Krishnan Subramanian's List: Open Source Topics

• For the Apache Software Foundation, open source is more about an open development methodology (ODM). This is characterized by six main traits and, regardless of the strength of the technology and vision, all Apache TLPs have to prove themselves in these key areas:   
  
  •    a deep level of user engagement: if you don't have users then there is no point having a project.
  •    transparency: being open about what the community is undertaking and the way decisions are made.
  •    collaboration: the ability of working within a diverse group of people, something that the Internet has obviously made easier.
  •    agility: once work begins and there is a serious engagement with users, ideas and plans may need to change.
  •    sustainability: having the capacity to keep developing an application solution over the necessary period of time.
  •    tools: wikis, bug- and version-trackers and email lists to support the development of the community and keep track of intellectual property rights

• the end goal is improving your company’s IT systems--not just bringing in more Linux and open source for the fun of it. That’s the message you can use to gain the interest of your IT executives.

• Another key point to make is that large enterprises that use open source software can leverage a lot of influence in an open source project by including IT employees in the development communities and leading features and development where they want them to go
• Linux and open source software today are not solely community supported, but are also commercially supported by real companies that provide deep technical support.
• key reminder to give to some still-worried CIOs and CTOs is that expanding the use of Linux and open source doesn’t automatically mean abandoning the familiarity of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system and applications for all users.
• “The two environments can be managed together in ways that couldn’t be imagined only a few years ago,” King said. “What Linux is now that it wasn’t just a decade ago is a field tested, proven platform for performing even the most critical of business processes. We have reached the point where pigs have sprouted wings and begun to fly when it comes to Linux.”
• And to make those still-leery IT executives a bit more comfortable, you can point out that even Microsoft has been doing real work for managing Windows and Linux applications together using a new Windows management console that presently supports SUSE Linux
• Linux is at the cutting edge in uses such as high performance computing, grid computing and clustered systems.
• And because the selection of available open source tools and resources are so vast, companies can find that using Linux and open source saves money while also providing their IT staffs with the tools they need to perform their work more seamlessly,
• his suggestion for potentially new Linux business migrations is to start slowly to allow IT executives to feel comfortable with the process and initial results.

  • Well, the same strategy applies while moving client to Clouds too.
• For years, one corporate argument against open source has been about the uncertainty of support. But today, as even proprietary vendors are being pressured, there are no longer built-in guarantees of long-term support for the applications and hardware you are using today

8 more annotations...