A speech delivered to the audience of the BlackDuck Software Open Seminar on the 16th of May 2012.

1. From Here To There:
How FOSS has changed in the last five
years, and where it is going next
Shane Martin Coughlan

2. Five Years Ago...
FOSS was new and exciting
It was driving emerging companies like Google
It was transforming server and embedded markets

3. Today...
FOSS drives an economy worth 50 billion dollars
FOSS is present in every sector
FOSS is mainstream, trusted, required

4. An Evolutionary Process
We got from A to B through learning
FOSS development adapted
FOSS approaches evolved

5. Ups And Downs
There were challenges along the way
Some about community management
Some about legal boundaries

6. From Hacker To Contributor
FOSS used to be developed for fun
That is still true for some
But today the majority of code is corporate funded

7. From Guidelines To Rules
FOSS licenses were more of a manifesto
Licenses were rules of last resort for hacking
Now they manage fairness in a 50 billion economy

8. Different Times, Different Worries
We used to worry about copyright
Now we worry more about patents, broader IPR
We fret about the supply chain too

9. Early Governance
It was all about the licenses
There was a narrow focus on compliance

10. Some Early Cases
GPL-violations.org vs Sitecom
GPL-violations.org vs D-Link
SFLC vs 14 companies

11. Modern Governance
Honor obligations in procurement and deployment
Maximize value throughout the product life-cycle

12. The Core Remains The Same
Changes have been about how to do FOSS
Not about what FOSS is
We still use, study, share and improve code

13. Expectations Are A Constant
Stakeholders are expected to contribute
Stakeholders are expected to follow the rules
Stakeholders are expected to play nice

14. The More Things Change…
Big picture, we are growing up
We used to deal with individual challenges
Now we address many interconnected challenges

15. Dealing With Variables
In development: investment, returns, lead time
In legal issues: IPR, risk, exposure
In business: putting it all together

16. Pulling Back
FOSS is not about code
FOSS is not about licenses

17. The Big Picture
Software is a knowledge product
FOSS is a management approach for this product

18. 25 Years To See The Obvious
It took a while to work that out
FOSS is not people, code or apps
It is a method for collaborative creativity

19. The Nutshell
FOSS leverages software further than other
approaches
Remember: use, study, share and improve
Other approaches maybe give you 25% to 50%

20. The Strategy Objective
Use FOSS flexibility to get a sustained advantage

21. Natural Progression
Collaboration is key
We need to collaborate effectively

22. Looping Around
We are back to platforms
FOSS as an approach is great at platforms
It saves money, increases innovation, provides
adaptability

23. Platform Management
Managers, programmers and legal experts need
to collaborate across organizations and borders

24. Crowd-Sourcing
In essence, FOSS allows third parties to work
together
These combined minds are better are refining
creations
And that leads to better solutions

25. Challenges Ahead
The benefits of FOSS are also a weakness
Breakdowns in collaboration reduce the potential
This is the biggest challenge moving forward

26. Details Concealing A Big Problem
FOSS is still pretty vulnerable to inter-party
conflict
This could be between FOSS stakeholders or
third parties
It could be using copyright, patents or other
measures

27. Improving Governance, Reducing
Risk
Governance is more than about licenses or law
It is about the end-to-end process of dealing with
code
The better the governance, the less the risk

28. The Correct Path
FOSS Governance is already pretty good
FOSS life-cycle management is maturing
Methods of dealing with the supply chain are
appearing

29. A Future Of Refinement
The next five years will see a refinement of
governance
More information will be standardized
The baseline of quality will improve

30. Do Not Get Carried Away
We are not there yet
There is tremendous advantage in FOSS
But there is still a systemic challenge to overcome

31. Next Steps
Standards
Shared knowledge
Common practices

32. And Then...
We get this right, we get more value
Simple, really

33. Contact details
shane@opendawn.com
www.opendawn.com

34. Licensing
These slides are copyright © Shane Coughlan 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
They are licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License