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Some copy editing on my final proof read

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R Tyler Croy 2021-01-10 14:37:46 -08:00
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_posts/2021-01-10-corporate-dependence-in-open-source.md
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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ their work, but when a company hires too many developers for a project, others
clutch their pearls and grow concerned that the company is "taking over the
project." Large projects have significant expenses, but when companies join
foundations established to help secure those funds, they may also be admonished
for not "_really_ contributing to the project." If a company creates and opens
for "not _really_ contributing to the project." If a company creates and opens
up a new technology, users and developers inevitably come to assume that the
company should be perpetually responsible for the on-going development,
improvement, and maintenance of the project, to do otherwise would be
@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ improvement, and maintenance of the project, to do otherwise would be
Sometimes I wonder if "the only way to win, is not to play."
Corporate involvement in free and open source projects can and should be
mutually beneficial. My previously employer [CloudBees](https://cloudbees.com)
mutually beneficial.
My previous employer [CloudBees](https://cloudbees.com)
is a good example of the possible symbiotic relationship between corporate
actors and a community. Many people might not know what CloudBees originally
was: it was EngineYard for Java applications. That is to say, it was a
@ -31,16 +33,19 @@ the wall, and CloudBees would host and operate them. The reason nobody
remembers, is that cloud providers stepped up from the "infrastructure as a
service" domain into "platform" and gobbled all the market up from EngineYard,
Heroku, CloudBees, and a number of other upstarts. If it weren't for a savvy
business move, recognizing that continuous integration and delivery were a key
business move, recognizing that continuous integration and delivery was a key
differentiator, CloudBees would have died long ago.
They hired [Kohsuke](https://kohsuke.org) and a **lot** of people straight out
The company hired [Kohsuke](https://kohsuke.org) and a **lot** of people straight out
of the Jenkins community, myself included. When I was there, we had a constant
push and pull between what should be proprietary (CloudBees Jenkins Enterprise,
or whatever it was called that quarter) and what should be upstreamed into
Jenkins.
Jenkins. CloudBees very successfully sold "enterprise-grade" Jenkins addons,
support, and management tooling to companies around the world. Meanwhile in the
Jenkins project we frequently discussed, and still do, how much control
CloudBees could or should wield over the project.
What many users and other developers overlooked was the **literal millions of
What many users and other developers often overlooked was the **literal millions of
dollars** that CloudBees invested in paid developer time, events, advocacy,
documentation, and marketing. Did CloudBees benefit from this arrangement,
_absolutely_. Did Jenkins also benefit from this arrangement, _absolutely_.
@ -55,9 +60,11 @@ preferred compute or query engine, sometimes becoming upset that Delta Lake's
primary supported environment is [Apache Spark](https://spark.apache.org),
which also underpins the entire Databricks platform. Delta Lake was created by
Databricks, who have invested tremendous resources in its development and
stabilization.
stabilization. It should be no surprise that for _most_ of the developers on
Delta Lake, Apache Spark is their primary platform of concern, and everything
else is in the "nice to have" bucket.
While I would love to see them upstream more of their own in-house performance
While I would love to see Databricks upstream more of their own in-house performance
improvements and tools around Delta Lake, I must also recognize that Databricks
is a _business_ and they're trying to ride that fine line between making money
and not.
@ -65,23 +72,24 @@ and not.
The Delta project is however licensed under the Apache Software License 2.0,
easy to contribute to, and fairly well documented.
It's hard for me not to interpret those upset by "missing features" in Delta
Lake as anything more than somebody looking for a free lunch.
Those upset by "missing features" in Delta Lake seem more like somebody upset
they cannot get a free lunch.
---
Linux admins across the internet got upset late last year with [CentOS' change
in approach](https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/centos_red_hat). It was hard for me
not to interpret the "backlash" as anything other than anger at no longer
getting Red Hat Enterprise Linux for free.
I think the Red Hat / CentOS relationship is severely underappreciated. The
company is pouring millions of dollars worth of investment into hundreds of
free and open source projects every year. For somebody who has never paid them
a dime, to shake their fist at Red Hat over how they operate their business
which _still funds significant development of free and open source software_ is
entitled to say the least.
free and open source projects every year.
Linux admins across the internet got upset late last year with [CentOS' change
in approach](https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/centos_red_hat). I
interpreted this "backlash" as admins angry that they were no longer getting
Red Hat Enterprise for free.
For somebody who has never paid Red Hat a dime, to shake their fist over how
they operate their business, _which still funds significant development of free
and open source software_, is entitled to say the least.
---
@ -97,7 +105,7 @@ community they interact with, is not only unfair but unrealistic too.
Free and open source software has created
**enormous** societal wealth and enabled entirely new industries since its
inception in the 1980's (roughly). I believe that is in no small part because
there are very little strings attached past the terms of the licenses and both
there are very little strings attached. The terms of the licenses set the ground rules, but beyond that
individuals and corporate actors can "vote with their feet." For example, I
will be drawn to projects which enrich my life or help me achieve my goals and
ambitions. If I tire of a project, or it's no longer useful, I leave. The same