Traditional software vendors, by working on their pet open-source efforts, are learning to apply the human-driven mechanism behind open source in the service of their traditional, closed-source solutions.

Brad Shimmin, Distinguished Analyst

July 5, 2007

1 Min Read

All that remains is for these vendors to put this mechanism to work directly on closed-source software, opening up the kimono first for close partners and trusted customers, and then for all interested parties.

This will be no small feat, mind you. Successful open-source projects like Mozilla worked because they fostered and then supported a fairly large community of contributors (developers, code testers, designers, etc.). The Mozilla project can count over 800 code contributors and thousands of testers. Contrast this with closed-source development efforts counting a handful of in-house developers and perhaps 10 or so key customers serving as beta testers.

The kind of transition necessary to add the scale and transparency enjoyed by the Mozilla project requires that vendors build software to support the creation of software. For Mozilla, it was the creation of Bugzilla, a bug tracking and reporting solution, that made the project go.

Some work akin to what went on within Netscape is happening now. IBM, for example, recently released Jazz, a two-year research project dedicated to building a scalable team collaboration platform for developers. Out of the gate, IBM intends to use this community and associated collaboration tools to foster innovation within its commercial Rational software product family through shared code, architecture, bug reporting, comments, ratings, and other collaborative tools.

Even if Jazz never turns the Rational product line into a commercial Mozilla (or more aptly, another Eclipse project), the prioritization of people in the development process and the transparency, accountability, and agility that emerges will go a long way toward delivering Rational and products like it from their supposed doom at the hands of the open-source movement.

About the Author(s)

Brad Shimmin

Distinguished Analyst

Distinguished Analyst, Brad Shimmin has more than 25 years of experience in IT technology, helping enterprises and high-tech companies work effectively across a number of market areas including enterprise data and analytics management, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, and DevOps. He is skilled in business development, competitive intelligence, market evaluation, go-to-market messaging, technology selection, quantitative research, and software development. He also has experience as an IT professional, business analyst, software developer, database administrator, book author/editor, and high-tech journalist/editor.

Never Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights