How to "bus-proof" your open source project
,----[ Quote ]
| People often talk about a software project's bus factor -- the number
| of people on your project that need to get hit by a bus to leave you with
| no one familiar with your codebase. In the open source world, the
| disappearance of even one developer can herald the death of your project
| -- if you don't prepare in advance. The most important thing you can do
| to bus-proof your project is to attract a strong developer community for
| it. Since open source developers usually first get involved in a project
| as users, you need to attract users for your project. This means thaty
| ou need to create something that people want to use and then listen
| carefully to the user feedback. Today's user may turn out to be
| tomorrow's release manager.
`----
http://management.itmanagersjournal.com/article.pl?sid=06/09/28/1558254&from=rss
Also see (on the issue of reduced risk in Open Source):
Case study - Open source allows risk management firm to minimises risk
,----[ Quote ]
| A respected engineering and risk management consultancy has decided
| toreduce its own exposure to risk by migrating to a complete open source
| infrastructure.
|
| ESR Technology (ESRT) believes that it has freed itself from the expense
| and vendor lock-in associated with proprietary software by deploying
| an entirely open source network infrastructure.
`----
http://www.computerweekly.com/ARTICLES/2006/04/25/215739/Case+study+-+Open+source+allows+risk+management+firm+to+minimises+risk.HTM
Open source risky? Nah. Just if you hire an attorney who doesn't grok it
,----[ Quote ]
| the "risk" of open source is no greater, and is generally far less, than
| the risk of using proprietary software.
`----
http://weblog.infoworld.com/openresource/archives/2006/08/open_source_ris.html
Closing the Open Source Door a Risky Proposition
,----[ Quote ]
| The move from an open source model to a closed one may appeal to
| developers seeking to pay their bills, but the transition is a risky
| one. Some customers will balk at losing control of applications key to
| their business -- the federal government, in particular -- and may look
| for other open source alternatives to meet their software needs.
`----
http://www.linuxinsider.com/rsstory/52200.html
Your data or your life
,----[ Quote ]
| As unlikely and alarmist as this sounds, it could really happen. Intracare
| is the publisher of a popular practice management system called Dr. Notes.
| When some doctors balked at a drastic increase in their annual software
| lease, they were cut off from accessing their own patients? information.
|
| This situation is completely unconscionable. There can be no truly
| open doctor-patient relationship when an unrelated third party is the
| de facto owner of and gatekeeper to all related data.
`----
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1709
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