Open source and the times of crisis

As we all know by now, we're living in times of crisis. A recession is hitting us, and it's hitting us hard. Even here in The Netherlands, where at first it seemed we'd be avoiding the biggest hit, we're now getting reports that the recession is the biggest since WWII. The crisis seems to be hitting bigtime in many places. So how does it affect open source and PHP?

I want to make one thing clear: I am far from an economist. I will be mostly speculating, giving my opinion which is based mainly on assumptions and observations. Having said that, I'm writing this to the best of my knowledge and with a clear conscience.

Recession, credit crunch, crisis. It doesn't really matter what term you use, it seems that the news is dominated by this. And indeed, these are trying times. A lot of people are losing their jobs, lots of companies stopping investment in anything but bare necessities. And even though the IT and software world seem to not be a directly affected part (the crisis seems to hit banking and real estate mostly), we see the indirect results. I'm reading a lot about projects being cancelled or cut short. And I can understand these decisions. However, I also see opportunities in this crisis.

PHP and Open Source in general have a huge opportunity here. Out in the open source world, there is much software that has proven itself stable and enterprise-ready. There are many companies out there that are able to supply this software and support it to the enterprise world. And though the enterprise may be cancelling out "vanity" projects, they still need to innovate, they still need to show off, to convince (potential) customers that they are the best choice, that they are ahead of the rest. To survive, they need the customer now more than ever.

A big part of the Enterprise world is used to implementing big, corporate software systems based on closed technologies. This software costs a huge sum of money to be implemented, and then lots of money for licenses. Aside from the licenses, even more money needs to be spent on maintenance contracts and support. Looking at open source, the initial investment may be just as big (or perhaps slightly lower). The support contract will still cost money (though again, perhaps slightly less) because that is work that still needs to be done. However, there are two big advantages when working with open source software:

  • You save a lot of money on licenses
    Since most open source licenses don't cost you a thing but are only there to protect the rights on the code and the author, companies can save lots of money on license costs.
  • You prevent vendor lockdown
    There is no need to stick with the original developer of the application when you're not satisfied with the work. You can more easily take your business elsewhere if either the price or the quality isn't good enough. Sure, the money needs to to be spent on maintenance and support, but at least it is possible to pick the highest quality available.

These two advantages are not new. They're been around for as long as open source has been around. But in these times of crisis, they may become the deciding factor for companies when they need to choose between investing in open source software, investing in closed source software, or not investing at all.

The only possible problem is that big companies may not realize that open source can be enterprise-ready. And this is where the service companies come in. I think that companies such as ibuildings, Sensio, OmniTI and Zend are able to get to the enterprises and convince them to choose open source. I know they've been at that for quite some time, but especially in these times there are opportunities for them and many other open source-based companies to step in and contribute to solving the crisis in their own way :)


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gravatar laci: I agree. For us open source enthusiasts the crisis is a big oportunity. More and more companies will realize that there are open source applications that are enterprise ready and these costs much less then closed source software. So we just need to help them to find good alternatives to the applications they are using.
March 17, 2009
gravatar Bob: While I obviously agree with you that OS is a Good Thing, I do think you're oversimplifying the vendor lockdown issues. If you have to part ways with one developer, because the quality of their work is lacking, your new developer will have a really hard time maintaining the crap that they have to work with. (And yes: It *is* crap, because that's the reason you left the other developer)

Most likely the new developer would suggest a rewrite in such cases, making the 'vendor lock in' point irrelevant. :-)
March 18, 2009
gravatar Cormac: I agree with Bob - dealing with a poor developer's output is difficult even _within_ a company, never mind taking on a whole live project written by someone else
March 18, 2009
gravatar pic.micro23: I would hope the use of OSS increases. Here is my logic: The important thing from a company perspective is that a product brings valuable to them to they can increase their profit. So good OOS are those which work and solve a problem for a company that's what a company perspective, they don't care if it's done in C# or who works to make things happen in a OSS project.

But an OSS project depends on right people in the right pleace.

So what would a hungry developer do (WWHDD)?

Give their time to an uncertain future on a OSS project?
or
Give their time/soul to a proprietary solution that a company finds value so he/she can pay the bills?

I think in hard times people start only thinking in themselves and their preservation. So sharing is one of the last things done. In good times, everybody shares.





March 18, 2009
gravatar left: Bob: There are many reasons why you might want to part ways with a developer. Crap product is only one. High pricing, not reaching deadlines (even though work is good), or other arguments about the project. I agree with you that when the resulting product is crap, then the vendor lockdown issue is not applicable, but crap results is not the only reason.

pic.micro23: I think many OSS developers out there have a heart for their project and won't abandon it just like that. Many OSS projects are developed in their spare time anyway. Besides, I didn't mention Ibuildings, Sensio and Zend for nothing. They all have a huge investment in their own open source projects (ATK, symfony and Zend Framework). All have a good reason to keep supporting their products (they all use it themselves, and it's good marketing). So while perhaps some developers may abandon their open source projects to work on closed projects, I think many won't.
March 19, 2009

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