[Asterisk-biz] Open Business Plan

[Tom Rymes]

On Dec 15, 2005, at 4:17 AM, Alan Gutierrez wrote:

> * Mike Fedyk <mfedyk at mikefedyk.com> [2005-12-15 03:42]:
>> Schneider, Silvio wrote:
>>>
>>>> Business will never quite get the idea of giving away product or  
>>>> trade
>>>>
>>> secrets without having it be a loss leader.  That's just  
>>> business, plain
>>> and simple.
>>>
>>> So why then is asterisk open source? Think about it and rewire your
>>> braincells.
>
>> Because the software is the loss-leader...
>
> Uh, huh. It sound like the high-school arguments against altrusim.
>
> Q) Why then would a person give their time and money to the poor?
> A) To alliveate their own guilt, thus giving to charity is a purely
>     selfish act.

Well, not to get off topic, but you use the word selfish as if that  
is a bad thing! The reasons a person might give their time and money  
to the poor as diverse as the people involved. Someone might give  
because they like to, because it makes them feel good, because they  
might be poor one day and they would like someone to do the same for  
them, because it makes them happy... All of those are selfish reasons  
and GOOD reasons!  On the other hand, giving to charity because you  
feel obligated, because you think you have to, or in spite of the  
fact that you don't like to are all unselfish and BAD reasons.  
Selfish != bad; don't assume it does.

As for the current topic, Asterisk isn't open source because it's a  
loss-leader for Digium, simply because Asterisk pre-dates digium's  
founding. Asterisk is indeed a loss leader for Digium, but that  
wasn't the reason it is open-source. I don't know the reason that  
Asterisk was open sourced, but I guarantee it was a selfish one! (and  
open sourcing something because it makes you feel good to contribute  
something to the community is a selfish reason.)

Lastly, open sourcing a business plan isn't a bad idea, per se. It  
has it's pitfalls (you might be helping your future competitors), and  
its benefits (You might end up with a better plan, and even a better  
business, by getting help from the community at large.) Now, whether  
open sourcing YOUR business plan is a good idea for you is another  
question entirely!

Tom

--------------------
Tom Rymes
Cascade Link Systems
www.cascadelinksystems.com
(603) 375-1414

"Intelligent technology solutions for small businesses."