3 ms·

Probably it is very hard to create a company around an open source project without disrupting part of the open source ecosystem around it... on the other hand i

by antirez 15y ago

Probably it is very hard to create a company around an open source project without disrupting part of the open source ecosystem around it... on the other hand it is important to create some kind of structure to pay the developers to continue working on the project. I'm not sure what I would do without VMware helping Redis... but I guess that some decent compromise should exist, like creating a support company for the software but leaving the project itself as an open source effort with it's own separated site, mailing list, and so forth. There is also an ethical problem IMHO. For instance is Redis mine? I guess it is not: VMware is funding the development so I can write code thanks to Vmware. Pieter is contributing a lot of code. The community is helping a lot the project: with talks spreading the word, helping on the mailing list, helping to fix bugs, and so forth. My guess is that the developers really conceptually "own" a very small piece of the pie, and when they create business around an open source software, they should take this in mind otherwise it is simple to involuntarily use work/efforts that other people did in the past and turn it into your business. It's not easy however... as: the end users should be happy and well served, and the software should not just be "open source" but an open process, with an open community, and so forth. At the same time the developers should pay their bills without issues and earn enough to avoid being tempted to joined company XYZ instead of working to their project. It's not trivial to have all this together I guess, and I feel very lucky that there is VMware making this simple for me, but not all the open source developers are equally fortunate so I guess it is crucial that the open source community keeps working on different ideas to find viable solutions.

catwell 15y ago
There are alternate models, eg. LuaJIT http://luajit.org/sponsors.html http://luajit.org/sponsors.html On a side note: who owns the Redis brand (and logo)?
- mikemike 15y ago
  [LuaJIT author here:] I'm not so sure the business model of LuaJIT can easily be applied to other open source projects. I mean, I've been running a business for more than 15 years. I basically downscaled consulting as I've acquired paid open source work. It pays less, but I'm happier now. I think you'd have a hard time doing this from zero, without some backup plan or enough funds of your own. Well, have a look at the price point of scripting languages, toolchains and such. Getting a vague business plan for an open source project in the toolchain/middleware business through a VC round? I don't think so. Business knowledge was essential, too. Negotiating open source sponsorship contracts with corporate lawyers for half a year is not that easy. Some companies were extremely easy to work with, but I guess sponsoring open source projects is simply not an established business procedure at most companies. I don't think you could possibly afford to hire an international IP lawyer to do this for you. Actually it was the economic downturn of 2008 which triggered all of this. The (rarely followed) advice is to invest in a downturn, because you'll be the first one to come out ahead in the following upturn. Ok, so I invested my time and knowledge into a new project (#). It worked out for me, but in retrospect I realize it was a high risk investment. Final words: you think we're seeing some kind of downturn again? Carefully assess the risks and the potential for yourself. But don't be shy if you're onto something good. Innovate, don't replicate. (#) LuaJIT 2.x is a complete rewrite, using the experience gained working on LuaJIT 1.x, but very little of its code. It's been on my backburner since 2007 and the first public release of LuaJIT 2.0 was at the end of 2009. One might say it's about a two man-year investment before it started to pay back. Most of the time was spent on doing research and prototyping rather than writing code. I coded and then threw away almost three complete virtual machines in the process, because these approaches turned out to be dead ends. I bet you'd need a lot of courage to explain this to a VC. ;-)
mark_l_watson 15y ago
Salvatore, it is great that VMWare supports you and Redis: representative of the best open source model (open source developers paid to concentrate on writing code). Especially great for Redis users since the source code is still open source, can be read, modified, etc.

by antirez 15y ago

catwell 15y ago

There are alternate models, eg. LuaJIT http://luajit.org/sponsors.html http://luajit.org/sponsors.html On a side note: who owns the Redis brand (and logo)?

mikemike 15y ago
[LuaJIT author here:] I'm not so sure the business model of LuaJIT can easily be applied to other open source projects. I mean, I've been running a business for more than 15 years. I basically downscaled consulting as I've acquired paid open source work. It pays less, but I'm happier now. I think you'd have a hard time doing this from zero, without some backup plan or enough funds of your own. Well, have a look at the price point of scripting languages, toolchains and such. Getting a vague business plan for an open source project in the toolchain/middleware business through a VC round? I don't think so. Business knowledge was essential, too. Negotiating open source sponsorship contracts with corporate lawyers for half a year is not that easy. Some companies were extremely easy to work with, but I guess sponsoring open source projects is simply not an established business procedure at most companies. I don't think you could possibly afford to hire an international IP lawyer to do this for you. Actually it was the economic downturn of 2008 which triggered all of this. The (rarely followed) advice is to invest in a downturn, because you'll be the first one to come out ahead in the following upturn. Ok, so I invested my time and knowledge into a new project (#). It worked out for me, but in retrospect I realize it was a high risk investment. Final words: you think we're seeing some kind of downturn again? Carefully assess the risks and the potential for yourself. But don't be shy if you're onto something good. Innovate, don't replicate. (#) LuaJIT 2.x is a complete rewrite, using the experience gained working on LuaJIT 1.x, but very little of its code. It's been on my backburner since 2007 and the first public release of LuaJIT 2.0 was at the end of 2009. One might say it's about a two man-year investment before it started to pay back. Most of the time was spent on doing research and prototyping rather than writing code. I coded and then threw away almost three complete virtual machines in the process, because these approaches turned out to be dead ends. I bet you'd need a lot of courage to explain this to a VC. ;-)

mark_l_watson 15y ago

Salvatore, it is great that VMWare supports you and Redis: representative of the best open source model (open source developers paid to concentrate on writing code). Especially great for Redis users since the source code is still open source, can be read, modified, etc.