This note is a quick "letter of introduction" for the attached survey. The folks at MIT asked that I introduce them since they are afraid you all will flame, or ignore them. Don't disappoint them, flame away :-).
Eric von Hippel has been doing some fascinating work over the last several years on how new product innovation takes place. The primary conclusion of that work has been that more often than not the real innovation comes from users of products rather than from the companies that build them. In a sense the companies aggregate the innovations provided by their customers and turn around and sell them back.
Not surprisingly Eric and his friends at MIT have gotten pretty interested in Open Source. You could argue that what Open Source does is cut out the middleman in the process. To focus on their work on Open Source they have founded the MIT Open Source Research Lab.
I'm looking forward to seeing the result of the following survey, please help us all by filling it out.
Ben Hyde
Apache Software Foundation
Dear Apache users:
This questionnaire deals with Apache security features and will take 15-20 minutes to fill out. All information will be treated as confidential and will not be used for any commercial purpose.
Your reward will come in heaven (much, much later!) and in the form of a WONDERFUL MIT T-SHIRT (now!) :-) (size and shipping information in the questionnaire). Thank you!! If you are interested we will be happy to send you a summary of the results.
http://opensource.mit.edu/apachesurvey
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this study please contact us at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or 617 253-6370.
Thank you very much and best regards
Eric von Hippel
Nik Franke
Nik Franke
MIT Sloan School of Management
Room E52-580 Suite
50 Memorial Drive
Cambridge, MA 02139
Office Phone: 617-253-6370
Office Fax: 617-253-2660
Home Phone: 617-441 0886
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
