At LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco, it occurred to me that I had overlooked
a very important Open Source business model, the Membership Model. Confronted
by a keynote speech by Stuart Cohen, the leader of the Open Source
Development Lab (OSDL) (www.osdl.org), it became clear that I had jumped into
the Advertising and Conversion Models too quickly and had to back up and deal
with the membership phenomenon.
As a businessman, the Advertising and Conversion Models are more interesting,
but from a raw power standpoint the Membership Model may be more important.
So in the spirit of journalistic integrity, I have adjusted the Open Source
Business Models graphic to correct this erratum.
Open Source Business Models
Donation Membership Advertising Conversion
- Brand Ownership
- M... (more)
I've always wondered where the word "oxymoron" came from. What does "oxy"
have to do with "moron"? What about the words "commercial" and "open source";
do these words form an oxymoron when combined in one phrase?
The open source-based CRM software maker, SugarCRM, has successfully combined
these polar opposites and implemented such a "commercial open source"
business model. SugarCRM has t... (more)
A rollercoaster - as trite as that image may be - is the right analogy for
venture capital investing in open source companies. And what a long, strange
trip it's been.
Starting in the mid '90s, a few brave pioneers like Benchmark invested in an
open alternative to proprietary software and made a fortune. By the end of
the decade, everyone wanted a piece of the action. A second wave of VCs... (more)
Looking at the open source software industry from the outside, it's often
difficult to tell what is really going on. To use a string of clichés, it is
hard to peel back the onion, to look behind the curtain, to perceive "Das
Ding an sich" (German for the "thing-in-itself"; an idea made famous by the
last Enlightenment philosopher, Immanuel Kant.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kant... (more)
The other day my 16-year-old daughter came down the stairs in tears. She was
holding the new version of the Scholastic Attitude Test and complaining that
it was unfair.
Look at this question, Dad. Who could answer a question like this?"
I looked at the question and had to agree that it was a tough one:
27. Lamb: wolf;
Open Source Project: ________________?
a. Microsoft
b. Enterprise so... (more)
Nicholas Herring is an associate, Sterne & Co. LLC, and a contributor to the openResource wiki. He has a Bachelors in Business Administration from The George Washington University.
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