Open Source in the DoD; Build It

Don’t Just Use It Build It! Building Open Source Software in the DoD Or A rapid dose of wishful thinking

DoD is coming to grips with Open Source Software. Today...

It’s like COTS, It Even Comes in a Box

Photo creative commons licensed from http://www.ﬂickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=432710571&size=l Yawn

But, imagine this...

Welcome to www.SOSCOE.org Project Documentation SOSCOE is the glue that holds FCS together... Source Wiki Distributed Peer to Peer Get Started! Open Get SOSCOE Join Buy a Tee shirt! ... and is an open source project funded by the U.S. Army to develop a next generation real time distributed platform. You are free to use, modify, and distribute SOSCOE. Don’t worry, we aren’t sharing the super secret squirrel stuff.

Or... www.open-cjmtk.org www.falconview.org www.webcop.org www.open-disa.org/necc

You mean “corporate source” right? Right??

Q: Assuming a Normal distribution, how many developers must have the opportunity to self select for your project in order to have a 90% conﬁdence that at least 1% of the actual participants will be 5 σ above the mean? You know, the crazy smart ones. The ones you want

A: More open is better

Community Process: Gate the commit not the source Linus “the dictator” http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/dunechaser/134671996/

So, you mean something like “SHARE” right?

A Brief Aside: Three ways (that I can think of) to make source funded by government “open”* in the DoD * No attempt here to conform to OSF deﬁnition

• Government asserts rights (unlimited, or gov purpose) and shares the code • Government Owned (they wrote it) and released via PAO • Contractor copyright released to open source community

“SHARE” is this one • Government asserts rights (unlimited, or gov purpose) and shares the code • Government Owned (they wrote it) and released via PAO • Contractor copyright released to open source community

But, if you’re a contractor you don’t have to wait for your customer to make you SHARE.

You’re customer is sick of the Proprietary Lock In Model (and doesn’t it make you feel kind of crappy too?). Maybe there is a Tipping Point?

If you are Proprietary standing Lock In here... ... go ahead and push!

• Government asserts rights (unlimited, or gov purpose) and shares the code • Government Owned (they wrote it) and released via PAO • Contractor copyright released to open source community So, do this one

Huh, Why?

Delight your customer

To do more with less!

Hire, retain, and excite great developers.

Obtain Great Karma Get free beer http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/pete4ducks/1364334188/

We decided to try it

What we got: • A seat at the standards table • Energized developers who are contributing and are known • A broad community to critique and help ﬁx our stuff • Sun testing and marketing our stuff • Visibility for our brand • An intentionally commoditized, easy to adopt stack

rVooz.org

A few quick questions:

Q: Do you think the “open source community” owes you process compliance (and ear tags)?

Q: Have you ever attended an OSCON? BarCamp? Heck, even a Gartner open source conference?

Q: Do you think there is a moral / ethical dimension to the adoption of OSS in government? Are you prepared to work with people who do?

Q: Now that Gen Justice got you ﬁred up about the value of community, where the heck are the communities?

Q: Are you prepared for the moment when open software, developed under government contract, is forked by the Chinese for their use?

Thanks! Jim Stogdill jstogdill@gestalt-llc.com www.limnthis.com

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Open Source in the DoD; Build It

by jstogdill on Dec 12, 2007

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Open Source in the DoD; Build It — Presentation Transcript