What is Open?

Submitted by JonAdmin flatworld on Thu, 01/28/2010 - 12:52pm.

I am a huge advocate of open source software, and now that I am CTO at an open textbook company, I am pondering the question "What is open?". Let me use the moniker "open product" for covering open source software and open textbooks (and if anyone has a better term, please let me know!).

Some criteria for an open product:-
1) A version of product available at no cost
2) A company developing an open product needs a revenue stream to support product development (in what manner those revenues are derived can vary widely)
3) Product needs to be remixable (in technology parlance, "mashable"), allowing for an even better product or use of product

As an open source expert once told me, "without revenue, there is no open source". I believe this applies to all open products.

Many, many products meet the above criteria for "open", let me pick a few:-
- Linux
- Google search
- Flat World Knowledge open textbooks

Not to say Flat World Knowledge open textbooks are in the same league as Linux and Google, but what's interesting is that each of these products provides different revenue streams. Redhat makes revenue by providing support to enterprise Linux users. Additionally, other companies like HP make revenue using Linux on their hardware (HP has claimed that open source software has accounted for billions in indirect, additional revenue sales). Google makes revenue selling keyword and ad placement inside their search results. Of all the open products, in my opinion Google has made the most significant revenue, and interestingly using that revenue to support other open products (i.e. Google docs, email, maps, etc.), which in turn can drive additional revenue.

At Flat World Knowledge, our revenue stream is selling print-on-demand textbooks in addition to our no cost online textbooks. We also sell additional material useful for students, including audio study guides, flash cards and quizzes.

In open source software, you get the "source code", which itself is changable and remixable (depending on creative commons licensing terms). At Flat World Knowledge, our open textbooks are "customizable" (i.e. changable) by educators who adopt our textbooks. They can move chapters and sections around, add anotations, and in the future do many other customizations with our open textbooks. It really is quite amazing how open products have really changed they way products are developed and used, with many, many more changes to come!

With new technology, the tech community at large looks for a moniker to understand and grab on for new concepts. Recent ones include "web 2.0", "cloud computing", and "NoSQL". I wonder what is the best moniker for covering open source software, open textbooks, open courseware, and other "open" things as a group? What about "open product"? I would like to hear from others if this works for the category, or if they have or have heard of better terms. Clearly, this is a space of growing interest, and we will benefit from have a term to describe this new concept wider than just open source software.

Comments

Forums

Commented by Rick Weber on Mon, 02/08/2010 - 5:39am.

I've noticed that a big part of open source (OS) software is centered around the forums. In the forums users are able to communicate, solve problems and create a community. I've been looking into OS texts and I don't see the forums.

FWK appears to be the biggest OS textbook publisher, but other OS knowledge purveyors include wikipedia and recipe forum websites. In both of these cases, the product is text (knowledge), and in both cases, they are successful because of the role of communication, via forums.

How does FWK allow the sort of collaboration that makes other OS products successful? Are instructors able to access a forum to discuss the content of texts of FWK?

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Open license?

Commented by rmlucas on Tue, 03/23/2010 - 3:58pm.

Are Flat World books under Creative Commons licenses? I can't tell. I'd say that's the main criteria for openness.

This: "A version of product available at no cost" has little to do with openness. Freeware is available at no cost. So are some "basic" versions of iPhone apps. So is Internet Explorer, but these are clearly not open--not by any definition recognizable in the open source community.

This:

"2) A company developing an open product needs a revenue stream to support product development (in what manner those revenues are derived can vary widely)"

may be true, but it's hardly a criterion for openness. It is a dilemma that an open source company needs to solve, but it's not a criterion for openness, in that meeting it is neither necessary nor sufficient to qualify as open. There are tons of grassroots open source products without a revenue stream. And, say, General Mills has a revenue stream, but it's clearly not open source.

#3, "Remixability" also does not imply openness. George Lucas built an environment within which you can remix clips from the Star Wars movies, but all of the products stay within the environment, and the company owns the copyright. Not open.

So it's no surprise that this list of 3 criteria ends with the suggestion that Google Search is open. Google is great, the company is a friend to open source software, and some of their products are open source (Chrome, Android) but Google Search is clearly not open. The algorithm is totally proprietary. Unless you're trying to invent some new category called "open" that borrows some of the appeal of "open source" and "open content" but loosens the definition beyond recognition.

cc

Commented by rmlucas on Tue, 03/23/2010 - 4:10pm.

Found it--looks like you have a cc-noncommercial license, which is restrictive, but I think it should count as open.

But this blog post muddies the waters horribly as to what counts as open.

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Commented by shekar55 on Wed, 04/07/2010 - 2:45pm.

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Commented by babuvatti on Fri, 04/09/2010 - 12:17am.

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There were manay Challenges.

Commented by bestics on Sun, 04/11/2010 - 5:07pm.

There were manay Challenges. At Flat World Knowledge, our open textbooks are "customizable" (i.e. changable) by educators who adopt our textbook

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An open textbook is an

Commented by muktere on Wed, 04/14/2010 - 11:43am.

An open textbook is an openly-licensed textbook offered online by its author. Registry of textbooks and related materials which are free for anyone to use, reuse and redistribute.
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It is a dilemma that an open

Commented by abdulrehman940 on Thu, 04/15/2010 - 8:57am.

It is a dilemma that an open source business desires to explain, but it's not a benchmark for openness, in that gathering it is neither essential neither adequate to specify as open.
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Product needs to be

Commented by tommylucas25 on Fri, 04/16/2010 - 6:44pm.

Product needs to be remixable. That's true

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Though the meaning of the

Commented by NeilBITZEL on Tue, 04/20/2010 - 1:33pm.

Though the meaning of the word "open" was flat at some time before now it has a more broader meaning at present, as far as I think. It evolved a lot with the open source concept.
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Now it has a different

Commented by BernardWOLHOK on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 9:14am.

Now it has a different meaning and hard to give a definition. It is Free, no doubt about that but it has a new dimension. For an example take the Mozilla project.
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They can move chapters and

Commented by abdulrehman940 on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 2:00pm.

They can move chapters and sections around, add anotations, and in the future do many other customizations with our open textbooks.
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Open products and services

Commented by ShelenaEDLER on Wed, 04/21/2010 - 11:46pm.

Open products and services are becoming more popular among the people since they are improving a lot in the recent past. The community around it is growing in big time.
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Commented by jumiram1 on Thu, 04/22/2010 - 2:45pm.

I think it should be counted as open in my opinion; its a great article to share and thanks for sharing this with us.

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Open means in the software

Commented by DanielMONTGONERY on Fri, 04/23/2010 - 12:32am.

Open means in the software world "free of charge". You get the open source software for free of charge and if you like you can do any manipulation within the licensed rights to it.
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This is the first time ever I

Commented by MarvynGAHLMAN on Sat, 04/24/2010 - 3:17am.

This is the first time ever I came across a concept like "open textbooks". It will be totally new experience for most of the people who are reading this blog for the first time.
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The license shall not

Commented by muktere on Sat, 07/03/2010 - 8:40am.

The license shall not restrict any party from selling or giving away the software as a component of an aggregate software distribution containing programs from several different sources. The license shall not require a royalty or other fee for such sale.
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Commented by sana1120 on Tue, 04/27/2010 - 5:08am.

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You definitely need a revenue

Commented by jimb12345 on Tue, 04/27/2010 - 10:26pm.

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Open means free availability

Commented by quadcorepal on Wed, 04/28/2010 - 4:39am.

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Commented by mylasi on Thu, 04/29/2010 - 12:50pm.

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