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Succeeding with Open Source
describes in detail how organizations can locate, assess,
and select those elements. When selecting a software
product, every pragmatic IT organization wants to know
how mature the product is – how ready is it for
the intended use? To help them answer that question
about open source products, Succeeding with Open Source
presents the Open Source Maturity Model (OSMM), a formal
methodology to determine the maturity level of any given
open source product. A sample OSMM assessment is included
with the book to help readers see how the process may
be easily applied and how it can help identify product
strengths and weaknesses.
The book is organized in two sections:
Section 1: Overview of Open Source – an introduction
for those unfamiliar with open source
Section 2: The Open Source Maturity Model – how
to select, assess, and implement open source software
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Table of Contents
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Chapter |
Title |
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Preface |
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Introduction |
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Section 1: Overview of Open Source |
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1 |
The Source of Open Source |
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2 |
Open Source Business Models |
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3 |
Open Source Risks |
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Section 2: Working with Open Source |
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4 |
The Open Source Maturity Model |
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5 |
The Open Source Product |
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6 |
Open Source Technical Support
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7 |
Open Source Training
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8 |
Open Source Documentation |
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9 |
Open Source Integration with Other Products |
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10 |
Additional Product Elements |
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11 |
JBoss Open Source Maturity Model Assessment |
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Conclusion |
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Chapter One: An Overview of
Open Source
"Every good newspaper story
starts with these critical questions: who, what,
when, where, why, and how. By answering these
questions right up front, the reporter enables
readers to comprehend the important facts and
implications of an issue quickly and incisively.
This chapter uses the practices of journalism
to provide a quick overview of open source software.
It addresses each of the questions and offers
a speedy introduction to what is perhaps the biggest
sea change in the software industry since its
beginnings more than 40 years ago.
Software has traditionally followed
a consistent business archetype. Since those beginnings,
nearly every software company in the world has
followed the same business archetype: closely
held intellectual property, developed by the company’s
own employees, delivered in binary format, licensed
to users to run on their own computers. This formula
has been responsible for the growth of today’s
commercial software industry: a $400-billion business
behemoth that the United States dominates, and
the products of which impact nearly every person
on earth."
>>Read
Chapter 1 in full
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About the Author
Bernard Golden is Chief Executive Officer of Navica,
a professional services firm specializing in open source
solutions. Navica offers open source strategy, implementation,
and training services.
Bernard is an accomplished high technology executive
whose experience in starting and building world-class
organizations spans nearly two decades. He has previously
served as a Venture Partner for an international venture
fund and has been Vice President and General Manager
in a number of private and public software companies,
including Informix, Uniplex Software, and Deploy Solutions.
He is a frequent speaker on Information Technology
topics and has been featured in industry publications
such as InfoWorld, eWeek, O’Reilly LAMP, and UnixWorld.
He has been a featured speaker at the Software Development
Forum’s Open Source Expo, the Open Source Business
Conference 2004, and has been a lecturer at the San
Francisco State University School of Business.
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Early Praise for Succeeding with Open Source
"This book contains some of the most valuable,
practical advice I have seen on how to transform
use of open source software from an accidental
process into a powerful strategy for gaining
an edge on the competition. By providing measurable
engineering and process criteria for selecting
open source products and processes, it brings
open source software and methods squarely within
the fold of traditional software engineering
and business practices. I believe this book
will be looked back on as an important transition
point for recognizing how open source software
can be used to promote business innovation and
control costs." -- Terry Bollinger,
IT Analyst, The MITRE Corporation
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"Open-source software is transforming
the way companies acquire and manage software
at every level, from operating systems to applications.
Today, IT managers who don't evaluate open-source
alternatives to proprietary software are doing
their companies a profound disservice. If you
are involved in any aspect of software acquisition
and you aren't intimately familiar with how open-source
systems are created, documented and supported,
you need this book. It provides you with a new
framework for assessing the maturity of open-source
solutions, walks you through every step of the
evaluation process, and provides vital insights
into the risks and benefits of making the open-source
decision." -- David A. Taylor, PhD,
Author of Object Technology: A Manager's Guide
and Supply Chains: A Manager's Guide |
This book describes a thorough and pragmatic
process to determine if/when an organization should
employ open source software in mission critical
systems. Golden's Open Source Maturity Model is
a vital tool for planning open source successes."
-- Craig Murphy, Chief Technology Officer,
Sabre Holdings |
"Novell, its customers, and partners have
been waiting for something like this: a quantitative
and qualitative way to assess the strength of
open source projects we hope to support or build
into our products. Golden provides a clear, concise
methodology for determining whether an open source
project is enterprise-ready, and what it would
take to make it so." -- Chris Stone,
Vice Chairman, Novell
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"An outstanding look at how Open Source
software can provide both a competitive edge
and significant cost savings for any company.
Required reading for any technical professional
or manager." -- Kevin Bedell, Editor
in Chief, LinuxWorld Magazine
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