Badgering for Open Source

This country is going to the dogs… figuratively. Bringing my December post back to the top in time for 2009: 

That Dog Just Won’t Hunt
Ms. Singleton back at Bishop State Community College would tell chemistry students, “That Dog Won’t Hunt!” when they’d emote an incorrect answer to her Socratic line of questioning. Knee jerk responses not ground in the laws of science or mathematics were not acceptable.

Similarly, Open Office may not be an ideal replacement at Big Company due to MS Office “lock-in” and the various realities created by existing patents, proprietary trade secrets or corporate thug life (had to toss in an urban contemporary plug). The Open Source dog may not be capable of seamless and costless integration into Big Company’s zeitgeist but does that mean that like America before the light bulb, that we ignore Thomas Alva Edison?

Go ahead and say it: I evangelize Open Source because I’m an advocate for the underdog, period. Absolutely! I stand so accused, believing that even if a lowly canine suddenly decides that he wants better than Alpo and rolling frolicks on the front lawn with his paws raised high to the sky, that he’s fully entitled to do so. If Rex wants to read The Canterbury Tales and adopt the life of an English gentleman, then we should let him lest we also risk becoming flea-ridden.

The Dachshund: Hot Dog Long On Purpose
America advanced rapidly because of her diverse workforce that consisted of bondsmen as well as immigrants that implemented tremendous ideas that advanced the industrial era and mass production  beyond anything that was possible elsewhere. She became a beacon that the rest of the world sought by any means at their disposal and left behind were the twin dinosaurs of bureaucracy and big  brother immersed in post feudalism.

Supporting this thought train, there was a dog in Germany with a pointed snout, tubular body and short, stubby legs. A peculiar site, he was no threat to the turf of the Greyhounds, Saint Bernard or Dalmatian. However, he could breach a hole, seize prey and be retrieved by his hunter due to his long tail. That’s no wiener schnitzel! Dachshunds survive today as a respected breed but were bred for a specific purpose: Badger Hunting

Like the zeitgeist propelling the American Experiment, Open Source is diversity in action; it’s not encumbered by CALs (Client Access Licenses) since the availability of zero-cost distribution frees the maximum number of minds to accomplish the one thing that large businesses laying off hundreds of thousands while soliciting corporate welfare from a government in need of infrastructure revitalization cannot: Productivity

If you’ve ever used an Open Source application, OS or web-authoring system like Open Office, Linux/Ubuntu, Acquia perhaps, you know about ease of download and usability and also that feedback is strongly encouraged. Small business is the backbone of our nation and nimbleness in quickly addressing market needs is the backbone of small business. Open Source applications free up resources for small businesses to better serve clients. In this downturn,  isn’t it worth having a new breed of dachshund retrieving badgers from the holes of lost profit?

Three Open Source Tricks For Old Media Dogs

Whurley is again spot on, old newspaper dachshunds must adopt new tricks if they’re going to remain center stage in the Open Source dog and pony show:

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Popular print media outlets are dying.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a small town rag or the world’s best-known brand, progress doesn’t discriminate.  How bad is it?  The New York Times (which owns the Boston Globe and many regional papers) owes $400 million more than it has on hand.  Both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press are limiting home delivery to 3 days a week in what they’re trying to spin as a “bold transformation” (read going out of business).  Newspapers are leaving the Associated Press.  The 137-year old Columbus Dispatch is cutting cost by cutting content.

So is this the end of the paper route?  In 10 years will news papers only be available in museums and Aunt Agnes’ basement?  What Superman will swoop in to save the Daily Planet?

None.

If newspapers want to survive the next five years, they’re going to have to adapt, period.  Here are three things those old media dogs can learn from open source.

Free your content and revenue will follow.

Newspapers should adopt the Creative Commons license.  It’s a proven model that works, and it’s available.  Creative commons would allow anyone to use the paper’s content for non-commercial purposes, while the paper retains copyright and gets proper attribution.  It also allows people to modify the content as long as they share the changes they make with the paper and anyone else under the same license.

Think of the new opportunities for monetization and the boost to online content sharing.  We’re talking about a new syndication model to drive direct licensing and ad revenues.  Here’s a copy of the license, and the code to include it on your website:

<a rel=”license” href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/”><img alt=”Creative Commons License” style=”border-width:0″ src=”http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-sa/3.0/88×31.png” /></a><br />This <span xmlns:dc=”http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/” href=”http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text” rel=”dc:type”>work</span> is licensed under a <a rel=”license” href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License</a>.

Dear Editor,

You should tailor this license for your jurisdiction and preferences.  If you have questions, I’m sure the fine folks at Creative Commons would be happy to help you with all of your licensing needs.  I’d ask you to donate to them, but you should wait until you pay your bills.

whurley

It’s not about content; it’s about community.

When I’m sounding the benefits of open source, one of my favorite lines is, “It’s not about the code; it’s about the community.”  Newspapers should embrace their customers and start making content with them.  They can reduce the cost of acquiring new content while producing content that’s more relevant to their readers.  Readers will show the paper what they’d like to see covered, how they’d like to see it covered, and how they’ like it delivered if given the opportunity.

CNN seems to get this at a high level.  They’ve created iReport.com, a site where user-generated stories are posted in a very open source format.  I predict people will eventually appreciate getting something back for more valuable content.  Note to the editor: build a graduated reward system for your top content producers.

Influence rather than control.

Just like the recording industry, newspapers need to learn the difference between control and influence.  Opting for control at every chance is suicide.  Stop force feeding and start soliciting content from your independent, tech-savvy audience.  Create contributor communities.  Set yourselves up as a well organized group of air traffic controllers, continually mentoring content contributors and pointing them in the direction of outlets that suit their content.

Newspapers influence is waning right alongside their revenues.  No time for “wait and see.”  It’s time to make a fundamental, evolutionary change to a business model that’s literally hundreds of years old.  So all you editors, board members, and media-outlet owners out there, give me or any of the other members of the open source community a call. I’m sure plenty of us are willing to help you survive the next five years.

I’ve only offered three suggestions.  Please use your comment to share your thoughts on what the print media might (or might not) learn from open source and social media.  Hopefully your comments will spark some open innovation.  Otherwise, we start telling stories about the paper boy riding his bike “five miles, uphill, in the snow, both ways.”

Harvard Seeking Scholars from Low-Income Households

 

Harvard is reaching out to achieving high school scholars from families making below $60,000 annually!

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Harvard University announced over the weekend that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families will pay no tuition.  In making the announcement, Harvard’s president Lawrence H. Summers said, “When only ten percent of the students in elite higher education come from families in the lower half of the income distribution, we are not doing enough.  We are not doing enough in bringing elite higher education to the lower half of the income distribution.” 

If you know of a family earning less than $60,000 a year with an honor student graduating from high school soon, Harvard University wants to pay the tuition.  The prestigious university recently announced that from now on undergraduate students from low-income families can go to Harvard for free… no tuition and no student loans!

To find out more about Harvard offering free tuition for families making less than $60,000 a year, visit Harvard’s financial aid website at http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu/ or call the school’s financial aid office at 617.495.1581