Is Open Source Broken?

Open source software has changed. The movement to develop software applications and all manner of IT services through the open source model is fundamentally rooted in the notion of community contribution, but things have shifted.

In terms of use, open source software is free to download; but users are encouraged to give back via physical ‘code commits’ (portions of software that the project may use to add functionality), or through other supporting activities such as local language translation, organizing Special Interest Group (SIG) user meetings or simply by promoting the existence of an open alternative to proprietary closed software products.

In theory, examining the state of open source software in this discussion is a ‘contribution’ to the cause.

In terms of monetization, successful open source projects often generate ‘enterprise versions’ of the original product. Often labelled with an E to denote the ‘higher level’ status, an enterprise version of an open source software product typically comes with support, maintenance, consultancy services and deeper levels of additional functionality.

Open source evolution

But things have changed in open source. Where the proprietary behemoths of the tech industry once referred to open source as a cancer, the new approach is to embrace it. No firm has come ‘about face’ in this regard more than Microsoft. Once a proprietary-only software company, positioning its Windows operating system as the closed-door best choice on the market, the company now positively welcomes open Linux and has open sourced a number of its key cornerstone technologies.

Going further, Microsoft has purchased several important open source firms including coding tool company Xamarin and version control specialist GitHub. Under its higher-level auspices, Microsoft pledged to operate GitHub as an independent business (coding purists would have stood for nothing less) in order to retain the strength of its platform and community and to retain its product philosophy.

Chief operating officer (COO) for GitHub is Erica Brescia. Speaking at the recent Open Source Summit in the French city of Lyon, Brescia explained where she thinks open source is going next, what monetization challenges it faces and what we can do to help the open revolution succeed. Noting that 98% of all software projects rely on open source connections or core concepts in one form or other, Brescia says that what is changing now is how open source is monetized… and how software models work in the age of cloud computing.

Point of tension

“We're seeing an increasing tension between open source projects (and open source companies) and those that are building services on top of open source, such as cloud vendors with their database services. Licenses applied to open source projects a decade ago did not contemplate the possibility of a cloud vendor delivering a SaaS service using the project without contributing back to it, which is leaving some open companies in a challenging position,” said Brescia.

From her perspective, Brescia says that she is particularly interested in open software development support projects like GitHub Sponsors and the Community Bridge program from the Linux Foundation. She suggests that what matters now is how we [the software community] can use these types of platforms for delivering funding to open source projects and individuals to support the work they do.

So as open source becomes more globally adopted at the enterprise software level, what risks does Brescia think are out there for open source?

“I'm particularly passionate about our global expansion. As a result, I've been thinking quite a bit about the importance of the global open source community and of ensuring that is not bifurcated along national borders. I also want to ensure that trade sanctions don't inadvertently impact the open source community. We can all play a role in ensuring this doesn't happen and I'm honored to be in a position where I can work on this set of important issues,” enthused Brescia.

Is open source broken?

It is undeniable then; open source software has changed. Brescia herself refers to the ‘points of tension’ that stem from companies using open source innovations as infrastructural services inside of products that they then take to market and make money off of… without necessarily giving back.

We can also look to the risk of international bifurcation (and let’s not even mention potential Brexit disconnections) and the way pure open source should be accessible, global, user-agnostic, democratic and based fairly upon a system of meritocracy. We might perhaps hope that with Brescia and her team aligned with Microsoft as they are, that this particular faction of the industry will be working hard to ‘do the right thing’ so the open mission itself will continue in the way it should.

"Open source is more important than ever before – and the open source community around the world is continuing to grow. In fact, according to our Octoverse report, over 1.3 million first time contributors joined the open source community this year. Plus, over 3.6 million [software code] repositories depend on each of the top 50 open source projects. Open source is truly thriving and powering the world we live in today. While we need to continue to work together to maintain our global open source community (and recognize that some companies may need to re-evaluate their business models around open source software) the future for open source is very, very bright," surmised Brescia.

If the enterprise software industry really wants to ❤ open source, it needs to remember that love is a two-way street, right?