Open Source Consulting, was: Optaros

Ted Roche tedroche at comcast.net
Thu Oct 27 10:39:00 EDT 2005


On Oct 26, 2005, at 10:25 PM, Christopher Schmidt wrote:


> Are there lots of open source consulting firms around?
>

Yup.


> Do they do good things for the community?
>

Define 'good' and 'community.' In my experience, there are hacks out  
there, and there are skilled entrepreneurs. Some leave their clients  
very happy with their solutions, some leave a dissatisfied customer  
for us to pick up as a client. (To be fair, there are a lot of  
potential clients out there with unrealistic expectations, too. One  
of the best skills a consultant can learn is to Just Say No.)

Overall I would say people who offer, support and service Open Source  
software do the OS community good. I contribute where I can,  
occasionally in cash, often in promotion, but best with satisfied  
customers.

There are leaches who just take, whine that it doesn't work as good  
as Microsoft Access (ha!) and spread FUD about OS.

So, it's a mixed blessing.


> In web applications, GPL compatibility requirements are pretty  
> slim: since in many cases, you're not redistributing the software  
> (you're running it yourself) there's no need to contribute back  
> changes. Do some people take the time to push changes upstream?
>

Sure. In my business, I'm working with mature applications so bugs  
are few. However, I spent a lot of time with the MySQL support folks  
recently chasing down some bugs and/or funny behaviors in their  
MyODBC drivers, for example. It was self-interested and much as  
generousity: I needed to get stable drivers working with a client, so  
helping MySQL AB do that was in both our interests.


> What do people think about this type of business (consulting on  
> open source) in general?
>

It keeps a roof over my head <s>.

Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com





Ted Roche
Ted Roche & Associates, LLC
http://www.tedroche.com





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