"I came to Invisible Worlds because my new colleagues have the highest regard for the positive effects of open source."

Kristopher Magnusson

      Open source is clearly the future of software. Invisible Worlds is entering the world of open source with the intention of creating the most satisfying relationships between itself and everyone in the growing Blocks community. Invisible Worlds is busy revolutionizing, not just the Web as we know it, but our relationships as well.

      Eric S. Raymond makes a compelling case why open source practices facilitate the creation of better software, but the benefits of open source also extend into the arena of human relationships. In short, open source improves relationship quality as well as software quality. I believe Invisible Worlds's open source practices will help us all to become a lot happier people.

      In intellectual property jargon, we are all licensees and licensors. For example, if we purchase a software license or download open source code from an FTP archive, we are software licensees. Further, if we make software available under the terms and conditions of a software license, we are the licensor. As in any relationship, benefit and trust are some important aspects of the relationship between licensee and licensor.

      Benefit is the sine qua non of the relationship. The software licensee must derive enough benefit from the relationship to participate in it in the first place. Without a clear benefit, no licensor would enter into the relationship; in other words, we do not purchase a license or download software unless we benefit by doing so. And the licensor would not make software available under a license unless the licensor benefits. So benefit is the starting point.

      However, trust is an important aspect as well. When we enter into a relationship by licensing software, we place our well being in the hands of the licensor. For example, we often depend on the licensor to improve the software, or to provide support when we have problems using it. When the licensor doesn't improve it fast enough, we suffer. Dr. Hal Varian, coauthor of Information Rules, described this to me once as the notion of "holdup," which is the licensor's ability to lay waste to the plans and preferences of the licensee.

      When we swallow hard and decide to license software, risk holdup, and place our economic well being in the hands of the licensor, we must trust the licensor enough to do so. This is true especially when choosing between competing software packages or code bases. If we make the wrong choice, we will find ourselves at a disadvantage, and our risk will have been a bad one; as licensees, we are always trying to make the right decisions. This is also true for us when adopting a new technology like Blocks.

      The best way for a licensor to reduce holdup for licensees, and thereby promote trust and reduce risk, is to provide software under an open source license agreement. Open source implicitly raises the level of trust by giving the licensee the ability to take matters into our own hands. It tips the balance of risk in favor of choosing to license software.

      There is a special type of misery reserved for the software developer who is "held up." I have experienced it firsthand, and so has Richard M. Stallman, who, due to such an experience, formulated his famous imperative that all software should be free.

      In a bellwether essay, Richard M. Stallman (or RMS, as the community affectionately abbreviates) discusses the experiences of software developers in the lab where he worked. In that lab, a printer manufacturer had kindly provided printers as well as printer software source code. The lab developers modified and improved the software to improve the quality of their own experience.

      Later, the manufacturer replaced the printers with newer models, but refused to provide updated printer software source code. The lab developers were unable to enhance the software for the new printers, and the printers were not used optimally. After rising frustration levels, the quality of the relationship between licensee and licensor was reduced. The alienation and upset of the lab developers had lasting negative effects that probably hurt the sales of the printer manufacturer. These lessons are clear to anyone business who takes the time to notice, and I am pleased that Invisible Worlds has learned from RMS's sad tale.

      Invisible Worlds is a new company, and its founders are experienced Internet architects who are well-versed in the principles and practices of open source. I came to Invisible Worlds because my new colleagues have the highest regard for the positive effects of open source. Our new Blocks technology can revolutionize the Web as we know it. It is only fitting that we adopt the practices that can revolutionize our relationships at the same time.