ChiefNode

Using open source to direct self interest?

I wish I had been at the Open Source Buiness Conference, being held in London right now. Yesterday's talk by Simon Phipps (Sun) does not seem radical, but it sounds like he got some reactions from the crowd that were not as favorable.

The message, at least as recorded by one media outlet, was that open source developers should release code that preserves what is needed for broader purposes (eg to build other code on) and for "directed self-interest". I do not perceive this as radical because many open source developers work for companies who contribute their code to enable buiness for their company. I imagine there is some amount of pure creativity going on, but others cite how contributing open source code is also a way to "get known" in the community. . .which is also directed self-interest.

I would love to see more community organization for open source code, and concerted efforts to develop what "needs" to be developed. . but I'm not sure what more is needed, and curious what role Phipps sees for individuals (unaffiliated with a company) in his new vision. I'll need to check out other accounts of this talk, or perhaps watch how Sun releases Java -- if it is done in such a way to enable Phipps' vision.

posted by Dana Bostrom @ 06:42