech Collective
o 6.2 E-governance Collective
* 7 Other Collectives / Non-Collective sessions
o 7.1 BCB4 Hack night
o 7.2 Speed Geeking
o 7.3 Board of Collectives Collective
o 7.4 Bored of Collectives Collective
o 7.5 Psychics Collective
o 7.6 Eating out in Bangalore Collective
o 7.7 Weekend getaways collective
The session kicked off in a huge
auditorium which was jam packed and when asked how many were first
timers to the BARCAMP, 80% people must have raised hands. A clear indicator of
the popularity this camp had generated this time. The atmosphere was
very casual with lots of wit and humor wafting in the air, nevertheless with a serious
sense of purpose. There were about 30 collectives that were
registered. But many collectives were being made right there on
the whim. Though there were a few frivolous collectives, like
Eating Out, and Physic, there were many who were dead serious about
its purpose. Each collective member had to introduce their
collective in front of the crowd for 30 seconds. And many a times they had to be chased from the stage as they kept talking about. All in a lighter vein. There were some very
interesting collectives and I kept scribbling down the one's that
caught my fancy. Soon I had a long list. I couldnt have attended all
of them, so I started picking the best. The sessions were conducted just
about anywhere the group gathered. In classrooms, canteens, corridors or
the lawns. They also had set up a group messaging service, to which anyone who subscribed got regular sms updates of the sessions happening so that no one would be lost in the humdrum.
I let go my plans to attend technical collectives for a change and headed for a collective on Entrepreneurship by Prof. Kumar. Prof. Kumar is the man responsible for setting up the incubation center, NSRECL at IIM Bangalore to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem. His session must have pulled 60% of the crowd and the room fell too short to accommodate everyone. We had to shift to the auditorium. He started with a question, “How many here have their own startups”. There were many hands.
He then asked. “How many are on the verge of setting up a startup”. There were again many hands. As he proceeded to talk, there was an English guy who quipped, “Prof Kumar, You didnt ask how many of us had a failed startups”. And then again many hands rose up. Kumar called the guy up to the stage and asked him to talk about his failed venture and his experiences. This had set the mood for the session, but soon the allotted time was over. There was a group outside who had turned hysterical, since most of the crowd was here and thus attendance to other collectives was thin.
With due permission one of the
organizers, introduced another collective called Startups. It had 3
very young speakers who would speak on their ventures and experiences
of running their own company from scratch. Soon the crowd was
streaming out from the auditorium to listen to these young
entreprenuers. They did not want to hear an experienced professor
lecturing on entrepreneurship and found more sense hearing straight
from those young turks who had actually made it on their own. I too was one of
them.The Startups room was jam packed again. I took the front seat. A young fellow beside me introduced himself to me. He was a venture capitalist who, as he spoke, had raised 1 million dollars within an year funding prospective startups. My mind zonked. Soon after he came to know my background, he did not find me interesting. His attention shifted to the fellow on his right side. I realised that this forum was being greatly leveraged to network and make right connections with like minded individuals.
Soon the session got started by Kartik, who had started a company called PICSQUARE followed by Sujoy from Sloka Telecom. They shared their stories and experiences they faced in their attempt to make a place for themselves in the Sun. Kartik should be a 25 yr old guy who along with his friend started a photo publishing service called PICSQUARE and within a year have broken even and have sustained the tough times. Sujoy of Sloka telcom got very popular with the audience because of his inimitable oratory skills and an equally engaging story describing the travails of his enterprenuerial life.
It was soon 2 pm and I rushed to have lunch at the canteen. I then peered through the post its to pick my next would be engaging session. I settled for the Investment collective and rushed to the room. I had to contend stading at a corner as the seats were already taken. Dr Musa (a doctor turned investment expert) was demystifying the nuances of investment and audience was all ears to what he spoke. He was trying to drive home the point, why aggressive investment was no more a choice but an indespensable solution for a secure life. He threw startling numbers when he asked, 'what do you think the cost of education would be for your child in the future?'. His estimate with the rising inflation and Purchasing power parity index, was a staggering 55 lakhs.
After listening to him for the rest of the afternoon, my mind was completely spent out. I was a bit dissapointed not having able to attend other interesting electives and made my mind to come up the next day. But alas!, I got busy with other committments.
I am eagerly looking forward to BARCAMP 5 with an intent of showcasing my own collective.
Posted at 01:26AM Aug 10, 2007 by rainmaker in Social | Comments[1]
Blogger's block of a different kind
Just the next day after reading Anjana's blog on Blogger's block, I was hit with another idea, a phenomenon that is in stark contrast of what she mentioned. She talked about the syndrome when mind takes a vacation sometimes. I was thinking about the opposite, where your mind is deluged with ideas.
You start writing on a theme and then another one disturbs you. You find this idea more compelling. You start writing on this new idea. Then another connected idea hits you. And suddenly you are crushed in an avalanche of ideas. At last, you end up writing a lot but you havent completed any. I say with some heart wrenching personal experiences. I have numerous unfinished drafts either ensconsed in drawers of my cupboard(if they are on paper) or in some misplaced folder in my PC.
This is another variety of blogger's block where the culprit is not 'lack of ideas' but surfeit of them.
N.B: I have never been hit with a blogger's block(1st type) as such. if there has been a long dry spell without any blogging, it was only because I did not set myself to write or was too lazy/busy.
Posted at 01:47AM Aug 09, 2007 by rainmaker in Personal | Comments[2]