Loads has been written about moving domino to an open source delivery model. It has gone as far as hmnl showing an openletter to Steve Mills. I am not a supporter of delivering Domino as a piece of opensource that you download on sourceforge but I am a fan on opensouring Domino education. I think that access to the software and the training materials to enable to use and building of solutions creates the potential for growth.
I think the following resources would be useful to engender this growth:
- Preconfigured Domino stack on Linux and vmware -ready to go
- Formal course materials
- Certification enablement materials
- Sample development and administration projects (end to end that work!)
The software model of the day is essentially give 99% away and make money on 1% left, lets start giving education and knowledge away and create the potential of increased attention.
The question for the Lotus community is how much are they prepared to give-away for free with no guarentee of a payback? discuss.
March 1st, 2009 at 10:04 pm
I almost agree. IBM seems to be successfully doing this with DB2 (lot of engagement in education) and I’m pretty sure this could be done with Domino.
I’m not sure I’d give away for free certification preparation but all the rest of the stuff is a very good idea.
In particular the “sample projects” is the best showcase for selling a product.
I’m working on something like this (sample, production quality project) for WebSphere Portal and I’m looking forward to release it.
If you’re interestd my “sample” is about portal enabling the LeadManager application released on OpenNTF with all the bells and whistles you would expect from a production quality portal software. Not just the usual “hello world” project in portlet factory.
March 1st, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@Daniele Very interested in your sample, where will you post the content when it is completed?
March 2nd, 2009 at 1:06 am
I think today in terms of giving patterns of development with regard to the Domino world, has been a huge limitation, which should be filled soon. In this sense, the Lotus community can make a huge contribution, even if it means starting from IBM. We note that with the release of Lotus Foundations, It will amplify the problem further, at least I hope so.!
March 2nd, 2009 at 3:18 am
@Chris, I’m preparing something that you’ll like a lot (it’s part of my portal in the clouds project)
I’ll add it there and make it available for download on my website (maybe CVS) or (even better) trough openntf (even if it’s a portlet factory project).
I’ll be showcasing it tomorrow as part of an IBM event.