Bjorn Freeman-Benson

I'm not giving much away to say that It's A New World: not only is the world economy changing,1 but the software world is also changing. Cloud computing is a one big change, an exciting and interesting change, but just there are other changes happening as well. Eclipse is changing (see the new Bylaws and the industry working groups) , but in my personal opinion, it is not changing enough. Eclipse has basically the same structure, the same organization, and the same business model as when it was first spun out six years ago.I've written this series of columns because I see issues (I've discussed four, but I'm sure there are others) that can be improved (I've suggested mechanisms for doing so, and I know there are others). Some of you have agreed with my issues and solutions (+1/+1); some of you have agreed with my issues and not with my solutions (+1/-1); and some of you think both my issues and my solutions are bunk (-1/-1).I'm ok with all of that because I believe that only by continuing our policy of open discussion can we, collectively, arrive at a solution that will benefit us all. No single person has all the right answers - I certainly don't - you probably don't - but I believe that the collective of us does.My columns and proposals have been driven by changes in the world around us:Fewer Resources. The Strategic members provide a majority of the financial support for the Foundation. Today the Foundation has 25% fewer such members than it did a year ago. [1,2]Less Investment. Person hours invested in the core Platform has been declining every year since 2005 and is on track this year to be only 50% of that 2005 high. [3]More Users. Eclipse adoption continues to grow: more users, more plug-ins, more products. [4]Changing Technology. Tim and Kevin gave a good description of this in their EclipseCon keynote. [5] The technical, social, and political structure of Eclipse is optimized for annual releases of rich fat clients - all the cool kids are doing continuous deployment of cloud applications.Fewer resources, more to do, and a larger user base -- change is upon us, so what are we going to do about it?I believe very strongly in the cycle that is the Eclipse ecosystem: (1) committers create projects; (2) projects are used to build products for users; (3) users generate profits for members; and (4) members fund committers. Without all four parts, especially the innovative committers and the profitable member companies, the cycle falls apart.I believe that improving the four issues I've written about will benefit everyone (users, members, and committers) by:Reducing the "cost" of being a committer and thus increasing the attractiveness of being a committer. Benefits include more core platform improvements and more cutting edge frameworks. [diversity, IP burden]Increasing the "value" of being a member and thus encouraging more companies to provide funding and developers to Eclipse. [distros driving eyeballs to members, website driving eyeballs to members]Now is the time -- the time of e4, the time of clouds, the time of declining company largess -- now is the time to take bold steps to ensure Eclipse's success in the next five years, and the five after that, and the five after that.Ideas are cheap - actions speak louder than words. Anyone can write a few columns and start a discussion - it's only if these ideas create action and change that they become important. These columns have definitely triggered some discussion. I hope that this discussion leads to action because, well, doing nothing is not a long term success story.As I said before, these are my opinions. Mine alone. They are not an official position of the Foundation. Nobody has blessed, or even vetted, these columns. These columns have been intended to provoke discussion, contemplation, and a better Eclipse for the long term.Thanks for reading.1 "The world economy is changing" is perhaps the understatement of the year.