On another point, there seems to be a behavioral pattern within the OpenACS
community to wait until funding before starting on such a long-term endeavor.
Doesn't this assume that MBAs etc. will seek such a solution from OpenACS, or
that OpenACSers will be able to sell it to them before making it?
Right you are 😊
There are of course other potential buyers beside the MBAs, like institutions and NGOs for instance.
Since we (the companies and individuals in the open source comunity at large) develop code that is free (as in speech), it would probably be a pretty bad idea to write the code, publish it, and _then_ ask for money, if that is what we're after. I mean, when the code is published it all of a sudden becomes free as in beer ...
In fact, it's not the code (a product) that we charge for, but the work we perform (a service). Open source is a gift culture in the sense that you give away the product, but not necessarily the work. It is an "open source" culture, not a "voluntary work" culture. Voluntary work is evidently (and thankfully!) very common within open source, but it's not the essence of it.
We should keep in mind that the open source movement as a whole is a rather new thing. We are still pioneers in this space and it remains to be seen how it matures commercially.
My guess is that more and more of the MBAs out there (and especially the ones yet to come) will open their eyes and embrace this new culture, which is indeed quite different from what they're used to. When they realize the influence they will get on the final product, and the opportunity to take it in-house, etc, I'm convinced they can't refuse it 😉.
Until the average MBA gets used to the concept of open source I think the open source companies will just have to approach customers already committed to the cause, or, prepare themelves to spend large anounts of time on research and on marketing their proposals.
/Ola
