Open Source and CloudThe Two Great Tastes...

John Mark WalkerGluster.org Community Guy

Open Cloud Initiative Vice-presidentApril 4, 2012

April 6, 2012 The Future of Gluster.org - John Mark Walker

WTF is Cloud

● Cloud is a distributed and automated service delivery system

● Origins:

– Increasing emphasis on automation– Increasing reliance on network services– Increasing commoditization of hardware and

software components– Increasing scale-out of operations

● Goals: flexibility, agility, automation and economies of scale

WTF is Open Source

● Open source: distributed software development system● Origins:

– Increasing commoditization of software + downward price pressure

– Increasing connectivity and knowledge sharing between interested parties

– Increasing demands for easy adoption● Deploy first, ask questions later

– A sprinkling of advocacy● Goals: quicker development, economies of brain

scale, defining (and defending) fair marketplace

What They are not

● Open source != distribution system

● Freely available != open source

– See, eg. Splunk

● Cloud != virtualization or any specific type of software

● Automated, scalable service delivery over a network

Similarities of OSS and Cloud

● Both reflect a changing landscape in the data center towards automation and agility

● Both reflect increasing independence on the part of developers and operations

● Both also drive more of the above– Positive feedback loop for more data

center automation

Similarities of OSS and Cloud

● Open source facilitates adoption-led model● Cloud computing thrives on an adoption-led

model● Open source facilitates faster development● Cloud computing thrives on faster

development

Theories, Hypotheses and other Heretical Things

● Hypothesis #1:● Cloud computing is not possible without open

source● How do we test?

Party Like It's 1998

● You have a really cool research project at Stanford, do you...● A.) buy lots of expensive proprietary software,

hardware and hope the investors don't mind● B.) DIY with lots of custom glue around freely

available open source bits

Party Like It's 1998

● Pros and Cons of A:● Con: It's really expensive● Con: It's difficult to change course● Pro: Will (probably) be easier to deploy, configure

and admin● Conclusion: how much is your business agility

worth?

Party Like It's 1998

● Pros and Cons of B:● Con: It's really expensive● Con: A lot of necessary customization● Con: Domain experts are essential● Pro: I can do whatever I want

– Change on a dime; mix and match vendors● Conclusion: how much is your agility worth?

Party Like It's 1998

● It's not about up-front cost● It's about agility, fast adoption, iterative course

corrections, no gatekeepers● Ergo, Open source is necessary for cloud to

exist

● Prediction: every cloud player will utilize open source on a massive scale

The Cloud Ecosystem

● What major companies couldn't exist as we know them sans open source?

● See Paul Krugman's work on geographic impact on economies● Geographic ecosystems emerge and benefit each

other

Impact of Cloud

● The opposite isn't true● Cloud isn't necessary for open source to exist

● What is the impact of cloud on open source?

Impact of Cloud

3 possible hypotheses:● cloud computing deemphasizes software in

general, therefore will reduce production and/or consumption of open source software

● cloud computing will neither augment nor reduce production and/or consumption of open source software

● cloud computing will increase the production and consumption of open source software

Impact of Cloud

I chose #3!● Prediction: cloud computing will speed up the

development of open source software

Hypothesis debunking

● Hypothesis: cloud computing deemphasizes software in general, thus reducing need for open source software● yes, local software and traditional desktops are less relevant

– Local computing is also a delivery model, like cloud● BUT - open source isn't a delivery model, it's a development model

– Cloud computing still needs to run software– And cloud demands efficiency and agility– open source will continue to be utilized to build cloud-y services

Prediction: open source will continue to dominate cloud computing, and the need for open source software will only increase

Hypothesis debunking

Hypothesis #2: cloud computing will have no impact on open source software, because they're orthogonal● Yes, yes, one is a delivery model, the other is a development

model, therefore there's no causal connection, right?● competition == increasing demands for agility and efficiency ==

open source ● competition drives community participation● increasing popularity of cloud computing will drive increasing usage

of open source software

● separation of services from software actually makes this easier – ie. Open core is dead

Hypothesis Bunking

Hypothesis #3: cloud computing drives more open source software + participation● if #1 and #2 are false, then #3 must be true!

● if open source software gives companies more agility and helps them deliver services more efficiently, then there is definite ROI

● therefore, a company would be foolish not to invest in open source development

● the adoption-led model of open source ties directly into the credo of cloud computing:

build first, ask questions later

The Outer Limits

● Ok fine, Open source begets cloud, which begets more open source, now what?

Will cloud services be “open sourced” themselves?

What does that even mean?

The Outer Limits

Let's review the software world: Remember 1999? What happened?● Linux started the long trek to glory in the data center● So did apache● And MySQL. And PostgresQL● And later Mongo, Hadoop and GlusterFS :) ● And lots of other infrastructure technologies

But open source never took over the desktop/workstation

The Outer Limits

● Huh? Android! New mobile paradigm!● The apps are, alas, mostly non-free

Prediction: cloud services, like mobile apps and desktop applications, will remain mostly proprietary/non-free

The Outer Limits

● Huh? Android! New mobile paradigm!● The apps are, alas, mostly non-free

Prediction: cloud services, like mobile apps and desktop applications, will remain mostly proprietary/non-free

Open Source in Cloud-y World

What does open source mean in a cloud-y world?● Hypothesis: in a world where the distinction

between copyleft and liberal licensing is diminished, liberal licensing will grow

I, for one, welcome my new Apache overlords.

Open Source in Cloud-y World

GPL was made for local computers● delivering a service over a network does not

“convey” software, according to the GPL v3● the central driver of “vanilla” GPL is obviated● Apache licensing will continue to grow

Open Source in Cloud-y World

The Affero GPL was created to address this● closes the service provider loophole● copyleft in a cloudy world● is it enough?

Open Source in Cloud-y World

What's the lesson we learned form the desktop?● JM Keynes and local monopolies for every market

● every market entraps customers, preventing them from leaving● data matters● it just wasn't obvious enough in the context of local computing● the source code was not enough in all contexts

● in a cloudy world, importance of data is magnified● What does that portend?

Lock-in● The world is full of monopolies

– No such thing as frictionless economy

– Data represents the exit blocker

Entity 1 Entity 2 Entity 3

Entity 4 Entity 5

Open Source in a Cloud-y World

Is there an economic driver for Open Data?● Hypothesis: er... maybe? In some cases.● In some social media cases, maybe – walled

gardens do not lend themselves to total openness● Too much value in keeping some data locked up● Will competition prove the difference?

Open Source in a Cloud-y World

Is there an economic driver for Richard Stallman?● Probably not

Why is email (mostly) free?● Competition drove adoption of email standards

Summary

● Open source enables cloud computing● Cloud computing, in turn, enables more open

source● May not graduate to the service/app/data layer● NEEDZ MOAR RICHARD STALLMAN

Thank You

● My contact info● johnmark@redhat.com● Twitter & identi.ca: @johnmark● http://opencloudinitiative.org/● http://gluster.org/