This document discusses how open source software (FLOSS) can help address challenges faced by Redu, a Brazilian startup. It identifies three main problems: lack of skilled professionals fluent in their technologies, lack of synergy between local startups using similar technologies, and boosting their educational applications platform. The document proposes that FLOSS can help by training and connecting professionals through projects, increasing collaboration between startups by having them maintain FLOSS projects, and enabling third-party developers to build on their platform through FLOSS technologies.

1. FLOSS and Startups
Guilherme Cavalcanti
Technical leader, application platform team @ Redu

2. Apresentações
• Guilherme Cavalcanti
• Brazilian web developer since
2007
• CIn-UFPE
• Co-founder at Redu
• Technical leader of platform team
• Twitter/Delicious/Github:
• /guiocavalcanti

3. Road map
2009 @ CIn
• E-learning platform built
on top of a social 2010 @ Porto Digital
environment

4. Team
Hiring!
jobs@redu.com.br
• 15 friends at work
• Designers
• Developers
• Researchers
• Business people

5. Redu-labs
• CCTE
• 11 associated
researchers

6. Engenharia de
Software Educativo
(IF800)
contato: asg@cin.ufpe.br
Horário
Quartas e Sextas (60h)
das 8h às 10h das 10h às 12h
Público-alvo
Ciência da Computação
Educação
Design no limite da capacidade da sala)
(aceitamos ouvintes
Ementa
Introdução a aplicações educativas;
Software social;
Game Design;
API do Redu;
Guidelines do Redu;
Prototipagem de jogos;
Métodos e técnicas de avaliação de aplicações sociais;
Fenômenos de colaboração, coordenação e percepção social.
Facilitadores
educational
technologies

7. Key features

8. Key features

9. Key features

10. There is more
• Mobile learning
• Semantic visualizations
• Many-to-many content authoring
• Applications platform

11. Background

12. The Emerging Economic
Paradigm of Open Source
• Strongly based on Bruce Perens essay
• Economical point of view over The
cathedral and the bazaar
• Enabling and differentiating software
• FLOSS as a mean and not as the end

13. The Emerging Economic
Paradigm of Open Source
Stallman is a programmer, and chose a philosophical
presentation that appealed to programmers.
In contrast, business people are pragmatists and are
more impressed by economic benefit. Because
Stallman's presentation limited his audience, his
campaign had not been able to achieve the economic
serendipity that is visible today
Bruce Perens,
The Emerging Economic Paradigm of Open Source

14. The Emerging Economic
Paradigm of Open Source
In Raymond's model, work is rewarded with an
intangible return rather than a monetary one.
Fortunately, it's easy to establish today that there is a
strong monetary return for many Open Source
developers.
Bruce Perens,
The Emerging Economic Paradigm of Open Source

15. Context and
key-questions

16. Context and
key-questions
• Three problems we encountered
1. Lack of skilled people with fluence on our
technologies
2. Lack of sinergy between the local startups
that user the same techonology
3. Application platform boostering

17. Lack of
professionals

18. Problem 1:
Lack of professionals
• It’s hard to found skilled people at
Recife
• + 150 curriculums
• + 25 job interviews
• 5 hires

19. Problem 1:
Lack of professionals
• Not mainstream technologies
• Weak user groups
• PUG-PE (python user group)
• Frevo on Rails (ruby/rails user group)
• Full-stack programmers

20. Frevo on Rails
• We started to foment/
promote the user group
• Regular meetps
• Focused on Porto Digital
(local IT cluster)

21. Frevo on Rails
• Joint venture

22. Frevo on Rails
• Good growth
• Attracted big
companies
• A lot of job demand

23. Problem 1:
Lack of professionals
• It’s hard to glue people together
• The programming language isn’t an union
point
• Low returning rate
• A lot of new people
• That never return

24. FLOSS as a gravitational center to
the user group
• Traning
• Connecting people through FLOSS
projects
• Few using the language at work
• What projects? How are going to
maintain at first?

25. Lack of synergy betweed
startups

26. Problem 2:
Lack of synergy between
startups
• Few companies uses non-mainstream
technologies
• Similar business
• Small IT companies
• Some share the same need
• Low cost SMS backend
• REST APIs
• Big Data

27. FLOSS as a way to increase the
synergy between startups
• Startups are going to boost and
maintain FLOSS projects at first
• Supports problem 1
• FLOSS + funders + people

28. Application platform
boostering

29. WTH is that?
• Educational market issue
• Lots of segments
• Transform the product into a
programable platform
• Amazon vs. Google +

30. Educational market
• Teacher issues
• Educational objects
• Marketplace

31. Problems
• How to integrate that many languages/
platforms?
• SDKs/Wrappers

32. FLOSS as way to boost the app
platform
• There are corporate needs/interests
• There are common needs betweeb 3rd
party developers
• Bruce Perens essay apply
• Enabling technologies
• Differentiating technologies

33. To sum it up

34. Problemas
Lack of work Lack of
force synergy
FLOSS
Apps
platform

35. How Redu is benefited?
• Best engineers
• Better product
• Empowering people through education
• Capacity building on our local IT cluster
• Application platofrm
• Through education.

36. Thanks :)
PS: (we are really hiring – jobs@redu.com.br)