the.world.is.flat-第23章
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of the world possible；〃 said Microsoft's Craig Mundie。
Indeed； thanks to this platform that emerged from the first three flat…teners； we
were not just able to talk to each other more； we were able to do more things together。
This is the key point； argued Joel Cawley； the IBM strategist。 〃We were not just
communicating with each other more than ever； we were now able to collaborate…to build
coalitions； projects； and products together…more than ever。〃
The next six flatteners represent the new forms of collaboration which this new
platform empowered。 As J show； some people will use this platform for open…sourcing；
some for outsourcing； some for offshoring； some for supply…chaining； some for
insourcing； and some for in…forming。 Each of these forms of collaboration was either
made possible by the new platform or greatly enhanced by it。 And as more and more
of us learn how to collaborate in these different ways； we are flattening the world
even more。
Flattener #4
Open…Sourcing
Self…Organizing Collaborative Communities
Alan Cohen still remembers the first time he heard the word 〃Apache〃 as an adult；
and it wasn't while watching a cowboys…and…Indians movie。 It was the 1990s； the
dot…com market was booming； and he was a senior manager for IBM； helping to oversee
its emerging e…commerce business。 〃I had a whole team with me and a budget of about
8 million；〃 Cohen recalled。 〃We were competinghead…to…head with Microsoft； Netscape；
Oracle； Sun…all the big boys。 And we were
playing this very big…stakes game for e…commerce。 IBM had a huge sales force selling
all this e…commerce software。 One day I asked the development director who worked
for me； 'Say； Jeff； walk me through the development process for these e…commerce
systems。 What is the underlying Web server？' And he says to me； It's built on top
of Apache。' The first thing I think of is John Wayne。 'What is Apache？' I ask。 And
he says it is a shareware program for Web server technology。 He said it was produced
for free by a bunch of geeks just working online in some kind of open…source chat
room。 I was floored。 I said； 'How do you buy it？' And he says； Tou download it off
a Web site for free。' And I said； 'Well； who supports it if something goes wrong？'
And he says； 'I don't know…it just works！' And that was my first exposure to Apache 。 。 。
〃Now you have to remember； back then Microsoft； IBM； Oracle； Netscape were all trying
to build commercial Web servers。 These were huge companies。 And suddenly my
development guy is telling me that he's getting ours off the Internet for free！ It's
like you had all these big corporate executives plotting strategies； and then suddenly
the guys in the mail room are in charge。 I kept asking； 'Who runs Apache？ I mean；
who are these guys？'〃
Yes； the geeks in the mail room are deciding what software they will be using and
what you will be using too。 It's called the open…source movement； and it involves
thousands of people around the world coming together online to collaborate in writing
everything from their own software to their own operating systems to their own
dictionary to their own recipe for cola…building always from the bottom up rather
than accepting formats or content imposed by corporate hierarchies from the top down。
The word 〃open…source〃 comes from the notion that companies or ad hoc groups would
make available online the source code…the underlying programming instructions that
make a piece of software work…and then let anyone who has something to contribute
improve it and let millions of others just download it for their own use for free。
While commercial software is copyrighted and sold； and companies guard the source
code as they would their crown jewels so they can charge money to anyone who wants
to use it and thereby generate income to develop new versions； open…
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source software is shared； constantly improved by its users； and made available for
free to anyone。 In return； every user who comes up with an improvement…a patch that
makes this software sing or dance better…is encouraged to make that patch available
to every other user for free。
Not being a computer geek； I had never focused much on the open…source movement； but
when I did； I discovered it was an amazing universe of its own； with communities of
online； come…as…you…are volunteers who share their insights with one another and then
offer it to the public for nothing。 They do it because they want something the market
doesn't offer them； they do it for the psychic buzz that comes from creating a
collective product that can beat something produced by giants like Microsoft or IBM；
and…even more important…to earn the respect of their intellectual peers。 Indeed；
these guys and gals are one of the most interesting and controversial new forms of
collaboration that have been facilitated by the flat world and are flattening it even
more。
In order to explain how this form of collaboration works； why it is a flattener and
why； by the way； it has stirred so many controversies and will be stirring even more
in the future； I am going to focus on just two basic varieties of open…sourcing： the
intellectual commons movement and the free software movement。
The intellectual commons form of open…sourcing has its roots in the academic and
scientific communities； where for a long time self…organized collaborative
communities of scientists have come together through private networks and later the
Internet to pool their brainpower or share insights around a particular science or
math problem。 The Apache Web server had its roots in this form of open…sourcing。 When
I asked a friend of mine； Mike Arguello； an IT systems architect； to explain to me
why people share knowledge or work in this way； he said； 〃IT people tend to be very
bright people and they want everybody to know just how brilliant they are。〃 Marc
Andreessen； who invented the first Web browser； agreed： 〃Open…source is nothing more
than peer…reviewed science。 Sometimes people contribute to these things because they
make science； and they discover things； and the reward is reputation。 Sometimes you
can build a business out of it； sometimes they just want to increase the store
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of knowledge in the world。 And the peer review part is critical…and open…source is
peer review。 Every bug or security hole or deviation from standards is reviewed。〃
I found this intellectual commons form of open…sourcing fascinating； so I went
exploring to find out who were those guys and girls in the mail room。 Eventually；
I found my way to one of their pioneers； Brian Behlendorf。 If Apache…the open…source
Web server community…were an Indian tribe； Behlendorf would be the tribal elder。 I
caught up with him one day in his glass…and…steel office near the San Francisco airport；
where he is now founder and chief technology officer of CollabNet； a start…up focused
on creating software for companies that want to use an open…source approach to
innovation。 I started with two simple questions： Where did you come from？ and： How
did you manage to pull together an open…source community of online geeks that could
go toe…to…toe with IBM？
〃My parents met at IBM in Southern California； and I grew up in a town just north
of Pasadena； La Canada；〃 Behlendorf recalled。 〃The public school was very competitive
academically； because a lot of the kids' parents worked at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory that was run by Caltech there。 So from a very early age I was around a
lot of science in a place where it was okay to be kind of geeky。 We always had computers
around the house。 We used to use punch cards from the original IBM mainframes for
making shopping lists。 In grade school； I started doing some basic programming； and
by high school I was pretty into computers。。。 I graduated in 1991； but in 1989； in
the early days of the Internet； a friend gave me a copy of a program he had downloaded
onto a floppy disk； called 'Fractint。' It was not pirated； but was freeware； produced
by a group of programmers； and was a program for drawing fractals。 ＇Fractals are
beautiful images produced a
