the.world.is.flat-第19章

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They　said　it　wasn't　up　to　their　standards！　The　compensation　that　the　community　
expected　was　our　best　contribution。〃　
On　June　22；　1998；　IBM　announced　plans　to　incorporate　Apache　into　its　own　new　Web　server　
product；　named　WebSphere。　The　way　the　Apache　collaborative　community　organized　itself；　
whatever　you　took　out　of　Apache's　code　and　improved　on；　you　had　to　give　back　to　the　
whole　community。　But　you　were　also　free　to　go　out　and　build　a　patented　commercial　
product　on　top　of　the　Apache　code；　as　IBM　did；　provided　that　you　included　a　copyright　
citation　to　Apache　in　your　own　patent。　In　other　words；　this　intellectual　commons　
approach　to　open…sourcing　encour…　

aged　people　to　build　commercial　products　on　top　of　it。　While　it　wanted　the　foundation　
to　be　free　and　open　to　all；　it　recognized　that　it　would　remain　strong　and　fresh　if　
both　commercial　and　noncommercial　engineers　had　an　incentive　to　participate。　
Today　Apache　is　one　of　the　most　successful　open…source　tools；　powering　about　
two…thirds　of　the　Web　sites　in　the　world。　And　because　Apache　can　be　downloaded　for　
free　anywhere　in　the　world；　people　from　Russia　to　South　Africa　to　Vietnam　use　it　to　
create　Web　sites。　Those　individuals　who　need　or　want　added　capabilities　for　their　
Web　servers　can　buy　products　like　WebSphere；　which　attach　right　on　top　of　Apache。　
At　the　time；　selling　a　product　built　on　top　of　an　open…source　program　was　a　risky　
move　on　IBM's　part。　To　its　credit；　IBM　was　confident　in　its　ability　to　keep　producing　
differentiated　software　applications　on　top　of　the　Apache　vanilla。　This　model　has　
since　been　widely　adopted；　after　everyone　saw　how　it　propelled　IBM's　Web　server　
business　to　commercial　leadership　in　that　category　of　software；　generating　huge　
amounts　of　revenue。　
As　I　will　repeat　often　in　this　book：　There　is　no　future　in　vanilla　for　most　companies　
in　a　flat　world。　A　lot　of　vanilla　making　in　software　and　other　areas　is　going　to　shift　


to　open…source　communities。　For　most　companies；　the　commercial　future　belongs　to　
those　who　know　how　to　make　the　richest　chocolate　sauce；　the　sweetest；　lightest　whipped　
cream；　and　the　juiciest　cherries　to　sit　on　top；　or　how　to　put　them　all　together　into　
a　sundae。　Jack　Messman；　chairman　of　the　Novell　software　company；　which　has　now　become　
a　big　distributor　of　Linux；　the　open…source　operating　system；　atop　which　Novell　
attaches　gizmos　to　make　it　sing　and　dance　just　for　your　company；　put　it　best：　
〃Commercial　software　companies　have　to　start　operating　further　up　the　＇software＇　
stack　to　differentiate　themselves。　The　open　source　community　is　basically　focusing　
on　infrastructure〃　（Financial　Times；　June　14；　2004）。　
The　IBM　deal　was　a　real　watershed。　Big　Blue　was　saying　that　it　believed　in　the　
open…source　model　and　that　with　the　Apache　Web　server；　this　open…source　community　
of　engineers　had　created　something　that　was　not　just　useful　and　valuable　but　〃best　
in　its　class。〃　That's　why　the　open…source　movement　has　become　a　powerful　flattener；　
the　effects　of　which　we　are　just　beginning　to　see。　〃It　is　incredibly　empowering　of　
indi…　

