User-led Open Source Consortia

Keynote given at ISAFOSS-TIEDE 2022 on Feb 14th, 2022

Of the many reasons, why companies and countries sponsor the development of open source software, the user perspective stands out. By potential, it is much more significant then other forms (volunteer-based and vendor-led open source software), simply, because there are significantly more users of software then there are developers. In this talk, I describe how and why users organize and how I expect it will change the software industry.

Transcript

1. User-Led Open Source Consortia Prof. Dr. Dirk Riehle, M.B.A. Univ. Erlangen / Bayave GmbH ISAFOSS-TIEDE - 2022-02-14 Licensed under CC BY 4.0 International
2. What’s Wrong With Closed Source Software? The consequences of (strong) vendor lock-in 1. Costs / fee increases 2. Innovation blockage 3. Operational risk And many more 2 https://dirkriehle.com
3. Open Source Software Open source software is • Software given to you under an open source license An open source license is • A software license that grants you the right to ◦ Use, ◦ Modify, and ◦ Distribute (modified or not) the software free-of-charge This is the legal (license) definition [1] 3 https://dirkriehle.com [1] https://opensource.org/osd
4. Community vs. Vendor-Owned Open Source Software Community open source software is open source software that • Has an open governance process • Is competitively non-differentiating • Is communally owned (shared copyright) Single-vendor open source software is open source software that • Has a closed governance process • Is exploited by a single vendor • Is owned by that single vendor 4 https://dirkriehle.com
5. Open Source License vs. Governance 5 https://dirkriehle.com
6. Openness Over Time 6 https://dirkriehle.com
7. An open source foundation is • A non-profit organization (foundation, consortium) [1] • With the mission of managing / sponsoring / developing the development of • Competitively non-differentiating software • Made available to the public as open source software The three classic open source foundations Open Source Foundations 7 https://dirkriehle.com [1] I’m using the terms foundation and consortium synonymously irrespective of incorporation form
8. Benefits of an Open Source Foundation A (well-designed) open source foundation provides • A fair and equal playing field for its members • With clear governance and intellectual property rules 8 https://dirkriehle.com
9. Needed by product vendors Also developed by these vendors Components For Use in Products 9 https://dirkriehle.com
10. Applications For Use in Business Operations Needed by everyone (in the business domain) Sometimes developed, more often sponsored by using businesses 10 https://dirkriehle.com
11. Vendor-led vs. User-led Open Source Projects [1] 11 https://dirkriehle.com [1] Open source project = open source software + the project community
12. User-Led Open Source Consortia A user-led open source consortium is • An open source foundation / consortium • Led by users ◦ Who manage the development of ◦ The software they need to run their business Implied is that the software is • open source • competitively non-differentiating Development may be sponsored or co-developed 12 https://dirkriehle.com
13. Example 1: openKONSEQUENZ (Energy) openKONSEQUENZ is • A German cooperative • Managing and sponsoring the development of open source software • For local energy distributors and the smart grid Driver members are the local energy distributors Open source projects are individual modules led by one driver member 13 https://dirkriehle.com …
14. Example 2: openMDM (Automotive) openMDM is • A working group of the Eclipse Foundation • Managing and sponsoring the development of open source software for • Measured data management • Mostly for automotive production lines Driver members are the automotive OEMs 14 https://dirkriehle.com
15. Example 3: Academy Software Foundation (Movies) The Academy Software Foundation is • A Linux Foundation collaboration project • Adopting, managing, and sponsoring open source • For the production of movies Premier members are both movie studies and vendors Open source projects may get their own series LLC instance 15 https://dirkriehle.com …
16. More Examples of User-Led Projects and Consortia 16 https://dirkriehle.com
17. Who Can Both Lead and Collaborate? Organizations who are not competing with each other • Businesses from different domains • Legally / geographically disjunct businesses from same industry • Governmental organizations • Countries Competing organizations as long as • The software is not competitively differentiating 17 https://dirkriehle.com
18. Governance General governance • Tiered membership levels • Declared in bylaws Project communities • The project knows best • Defined in charter 18 https://dirkriehle.com
19. Cost vs. Flexibility 19 https://dirkriehle.com
20. Financing 20 https://dirkriehle.com General operations • Through (tiered) membership fees Development • Co-development and/or sponsorship • On a project base or in general
21. Two-Tiered Ecosystem 21 https://dirkriehle.com
22. How to Make Money with Open Source? 22 https://dirkriehle.com Open Source Complement Hardware Google Tensorflow Google’s Tensor Processing Units Software Apache Lucene Elastic’s Enterprise Search Operations PostgreSQL Credativ PostgreSQL operations Consulting Wordpress Web Design Berlin Support gcc Clever Solutions
23. Open Source and Lock-in 23 https://dirkriehle.com Complement Lock-in Lock-in Base Hardware High (Exclusively owned) intellectual property Software High (Exclusively owned) intellectual property Operations Medium Mixed (IP, Capital, Position) Consulting Low Knowledge Support Low Knowledge
24. Combatting Vendor Lock-in (All Over Again) Avoiding lock-in through intellectual property • Use of copyleft license ◦ Prevents use of exclusion right • Downside of using copyleft licenses ◦ Keeps potentially relevant vendors away Avoiding lock-in through knowledge • Spread out use of services ◦ Avoid accumulation of knowledge with one provider • Have plan for migration and act on it ◦ Requires discipline 24 https://dirkriehle.com
25. What’s Needed? Where to Invest? An example of a long way to sustainability Long-term support for relevant but neglected projects Or identify relevant domains and start your own 25 https://dirkriehle.com …
26. Thank You! Any Questions? Prof. Dr. Dirk Riehle, M.B.A. dirk.riehle@fau.de, https://oss.cs.fau.de dirk.riehle@bayave.com, https://bayave.com dirk@riehle.org, https://dirkriehle.com Twitter: @dirkriehle 26 https://dirkriehle.com
27. Legal Notices 27 https://dirkriehle.com License • Licensed under the CC BY 4.0 International license Copyright • © Copyright 2022 Dirk Riehle, some rights reserved