Share the Wealth Because it is becoming increasingly challenging to protect intellectual property, we’re witnessing a complete reversal: Instead of protecting new ideas and proprietary systems, some developers are now making them available to customers, suppliers, and even competitors.
The most obvious example of this trend is the open source software movement, which has its roots in the Silicon Valley “shareware” culture of the 1970s that spawned Apple computer. Open source got its biggest boost when Linux Torvalds posted the “kernel code for Linux” on the Internet 12 years ago and invited people to download it for free, use it, and improve on it. Tens of thousands of volunteer programmers took him up on the offer and collaborated in developing it.
Today, the Linux operating system is used by more than 18 million people worldwide, according to Wired magazine, and it powers everything from cell phones to supercomputers. Wired cites a recent Goldman Sachs study that predicts that Linux will soon replace Unix as the dominant operating system for the world’s biggest corporate data centers.
The benefit of open source software over proprietary software is that it is constantly improving. When Microsoft launches a new program, users expect that it will be riddled with bugs. But since Microsoft keeps the source code a secret, only its own programmers can fix the bugs, which can take years. By then, the next generation of the program, which takes years to develop, is ready to launch ? with its own set of bugs.
By contrast, the source code for open source software is available to everyone, so volunteers can detect problems and repair them quickly. They can then improve the program as long as they share the new source code. In this way, open source software is constantly evolving and becoming more useful and powerful.
There are several other examples of open source software that were developed by programmers who were not compensated. Among the free programs that are making the biggest impact are:
Apache, a program that two-thirds of the Internet servers use to deliver Web pages and other data.
Perl, a programming language that Web developers use heavily.
Sendmail, which transmits much of the e-mail on the Internet.
In each case, the programmers offered the code to anyone who wanted it, invited people to make any changes to it, allowed these people to charge others to use the new version, but insisted that the new source code be placed in the public domain for still other innovators to build upon.
Obviously, this approach completely upends the traditional approach to intellectual property, which is to guard it at all costs. But while the open source business model is counter-intuitive, it is working, and it has sent shock waves through the normally smug offices of Microsoft, the giant of the computer industry.
In 2001, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer compared Linux to a “cancer” because it attacks and destroys the concept of intellectual property. The company also set up a “Linux fighting fund” to offer steep discounts to governments that chose its own software. Then, in January 2003, Microsoft realized it couldn’t stop the movement. It announced that it would release the details of its source code for Windows to 60 national governments.
This decision allows the governments to see how secure Windows is and to develop their own applications for it. Microsoft had to reveal its code because government agencies in the U.S., China, Japan, France, and Germany were exploring the possibility of using open-source Linux-based systems, according to The Washington Post.
In the assessment of Michael Gartenberg, research director for Jupiter Research, Microsoft’s response is “a brilliant maneuver. It gives them a huge [public relations] win, gives them a response back to the open-source folks, and also provides the impetus that many government organizations have been looking for to continue doing business with them.”
However, even that gesture hasn’t kept some of its lucrative contracts from expiring without being renewed. In May 2003, the local government in Munich converted 14,000 computers from Windows to Linux at a cost of $61 million.
The open source movement appears to be an unstoppable force that will reshape the business environment. We offer the following four forecasts for your consideration:
First, if it continues to evolve as expected, the open source movement will allow companies to boost their productivity. By using constantly improving open source programs instead of proprietary systems, companies will overcome the programming glitches that are a drag on their performance. At the same time, the companies that stand to lose the most ? such as Microsoft ? can be expected to make every effort to keep it from flourishing.
Second, we predict that entrepreneurs will overcome the greatest drawback of the open source movement: the absence of support. Among the possible business models that could profitably fill this void, as a recent report in the Bangkok Post pointed out, are consulting services for companies that want to use open source software for their infrastructure; training for users of the systems; and development of prototype open source systems that businesses can customize to their own specific needs.
Third, the entrepreneurs are likely to forge partnerships with the manufacturers of computer hardware, just as today’s proprietary software firms do. When major corporations make the transition from proprietary to open systems, the large hardware companies can be expected to follow the money.
Fourth, the open source movement may spread to other industries, but its primary impact will be through the benefits it provides through cheaper computing. For example, it’s unlikely that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo will develop formulas for new soft drinks by posting their latest research on the Internet. However, both corporations can benefit individually from using Linux and other open source software instead of the offerings from Microsoft and other proprietary vendors.
References List :1. Wired, November 2003, "How Linus Torvalds Became Benevolent Dictator of Planet Linux, the Biggest Collaborative Project in History," by Gary Rivlin. ⓒ Copyright 2003 by Conde Nast Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.2. The Washington Post, January 15, 2003, "Microsoft to Share Code With Governments; A Reply to the Open-Source Movement," by Helen Jung. ⓒ Copyright 2003 by The Washington Post Co. All rights reserved.3. New Zealand Herald, June 3, 2003, "Linux Winner in Open-Source War," by Chris Barton. ⓒ Copyright 2003 by the New Zealand Herald. All rights reserved.4. Bangkok Post, October 22, 2003, "Digitizing Management: Support Can Give an Edge to Open Source," by Ping na Thalang. ⓒ Copyright 2003 by The Post Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved.
