Justin Steinman, Novell VP, On Open Source and Mass Customization
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Among the big issues to be discussed at the upcoming Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), Â March 24th and 25th at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, will be the future of open source. In preparation, OStatic has been running a series of guest posts on this theme, featuring thought leaders from top open source projects. We've checked in with Dries Buytaert, founder of the Drupal content management system, and co-founder of Acquia. Martin Schneider, director of product marketing for SugarCRM, also delivered some thoughts on open source and cloud computing. Now, Justin Steinman, vice president of solution and product marketing at Novell, gives us his thoughts on open source and mass customization.
A New Wave: How Open Source Will Drive Mass Customization into the Future
By Justin Steinman, Vice President of Solution and Product Marketing, Novell
As I think about the future of open source, I’m drawn to the idea of how industries have embraced mass customization — the process of customizing a product to meet individual needs while leveraging mass production efficiency and supportability. Everywhere you look, items are being produced on a customized basis using mass production to suit a mass market audience: cars, laptops, food items, clothing — you name it.
However, this isn’t yet the case with operating systems. Makers of proprietary software are reluctant to open their operating systems for mass customization, and IT departments that have the wherewithal to customize the operating system do so at their own risk because vendors usually won’t support modified versions.
But this is changing, and will continue to change – with help from open source. Think about it: There are benefits to having an easily customizable operating system. You can start with security. While typical operating systems are designed to support every possible function, most enterprises don’t need all these capabilities. In a bank, for instance, every employee – from the teller to the CEO -- often has access to the same system capabilities, making it easier than it should be for someone to walk off with proprietary customer information.
Linux is a perfect tool for mass customization of the operating system. Its modular architecture gives developers the ability to strip down and remove capabilities to create the JeOS (Just enough Operating System) for the use cases organizations need. Linux vendors are already improving the granularity of packages to embrace this trend.
Virtual appliances built on open source platforms represent a good example of mass customization. Independent software vendors can use them to package together a fully configured, optimized software stack. Customers want to be able to deploy their applications simply, with a guarantee that applications and the operating system will mesh seamlessly – and open source delivers on this promise.
All that’s needed now are tools to make simple, rapid mass customization of the operating system a reality. The automotive industry didn’t fully achieve the benefits of mass customization until the arrival of the modern assembly line. We need the equivalent of the assembly line for the operating system: tools that provide fast, fully supported mass market efficiency, reliability and consistency, while allowing for individuality.
As demand for mass customization continues, we’ll see businesses explore new use cases for Linux, beyond the operating system, from USB stick-based computers to cloud computing. Mass customization will become the standard for enterprises looking to create a tailored operating system experience in a well supported environment. This is the direction the IT world is heading – toward a more flexible, more efficient, higher-performing operating environment.
That’s my take, anyway. What do you think the future of open source holds?
Please take a moment to fill out the Future of Open Source survey here and share your perspective.
The results will be announced at the Open Source Business Conference on March 24th–25th at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA.
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