We open if we die

I wrote a few comments about introducing "guarantees" in software -- how do you assure your customers that they won't be left in the lurch if you go down. It generated a healthy discussion and that gave me an opportunity to fine-tune the definition of "insurance" in software. Openness is such an advantage to foster great discussions and free dialogue.

So reading this piece of news this morning via phoronix about a company called pogoplug has me really excited. I'd feel vindicated if they could increase their customer base by that announcement. I hope they don't go down; but I'd also like to see them go open regardless of their financial health; if an idea is out in the market, there'll be people copying it and implementing it in different ways anyway. If, instead, they open up their code right away, they can engage a much wider community in enhancing their software and prevent variants from springing up which might even offer competing features.