User:AaronMT/FSOSS 08

FSOSS 2008 Report (DPS909)

Free Software and Open Source Symposium

Introduction

Upon observing, analyzing and assessing the presentations to which I appreciatively attended at the Free Software and Open Source Symposium, I will focus, illustrate, and describe my findings on two speakers and their associated presentations. Seneca College's 7th annual Free Software and Open Source Symposium, captured the essence of the open source spirit by bringing in a vast assortment of speakers, long and diverse; representing the best of the web, the open source desktop, open source business/law, and the quintessential open source spirit. Professors, students, employees, administrations, and community leaders all brought together to discuss the essence of the open source world.

Komodo: Making Proprietary Products Open Source

Shane Caraveo, a senior developer at ActiveState and technical lead for the Komodo IDE, spoke about ActiveState Komodo, the name given to a family of integrated development environment (IDE) applications produced by the software firm, but specifically spoke about Komodo Edit known by its open source project name, Open Komodo.

In late 2007, ActiveState announced that Komodo Edit would be developed as a free software project. The new project is known as Open Komodo. In March 2008, ActiveState released the first version of Komodo Edit (4.3) built on top of the open source project.

A year past the initial release of Komodo Edit, Shane shared thoughtful insight and knowledge on the topic of making proprietary products open source; focusing on the struggles, roadblocks and great successes of ActiveState.

In essence, when Shane and other lead developers raised the idea to tinker with manifesting an open source product based upon a proprietary product, a set of guidelines were established, that fundamentally detail the purest sense of the open source idea.

They are as follows:

• Gain contribution
• Explore new business models
• Increase user base
• Reposition product
• Exposure to new markets
• Increase commercial sales