Open Source: Focus on the Source, not the Code

As I’ve mentioned previously, if there’s one thing I’ve learned working with OpenMRS, it’s that the value is not in the code; it’s in the people.

In a recent branding discussion at Regenstrief, someone suggested we adopt the tag line
“The Source for Biomedical Informatics.”
I didn’t care for the tag line at all for a few reasons: (1) it’s imperious, (2) it focuses on the code, and (3) it’s seems counter to our mission to be a leader in open collaboration.  Later on in the discussion, the tag line was placed on a t-shirt and changed to “I am the source for biomedical informatics.”  While we ended up going with a different tag line for Regenstrief, I found the t-shirt provocative.  First of all, I liked the twist of saying “I am the source for biomedical informatics,” since it was less high & mighty;  but more importantly, those words caught me: “I am the source.”

“I am the source.”

There’s something hidden in that phrase.

Aha!  That was what I had been missing and it was there – right in front of me – the whole time.  All of this time that I’ve been struggling with the term “Open Source” focusing too much on the code, I didn’t realize that the “Source” wasn’t referring to the code at all; rather, the person creating the code.  Code is code.  The “Source” is the developer.

Now I look at the term “Open Source” differently.  No longer do I think “Open Source (Code).”  Now, I think “Open (Person who creates code).”  When I see the term “Source Code,” I no longer think “code that is the source for the application;” I think “code from a source – i.e., code from a developer.” This solves two problems for me.  First, it helps put the emphasis on getting people to behave openly  – obviously, an open coder is someone who is willing to share her code.  Secondly, it underscores that the real value is in the source – the people – and not the code.  Code can be thrown away, refactored, and easily replaced.  People cannot.

Love your coders.  Make them behave openly.

They are the source.