viduals；〃　Brian　Behlendorf　said。　〃It　doesn't　matter　where　you　come　from　or　where　you　
are…someone　in　India　and　South　America　can　be　just　as　effective　using　this　software　
or　contributing　to　it　as　someone　in　Silicon　Valley。〃　The　old　model　is　winner　take　
all：　I　wrote　it；　I　own　it…the　standard　software　license　model。　〃The　only　way　to　compete　
against　that；〃　concluded　Behlendorf；　〃is　to　all　become　winners。〃　
Behlendorf；　for　his　part；　is　betting　his　career　that　more　and　more　people　and　companies　
will　want　to　take　advantage　of　the　new　flat…world　platform　to　do　open…source　
innovation。　In　2004；　he　started　a　new　company　called　CollabNet　to　promote　the　use　
of　open…sourcing　asa　tool　to　drive　software　innovation　within　companies。　〃Our　premise　
is　that　software　is　not　gold；　it　is　lettuce…it　is　a　perishable　good；〃　explained　
Behlendorf。　〃If　the　software　is　not　in　a　place　where　it　is　getting　improved　over　time；　
it　will　rot。〃　What　the　open…source　community　has　been　doing；　said　Behlendorf；　is　
globally　coordinated　distributed　software　development；　where　it　is　constantly　
freshening　the　lettuce　so　that　it　never　goes　rotten。　Behlendorfs　premise　is　that　the　
open…source　community　developed　a　better　method　for　creating　and　constantly　updating　
software。　CollabNet　is　a　company　created　to　bring　the　best　open…source　techniques　
to　a　closed　community；　i。e。；　a　commercial　software　company。　
〃CollabNet　is　an　arms　dealer　to　the　forces　flattening　the　world；〃　said　Behlendorf。　
〃Our　role　in　this　world　is　to　build　the　tools　and　infrastructure　so　that　an　individual　
…in　India；　China；　or　wherever…as　a　consultant；　an　employee；　or　just　someone　sitting　
at　home　can　collaborate。　We　are　giving　them　the　toolkit　for　decentralized　
collaborative　development。　We　are　enabling　bottom…up　development；　and　not　just　in　
cyberspace　。　。　。　We　have　large　corporations　who　are　now　interested　in　creating　a　
bottom…up　environment　for　writing　software。　The　old　top…down；　silo　software　model　
is　broken。　That　system　said；　'I　develop　something　and　then　I　throw　it　over　the　wall　
to　you。　You　find　the　bugs　and　then　throw　it　back。　I　patch　it　and　then　sell　a　new　
version。'　There　is　constant　frustration　with　getting　software　that　is　buggy…maybe　
it　will　get　fixed　or　maybe　not。　So　we　said；　'Wouldn't　it　be　interesting　if　we　could　


take　the　open…source　benefits　of　speed　of　innovation　and　higher…quality　software；　
and　that　feel…　
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ing　of　partnership　with　all　these　stakeholders；　and　turn　that　into　a　business　model　
for　corporations　to　be　more　collaborative　both　within　and　without？'〃　
I　like　the　way　Irving　Wladawsky…Berger；　IBM's　Cuban…born　vice　president　for　technical　
strategy　andinnovation；　summed　open…sourcing　up：　〃This　emerging　era　is　characterized　
by　the　collaborative　innovation　of　many　people　working　in　gifted　communities；　just　
as　innovation　in　the　industrial　era　was　characterized　by　individual　genius。〃　
The　strikingthing　about　the　intellectual　commons　form　of　open…sourcing　is　how　quickly　
it　has　morphed　into　other　spheres　and　spawned　other　self…organizing　collaborative　
communities；　which　are　flattening　hierarchies　in　their　areas。　I　see　this　most　vividly　
in　the　news　profession；　where　bloggers；　one…person　online　commentators；　who　often　
link　to　one　another　depending　on　their　ideology；　have　created　a　kind　of　open…source　
newsroom。　I　now　read　bloggers　（the　term　comes　from　the　word　〃Weblog〃）　as　part　of　my　
daily　information…gathering　routine。　In　an　article　about　how　a　tiny　group　of　
relatively　obscure　news　bloggers　were　able　to　blow　the　whistle　that　exposed　the　bogus　
documents　used　by　CBS　News's　Dan　Rather　in　his　infamous　report　about　President　George　

