A lot of computer software now comes for free. It is called open-source software. Most open-source software has online communities of software developers around them who collaboratively write code. I always wondered who pays these people to work so hard and create such beautiful software and then give it away for free. Where do these people earn money? I was not surprised to find out that these were not conventional people bored with their desk jobs during the day who went home at night to write beautiful, intelligent computer software.
The Internet is run by various technological protocols that computers follow. These protocols are standardized by various bodies like the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), International Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Internet Society (ISOC), etc. Someone who comes up with a new, useful technology or protocol first creates a Standards draft. This goes through a review process lasting six months to a year, and then it becomes a standard. These standards are then adhered to by the industry manufacturers, software developers and the whole industry.
Who are these people? Who pays them to create and approve standards? The answers to all questions above are pretty much the same. These people are employees of companies like Google, VMWare, Microsoft, Cisco, etc., and along with university researchers funded by government funds and companies mentioned. The open-source communities and standards bodies are a collection of companies creating software and standards that best suit their needs. Mind you, I do not blame them for maintaining an oligopoly. I would rather have companies do that for profit than governments do that for control.
In case of open-source communities, a major part of the code base is developed by employees of these companies. The code is then made available freely, and a community is developed around it. People who use that software, be it information technology professionals in other companies or conventional users like you and me, form the audience that these communities cater to. Documentation is created and mailing lists help spread the open software to the IT industry at large.
In case of standards, various companies are represented by their leading people among these consortiums. Each company lobbies for standards that will help their products prevail in the marketplace. No single company heads these consortiums. The qualities of standards that get accepted are the highest because the people who make up these consortiums are the most advanced in their area and understand their subject.
As much as this sounds oligopolistic, it is a model that works. It works for various reasons.
Linux is the most famous open-source operating system. Widely deployed on our own N.C. State campus, it is available free and is built by a community of developers led by Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. These developers now work for major IT companies, and the direction in which Linux as a software grows is heavily biased by the agenda of these companies. A lot of companies use Linux in their production environment and hence feel the need to optimize it to be most relevant to them. No wonder they plant their lobbyists among people who develop Linux.
It also makes sense to plant your advocates among standard bodies like IETF, IEEE, etc. Firstly, if one is ahead of the rest in a field of technology, one cannot wait for others to catch up. Secondly, one must create new protocols and technologies that one needs and, in the process, further the industry. The presence of competitors and neutral audiences in these consortiums means that the most robust and advanced standards are passed.
There are collateral effects to this ecosystem. Excellent proposals and software that are not in line with the current market and needs of these companies get squelched. The Internet and computer history is filled with examples of brilliant ideas that were produced at the wrong time and never saw light of the day.
How open is today’s open source? Open enough to abstract diplomacy and bolster the growth of the IT industry.