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 Is Open Source Development a Smart Path to Technology Transfer?
With Open Source, developers post software source code (from which executable code is compiled) on the Internet, thereby making the code available on a non-exclusive basis to anyone interested in using it. Typical Open Source licenses establish conditions for use that allow the software to evolve as those who download the code review it and make and release improvements. In fact, Open Source allows code "check ins" by anyone who wishes to contribute enhancements, while the original developer generally remains responsible for integrating code contributions, moderating conflicts, and republishing the source code as needed. The growth of the Internet has helped to make Open Source a popular means of technology transfer. Developers can release their code and quickly get feedback. Because economic considerations do not constrain the distribution of Open Source software, the software can be used broadly. There are a number of situations in which Open Source is an appropriate outlet for innovative technology produced by companies such as MITRE. Software developers considering Open Source release, however, should recognize its limitations. In some cases source code cannot be released because it contains non-releasable third-party software or other proprietary or classified information. Even if the code can be released, Open Source provides no guarantee that a "community of interest" will ever develop or that software evolution will be supported. If the original developer lacks the resources or the intention to moderate the software and cannot hand off further developments to another entity, the attempt to transfer technology may fail. For every Open Source success, such as Linux, there are many other programs that never receive support and never evolve into widespread commercial applications. In certain situations, however, Open Source is an appropriate outlet for innovative technology. Often, software code has no commercial potential in its current state, but can serve as a prototype for industry or can make an important contribution when incorporated within another application. It may also have broad appeal to a research or software development community that could carry out further development. In deciding whether or not to make something available as Open Source, MITRE (and similar organizations) must consider the fact that we cannot provide support for the software after our research effort has ended. MITRE must hand off prototypes to a contractor or commercial company for ongoing support. Sometimes, because of support/maintenance issues, Open Source may not be the optimal model for transfer. For commercial companies, many Open Source licenses have obvious drawbacks. A company would not want to make a significant investment in commercializing software if the license requires it to release the source code for the final product under an Open Source license. Companies would have little incentive to make an investment if they knew their competitors could download the same software at no cost. Therefore, while the Open Source model has much merit, another technology transfer mechanism is generally preferable when the objectives are near-term commercialization and supportability. Bear in mind that there are many different versions of Open Source licenses—for example, General Public License (GPL), Mozilla, and BSD (Known as the Berkeley license). The Open Source Initiative lists more than 40 approved licenses (www.opensource.org). Many of these licenses address some of the business concerns that have been mentioned here. For example, the "Mozilla" and "MITRE CVW License" (both approved Open Source licenses) provide a way for a company to add proprietary elements to Open Source software. In cases where an Open Source license is appropriate, selecting the right license can enable the transfer to be truly successful. For more information about MITRE-developed software programs available for download, see MITRE Technology Transfer - Downloadable Software. These include such popular programs as Spitfire (a network intrusion detection workstation prototype) and Alembic (a natural language tagging tool), which have had hundreds of downloads. Through these efforts and others, MITRE continues to expand options for the use of Open Source for technology transfer. |
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If
you read much technology news, it's hard to miss articles praising
the virtues of Open Source software. At issue is a mechanism for technology
transfer with potential for both growth and stagnation.