W。　Bush's　Air　National　Guard　service；　Howard　Kurtz　of　The　Washington　Post　wrote　
（September　20；　2004）；　〃It　was　like　throwing　a　match　on　kerosene…soaked　wood。　The　
ensuing　blaze　ripped　through　the　media　establishment　as　previously　obscure　bloggers　
managed　to　put　the　network　of　Murrow　and　Cronkite　firmly　on　the　defensive。　The　secret；　
says　Charles　Johnson；　is　'open…source　intelligence　gathering。'　Meaning：　'We've　got　
a　huge　pool　of　highly　motivated　people　who　go　out　there　and　use　tools　to　find　stuff。　
We've　got　an　army　of　citizen　journalists　out　there。'〃　That　army　is　often　armed　with　
nothing　more　than　a　tape　recorder；　a　camera…enabled　cell　phone；　and　a　Web　site；　but　
in　a　flat　world　it　can　collectively　get　its　voice　heard　as　far　and　wide　as　CBS　or　
The　New　York　Times。　These　bloggers　have　created　their　own　online　commons；　with　no　
barriers　to　entry。　That　open　commons　often　has　many　rumors　and　wild　
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allegations　swirling　in　it。　Because　no　one　is　in　charge；　standards　of　practice　vary　
wildly；　and　some　of　it　is　downright　irresponsible。　But　because　no　one　is　in　charge；　
information　flows　with　total　freedom。　And　when　this　community　is　on　to　something　real；　
like　the　Rather　episode；　it　can　create　as　much　energy；　buzz；　and　hard　news　as　any　
network　or　major　newspaper。　
Another　intellectual　commons　collaboration　that　I　used　regularly　in　writing　this　book　
is　Wikipedia；　the　user…contributed　online　encyclopedia；　also　known　as　〃the　people's　
encyclopedia。〃　The　word　〃wikis〃　is　taken　from　the　Hawaiian　word　for　〃quick。〃　Wikis　
are　Web　sites　that　allow　users　to　directly　edit　any　Web　page　on　their　own　from　their　
home　computer。　In　a　May　5；　2004；　essay　on　YaleGlobal　online；　Andrew　Lih；　an　assistant　
professor　at　the　Journalism　and　Media　Studies　Centre　at　the　University　of　Hong　Kong；　
explained　how　Wikipedia　works　and　why　it　is　such　a　breakthrough。　
〃The　Wikipedia　project　was　started　by　JimmyWales；　head　of　Internet　startup　Bomis。com；　
after　his　original　project　for　a　volunteer；　but　strictly　controlled；　free　

encyclopedia　ran　out　of　money　and　resources　after　two　years；〃　wrote　Lih。　〃Editors　
with　PhD　degrees　were　at　the　helm　of　the　project　then；　but　it　produced　only　a　few　
hundred　articles。　Not　wanting　the　content　to　languish；　Wales　placed　the　pages　on　a　
wiki　Website　in　January　2001　and　invited　any　Internet　visitors　to　edit　or　add　to　the　
collection。　The　site　became　a　runaway　success　in　the　first　year　and　gained　a　loyal　
following；　generating　over　20；000　articles　and　spawning　over　a　dozen　language　
translations。　After　two　years；　it　had　100；000　articles；　and　in　April　2004；　it　exceeded　
250；000　articles　in　English　and　600；000　articles　in　50　other　languages。And　according　
to　Website　rankings　at　Alexa。com；　it　has　become　more　popular　than　traditional　online　
encyclopedias　such　as　Britannica。com。〃　
How；　you　might　ask；　does　one　produce　a　credible；　balanced　encyclopedia　by　way　of　an　
ad　hoc　open…source；　open…editing　movement？　After　all；　every　article　in　the　Wikipedia　
has　an　〃Edit　this　page〃　button；　allowing　anyone　who　surfs　along　to　add　or　delete　
content　on　that　page。　
It　starts　with　the　fact；　Lih　explained；　that　〃because　wikis　provide　the　

ability　to　track　the　status　of　articles；　review　individual　changes；　and　discuss　issues；　
they　function　as　social　software。　Wiki　Websites　also　track　and　store　every　
modification　made　to　an　article；　so　no　operation　is　ever　permanently　destructive。　
Wikipedia　works　by　consensus；　with　users　adding　and　modifying　content　while　trying　
to　reach　common　ground　along　the　way。　
〃However；　the　technology　is　not　enough　on　its　own；〃　wrote　Lih。　〃Wales　created　an　
editorial　policy　of　maintaining　a　neutral　point　of　view　（NPOV）　as　the　guiding　
principle　。　。　。　According　to　Wikipedia's　guidelines；　The　neutral　point　of　view　
attempts　to　present　ideas　and　facts　in　such　a　fashion　that　both　supporters　and　
opponents　can　agree　。　。　。'　As　a　result；　articles　on　contentious　issues　such　as　
globalization　have　benefited　from　the　cooperative　and　global　nature　of　Wikipedia。　
Over　the　last　two　years；　the　entry　has　had　more　than　90　edits　by　contributors　from　
the　Netherlands；　Belgium；　Sweden；　United　Kingdom；　Australia；　Brazil；　United　States；　
Malaysia；　Japan　and　China。　It　provides　a　manifold　view　of　issues　from　the　World　Trade　
Organization　and　multinational　corporations　to　the　anti…globalization　movement　and　
threats　to　cultural　diversity。　At　the　same　time　malicious　contributors　are　kept　in