What's an FSOSS?
This was my first year attending the Free Software & Open Source Symposium / Linux Fest (FSOSS). Of course being a Senecan for over 4 years I had heard of FSOSS and knew it was something for open source enthusiasts but never had I participated nor really thought about what goes on there. With a bit of research I quickly learned that FSOSS is where new trends, new projects, and anything open source is discussed and demonstrated through a day of workshops and 2 days of presentations. This year I missed out on the workshops but attended a few presentations and have chosen to offer my analysis on two in particular that offer different perspectives on how open source has benefited them. The two presentations summarized and analyzed in this paper are How to Start an Internet Famous Business with Open Source Software and Take Control of your TV with XBMC.
The Talks
How to Start an Internet Famous Business with Open Source Software
The first talk I attended was presented by Mike Hoye and was titled How to Start an Internet Famous Business with Open Source Software. Hoye quit his 9-5 day job to pursue a business of his own. If you’re wondering what this business is, so am I. All I was able to pick up from his presentation about his start-up was that he developed 2, maybe 3, open source products with limited resources and did so with success. Hoye’s business was not the focus of his presentation and I think he spent a whole 20 seconds talking about it. The focus was on how open source software and the open source community gave Hoye the opportunity to ship a successful product with a modest amount of time and capital.
Hoye defined open source in three different ways:
1. Open source as an ASSET
2. Open source as a PROCESS
3. Open source as a CONTRACT
Starting off with open source as an asset, Hoye explained that “if you’re small and nimble you can still pick your battles that make your opponent’s assets irrelevant.” He expanded this idea with an example of corporations vs. small organizations; A corporation may have more man power and money but realize that they probably will never be able to get a better product faster to market than a small organization would. The idea here is to not fear something that is bigger than you or driven by lots of resources but to see your open source software as something good and something that solves a problem.
Hoye’s second idea of open source as a process teaches us that we don’t necessarily need to start writing code. In fact he told us that writing code should be our last resort. We should start by researching and ask ourselves if we need to solve this problem or has somebody already done it for us. Hoye also explains that it is important to keep your scope as small as possible. Hoye’s definition of open source as a process is probably the most important to note if you want to get your product to market fast. Say ‘No’ to new features because they take too long. Start with something small and make it awesome. Once you do that you will be able to build something else awesome on top of it.
Lastly, Hoye defines open source as a contract. He says open source is a social contract which is more important than any license. He says we need to give back and pay off our technical debt. If you’re good at something do it for free and find value in what you do not how much you get back for it.
What we can take away from Hoye’s presentation is that open source is here to help and can be the difference between your business’ success or failure. Hoye knew he had limited resources when he decided to pursue his own start-up. He also knew that despite these limited resources he would still be able to meet his goals. This was done through the use of open source software and contributions from the open source community.