12 Ways to Make Oregon The Center of the Open Source Movement, Again

Monday, December 15, 2014

Guest MINDSETTER James Reilly

At one time Oregon was the epicenter of the Open Source software movement and with the right public policies, the state could be the center of the movement again.

The Open Source movement is to traditional software what Galileo (or Copernicus) was to the Catholic Church: in a word heresy.

Unlike Adobe, Microsoft and Oracle who sell software licenses the Open Source approach is to give software away for free. Open Source developers forego license revenue and instead charge customers for installation, maintenance, upgrades and custom add-ons built upon that free software.

Oregon was home to the precursor to the Linux Software Foundation and is still home to Linus Torvalds the creator of the world’s most popular operating system Linux. While Mr. Torvalds is still the ultimate power behind Linux, by his own admission, his contribution to Linux (in relative terms) diminishes even as the number of coders and interest in Linux explodes. This is not to say that Mr. Torvalds is not working hard but instead that the market is outpacing his participation.

Like Mr. Torvalds, Oregon’s position in this critical technology market appears to track that same trajectory. Oregon has a vibrant technology community with many companies utilizing and even adding to Open Source projects yet the relative importance of Oregon’s contribution decreases with each passing year.

The Linux Software Foundation move to San Francisco in 2007 marked a change in Oregon’s policy toward Open source software. HB 2005 (March 2007) calling for a task force on Open Source software was the last bill that even mentioned Open Source as a topic. Since then the intensity of focus by Oregon on Open Source software development has been if not lackluster then certainly insufficient to keep pace with the burgeoning marketplace

Rather than rehash the past, what can be done to turn around this situation? The following are a few concrete suggestions that could be implemented to bolster Oregon’s Open Source footprint.

The State should adopt a policy approach similar to what Hawaii does for its tourism industry. In other words Oregon should view the potential for Open Source software companies in Oregon as an implicit natural resource that needs to be cultivated and promoted. Just as Hawaii spends to ensure their primary business of tourism is supported, Oregon could or should do the same to shore up Oregon’s Open Source economy.

Change the law so that Oracle is not implicitly specified as the solution of choice for State IT projects. For example House Bill 4135 signed by Kitzhaber earlier this year uses language defining “Open Systems” that is mirrored on Oracle product literature. No mention of Open Source is included in any legislation in the last two years and the only reference to Open Source in any legislation after 2007 is in reference to reducing the cost of educational textbooks.

Work to reestablish an office of the Linux Software Foundation in Portland. While Linux has grown and Mr. Torvalds plays a smaller role than he did 20 years ago, he still is the ultimate arbiter of what goes into the Linux kernel and his presence in Oregon is important. The Linux Foundation has a budget of $6 million per year. This is peanuts compared to what was lost on Cover Oregon. Even a satellite Linux Software Foundation office with Mr. Torvalds will be seen as a major commitment by Oregon and will hold important symbolism.

Change the mindset and the Government policy about purchasing Open Source software. As part of this effort one could formally engage the Linux Foundation as an advisor to the State so that future legislation and projects are more closely aligned with the direction of the Linux Foundation efforts.

Instead of purchasing proprietary software create a state run DARPA or NASA like organization to engage local software houses anytime new software is needed. When NASA or DARPA require new technologies they engage with several vendors and allow them to compete to build out the best solutions. Engaging several local software companies to build out Open Source solutions for the State reduces costs and risks both for the State and for the vendors.

Develop a real Venture Capital fund to support open source movement and work with VC professionals that know what they are doing and are committed to Oregon. Presently the VC community in Oregon is anemic to moribund. There are more active venture capitalists headquartered in Botswana than there are headquartered in Oregon. Intel Capital for example has over 75 investments in California and only five in Oregon and none that are focusing on Open Source technologies. The only three active VCs have satellite offices in Portland and all other companies listed online as Oregon VC firms are no longer investing in new companies.

Stop pretending that everyone can learn to code and have a job in software. This is false and a waste of resources. Yes the State should have programs for anyone under 20 to become computer literate but by the age of 20 most people that can code already know this to be true. Software development is a self-selecting and addictive past time. Instead, set up a scholarship program for the top ten technology schools where anyone who is admitted is provided a scholarship if they agree to move back to Oregon and work in technology in Oregon for the next ten years.

Do a summer Open Source software job internship program, similar to Google’s Summer of Code, where companies get free staff to work on Open Source software and interns are paid nominal dollars but are able to include the internship on their resume.

Change the legal system so that it is not so corrupt. This is easier said than done. Oregon received a “D” in a recent judicial report card. Startup companies desperately need the protection of the law not the perversion of it by insiders and dirty dealing lawyers. Investors in Oregon treat startups as resources to steal from. Until Oregon emerges as a first rate protector of small businesses it will have a tough time attracting both quality talent and quality investment money.

Make Open Source tourism a high priority. The State’s top officials should focus efforts on recruiting more Open Source related conferences and expositions. If Cylvia Hayes wants to do something genuinely useful for the State have the Governor put her on a plane to visit Northern California and sell O’Reilly Associates or the Linux Software Foundation on permanently hosting their flagship software events in Portland.

Setup an Open Source software company incubator/ Reality TV show. This is perhaps my favorite idea. For those who are fans of the HBO Series Silicon Valley, or AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire imagine them as reality TV. During the winter there are many resorts that have all but shut down that would love to have a six month reality show/ Open Source startup contest with all the same drama as Survivor or Jersey Shore yet with a real purpose. If the Learning Channel can do Honey Boo Boo why not raise the bar a bit and let some nerds embarrass themselves instead?

Above everything else Oregon voters should elect officials that are from the technology industry. The biggest disadvantage Oregon has is that the there are no technology-experienced executives in senior position in Oregon State Government. This is why when Cover Oregon went south the ill-conceived remedy was to throw legal resources down the drain chasing a fruitless outcome. The problem is not whether the Governor, Attorney General, etc. are competent but instead that they are dancing a polka when the world has moved on to EDM.<

These are a few ideas that will help Oregon move again towards the epicenter of the next generation of the software industry. While it is a tragedy that ground was lost, it can be recovered if there is political will to do so.

Banner photo by Kovah CC