Where Open Source and Private Companies Come Together
A friend and I were talking about our frustrations with Bible software development and we got on the subject of open source development taking some kind of stand in helping things along. We both agree that efforts like the SWORD Project could add considerable value to current Bible software efforts, however that is not the viewpoint from many companies. We see that companies are more or less inclined to ignore open source except for maybe some internal functionality, and then let the chips fall where it may in terms of sales and content.
I disagree with this mentality. Stating it clearly is a bit of a problem on my end. So please take the following a bit as a rough draft of a thought of how open source (OSS) and private software companies can work together in a manner that enhances development potential and maximizes profit.
The Great Misunderstanding
The major issue here is a misunderstanding on all sides of the equation. OSS developers see the entrance of big companies (investors) as an unwanted corporate presence that will not forward development and eventually make something proprietary that will not have community value. To some extent this is true. Intellectual property is how companies make money. If they cannot leverage this, then they have no means to be a contributing member towards OSS efforts.
On the other side of that, many (not all) OSS developers have very little understanding about business processes, freedom defined by structure, and how much OSS relies on big company involvement overall. To date, there has been no major OSS contribution that has not come without the assistance or financial backing of some major company.
The Great Solution
Communication, clear communication, has to be made for both parties to understand one another. It cannot simply be an issue of "go for what works for me." Both have to give some in order for both to win some. The best example of this is OSS efforts within Firefox. One of the major investors in Firefox happens to be Microsoft. If they did not invest intellectually into them, then as a company MS would not be able to work together for standard operating procedures, standards support across browsers, and even simple things like making sure the Internet has no major boundaries to entry. Working together makes things like this happen.
The Christian Side of the Discussion
On the side of our discussion, we have bible software companies and OSS. There are efforts on both sides to streamline distribution and even content. However, there are still major barriers either (a) because of a misunderstanding, or (b) a fear of doing something *not* done before, or (c) a general distaste - prejudice - for the other side. I can understand all of these, but its the Body, is not our standard of doing life higher than ego?
A Simple Question
One of my questions therefore is this: how does the Word see traces of God in the use of electronic resources when there is no major, public, effort made by OSS, private and public companies, and consumers to educate and empower one another to create a solution that speaks towards reaching the earth?
Or was even Jesus' declaration of the power that we are endowed with also a matter of ego reaching further than faith speaks?
posted by MMM @ 6/27/2008 10:00:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I want to in part apologize for not updating this article before it published. I wrote this over a week ago, and since then there has been a considerable amount of talk in regards to open source software, OSS and major companies, etc. Those are things that would have added some more information and value to this discussion IMO.
Nevertheless, I want to point to one example of where some things are going in respect to companies looking to leverage the open source software (OSS) community for more than just niche actions. This week, Nokia announced a purchase of Symbian, and then the folding of it into the Symbian Foundation. This foundation makes the Symbian operating system one of the largest, and most widely deployed open source software initiatives yet. Unlike some mobile Linux and even Google's Android, this is something of a proven comody that is not being put into the hands of a developer community to develop, but still has the focus of a large company to keep it moving. Suffice to say, this is a big example of what happens when the two mix, but this is part of the future of things.
On a much smaller scale, Bible software companies can do similar in respect to developing their programs to be extendable by open source efforts, thereby increasing value, and long term profitability of those applications. The only real question is if any are willing to take that chance.
I think that who really needs the encouragement is not the software publishers, but the book publishers! It is they who produce the content, and it is they who are ignoring the open source movement. They, first of all, need convincing that Open Source≠piracy, and that they can sell their works via the open source software model. Project Sword, for instance, does have protection for books, and some of the software has already internalized the licensing issue, while others allow it through modification of text files. Only one publisher that I am aware of, however, has taken advantage of this--a German publisher has produced one book/Bible (forget which). The tools are available to everybody, and the work required to convert electronic texts to this project are not difficult to figure out, and are based on already existing standards. It is simply FUD that keeps the publishers out of Open Source--that or simple greed (not profit motive--two different things).
So, rather than talk to Logos or Accordance, talk to the book publishers. They are the ones who truly need it.
-Jon
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