Is open source software development a useful strategy for business? That is an issue that is constantly being debated in online forums across the Internet.
While there are some negative perspectives that either stem from a lack of adequate documentation or the proliferation of licenses that complicate the legal uses, there are many successful open source projects that have large communities of both developer and commercial support. I believe that when there is a solid technical fit between the features and the project?s requirements?, building on top of an open source software solution is advantageous.
Engineers interested in open source software development for the web performance community may want to consider turning to Selenium, which is a browser automation toolkit licensed under the Apache 2.0 License (a free software license).? Many companies, such as Google, have implemented Selenium for their own internal use, while others have made commercial products and services based on Selenium (e.g. SauceLabs). In my opinion, the strong corporate support from Google makes Selenium unique in the open source software space, and gives it a leg up on the competition.
I have been following the Selenium community for about five years ? following Neustar?s acquisition of BrowserMob, which uses Selenium as one of its core technologies.
Marketing Open Source Software
Given the strong community of support open source software enjoys, quality open source software projects can garner a significant amount of attention.? For example, creative use of open source software can help position your organization as a thought leader, opening up opportunities to present at conferences and meet-ups.? Moreover, this is a community where well-respected community members often cite successful open source software project implementation in their own discussions and community outreach.? This third-party validation can prove useful to your organization ? and your marketing department.
Giving Back to the Community
Given that one of the biggest challenges to open source software projects is maintaining the momentum and participation of the community, it is important to contribute and give back.? This could include donating documentation or patches, preserving the original application programming interfaces and maintaining core functionality. ? Tools like GitHub and Bitbucket have proved extremely useful for increasing the collaboration on open source software projects.
In Conclusion
There are many success stories of businesses leveraging open source projects ? it is certainly something to consider when creating a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution. Next time you are considering building or revamping your solution, consider the open source software development and the open source software communities and the value they can offer both technically and from a marketing perspective.
About Ben Jones
Ben Jones has over 10 years experience working in technology with a specific interest in software engineering for web based applications. Currently, Ben has worked a Sales Engineer for over 5 years with Neustar but within that time has had the opportunity to execute professional service engagements as well as provide customer support for multiple Neustar products and services.Source: http://blog.neustar.biz/web-performance/technical-and-marketing-benefits-of-open-source-software/
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