Preamble

Or, how to introduce Open Source to your Boss (without creating a monster).

We are going to talk about:

  • Boundaries
  • Language
  • Perception

Boundaries

  • Boundaries between:
    • Technical and Non-technical
    • Developers and End-users
    • Core Developers and Casual Developers

This talk focuses on the 1st.

user-diagram.png

>> Why is this relevant?

Two small reasons:

  • If you work for a business, you have to convince managers to:
    • Allow you to use Open Source
    • Consider participation in Open Source
permission.gif

>> Why is this relevant?

  • Open source businesses
  • Managers make purchasing decisions
  • You often have to convince developers to convince management.
  • My job is to:
    • Jump between these boundaries.
    • Help people navigate this boundary.
up-chain.png

>> It’s all about this

It’s all about this equation…

wkb.png

>> More.

What do I mean by Boundary?

  • Physics provides the best analogy
Partial_transmittance.gif
  • There is a Transmission Coefficient and a Reflection Coefficient.
  • Focusing on the Transmission.
  • Transitioning across a boundary reduces amplitude.

>> Boundaries Reduce Amplitude

  • One group understands a technical issue…
  • …and must "tunnel" through a "barrier".
  • First Assertion: No matter what, some meaning is lost in the transtion.
800px-TunnelEffektKling1.png

Minimizing Boundaries: Developers

  • Returning to our three boundaries.
  • core developers vs. casual developers.
    • Develop a Plugin API
    • Create paths for limited involvement
    • Focus on Tool Integration
maven-book.jpg

Minimizing Boundaries: End-users

  • Second Boundary
  • Developers → End-users
    • Quickstart Documentation
    • Cookbooks
    • Community (Blogs, Outreach)

Example: Heroku

james-ward.png

Minimizing Boundaries: Business Users

  • Nearly Impossible - There’s a whole industry built here…
  • Most businesses (even technology business) are not run by geeks.
  • Yes, there are exceptions (Google, Facebook, Apple)
microsoft_2d1978.jpg

Minimizing Boundaries: Business Users

  • Management may never truly understand open source in the same way that you do.
  • That’s what this talk is about…
  • …what are the obstacles: language and perception
obstacle.jpg

Language

Moving on…

>> Warning about Stakeholders

  • This presentation:
    • makes assumptions about business stakeholders
    • which may wander outside of
    • commonly acceptable modes of communication.
Note I make fun of your boss.

>> Additional Warning

  • Your personal utility
    • may or may not be positively activated
    • by the aforementioned assumptions.
Tip Make sure your boss doesn’t watch this.

>> We joke

We can have a good laugh about this sort of language.

But, it’s everywhere.

>> I’m not kidding

  • No, but really,
  • …there’s a language problem across this particular bounary.
  • Common experience: Does that person even understand the words they are using?
meeting2.jpg

>> An example from eWeek

A real quote from eWeek (this week):

"Cloud banking should be innovative, dedicated to this industry and transformative."

Among the most attractive benefits of cloud banking is being able to deploy (in an economically feasible way) the “champion-challenger” model. This adds a competitive dynamic to the way processes are improved and chosen. As banks progressively replace people in the value chain with algorithmic operations (AOs) to run processes and make decisions, their intellectual property increasingly resides in these algorithms. The value of people is not in running operations but in improving the AOs, the report said.

“Cloud banking has the ability to drive ‘creative destruction,’”

Warning Huh?

>> What that just said…

"Banks are saving money by firing people and…"

"…replacing them with clouds."

Note …but why didn’t they just say that?

>> The Secret of Business

Businesses have perfected the art of delivering bad news.

They play with language, ever read 1984 by George Orwell?

This isn’t new.

1984.jpg

George Orwell wrote about this in 1946 "Politics and the English Language"

>> Orwell saw this happening…

"Modern English, especially written English, is:"

  • "full of bad habits"
  • "which spread by imitation, and"
  • "which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble."

"If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly"

>> More Orwell, More!

