the.world.is.flat-第17章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


of　the　world　possible；〃　said　Microsoft's　Craig　Mundie。　
Indeed；　thanks　to　this　platform　that　emerged　from　the　first　three　flat…teners；　we　
were　not　just　able　to　talk　to　each　other　more；　we　were　able　to　do　more　things　together。　
This　is　the　key　point；　argued　Joel　Cawley；　the　IBM　strategist。　〃We　were　not　just　
communicating　with　each　other　more　than　ever；　we　were　now　able　to　collaborate…to　build　
coalitions；　projects；　and　products　together…more　than　ever。〃　
The　next　six　flatteners　represent　the　new　forms　of　collaboration　which　this　new　
platform　empowered。　As　J　show；　some　people　will　use　this　platform　for　open…sourcing；　


some　for　outsourcing；　some　for　offshoring；　some　for　supply…chaining；　some　for　
insourcing；　and　some　for　in…forming。　Each　of　these　forms　of　collaboration　was　either　
made　possible　by　the　new　platform　or　greatly　enhanced　by　it。　And　as　more　and　more　
of　us　learn　how　to　collaborate　in　these　different　ways；　we　are　flattening　the　world　
even　more。　
Flattener　#4　
Open…Sourcing　
Self…Organizing　Collaborative　Communities　
Alan　Cohen　still　remembers　the　first　time　he　heard　the　word　〃Apache〃　as　an　adult；　
and　it　wasn't　while　watching　a　cowboys…and…Indians　movie。　It　was　the　1990s；　the　
dot…com　market　was　booming；　and　he　was　a　senior　manager　for　IBM；　helping　to　oversee　
its　emerging　e…commerce　business。　〃I　had　a　whole　team　with　me　and　a　budget　of　about　
8　million；〃　Cohen　recalled。　〃We　were　competinghead…to…head　with　Microsoft；　Netscape；　
Oracle；　Sun…all　the　big　boys。　And　we　were　

playing　this　very　big…stakes　game　for　e…commerce。　IBM　had　a　huge　sales　force　selling　
all　this　e…commerce　software。　One　day　I　asked　the　development　director　who　worked　
for　me；　'Say；　Jeff；　walk　me　through　the　development　process　for　these　e…commerce　
systems。　What　is　the　underlying　Web　server？'　And　he　says　to　me；　It's　built　on　top　
of　Apache。'　The　first　thing　I　think　of　is　John　Wayne。　'What　is　Apache？'　I　ask。　And　
he　says　it　is　a　shareware　program　for　Web　server　technology。　He　said　it　was　produced　
for　free　by　a　bunch　of　geeks　just　working　online　in　some　kind　of　open…source　chat　
room。　I　was　floored。　I　said；　'How　do　you　buy　it？'　And　he　says；　Tou　download　it　off　
a　Web　site　for　free。'　And　I　said；　'Well；　who　supports　it　if　something　goes　wrong？'　
And　he　says；　'I　don't　know…it　just　works！'　And　that　was　my　first　exposure　to　Apache　。　。　。　
〃Now　you　have　to　remember；　back　then　Microsoft；　IBM；　Oracle；　Netscape　were　all　trying　
to　build　commercial　Web　servers。　These　were　huge　companies。　And　suddenly　my　
development　guy　is　telling　me　that　he's　getting　ours　off　the　Internet　for　free！　It's　
like　you　had　all　these　big　corporate　executives　plotting　strategies；　and　then　suddenly　
the　guys　in　the　mail　room　are　in　charge。　I　kept　asking；　'Who　runs　Apache？　I　mean；　
who　are　these　guys？'〃　
Yes；　the　geeks　in　the　mail　room　are　deciding　what　software　they　will　be　using　and　
what　you　will　be　using　too。　It's　called　the　open…source　movement；　and　it　involves　
thousands　of　people　around　the　world　coming　together　online　to　collaborate　in　writing　
everything　from　their　own　software　to　their　own　operating　systems　to　their　own　
dictionary　to　their　own　recipe　for　cola…building　always　from　the　bottom　up　rather　
than　accepting　formats　or　content　imposed　by　corporate　hierarchies　from　the　top　down。　
The　word　〃open…source〃　comes　from　the　notion　that　companies　or　ad　hoc　groups　would　
make　available　online　the　source　code…the　underlying　programming　instructions　that　
make　a　piece　of　software　work…and　then　let　anyone　who　has　something　to　contribute　
improve　it　and　let　millions　of　others　just　download　it　for　their　own　use　for　free。　
While　commercial　software　is　copyrighted　and　sold；　and　companies　guard　the　source　
code　as　they　would　their　crown　jewels　so　they　can　charge　money　to　anyone　who　wants　
to　use　it　and　thereby　generate　income　to　develop　new　versions；　open…　


