the value of software does not reside in the source code

[Marvin Bellamy]

DCT Jared Smith wrote:

><snip>
>
>>>Contrary to popular opinion, the value of software does not reside in the
>>>source code, mostly.  Most software-producing companies act as if this is so,
>>>and act as if they would suffer a horrible loss if their source code got out,
>>>but this shows a lack of understanding on their part (and possibly ulterior
>>>motives).
>>>
>
>>I disagree with you, here...then I'm not totally sold on the open source 
>>movement.  I work for a small company with a niche market.  If our code 
>>was open source, it'd be damned easy for others to encroach on our turf. 
>>
> >I don't think you can assume honesty on the part of other companies. 
> >Look at M$.  If they have the opportunity, they'll steal code and 
>
>>attrit the little guy with litigation.
>>
>
>Well, this is valid if you're committed to the adversarial way of doing
>things. You must see all others as potential competitors, and protect
>yourself from folks like Microsoft.
>
No, but we've invested quite a bit of our resources in developing and 
improving our product.  If our code were open, then the resource cost 
that any competitor would have to invest in order to get into the game 
would be negated.   They could simply start from our code.  I'm not 
going to mention any client names, but the lack of ethics of some 
companies is amazing.

>
>
>This also means that you can make more money than you're worth.
>
>Some people are into that.
>
That statement makes no sense to me.  We're in business precisely 
because it saves our customers time/money to buy from us rather than 
develop on their own.  Now, if they were to have the code, then the cost 
to develop on their own is drastically reduced.

>
>The merit-based structure of open source demands you work your 
>rear end off--and rewards you fully for the effort, by friends who won't 
>eviscerate you at the earliest opportunit...
>
Implying that we're not by not exposing our code?

>
>Chances are, your source code is not as valuable as you make it out
>to be; what is valuable is that part which is not easily written: your tenacity,
>your passion, your marketing plan, your relationships with your clients...
>
The code itself is not the value.  It's the resources it would cost to 
generate a bank of code that would give an organization the same 
functionality.  I'm not in sales, but our big pitch is "Hey, you can do 
it on your own, but it'll take X man hours and X length of time.  Or, 
you could just buy it from us..."  Our labor is factored into the cost 
of the final product.  You probably have the skill to code our whole 
product, but you'd have to take the time to do it on your own.

>
><rant>Think about the fact that you're competing against Microsoft if
>you hide your source. Open Source it, and they'll look at you like you're
>some kind of oppossum. Meanwhile, over here in the Open Source
>world, there are valid alternatives to the adversarial model. Open Source has 
>its nasty fights, like between MySQL dot com and MySQL dot org, yet
>overall people respect the work you've put into the code and prefer
>to work WITH you than against you. People realize that you've got
>to make a living. It's the people who are interested in helping you do
>so (ie because they live in a remote part of the world you're probably never
>going to market into), and yet they can help you build your software because
>they need something similar, it's these folks who make Open Source work.
>
We're not "competing" with M$.  That was an example.  I'm curious about 
what segment of the industry you're in.  Where I'm at, companies will 
NEVER give up their code.  Now, if I were coding something in my free 
time, I'd have no qualms about open source, because I've relied on it so 
heavily for my own home computing environment.

>
>You gotta realize you're coming at the whole idea of Open Source with
>eyes trained for competition, which means you're going to think folks
>who genuinely want to help you out, , , are out to get you. Your choice.
>
That's what I call the "Real World" :)  I've been in the industry just a 
few years, and the lack of ethics I've seen is rampant.  Just go to 
lunch sometime with the sales guys and talk to them about how they do 
their job. Enron is the norm, not the exception.  They just got caught. 
 If you follow investing, you see all sorts of loopholes that big 
companies have lobbied into our economy.

>
>The amazing thing is how many people out there are interested in
>helping you, for no other reason than to simply show off their skills.
>My direct experience with Open Source is still small, such that I'm
>excited by one guy from Europe who found a broken link on my page, 
>knew about an Apache setting that made the fix, corrected my accidenally-
>revealed source code in the course of a simple e-mail, taught me a few 
>concepts which I didn't know in PHP, made me really look 
>at the way I was working, and the code was something so simple it 
>could never have earned money anywhere. He just did it because he was 
>wanting to help out another coder. It's pretty amazing when that
>kind of thing comes your way, and it makes you want to do the
>same, if you've got a heart...</rant>
>
>-Jared
>
There are a lot of great people out there doing fantastic work.  I 
wouldn't be in the industry if it weren't for the education and tools I 
had access to through open source projects and the old school ethic of 
developers.  Unfortunately, human greed has already found its way into 
the industry.  We have some cool APIs that I would love for us to make 
public (just for the name recognition), but we're too small to defend 
ourselves if Big Company X steals them and repackages them as their own. 
 And I KNOW you've seen this happen with a sickening frequency.