Bootstrap Open Source
Description
The Bootstrap Network's tagline is: the open source community for bootstrappers. This initiative is about the "open source" aspect. Specifically, we seek to codify and continually improve our understanding of what open source means for bootstrap and how it works in our community.
A recent discussion on the yahoo group highlighted that there is a vast sea of opinion about what open source means. We get some clarity when we separate the "spirit" of open source versus a specific implmentation of it. Rather than try to force-fit bootstrap into some idealistic notion of "open source," we evolve our thinking, using ideas that work and discarding those that do not.
As with all things bootstrap, coming to "open source" has been more a result of necessity and evolution rather than a preconceived plan to employ open source principles. We inadvertently set on this path when Bijoy brought up the idea of charging fees. Through a heated discusion that followed on the yahoo group, we came to the notion that members could contribute a negotiated service in lieu of fees. This has since evolved to the idea of contributing one's product or service to the group. More broadly, we also employ the spirit of open communication, sharing and support, which can also be described as open source.
Resources
- Wikipedia's Open Source Definition
- The Game, Neil Strauss
- BG's open source talk on the Boot Rap
- O'Reilly Open Source Conference
- Open Business
- Boot Boards Example
- Jonathan McCoy's Working Document
- JM's Open Source Process Working Doc
Topic Subgroups: Sales, Open Source, Marketing, Personality, Usability
