n the Drupal community we tend to talk about committing code to our public spaces (drupal.org, GitHub, etc.) in terms of "contributing" and "contributions", and while much of it can be seen in that altruistic light, there are actually very strong business reasons for publishing your code and/or attempting to get your code changes committed to the open source project that you are working on. Some of the business reasons for public publishing we'll explore will include: The power of peer review. With enough eyes, all bugs are shallow, and with only a few eyes the stupidity knows no depths! Fork you! The costs associated with "hacking" both Drupal core and contrib modules and base themes. Take my code, please! Cost savings from committing patches. Professionals publish or perish. Using open source contributions as marketing and lead generation. Developers are people, seriously. And like most people, they like recognition. Contributing to an open source project, and having their code used by a broad community, can be inspiring and motivating in a way that client work never can. In short, open source contributions help with recruiting and retention. Integrating contributions into your client engagements. This session will look at U.S. government and military documents that espouse the adoption of Drupal within the federal government and explore how Zivtech has used open source contributions as a cornerstone in growing their businesses. You will hopefully walk away convinced that open source isn’t just good, it’s good business. https://2014.drupalcampcolorado.org/session/open-source-isnt-just-good-its-good-business

1. OSS isn’t just good, it’s
good for business
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
alex@zivtech.com

2. • Philadelphia-based, founded in 2008
• Open Source Software Development, Design, & Training
• Specialize in application/product development
• LivIT - Remote Patient Monitoring & Population Health Mgmt
• Alex UA - Cofounder & CEO
• Worked with Drupal since 2004
• Professional troublemaker & hat enthusiast

3. The Benefits of OSS
…for “consumers”
(businesses and orgs)

4. The Problems
• Wide spread confusion as to the nature of Open
Source Software
• Requires a different mind set for development:
partially public development
• Lots of misinformation (FUD)
• Vendors don’t insist on contribution
• Publicly committing code is talked about talked as
strictly an altruistic activity

5. OSS goes to Washington
• Clarifying Guidance Regarding Open Source Software (OSS) - bit.ly/dod-ossh

6. What makes it OSS-ome?
• Broad peer review = more secure & better
quality code
• Flexibility over time- the world changes &
you must too
• No vendor lock-in
• No restrictions on users of OSS

7. What makes it OSS-ome?
• No per-seat licenses = scalable usage
• Shared maintenance = lower TCO
• Iteration & Experimentation
• Ability to vet developers

8. One is the loneliest number

9. Don’t Hack What?
• Drupal Core
• Contrib Modules
• ~16,700
• Custom Modules
• Site-specific code

10. Hook everything, hack nothing!
• Contrib made possible by Drupal’s
hook system
• Source of Drupal’s flexibility
• Functionality should be alterable from
another module
• This a bug, not a feature

11. Hack Nothing!
Flexibility & Scalability
• Can’t take advantage of improvements
• Can’t interact with other modules
• Can’t use common scaling techniques

12. Hack Nothing!
Long Term Costs
• You broke it, you own it
• Not able to share costs
• Nobody will contribute to your private
fork

13. Hack Nothing!
Support & Vendor Lock In
• Good shops won’t work with hacked
code, & neither should you
• Either get stuck with hackers or will
have to pay to replace hacks

14. Hack Nothing!
Quality Assurance
• With enough eyes, all bugs are shallow
• With few enough eyes, there is no
limit to the stupidity & mistakes
• Peer review increases quality
• QA is a process

15. Security
• Doesn’t fall under community security
processes / authorities
• Can’t easily apply security patches
• Lose “enough” eyes

16. How?
Will work for pay
• http://zivte.ch/otddodcio

17. Will work for pay
• DoD recommendation: Add contractual
incentives for getting code committed “up
stream”
• We still are asked for the opposite (i.e. to give
a client a “break” on our charges if we are
allowed to release it)
• Ability to freely commit code is a non-
negotiable part of contracts

18. The Benefits of OSS
…for vendors
• Lead Generation
• Employees
• Community recruitment
• Retention
• Training
• Shaming (QA)

19. The Benefits of OSS
…for vendors
• Virtuous cycles
• Those who pay vendors to build modules get
more Drupal-based customers
• Direct business benefits (getting paid to make
modules)
• BUT… keep the costs of contribution in mind

20. Zivtech’s Project &
Patching Processes
• Create specs
• Architecture plan
• Evaluating landscape & determine approach
• Use community code as possible
• Create custom module to extend existing
contrib modules (prefered) or create new
module

21. Zivtech’s Project &
Patching Processes
• Patch existing modules
• Tracking the change and posting to d.o
• Add to patches folder - deployed
automatically
• Code and resolve issue
• Review and iterate

22. Module or Patch?
• Maintaining a module is both a personal
& business commitment
• Is there a business benefit?
• Is it an itch you want to scratch?
• If answer to either is no, we patch

23. Best Patch EVAH!!!
-2522 lines, +148 lines

24. Questions?
Comments?
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg
Cofounder & CEO
alex@zivtech.com