Challenges with Open Source Project Management and Project Governance: Opening Up with Simon Phipps, Sun's Chief Open Source Officer. With 20 years of experience in software development, Simon Phipps has helped guide Sun's open source strategy, including the OpenSolaris project. Now, as chief open source officer at Sun, Phipps has been given the weighty task of deciding how to open source all of Sun's software. Inner Circle recently sat down with Phipps to discuss open source licenses, working with communities of developers, and how governance of open source projects is critical to success.

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Opening Up with Simon Phipps, Sun's Chief Open Source Officer.

With 20 years of experience in software development, Simon Phipps has helped guide Sun's open source strategy, including the OpenSolaris project. Now, as chief open source officer at Sun, Phipps has been given the weighty task of deciding how to open source all of Sun's software.

Inner Circle recently sat down with Phipps to discuss open source licenses, working with communities of developers, and how governance of open source projects is critical to success.

Inner Circle: You've now been in the chief open source officer position for almost a year. Tell us about your role and its responsibilities.

PHIPPS: It's an exciting role, and one that leverages what I've done as chief technology evangelist at Sun in the past. In this role, my responsibilities have expanded as a result of the formation of the Open Source Group at Sun. This particular group has quite a broad and diverse set of responsibilities — as might be expected from an organization that exists to create a consistent approach across all of Sun's open source projects.

» What are some of the challenges that the Open Source Group must confront?

PHIPPS: Licensing policy is obviously a very important matter for us, but the Open Source Group at Sun has other equally important tasks. It also seeks to determine how Sun is going to identify its open source projects, as well as what approaches should be taken with regards to the governance of open source projects. Within the team there are people with a technical interest in the open sourcing of Java, Solaris, and Sun development tools. Plus, the group also helps the customer-facing staff understand and communicate Sun's open source commitment.

» Can you tell us which open source business model Sun supports?

PHIPPS: I think it's funny that people still talk about an open source business model. As far as I can tell, there is no single business model for open source projects. The term "open source" really describes what happens when a community of developers gathers around a shared body of source code, and uses that knowledge to create software products or programs that meet specific needs. But, those needs are not always the same thing. Some developers are working on open source projects to make money, others for social ends, and some are in it for the fun of it.

So, just as there are many different motivations for involvement, there are many different business models that can be used by an open source community. At Sun, our current thinking tends to promote a model that makes the software available completely without charge. Then we provide services that are useful in putting that open source-based software into production.

» Broadening the discussion a bit, what are the biggest challenges that open source communities, in general, face today?