Orwell’s biggest complaints:

  • "staleness of imagery"
  • "lack of precision"

>> More more Orwell, More!

He continues:

  • "[A] mixture of vagueness and sheer incompetence"
  • "the most marked characteristic of modern English prose"
  • "As soon as certain topics are raised,… prose consists less and less of words chosen for the sake of their meaning, and more and more of phrases tacked together like the sections of a prefabricated henhouse."
prefab.jpg

>> Language: Conclusion

If you are going to convey a message to business users, some tips:

  • Learn how to read "prefabricated henhouses" (Read eWeek)
  • Understand this vague and incompetent language
  • Simplify your message
Tip Optimize for the boundary…
  • One last tip…

>> Resist the Henhouse

When you can, resist the henhouse.

  • Avoid Euphemism
  • Someone says "ROI" or "Win-win" tell them you don’t understand.
  • Ask people to define empty phrases.
Tip But, don’t be a jerk about it. I don’t want you to get fired.

>> Example: Margin Call

bossman.png

At 59:20, the President to a Junior risk analyst:

"Please, speak as you might to a young child or a golden retriever…"

"…it wasn’t brains that got me here, I can assure you of that."

Perception

Alright, we’ve established:

  • That there is a difficult boundary
  • …and this boundary involves learning a different language.

Next, perception.

>> A Common Question

  • "What’s this open source stuff about? How does it work?"
  • Businesses are still grappling with open source
    • Large companies usually understand OSS by now.
    • Mid-sized companies still grapple with the idea.
    • Smaller companies think OSS means Drupal.

>> Who answers this question?

Three options:

  • Google.
  • A Lawyer.
  • or You.

>> If it’s Google…

If a manager wants to understand open source and Googles "open source"?

  • Generally a good answer
    • Wikipedia is 1st
    • Open Source Initiative is 2nd
    • Sourceforge, and a RedHat community site 3rd and 4th

>> Google, continued

If they Google for "Free Software", that’s where you might issues.

Hopefully, they don’t end up at the FSF.

FSF does a few things:

  • Play games with words - "Freedom"
  • This audience understands the nuance

But, try explaining the difference between the FSF and ASF to a non-technical manager.

>> RMS

"I refuse to have supermarket frequent buyer cards because they are a form of surveillance."

Tip I’ve had to explain RMS to executives before. It’s a lose-lose contingency with zero potential for positive outcome scenarios.

>> A Laywer

Second option, a lawyer explains open source.

Still in 2011, there are many lawyers who don’t understand OSS licensing.

They may get the following advice:

  • "Never use an open source license between they are all viral." (Wrong)
  • "You can’t use open source if you have patents." (Crazy Wrong)
  • "Open source is dangerous, pay me $500/hour and we’ll take each library on a case by case basis." (Lucrative)
Note I’ve heard all of these.

>> Third Option: You

  • You should be the one explaining open source to your management,
  • but, be careful about perception issues.

Don’t step in a few well-known traps. Stay away from the following words:

  • Free
  • Volunteer
  • Meritocracy

Why?

>> We’re Still Answering FUD

To answer the question why, let’s take a look at some recent FUD:

  • now wonder if open source may have been a fad, or perhaps just a more elaborate iteration of the shareware phenomenon in the 1980s." - John Dvorak, PCMag, 2007
Warning That was in 2007, not that long ago.

>> Turn of the Century FUD

Microsoft’s ill-fated Institute for Software Choice in 2002. (Still exists, BTW.)

Jim Allchin of Microsoft in 2002: freely distributed code actually threatens intellectual property rights, and could hinder R&D spending.

  • "I’m an American, I believe in the American Way,"
  • "I worry if the government encourages open source, and I don’t think we’ve done enough education of policymakers to understand the threat."

A certain brand of Executive still considers open-source "Unamerican"

>> Crazy FOX News FUD

From 2005: "Activists Urge Free Open Source Software"

dead1.jpg

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil — Activists at a leftist gathering where Microsoft is viewed as a corporate bogeyman urged developing nations Saturday to leap into the information age with free open source software (search).

