Obligatory End of Year Post - 2009

Yes, I know it's already 2010, but this post is still my official "end of 2009" post. I've included some highlights from the posts on this blog along with my choice of top 5 open source stories and themes of the year. Please add your comments on what you think are the top stories for 2009.

Reflections on This Blog

The readership of this blog grew substantial in 2009 and I am very thankful for that. Visitors from 30 states, 29 countries and 6 continents came to this blog with the top 3 countries being the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom. I have to admit, the prominence of Brazil surprised me. Visitors seemed to be attracted to a wide variety of subjects, but management of open source within a company and GPL enforcement seemed to be the favorites. Here are top 5 most visited posts of the year, beginning with the most popular:

1. In-House Counsel - Managing Open Source
2. FSF Motives in the Cisco Case
3. Obligatory End of Year Blog Post (2008) (emphasis on the FSF-Cisco case)
4. Highlights of the Open Source Business Conference - Day 1
5. Show Me the Money at OSCON - Venture Capital and Open Source

Top 5 Open Source Stories

Shifting to the industry as a whole, the top stories of 2009 also illustrated the importance of in-house open source management and GPL enforcement among many other themes. Below, I have provided my list of the top 5 stories and themes of the year:

1. Oracle Acquisition of Sun Microsystems - As a Sun employee, I have a deep personal interest in this deal, but it is also a significant event for the business of open source (not to mention the software and hardware business too), particularly the EU's competition investigation of the MySQL business. The deal could be characterized as a definitive affirmation of the importance of open source in that even companies whose success is perceived to rely on the traditional proprietary software model (such as Oracle), see open source as an important strategic element. Questions on the MySQL aspect of the deal even prompted industry heavyweights like Eben Moglen, founding Director of the Software Freedom Law Center, to explore the impact of the GPL.

2. GPL Enforcement Actions - The relative popularity of my blog posts on the Cisco-Free Software Foundation litigation (which has since settled) is one indication that GPL enforcement is a hot topic. This trend gained momentum throughout 2009 and will likely continue to do so in 2010. Examples include the Software Freedom Law Center's December announcement of litigation against Best Buy, Samsung, Westinghouse and 11 other entities on behalf of the owners of BusyBox, and a French court case in which users of GPL software got a ruling affirming their right to receive the source code to that software and modifications.

3. Microsoft Release of GPL Code - Few companies raise the ire of the open source community more than Microsoft. That's why open source proponents were pleased, and surprised, to see hear Microsoft announce that it would contribute driver code to the Linux kernel. It is not clear whether Microsoft's decision was based on necessity in the face of a potential GPL violation, or a strategic move to enhance compatibility with Linux. Regardless of the motive, Microsoft's actions indicate that even the most sophisticated of companies must pay close attention to their use of open source and honor the provisions of open source licenses. This is especially true in light of the recent enforcement activities discussed in the previous paragraph.

4. US Government Commitment to Open Source - The principles of technology neutrality have long been recognized in the European Union to the benefit of open source software usage by European governments. The United States federal government has not been as accommodating of open source, but at least two events in 2009 indicate a possible change in US attitudes. The US Department of Defense revised its guidelines on use of open source software in October to essentially give it a procurement preference over proprietary software when all else is equal. In addition, it appears that the Obama Administration is actively looking for ways to bring the benefits of open source to government operations.

5. Red Hat's 10 Year IPO Anniversary - Red Hat is commonly viewed as the most successful pure open source company with its status as a Fortune 500 company with a market cap of almost $6 billion and generating over $700 million in revenue in 2009. As such, it's longevity and success are significant barometers on the health of the open source business as a whole. With a lingering cloud over the economy, and the relatively slow growth trajectory of most open source companies, it seem unlikely that we will see any open source IPOs in 2010.

Please post your thoughts on the most important open source events of 2009. I wish the best of success to all of us in this corner of the world we call "open source."

[Note: The "Top 5" portion of this post was updated after the original post to make non-substantive changes for purposes of clarification and adding more reference links.]

The Obligatory End of Year Blog Post

Virtually all media elements engage in the age-old ritual of summarizing the year that was, and looking ahead to the year that will be. Though the number of blogs dedicated to open source, or even those that mention open source on a frequent basis, is extremely small in the blogging universe, my open source compatriots are doing the same ... look at Matt Asay's The Open Road, Zack Urlocker's Open Sources, and Dana Blankenhorn's Linux and Open Source, to name a few. Each of these writers have provided valuable insight into the important open source events of 2008 and areas of focus for 2009 and I encourage you to read their posts.

I do not presume to add much to what these writers have already provided, but I would like to make a few observations. First, I see 2008 as a great success for the open source movement both on an industry-wide basis, and from my personal perspective. The industry as a whole has gained acceptance to the point that it is viewed as an important consideration in the business strategy of all software companies. On a personal level, not only was I privileged to be part of MySQL at the time of Sun's acquisition, but I also started this blog and made more than twenty postings.

Second, I believe 2009 has a strong chance of being the year that open source achieves critical mass not only of mind share, but of economic sustainability. While it's true that several open source companies are making in the tens of millions of dollars in revenues, the economic pressures that hit hardest at the end of 2008 could result in significant gains in revenue opportunities for these companies in the coming year. The economic pressures might be so severe that all IT spending is burdened throughout 2009, but the important point is that in the near future, the cost-conscious thinking arising in these times will likely lead to a radical change in the view of what constitutes value. No doubt, the open source industry will benefit.

The only prediction that can be made with any certainty is that few predictions become reality. In any case, I wish everyone all the best in 2009!