Day Thirty: Day 2 of POSSCON

Keynote:
Scott McNealy gave a lot of important information regarding open source's advantages over proprietary software. Open source software (OSS) is safer than proprietary code: "What if the Trojan horse was made of glass?" is the question he asked. OSS code is higher quality because engineers know that their code will be visible to everyone. OSS has zero barrier to entry and zero barrier to exit: the barrier to exit in proprietary software is generally ten times the barrier to entry. This is known as vendor lock-in.

Big Picture: Open Security:
This presentation frightened me a little because it revealed a process that I had not considered. Many process control systems are based on old software. As this old software is integrated with the rest of the system and connected to the Internet, the system becomes open to many potential threats. I trust that the government and the private sector will adequately test these systems and fix any vulnerabilities, but no software is perfect.

Education: Open Source in Art:
Carl Twarog talked about the Sonic Plaza and its importance to East Carolina University. The Sonic Plaza itself looks pretty amazing, but I was more impressed by Mr. Twarog's approach to research and development. He mentioned that it is important to include artists in the R & D process because they bring advantages, such as free association, originality, and progress/progression, to the table. I agree with this argument because I have found myself stuck in a programmer's mindset when a different mindset offered a better solution.

BOF: Linux:
The conversation focused on licenses and patents. Mr. Hall did not suggest that people use any particular type of license but urged businesses to have a plan before making any such decisions. His argument against over-patenting primarily focused on the pianoforte and the harpsichord. When the pianoforte (piano for short) was invented, there was no music written for it and no customer demand. The inventor's solution to this problem was the make the blueprints available to manufacturers. This open approach made the piano popular, but some patents on modern pianos force manufacturers to make strange design decisions in order to avoid legal issues.


This is where it gets crazy. I missed the keynote speech and the next presentation after the BOF because I talked with Mr. Hall for about two hours. I did more listening than talking, but I learned a lot about patents, IPv6, and standards (ogg vs. mpeg-4).


Big Picture: Making an Existing Software Project Open Source: How and Why with AOL as a Case Study:
I did not realize that so many big companies had dedicated OSS branches. AOL was the company used in this case study, but other proprietary companies, such as Microsoft, have similar programs. A lot of work goes into adapting proprietary software for the open source world; however, the advantages of open sourcing software can far outweigh the costs in some circumstances.

We all left early at this point