John Barlow, a lyricist for the Grateful Dead, told a gathering inside a packed warehouse that poor nations can’t solve their problems unless they stop paying expensive software licensing fees.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145827,00.html#ixzz1Oolmvu2y

>> If you talk about open source…

If you emphasize how these communities work, you run the risk of inadvertently creating a picture of open source.

Remember the boundary, the decrease in amplitude.

While you might think you are painting a picture of business-friendly ASF collaboration, you might be painting this picture:

che.jpg

>> Tip: Focus on the Benefit

It doesn’t matter what the structure of the organization is, or that we are free as individuals to volunteer.

What matters to managers and executives?

  • Results
    • Open Source is demonstrably higher quality.
    • Open Source is more secure
    • Open Source is often a better longer-term bet
  • Intangibles
    • Open Source has a solid governance model
    • Open Source is a commercial ecosystem
    • Open Source as a Professional Organization

Big Disconnect

  • Gartner Reports OSS at >50% Penetration

InfoQ on Gartner OSS Survey Feb/2011:

  • OSS has increased from less than 10 percent …to more than the expected 30 percent within the next 18 months.
  • The perceived value of adopting OSS as part of IT strategy has also changed over the years from:
  • purely TCO benefits to benefits accumulated from flexibility, increased innovation, shorter development times and faster procurement processes.
Warning But… Most Businesses still haven’t a clue about Open Source

>> All I Needed to Hear was "Free"

The Most Important Disconnect

  • You might mean "Freedom"
  • Your boss hears "Worthless"

>> Why?

It’s all about Whorfianism.

stwhorf.jpg
Warning No, not that one.

>> Whorfianism

No, Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), a Chemical Engineer at MIT:

Along with Edward Sapir, came up with the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known by the name "Whorfianism"

>> Whorfianism

From Wikipedia:

The principle of linguistic relativity holds that the structure of a language affects the ways in which its speakers are able to conceptualize their world

  • the strong version that language determines thought and that linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories and
  • the weak version that linguistic categories and usage influence thought and certain kinds of non-linguistic behavior.

>> What?

The way you use language affects the way you perceive reality.

What can this affect:

  • Color perception
  • Spatial perception
  • Gender equality

>> Carry things a bit further…

  • Managers and Executives use language in a entirely different way.
  • It affects the way they think.
  • If you don’t watch out how you use language, they will "other" you.
  • Treat them as you would an Anthropologist in the Field.
Tip They are a different tribe.

>> Wrapping this all in a Neat Package

  • We’ve identified a tribe that must be engaged.
  • We’ve analyzed the language they use.
  • We can use our awareness of linguistics to try to communicate with them.

Examples: Hadoop

What if your non-technical boss or executive asked:

Boss: "What is Hadoop?"

You: "Hadoop is great, I’ve been using for a few years and have watched the community grow over time. Everything from the ASF is safe to use from a licensing standpoint, but I’m not lawyer. The volunteer community is great, and I think we should contribute any changes back to Apache. There’s this CLA and CCLA form that needs to be signed, should I just get everyone to sign it?"

>> A Worse Answer

  • Our application uses a bunch of open source libraries.
  • We don’t distribute anything, so don’t worry about licensing or anything.
  • You don’t have to worry about it, but we will need you to sign some of these forms.

>> A Better Answer

  • Our infrastructure relies on Apache Hadoop, a project with
    • solid governance
    • and multiple companies providing commercial support.
  • Our own engineers participate in the ongoing management of the project
  • Apache is the Professional Organization that we participate in

Use Professional Terminology

You might shy away from using these terms, but you need to convey a sense of professionalism.

  • Provenance
  • Governance
  • Ecosystem

>> Conclusions

  • Never use the word "Free"
  • Emphasize Open Source Communities as Professional Organizations
  • Don’t present Open Source as an "Alternative"

And, learn how to write.

stwhorf.jpg