David (Jones),
What about those open source projects that are polished for OOTB convenience and experience? Even
Apache (httpd) and Tomcat (both under Apache Licence 2.0?) have better OOTB "operational
readiness" than OFBiz. Ie, they work well OOTB and they have very good and widely published docs
to further fuel explosive rate of community development. (I understand you believe that approach
won't benefit OFBiz; I don't know so I can't say.)
I still maintain that there are 2 sections to OFBiz --- core and ERP. And I'd say the core
certainly works very well OOTB (like Springs, Freemarker, Apache, Tomcat, Mantis, PHP, etc).
Maybe we make that clear to new users?
Imagine if Tomcat was advertised as a shopping cart software, and the shopping cart software built
on top of the webserver was incomplete (or "almost ready to fly, but not quite"). There'd be
complaints, even though Tomcat is really a solid webserver and not a shopping cart.
But of course, I understand you may want OFBiz to stand for an ERP solution, not just an entity
engine (which as many had said is the "jewel in the crown"). I think if you work at things the way
you do now, we'd probably have a solid ERP solution in a few years' time.
There are "services divisions" for open source projects. That's the community itself! Nobody would
pick up an open source project for use or solutioning if it lacks this "services division". In
many companys' open source adoption policies, wide adoption aka community support aka "services
division" is the TOP concern. This "services division" counterpart in open source projects is what
gives them the decided edge over commercial projects with paid and comparatively limited (not
world-wide and free flow) REAL services division.
I don't know if the ML knows this, but the ML is often the first channel to be watched in
assessing the project's "services division". The quality and demographics (techie to hobbyist
spectrum) of the "services division" makes or breaks the open source projects.
But still, I do admit it probably makes more sense (and cents) to advertise "My ERP consulting
company" rather than advertise OFBiz itself. I'd say I'd have more success promoting "My ERP
consulting company" than OFBiz, as things are now. OFBiz core is a solid product, and that's not ERP.
By the way, I'm getting real good at taking apart my RC helicopter. The major diff between RC
helicopters and RC planes is that helicopters need major calibration (more moving parts). So, what
is advertised as "Ready-To-Fly (RTF)" for helicopters really means "Almost-Ready-to-Fly (ARF)"
(one notch down). More people buy planes than helicopters; those who give up on helicopters (steep
learning curve) just go for planes or cars thereafter.
I like OFBiz. :)
Jonathon
David E. Jones wrote:
This is actually a very accurate part of the article. OFBiz is an open
source project, with no commercial interests, so there really is no
services division. In fact, there is no company.
In a way it seems another failure to distinguish between commercial and
community driven open source projects. For open source business software
projects like OFBiz are really rather rare, and don't get much press.
-David
On Mar 5, 2007, at 9:05 AM, David Shere wrote:
What does this article mean when it says that OFBiz has no "services
division"?
David E. Jones wrote:
Not a lot of detail on the project, nor terribly accurate on the ones
it does have, but an interesting read with some good points anyway:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9011649
-David
--David Shere
Information Technology Services
Steele Rubber Products
www.SteeleRubber.com