85　
source　software　is　shared；　constantly　improved　by　its　users；　and　made　available　for　
free　to　anyone。　In　return；　every　user　who　comes　up　with　an　improvement…a　patch　that　
makes　this　software　sing　or　dance　better…is　encouraged　to　make　that　patch　available　
to　every　other　user　for　free。　
Not　being　a　computer　geek；　I　had　never　focused　much　on　the　open…source　movement；　but　
when　I　did；　I　discovered　it　was　an　amazing　universe　of　its　own；　with　communities　of　
online；　come…as…you…are　volunteers　who　share　their　insights　with　one　another　and　then　
offer　it　to　the　public　for　nothing。　They　do　it　because　they　want　something　the　market　
doesn't　offer　them；　they　do　it　for　the　psychic　buzz　that　comes　from　creating　a　
collective　product　that　can　beat　something　produced　by　giants　like　Microsoft　or　IBM；　
and…even　more　important…to　earn　the　respect　of　their　intellectual　peers。　Indeed；　
these　guys　and　gals　are　one　of　the　most　interesting　and　controversial　new　forms　of　
collaboration　that　have　been　facilitated　by　the　flat　world　and　are　flattening　it　even　
more。　
In　order　to　explain　how　this　form　of　collaboration　works；　why　it　is　a　flattener　and　
why；　by　the　way；　it　has　stirred　so　many　controversies　and　will　be　stirring　even　more　
in　the　future；　I　am　going　to　focus　on　just　two　basic　varieties　of　open…sourcing：　the　
intellectual　commons　movement　and　the　free　software　movement。　
The　intellectual　commons　form　of　open…sourcing　has　its　roots　in　the　academic　and　
scientific　communities；　where　for　a　long　time　self…organized　collaborative　
communities　of　scientists　have　come　together　through　private　networks　and　later　the　
Internet　to　pool　their　brainpower　or　share　insights　around　a　particular　science　or　
math　problem。　The　Apache　Web　server　had　its　roots　in　this　form　of　open…sourcing。　When　
I　asked　a　friend　of　mine；　Mike　Arguello；　an　IT　systems　architect；　to　explain　to　me　
why　people　share　knowledge　or　work　in　this　way；　he　said；　〃IT　people　tend　to　be　very　
bright　people　and　they　want　everybody　to　know　just　how　brilliant　they　are。〃　Marc　
Andreessen；　who　invented　the　first　Web　browser；　agreed：　〃Open…source　is　nothing　more　
than　peer…reviewed　science。　Sometimes　people　contribute　to　these　things　because　they　
make　science；　and　they　discover　things；　and　the　reward　is　reputation。　Sometimes　you　
can　build　a　business　out　of　it；　sometimes　they　just　want　to　increase　the　store　
84　
of　knowledge　in　the　world。　And　the　peer　review　part　is　critical…and　open…source　is　
peer　review。　Every　bug　or　security　hole　or　deviation　from　standards　is　reviewed。〃　
I　found　this　intellectual　commons　form　of　open…sourcing　fascinating；　so　I　went　
exploring　to　find　out　who　were　those　guys　and　girls　in　the　mail　room。　Eventually；　
I　found　my　way　to　one　of　their　pioneers；　Brian　Behlendorf。　If　Apache…the　open…source　
Web　server　community…were　an　Indian　tribe；　Behlendorf　would　be　the　tribal　elder。　I　
caught　up　with　him　one　day　in　his　glass…and…steel　office　near　the　San　Francisco　airport；　
where　he　is　now　founder　and　chief　technology　officer　of　CollabNet；　a　start…up　focused　
on　creating　software　for　companies　that　want　to　use　an　open…source　approach　to　
innovation。　I　started　with　two　simple　questions：　Where　did　you　come　from？　and：　How　
did　you　manage　to　pull　together　an　open…source　community　of　online　geeks　that　could　
go　toe…to…toe　with　IBM？　


