[DC LoCo] Promote Open Source or protest the government?

Kevin Cole kjcole at ubuntu.com
Wed Feb 6 20:12:23 GMT 2008


Or ignore the following message completely?  I leave it to each of you
to decide... ;-)  But I draw the line at "incentivize"!  Gawd, the jargon
just makes me want to scream!

-------- Original Message --------
Subj: Linux Case Study
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:42:48 -0500
From: Kenneth Graham <Grahamk at cna.org>
To:   <jeff at elkner.net>, <kjcole at ubuntu.com>

Hi,

I would like to introduce myself and ask for your help in under-
standing Linux’ place in the open source software development
and distribution business model.

I work for the Center for Naval Analyses, a federally-funded research
and development center that works with the Navy, Marine Corps, and
Department of Defense (DoD).  We have been tasked to develop a
business model to  the appropriate reuse of modeling and
simulation (M&S) resources within the DoD.  The incentives would
motivate DoD program managers to consider existing M&S resources
before developing anew and also motivate M&S developers to make their
resources available to others, in a readily reusable form.  Currently
we are completing a case study of business models behind successful
software reuse.

We are including Linux in our case study because it's a prominent
example of open source development and distribution that has
experienced commercial success.  While we understand the role of the
Linux distributor and developer in the business model, we would like
to learn more about the Linux user’s role and degree of satisfaction.
Based on your experience as a Linux user, I would appreciate your (and
the user group’s) insights on a handful of issues.

1. As a Linux user, what specific benefits do you derive from Linux'
    open source character?  These should be benefits unique to open
    source software and which do not accompany proprietary software.

2. If a proprietary alternative to Linux was available, which was
    effectively Linux plus desired features that Linux lacks, would you
    be willing to buy a user license?  You could still run the same
    open source software that you do now.  If you would not buy this
    product, why not?

3. Have you been involved with open source software development?  If
    so, what specific benefits did you realize from the development
    process, compared to non-open source, and what evidence would you
    cite to convince skeptics of these benefits?

4. If the development projects involved multiple people or organizations,
    how were compensation and development contributions allotted?

5. Do you have experience combining proprietary source code and open
    source?  If so, how did you address the underlying intellectual
    property issue associated with this combination?

6. What type of licenses were involved and how did they affect your
    software modification and redistribution efforts?  Please compare
    you experiences with various open source licenses (GPL, BSD,
    Mozilla, etc.).

7. What downsides have you experienced with Linux usage or other open
    source software usage?

Also, I will attend the February meeting of the user group, in hopes
of understanding as many of the above issues as quickly as possible.

Regards,

-Kenneth Graham

-- 
________________________

Kenneth L. Graham, Ph.D
Center for Naval Analyses
4825 Mark Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22311-1850

(703) 824-2733
grahamk at cna.org
  ( mailto:grahamk-contractor-ffrdc at cna.navy.smil.mil )

-- 
  Kevin Cole                    |  Key ID: 0xE6F332C7   (GPG/PGP)
  Ubuntu Linux DC LoCo Team     |     WWW: http://dc.ubuntu-us.org/
  Washington, D.C.  (USA)       |   Phone: +1.202.234.0213

            ". ! 1 |" -- Rene Magritte's computer




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