I’m not sure that it’s a change in strategy per se. But I would say that we are trying to make MySQL more open to contributions than we have before, and we’re getting the help and headcount from Sun to do this.

–Zack

[...] Commercial open source community strategies in 2009 and beyond The open source vendors that are successful in 2009 and beyond will be those that find a balance between the two positions. Nothing new there, but I suspect that this year we will see significant discussion on how to achieve and maintain that balance. [...]

Hi Matt, nice post.

Yes, community, as you broadly define in the image, is important. But it’ll always be a balancing act between the community that loves the product and the vendor’s own revenue goals. It’s not going to be impossible to balance the two, but all it takes is a vocal few to cause complications

[...] Commercial open source community strategies in 2009 and beyond Via The 451 Group “I am also inclined to agree with The Silent Penguin’s prediction that ‘companies offering open source products will realize that without a community - that actually loves and is enthusiastic about the software - they are nothing.’” [...]

Another good post Matt. I think a major consideration for a healthy open source project in 2009 that will make it at the enterprise level is just how well the core developers of any given open source initiative embrace the entrance of well-organized professional service (PS) companies to deploy said solutions. There’s a bit of a love-hate thing going on there, since the founders and their core devotees of any initiative have poured a great deal of sweat into the solution they’ve reared, and they deserve to reap the benefits of their work. The PS companies are normally not constructed to give back to the initiatives in as robust a manner as the project originators, which adds to the tension.

As long as the PS companies bear this in mind when entering the game, they can contribute back with funding, sales and marketing support, and development contributions wherever possible. The added benefit all around is increasing the legitimacy of the open source project, since with any successful software application community there are professional services firms built specifically to implement these kinds of solutions at the enterprise level.

Hi all,

Fascinating article, Matt. I just wanted to inform you of something you may be interested in.

I am the Ubuntu Community Manager and I work to inspire, enthuse and enable the worldwide Ubuntu community. Today I announced a new book called the Art Of Community which will discuss the science of community management. The book will map out the road for a strong community and illustrate the concepts with stories, experiences and anecdotes.

It will be published by O’Reilly in summer and also available under a free Creative Commons license. You can see the announcement at http://www.jonobacon.org/2009/01/14/the-art-of-community/ - this is an excellent opportunity for a definitive work on the subject that is available in printed and online form.

I have also set up a community website around the book at artofcommunityonline.com - the site will have updates on the writing, and I will also be using the site to gather stories and experiences to merge into the book.

Thanks!

Jono

[...] Commercial open source community strategies in 2009 and beyond Via The 451 Group “I am also inclined to agree with The Silent Penguin’s prediction that ‘companies offering open source products will realize that without a community - that actually loves and is enthusiastic about the software - they are nothing.’” [...]

[...] open source community engagement 101 Matthew Aslett, January 16, 2009 @ 10:00 am ET Following my post about the importance of community management in 2009 here’s couple of interesting blog posts [...]

[...] management I predicted that community strategies will be a hot topic this year, and we continue to see some good articles [...]

[...] last point takes us back to an old topic but one that I think will become integral this year and move beyond terminology to identifying how and why these [...]

[...] come back after following this link to a great post by Matt Aslett of the 451 [...]