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Interactive Securities. XBRL and Open Source: Where Are We?. December 6, 2006 Philadelphia Brian DeLacey bdelacey@interactivesecurities.com. This Session.
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Interactive Securities XBRL and Open Source:Where Are We? December 6, 2006 Philadelphia Brian DeLacey bdelacey@interactivesecurities.com
This Session • XBRL is at a key stage in its development as a standard. The specification is complete, even if it is complicated. What it suffers from is limited adoption in the marketplace. An open source approach to building key software components could help. This session will summarize current open source efforts around XBRL.
Audience • How many are developing XBRL software? • How many are users of XBRL software? • How many are both?
Outline • What is Open Source and Free Software? • A Short History of Open Source Software • Licensing Open Source Software • How do you build, “buy”, and share it? • Development, Business, Distribution • XBRL and Open Source • Past, Present, Future • Conclusions • Questions
What is Open Source? • Free Redistribution • Source Code Included • Derived Works Under the Same Terms • Integrity of Authors’ Original Source • No Discrimination • License Must Not Restrict Other Software • Technology Neutral Source: Open Source Initiative
What is Free Software? • What is the definition of Free Software? • Freedom to Run The Program for Any Purpose • Freedom to Study How The Program Works and Adapt it for Your Own Needs • Freedom to Redistribute Copies • Freedom to Improve The Program Free software is a matter of liberty not price. Think of "free" as in "free speech". Source: Free Software Foundation
OSS • FOSS = Free/Open Source Software • FLOSS = Free/Libre/Open Source Software • OSS = For this session, we will refer to the collective area as “open source software” • There are a many more commonalities than differences across all of these definitions
A Short History: OSS Evolves • 1950s – IBM’s SHARE user group • 1960s – ARPANET and RFCs • 1970s – DARPA and TCP/IP • 1980s – The ‘Charlie Hoffman’ era begins • Richard Stallman and Free Software Foundation • Public Domain Software for PCs • 1990s – The Open Source Initiative • WWW, Netscape, Linux, Apache, W3C, and more • 2000+ - Open Source Application Foundation
A Short History: OSS Today • How many people use open source? • Firefox, Linux, MySQL, Open Office, Eclipse, Apache Web Server, Mac OS X, TiVo • Web Servers • 105+ million sites, with 61% running Apache • From Seven Dwarfs to Seven Freax* of OSS • IBM, Oracle, Sun, Novell, Apple, Adobe, and Ubuntu *Free + freak + X for Unix was Torvalds’ name for Linux These companies rely on OSS to generate $$$ revenue
What about OSS and XBRL? • Do you use Open Source XBRL software? • Processing • Viewing • Taxonomy Development • Good news • OSS and XBRL has a bright future • In what situations does OSS succeed?
OSS: Success Factors • High Need • Public Good • Community (tight communication loops) • Ecosystem of Beneficiaries • Active Organizational Support • Accessible Toolset (Python, Ruby, Script …) • Organized Development/Testing Processes
Licensing Open Source Software • OSS is intellectual property • The bad news: This is a complicated area • The good news: There are choices • The best news: This is likely to get better and easier in the future • Here’s why …
Licensing Open Source Software • The Classics • GPL is the GNU General Public License • BSD is from Berkley • MIT • Mozilla • Plus many others…. • It is in the best interests of customers and vendors to simplify this area and reduce risk
How do you build, “buy”, and share it? • Development Models • Developer Motivations • OSS Project Archetypes • Business Models • Questions, questions, questions…. • Making Money / Saving Money • Distribution Models
Development Models: Motivations • Social / Community – 53.2% • Learning, sharing knowledge, getting involved • Career / Monetary – 31.4% • Job opportunities, reputation, software distribution • Political – 17% • Proprietary = Bad, Limit Big = Empower others • Product Related – 2.6% • Where there isn’t a proprietary alternative Source: 2002 Survey, Int’l Institute of Infonomics
Development Models: Archetypes • Revolutionary – Richard Stallman • May 1989, Marching on Lotus • Shrek the Gentle Giant – IBM, Sun, Mozilla • Philanthropist – Mitch Kapor • Heavyweight Crew – Expert team, Apache • Uncle Sam – Gov’t Agency like DARPA • Accidental Revolutionary – Linus Torvalds • Send postcards, not money
Business Models: Questions • Software Companies • How much does it cost to give software away? • How do I make money by giving software away? • End User Organizations • How much does it cost to use free software? • Where is your core competency? • What are your revenue and cost flows?
