[ale] Strategies for OS code in the Enterprise

[Jeff Hubbs]

Wow, thanks, Greg!

On Tue, 2003-12-23 at 10:45, Greg wrote:
> Very well written and a commendable attitude.
> 
> Greg
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org]On Behalf Of Jeff
> > Hubbs
> > Sent: Monday, December 22, 2003 10:33 PM
> > To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
> > Subject: Re: [ale] Strategies for OS code in the Enterprise
> >
> >
> > I can't really help you with your CVS issue but I've turned your larger
> > problem around in my head as long ago as 2001.
> >
> > Basically, if you decide to go forward with some piece of Open Source
> > (OS) software - especially one that isn't widely used, as opposed to,
> > oh, Linux - then you've got a choice.  You can do something like what
> > you're saying, i.e., fork off the project for your own nefarious
> > purposes, OR you can delegate some manpower toward basically joining the
> > cause and horning in on the development of the software itself.
> >
> > Think of it like this:  if you've got a vested interest in something
> > like Issue-Tracker, Xsane, or what have you, and if you've got the
> > talent it takes to dig into and fix code, then you are valuable to the
> > project, just like it's valuable to you.
> >
> > When I was cogitating on these issues, my concern at the time was the
> > completeness and correctness of scanner drivers within sane.  I decided
> > that, to the extent that the project I was trying to start would be
> > interested in using sane drivers for whatever make and model of
> > industrial scanners we were going to use, we owed it to ourselves and
> > the rest of the world to dive in and fix any problems we encountered.
> >
> > I acknowledged that if there were a pre-existing driver, the original
> > author(s) would not necessarily have had our motivation or as high a
> > stake in the behavior and quality of the driver.  There is nothing wrong
> > with that, I must stress!  That is simple human nature.
> >
> > This illustrates that Free Software does not necessarily mean Free
> > Ride.  You have to care, and you have to be willing to do some work.
> >
> > So, I would suggest that instead of treating the Issue-Tracker project
> > as read-only, join the cause.  Now, you may find that what works best
> > for you is a split approach in which you submit bugfixes and
> > new/improved features of general interest back to the project and
> > reserve significant behavior changes that are specific to your needs for
> > internal consumption only.  That makes perfect sense and IMH-IANAL-O, is
> > in keeping with the GPL.
> >
> > - Jeff
> >
> > On Mon, 2003-12-22 at 15:19, John Wells wrote:
> > > Guys,
> > >
> > > In my relatively new management role, I'm doing my best at every turn to
> > > leverage the power of open source software.
> > >
> > > I have, however, a problem I've never really faced before.  We're
> > > implementing a issue tracking package (www.issue-tracker.com) and have
> > > installed the latest "stable" release.  While testing it, we've
> > run across
> > > a number of bugs.  We've also installed the latest development version
> > > from CVS which fixes a lot of the bugs, but introduces a lot more.
> > >
> > > So, what I'm left with is a "fork" of issue-tracker...our locally
> > > maintained and personally fixed version, and the official tree at
> > > issue-tracker.com.  For the sake of upgrades and to keep the ability of
> > > taking advantage of enhancements, I need to come up with a strategy of
> > > "syncing" the trees upon the next major release.
> > >
> > > While I'm guessing this will simply involve me downloading the
> > release and
> > > updating our local cvs repos with the latest code (handling any
> > merges by
> > > hand), the idea isn't necessarily pleasant.  I'm still thinking through
> > > the issue, but would like to hear other input from you
> > guys...ever faced a
> > > similar situation?  Did you come up with an ingeniuous
> > solution?  Is there
> > > a feature of CVS I'm missing that makes this easy?
> > >
> > > Thanks for the input!
> > >
> > > John
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > > Ale at ale.org
> > > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> > --
> > Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at comcast.net>
> >
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> > http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
> >
> 
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-- 
Jeff Hubbs <hbbs at comcast.net>