[ Thanks to xyld for this link.
]
“It’s a sure bet that talk around the water cooler and
coffee machine at the Kenton Chambers high-tech precinct will soon
turn to the benefits of open source software. The Cashel Street
building is about to get a fresh crop of tenants who are all
passionate about open systems, and who have formed an innovative
collaborative structure to enable them to work together without
losing their own business identities.Software developers Egressive and iOpen Technologies, and
design-entity ZYPE, were the first companies to sign on for the
venture, which is based around a cluster arrangement of companies,
formalised by way of a joint shareholding in an umbrella company.
More are expected to join as the group ensures a telecommunications
infrastructure is ready for their move into the offices at Kenton
Chambers.Egressive’s Dave Lane said the group members all have a
commitment to open source development, and a belief that
hierarchical corporate structures have had their day. “The
corporate model had the advantage of being able to invest large
amounts in big jobs, but it has proved increasingly difficult for
corporates to maintain stable channels of communication. Its
biggest impediment now is the slow speed at which it can learn new
technologies. “People with different skills become separated by the
different layers of the corporate structure, and that’s a bad thing
in software development – an industry where you either adapt
to changes … or you perish.”