Greg Says:

SAP is trying to build an open source community, the article reads.  Considering how many open source communities there are, and how much they propel software, infrastructure, OSs, and management tools, I can’t say that I am surprised that SAP is trying to build this community.  In fact, SAP previously open sourced its core database decades ago, and doesn’t have a bad record in fostering collaborative communities.

The story goes, however, that SAP is struggling to get interest—and I think that the basic problem that all Open Source communities face is the problem of balancing self-interest (“What’s in it for me?”) with free riders with varying degrees of ethical chutzpah.    These problems have been around since the beginning of the movement, and there isn’t an easy answer to fix it.

In short— everyone who productively contributes to an Open Source community feels a little taken advantage of, at least in the short run.

Bob Says:

I’m old enough to … well, to know better than to start my side of a dialog with “I’m old enough to … ” And yet, I am. Old enough, that is, to remember when the reaction to open source was somewhere on a continuum with “Being part of something important,” on one end and “a bunch of commies” on the other.

While the two sides were busy disparaging each other, those with a more business-like mentality figured out that Gillette had long ago paved the way to open source prosperity with its “give away the razor and sell the blades” business model.

But to have razors to give away, the world of IT needed communities to create them – communities large enough to be self-reinforcing, but not so large that incompetent developers could degrade the product.

Which gets me to a point about free riders: Look at them with glass-colored glasses and it’s hard to differentiate between a free rider and a customer.

One more point about communities: Sure, they’re a collection of roles people take on to build and enhance the product. But they also create a sense of belonging. They are, in a sense, a tribe.

Which gets me to a point: It’s unsurprising that SAP is finding it hard to charter yet another open source community. There are already so many in play that I’m guessing anyone wanting to sign up will have to bow out of a community they’re already part of.

Greg says:

I love your point about free riders actually being customers.  And this is where the Open Source world struggles—The price may or may not be Free, but the value is of some significance, or the solution wouldn’t exist.   “

What’s in it for me?” really should be thought of in the Open Source sense of “does the work that I do in this project offer me more value than if I didn’t participate?”  not “Are there others that will benefit,  based on my work?”

And for the average customer, who may just want to download a great extension that somebody else created, and gifted to the community, this is a pretty easy question.

Getting back to SAP (and any other software publisher that wishes to build an engaged, active community)—Their Marketing team has its work cut out for them to demonstrate friendship, gratitude, respect, however the community is constituted.