I’ve written earlier than approximately the Linux Foundation and the strength of open, standards-primarily based networking. Open source is having a full-size impact in each the enterprise and with providers around the world. It’s additionally rubbing off on corporations which includes Cisco Systems, who are embracing a layout philosophy that not locks customers into a selected networking stack. I currently had the possibility to attend each the Open Source Leadership Summit (OSLS) in Half Moon Bay and the Open Network Summit (ONS) in San Jose. I would like to percentage a number of my thoughts and insights from each event.
Unlikely tech collaborators
The tech industry is fiercely aggressive. I can individually attest to this having worked for Dell and Compaq within the Nineteen Nineties as a product marketer. What moves me about the Linux Foundation is that many of its initiatives are co-led by way of competitors. In my mind, the primary superpower of open supply is collaboration. Most if now not all the individuals have “day jobs,” but they set aside any corporate animosities inside the spirit of furthering improvement efforts for the greater top of the community. I witnessed those collaborations first hand at ONS as I sat through numerous breakout periods.
I also attended an Ericsson consultation and became inspired to study the enterprise’s efforts in exposing APIs and leveraging open supply to power innovation and create new monetization possibilities for operators. Of all of the “big infrastructure” providers, I trust Ericsson is making extensive inroads right here—as evidenced with the aid of latest earnings. I’ve additionally posted a document titled Ericsson Reinvented, which you can discover right here if fascinated.
Software improvement that drives the price
Another open supply superpower is fee introduction. One presenter at OSLS in comparison the technique of commercial improvement efforts with the likes of Microsoft versus open supply. Commercial procedures are normally tied to mission capital investment and/or an IPO, with centralized R&D and extra complicated and steeply-priced distribution structures. In that situation, handiest two parts seize fee—the vendor and the customers of the seller that pays. On the opposite hand, open source is decoupled from task capital constraints, with a decentralized approach to R&D and a quite agile and free distribution system. As a result, an extra quantity of materials gain—cloud vendors, hardware groups, machine integrators, provider vendors, governments, and each the industrial and open supply software program groups themselves.
Educational institutions, which include the Center for Research in Open Source Software (CROSS), additionally play a pivotal function in open source innovation incubation. I changed into impressed by way of CROSS’s presentation at OSLS on its achievements and efforts to provide future leaders in an open supply software program.
Harmonization
The third superpower of open source from my angle is harmonization. Harmonization is the notion of drawing together tasks and requirements to accelerate development. Today the Linux Foundation hosts 9 of the ten biggest open source networking initiatives and it lately released LF Edge to cope with the developing momentum for area deployment and the need for an open, interoperable development framework. This became additionally communicated at ONS from representatives of businesses consisting of 3GPP, ETSI, OCP, TIP, MEF, TM Forum, and the Linux Foundation, who got here collectively to discuss collaboration efforts to accelerate networking innovation.
Wrapping up
From my perspective, the Linux Foundation is doing an outstanding activity in fostering collaboration and is developing tangible price and harmonizing the completely open source networking technique. A clear evidence factor is that most conventional networking infrastructure carriers at the organization and service issuer aspects of the market are making aid commitments and investments to embrace open supply. Furthermore, participation in Linux Foundation networking projects are various and requirements our bodies are coming together to help accelerate adoption. Bottom line, open source, and the Linux Foundation are accurate for networking!
