Commercialization of FLOSS

The February 2009 issue of the Open Source Business Resource has just been published, and the theme of this month's issue is Commercialization. Definitely check it out - the article by David A. Wheeler on commercial use of FLOSS and how the U.S. government qualifies FLOSS for use is particularly interesting. I'm heading off now to read the paper the article was distilled from, FLOSS is Commercial Software.

When I think about the implications of FLOSS becoming more mainstream - or, if you like, is already mainstream - I'm excited about its realized potential to create real small business opportunities, especially at the local level. I'm much more excited about doing business with people I actually know rather than a faceless corporation. I'm all that much more excited when I can see that those I'm doing business with are clearly passionate about what they're doing, and in the FLOSS community passion abounds. By using the services of their local FLOSS geek at large, customers are actually able to directly interact with those who create, deploy and maintain the tools they use each day. I see that level of interaction as empowering for all parties, and a way of bringing the spirit of community that we enjoy online back into our real world communities.

Life is good.