Hip not Hype

Trail-blazing open source projects filled with creativity are being passed off as just a fad. But to both big business and the common consumer, open source offers exciting solutions for just about every computing platform. Open source is here to stay — its hip not hype.

Nowadays some are claiming that OSS is hype, a passing fad, since it produces nothing innovative beyond what the proprietary software industry produces already. The same people also claim that we should get excited about the solutions not the methods. So we are being advised to choose the best product, whether it is OpenOffice or MS Office, because it meets our specific needs and not because of the style in which the software is produced.

It is easy to see that the best open source solutions are hip not hype. To create the best product, open source and its methods do matter. Its methods of sharing and collaboration produce an abundance of innovation and really cool software.

Those who believe in open source call this reasoning just another line of FUD. If software were just a physical item like a chair or a car, then questions of “manufacturing style” (e.g., American assembly line, Japanese team work etc.) would not weigh too heavily on the consumer’s choice. But anyone who is responsible for computer systems automation knows well that software can range from being just one component to being an entire set of business processes. When software becomes a business process, issues that usually don’t affect ordinary users kick in, such as management, lock-in, sustainability, self-sufficiency and escrow. In this case, the side effects of “manufacturing style” — open source or proprietary — can have long-term impact on ROI or a competitive supply chain.

But recently, even for the consumer, the openness with which the software is built and distributed, its flexibility and access, are beginning to have an impact on the delivery platform — whether it is a PC or a mobile phone. As seen in TiVo, delivery platforms are starting to require proprietary software and permit less fair use, reuse and remix, even for personal, non-commercial use. The intentional removal of control from the consumer is being used to prop up the commercial interests of the entertainment companies. This is the DRM story. Scary. When the alternative is so frightening, can OSS be considered hype?

It is easy to see that the best open source solutions are hip not hype. To create the best product, open source and its methods do matter. Its methods of sharing and collaboration produce an abundance of innovation and really cool software. Here are some of the current favorites on my hip list:

• Wikipedia
• Asterisk VoIP PBX
• Ruby on Rails (RoR) web application framework
• One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)
• Virtualization in the Linux kernel (KVM)
• Beryl 3D desktop window manager
• SugarCRM customer relationship manager
• Firefox web browser
• Edubuntu
• Google Web Toolkit (GWT)

So what’s common about all these projects? Every one of them has “bling” and innovation. And every one of them is open source with big customers and cool contributors. That’s hip not hype.