〃My　parents　met　at　IBM　in　Southern　California；　and　I　grew　up　in　a　town　just　north　
of　Pasadena；　La　Canada；〃　Behlendorf　recalled。　〃The　public　school　was　very　competitive　
academically；　because　a　lot　of　the　kids'　parents　worked　at　the　Jet　Propulsion　
Laboratory　that　was　run　by　Caltech　there。　So　from　a　very　early　age　I　was　around　a　
lot　of　science　in　a　place　where　it　was　okay　to　be　kind　of　geeky。　We　always　had　computers　
around　the　house。　We　used　to　use　punch　cards　from　the　original　IBM　mainframes　for　
making　shopping　lists。　In　grade　school；　I　started　doing　some　basic　programming；　and　
by　high　school　I　was　pretty　into　computers。。。　I　graduated　in　1991；　but　in　1989；　in　
the　early　days　of　the　Internet；　a　friend　gave　me　a　copy　of　a　program　he　had　downloaded　
onto　a　floppy　disk；　called　'Fractint。'　It　was　not　pirated；　but　was　freeware；　produced　
by　a　group　of　programmers；　and　was　a　program　for　drawing　fractals。　＇Fractals　are　
beautiful　images　produced　at　the　intersection　of　art　and　math。＇　When　the　program　
started　up；　the　screen　would　show　this　scrolling　list　of　e…mail　addresses　for　all　
the　scientists　and　mathematicians　who　contributed　to　it。　I　noticed　that　the　source　
code　was　included　with　the　program。　This　was　my　first　exposure　to　the　concept　of　
open…source。　Here　was　this　program　that　you　just　downloaded　for　free；　and　they　even　
gave　you　the　source　code　with　it；　and　it　was　done　by　a　community　of　people。　It　

started　to　paint　a　different　picture　of　programming　in　my　mind。　I　started　to　think　
that　there　were　some　interesting　social　dynamics　to　the　way　certain　kinds　of　software　
were　written　or　could　be　written…as　opposed　to　the　kind　of　image　I　had　of　the　
professional　software　developer　in　the　back　office　tending　to　the　mainframe；　feeding　
info　in　and　taking　it　out　for　the　business。　That　seemed　to　me　to　be　just　one　step　
above　accounting　and　not　very　exciting。〃　
After　graduating　in　1991；　Behlendorf　went　to　Berkeley　to　study　physics；　but　he　quickly　
became　frustrated　by　the　disconnect　between　the　abstractions　he　was　learning　in　the　
classroom　and　the　excitement　that　was　starting　to　emerge　on　the　Internet。　
〃When　you　entered　college　back　then；　every　student　was　given　an　e…mail　address；　and　
I　started　using　it　to　talk　to　students　and　explore　discussion　boardsthat　were　starting　
to　appear　around　music；〃　said　Behlendorf。　〃In　1992；1　started　my　own　Internet　mailing　
list　focused　on　the　local　electronic　music　scene　in　the　Bay　Area。　People　could　just　
post　onto　the　discussion　board；　and　it　started　to　grow；　and　we　started　to　discuss　
different　music　events　and　DJs。　Then　we　said；　'Hey；　why　don't　we　invite　our　own　DJs　
and　throw　our　own　events？'　It　became　a　collective　thing。　Someone　would　say；　'I　have　
some　records；'　and　someone　else　would　say；　'I　have　a　sound　system；'　and　someone　else　
would　say；　'I　know　the　beach　and　if　we　showed　up　at　midnight　we　could　have　a　party。'　
By　1993；　the　Internet　was　still　just　mailing　lists　and　e…mail　and　FTP　sites　＇file　
transfer　protocol　repositories　where　you　could　store　things＇。　So　I　started　collecting　
an　archive　of　electronic　music　and　was　interested　in　how　we　could　put　this　online　
and　make　it　available　to　a　larger　audience。　That　was　when　I　heard　about　Mosaic　＇the　
Web　browser　developed　by　Marc　Andreessen。＇　So　I　got　a　job　at　the　computer　lab　in　the　
Berkeley　business　school；　and　I　spent　my　spare　time　researching　Mosaic　and　other　Web　
technologies。　That　led　me　to　a　discussion　board　with　a　lot　of　the　people　who　were　
writing　the　first　generation　of　Web　browsers　and　Web　servers。〃　


（A　Web　server　is　a　software　program　that　enables　anyone　to　use　his　or　her　home　or　
office　computer　to　host　a　Web　site　on　the　World　Wide　Web。　Amazon。com；　for　instance；　
has　long　run　its　Web　site　on　Apache　software。　
86　
When　your　Web　browser　goes　to　www。amazon。com；　the　very　first　piece　of　software　it　
talks　to　is　Apache。　The　browser　asks　Apache　for　the　Amazon　Web　page　and　Apache　sends　
back　to　the　browser　the　content　of