The document discusses the evolving meaning of the term "open" in technology. It traces the term from its origins in "free software" to the introduction of "open source" in 1998. Today, open has taken on many related meanings around concepts like open source software, open standards, open APIs, and open communities. However, the document notes there remains confusion around what open means due to its varied usages. It questions whether providing greater clarity around what open means could help with positioning, measuring openness, and incentivizing more open practices.
1 of 7
More Related Content
Ostt eu-what about open-v2.5
1. ¡°°¿±è±ð²Ô¡±?
Dave McAllister
Director, Open Source and Accessibility
Adobe Systems, Incorporated
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.
Marketing Insights and Operations
2. In the beginning there was Free Software
and the statement was
Free as in speech, not free as in beer
And all was well
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 2
Marketing Insights and Operations
3. In 1998, the term ¡°Open Source¡± was born and promptly begat
? Free Open Source Software
? Commercial Open Source Software
And the confusion began
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 3
Marketing Insights and Operations
4. So, what is ¡°Open¡± today?
? Open Source (COSS / FOSS) ? Free/Libre Open Source Software
? Open Standards ? Open Data
? Open Specifications ? Open Code
? Open Ecosystem ? Open Development
? Open API ? Open Communities
? Open Governance ? Open Surface
? Open Roadmap ? Open Bugbases
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 4
Marketing Insights and Operations
5. Vectors of Open
Developer Community
Competition Technology
Market Message Reputation
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 5
Marketing Insights and Operations
6. Open source
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 6
Marketing Insights and Operations
7. ? Is a clear meaning for Open (in this context)?
? Does the myriad meanings of open help or hurt our positioning?
? What impact has the fuzziness had (either good or bad)?
? Could providing a relatively clear and distinctive meaning provide a way
of measuring the openness of companies and communities?
? What metrics would be best for measuring?
? Could having a clear definition help leverage more openness at
companies by providing a clear ranking/status?
? 2010 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 7
Marketing Insights and Operations
Editor's Notes
Maybe a bit murky. Sometimes confusing with the freeware/shareware concepts of the time. And we¡¯d all prefer free beer¡
Has Open become so diluted that it has no real, dependable meaning? At the current rate, any company, community can claim to be open by simply using it as an adjective. And I¡¯m sure you can add your own examples.
Sitting in keynotes at this years OSCON, I came to the conclusion that the term Open is meaningless. I also at that moment decided it didn¡¯t matter.