Open source and usability discussion
Open Source innovations are compare-able at a technical level to closed source innovations, not usability level.
Live Journal - started out as closed source is now open source and is being used by facebook.
- mem cache (everything on RAM read with perl) and
- open id : both came from Live Journal,
- RSS aggregation was invented in Live journal,
- user profile pic was first in Live Journal,
- pics like flickr before
Live Journal was a paid blogging service and was profitable (Brad Fitzpatrick...made it open source, personal philosophy) and then was sold to Six apart...sold to SUP (Russian company) - http://news.livejournal.com/104520.html?thread=66509896. Live journal became a dead service because of Six apart.
Dead Journal, Greatest Journal and Blurting were born out of Live Journal source.
People don't use open source because the service is a lot of work. Open source is not about control it's about infrastructure. People don't want to be in control...they do not know what to do with open source.
What makes a service cheaper and tending towards free is not "open source" but the number of users (stake holders of the service). An open source tool with one user = Closed source.