Business Models: Making Money • Packaging • Technical Support • Customization (Embedding, OEM) • Subscriptions • Professional Services • Bundle with Hardware, Systems Sales • Dual Licensing Possibilities (e.g. MySQL)
Business Models: Saving Money • Outsourced Activities Can Lower Costs • Ongoing Maintenance • Sustaining Development • Increasing Innovation from Outside • Enabling Multi-Vendor Sourcing • Changes to your Risk Structure • Concentrate resources • on areas of competitive advantage
Distribution Models • Commercial Off-the-shelf (COTS) • Web 2.0 – Interactive Web Applications • Finance Portals • Yahoo!, Google, MSN, Wall Street Journal • Modules and Extensions • OEM Bundled Services • Custom / Systems Solutions
XBRL and Open Source: The Past • “I’d like to see the Commission consider Open Source Software …” • Brian DeLacey, in a public comment letter to the SEC on June 9, 2006
XBRL and Open Source:A Sense of the possible • “… the software that we develop and the XBRL tags we are paying to write will all be open source.” • SEC Chairman Cox, October 3, 2006, “Interactive Data Roundtable: New Software to Make Better Information a Reality”
XBRL and Open Source: Now • University of Cologne, Holger Obst • Bryant University, XBRL Education Center • Standard Advantage (XSLT samples) • ABRA (Java, XSLT), Thomas Klement • XBRLAPI (Java), Geoff Shuetrim • Rivet XBRL Viewer (.NET based) • UBMatrix XBRL Processor (Java based)
ABRA • Release version 0.9 (end of 2006) • improved performance and robustness • instance collections, incremental loading • Dimensional Taxonomies • Generic Linkbases • no backwards compatibility to version 0.8 • Release 1.0 (expected at Munich Conference) • validation of instances and taxonomies • Apache 2.0 License
XBRL and Open Source – in the house • UBMatrix – Steve Hord • “.. a great accelerator of technology adoption” Sunir Kapoor, President and CEO of UBmatrix. • Sourceforge Codebase, Java, Release by end of 2006 • Rivet – Rob Blake • "By working with the open source community we hope to accelerate the ability of users and developers alike to create even more innovative applications based on the XBRL global standard." Mike Rohan, president of Rivet • Release in First Quarter 2007
XBRL and Open Source: Future • Key Characteristics • Quality • Performance • Variety • Ubiquity • Standards Based • Compatible Implementations • Good Documentation
Conclusions • XBRL provides the right environment for Open Source Software to thrive • XBRL software vendors have demonstrated leadership in moving to Open Source • Customers who use XBRL have great incentives to encourage more Open Source! • Open Source will accelerate XBRL adoption • Using XBRL will become as easy as TiVo
Questions? • How do I get copies of XBRL filings for free? • What would Rocky do? • Will vendors work together or fight for turf? • When will browsers have XBRL add-ins? • What happens if the SEC’s deployment of Interactive Data is wildly successful? • Thank you for your interest!
Further Reading • The Value of Openness in Scientific Problem Solving by Karim R. Lakhani , Lars Bo Jeppesen , Peter A. Lohse & Jill A. Panetta (Unpublished Working Paper, 2006, Harvard Business School, Soldiers Field, Boston, MA, 02163, USA) • Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software by Joseph Feller, et. al. (2005) • Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology by Henry Chesbrough (2005) • Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing by Andrew M. St. Laurent (2004) • The Success of Open Source by Steven Weber (2004, 2005) • The Business and Economics of Linux and Open Source by Martin Fink (2003) • Free as in Freedom: Richard Stallman's Crusade for Free Software by Sam Williams (2002) • The Cathedral & the Bazaar : Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary by Eric S. Raymond (2001) • Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond (2001) • Open Source: The Unauthorized White Papers, Donald K. Rosenberg (2000) • Open Source and MicroEconomics: What’s it mean to me and my company?, www.interactivesecurities.com/Open_Source_and_My_Company.html