There’s a free rider problem in open source. Right?

Companies… sorry, not companies, megacorps build multi-billion dollar business on the efforts of free software, and don’t give back a dime.

I’ve talked about this at length. It’s not really my topic today. It’s the story, though, the backdrop.

We’re not the megacorps. When we say, You’re not Google, we’re normally talking about adopting engineering or deployment practices that are inappropriate for our scale. I want to talk today, though, about why we might not (i.e., shouldn’t) mimic their approach to open source either.

I can’t speak to the economics of the Microsofts, Oracles, Facebooks, and Amazons of the world but, for small to medium-sized enterprises, actively engaging with and supporting open source is nothing short of smart business.

It’s both an easy source of competitive advantage¹ and a direct line to the best talent in the market — talent which is otherwise essentially unreachable. As such, engagement with open-source boosts business continuity like almost nothing else. I’ll go as far as to say that it’s among the highest ROI activities that a software-powered SME has available: a small investment over time pays massive dividends. It’s liking flossing for business².

So that’s the topic today. Let’s go!

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