This article appeared in the April/May edition of Web Host Industry Review magazine. Click here for a free subscription.
April 28, 2005 -- (WEB HOST INUSTRY REVIEW) -- The way we build things has changed. And the changes occurred while we weren't looking. In fact, some of us haven't acknowledged the changes and run the risk of being left behind – or losing out on the advantages these changes may bring. The world of the remix – a borrowing and re-building process typically applied to music – has grown to include development in technology, inspiring work that directly impacts the data center.
You may not think of remixing as a data center concept, but it is. Open-source is the software branch of the new remix culture, in which one person builds upon the works of others to create something new, improved or altogether different.
Apache, perhaps the greatest open-source success, is a derivative work, a remix of the original NCSA web server. Linux is a remix of Unix that Linus Torvalds built from the POSIX specification and that he, in turn, released in source-code form so others could remix to their hearts' content. The original users of open-source software knew exactly what they had. Something they could fix when it was broken, improve and even contribute to in return.
We all know what has happened to Apache and Linux, but as I've written in the past, there is another level of remix culture within Web technology. It is the new Internet-based platforms of groups such as Amazon.com, eBay, Flickr and Google that have published open application programming interfaces so others can build upon what they've created. Thousands have built applications based on Amazon's web services interfaces to the benefit of everyone except, perhaps, Amazon's competitors. When someone creates a new function based on information from Amazon's database, it's good for them, for Amazon and for us potential users.
The hosting business is also a beneficiary of the remix culture of open-source. What host today could compete if it weren't for the availability of Apache, Linux, MySQL, PHP, Python, Perl and the thousands of free scripts written in those languages?
The question is, what will you give back to the remix culture? Will you simply be a consumer of other people's free ideas, or will you be a contributor and an enabler? The question isn't a moral or ethical one. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty to the point that you yield and unwillingly say, “yes, you promise to pay for what I'm using.” That's the old way of thinking.
I'm talking about diving into the remix culture and truly becoming a part of it — thinking like Amazon, Flickr, eBay and Google. They have not only taken remix to heart and contributed to the good of many, they've also built their businesses on that philosophy and profited greatly. I believe that Web hosts should do the same, and that those who dive headfirst into the remix culture will emerge as unique. Those who merely absorb what they can get for free will ultimately be indistinguishable from every other host doing the same.
How does one dive into this culture? I can't give you an exact formula, but I can point you in the right direction. First of all, recognize that it is your job to prepare for and accept unintended consequences. The whole idea of making something available as material for remixing is that you don't know how others will use it. Remember, you don't have a lock on all the smart people.
Specifically, look for systems you can open up to your customers and even to non-customers. What APIs could you publish in the same manner as Amazon? Can you offer a web services interface to your statistics systems so that others can extract the data and put it to interesting uses? What about other aspects of your system management? Are you locked into a control-panel package? The good news is that they offer a Web-based view into the systems and they isolate your customers from their servers. The bad news is that they isolate your customers from their servers. With a control panel as the only interface to system management, there is no way to remix the system, short of screen scraping and emulating HTML forms. Its not remix-friendly. A Linux command-line interface is far more extensible. Indeed, the entire Unix/Linux heritage is based on this type of open re-use.
But you don't have to start with something as ambitious as a web services interface to your control panel package. You can even encourage your CP vendors to provide such interfaces themselves. Start with something smaller. Look for some package or script that you can open up by providing a general-purpose interface. Consider mailing-list scripts or weblog or wiki packages. Start adding RSS interfaces to anything that can deliver data that way. RSS is a terrific enabler of unintended consequences, as we've seen with everything from blogs to podcasting.
The key to success is to start thinking like Jeff Bezos at Amazon. Think about what you can offer to others that they can run with. Don't keep all the R&D locked within your four walls and inside the heads of your limited staff. Open it up to all the creative people who are out there looking to build upon the work of others.
Get your head into the new world of remixes and you'll never turn back, except maybe to watch your competitors fade into your dust.
