Strategy, Tactics, and why companies are free to not contribute.

"Cisco has been a near non-entity as an open source contributor". Of course the author is right in its claims – the amount of contributed code to the Linux kernel is substantial but very "vertical", and specific to the needs of Cisco as a Linux adopter.

"Which is a perfectly sensible thing to do.

"The problem of "contribution" comes up and again in many discussions on open source and business adoption of OSS; it is, in fact, a source of major debate why participation is low, and what can be done to improve it. It is my opinion that there are some barriers to OSS contribution – namely, internal IPR policies, lack of understanding of how participation can be helpful and not just a gift to competitors, and more. On the other hand, two points should be made to complement this view: the first is that some companies contribute in ways that are difficult to measure, and the second is that sometimes companies have no economic reasons to do so."

Complete Story

Related Stories:

• Oracle's "new" kernel for RHEL clone: The real truth(Sep 21, 2010)
• Cisco doesn't contribute nearly enough to open source(Sep 21, 2010)
• Ubuntu, Canonical Wallow in Muddy Waters with Contributors' Agreements(Sep 21, 2010)
• Is Apple Now Blocking Contributions To GCC?(Sep 11, 2010)
• CodePlex Foundation Aims to Evolve Commercial Open Source(Aug 24, 2010)
• Microsoft: 'We love open source' (Aug 24, 2010)
• Ubootnu versus the neck beards.(Aug 11, 2010)