LinuxCon2009 presentation. There are two variations for the session. This Open Source Spirit" Edition is the one I used in my session at the conference. It's based on the other edition, "Enterprise Edition". It took me more than three months to make Enterprise Edition, and "Open Source Spirit" Edition was written a few hours prior to the presentation.

1. What does it mean being an
Open Source project manager
in Enterprise
Open Source Edition
LinuxCon2009 (Business)
September 23, 2009
Toshiharu Harada
<haradats@gmail.com>
TOMOYO Linux Project

2. Image of Enterprise
(outlook)
Classified

3. Image of Open Source
(outlook)

4. Image of Enterprise
(inside)

5. Image of Enterprise
(inside)

6. Image of Open Source
(inside)

7. Image of Open Source
(inside)

8. +

9. Simply Impossible
STOP

10. However
• If you are an project manager in Enterprise
• There should not be a word “impossible”
• so

11. Manage it!
• This may happen on you tomorrow
• This presentation is for you
• Believe me

12. Conclusion
• What does it mean being an Open Source
project manager in Enterprise?
• Being a bridge of two fundamentally
different worlds and keep the balance
• Let’s take a look at examples

13. Stage 1

14. Q1
Your company has the state of the art of
firewall and protect communications except
http and https
A developer said to you that he could not
work if git and ssh do not work
What do you do?

15. A1
1.Crack the firewall
2.Do uploading and managing tasks at home
3.Buy an device to directly connect to the
internet

16. Q
You could not find an rule for making software
open source
What do you do?

17. A
Quit (you are not authorized to quit your
project)
Work hard to add a new rule

18. Q
How can I add a new rule in my company?

19. A
Good point!
Inspect it, first

20. Q
Our codes are now open source
As the license of our program is GPL2, all we
have to do is release it, am I right?

21. A
Deadly wrong
As your project is a part of Enterprise, every
actions require approval
Get an approval for the release

22. Q
I don’t really understand
Why do I need an approval for the software
that is no guarantee?

23. A
Think yourself if you want to think
E-mail me if you find a good solution

24. Stage 2

25. Leadership of
Enterprise project

26. Leadership of
Enterprise project
• Project manager is the leader
• He makes the decision
• Each member has his task
• Project manager does “management”

27. Leadership of Open
Source project

28. • Project members are virtually isolated in
Enterprise
• Matters of the project are now his matters

29. Leadership of Open
Source project
• Project manager is inherited every ordinary
roles and tasks for Enterprise
• He no longer focuses on “management”
and has to deal with tasks himself

30. Leadership of Open
Source project
• Hierarchy vanishes and new relationship is
born
• There’s no manual
• Having your principle helps

31. Leadership of Open
Source project
• In my case
• There are certain kinds of tasks
development members are not good at
• Planning, documentation,
communication with community ...
• I tried to do those tasks even when I was
not good at or I had no idea

32. Motivation Matters
• In ordinary Enterprise project, motivation
may not be necessary to complete tasks
• I noticed that in Open Source project,
motivation is crucial
• Keeping project members self-motivated
is the most important task for project
manager

33. Motivation Matters
• It is important for a project manager to
be self-motivated
• How to do that?
• Recalling the role periodically
• Viewing highly-motivated person

34. My
Recommendations
• Live with your mission
• Twenty Four series
• Learn about what is leadership and the
loneliness of a leader
• CSI
• Criminal Minds

35. Stage 3

36. Miraculous Power

37. Changes
• In my case of “TOMOYO Linux” project,
we have proposed patches as many as 15
times
• It took about two years to be merged
• We kept failing for two years
• I’ve observed some internal changes in us

38. • When proposed patches are rejected, we
were very sad (of course)
• But we didn’t think about quitting the
challenge ourselves
• There was a calm fire in each of us and we
were bound to each other with the goal
• We believed in what we were doing

39. • Motivation, collaboration and most
importantly experiences have changed us
greatly
• Through interactions with community, we
have learned to communicate

40. Measuring Self

41. hiharu Kentaro Tetsuo
manager) (LSM version) (main architect)
Project members
stage 4

42. Interview with Michael
Collins (Apollo 11)
• Q. Circling the lonely moon by yourself, the
loneliest person in the universe, weren't
you lonely?
• A. No (continued)

43. • "... I can say with truth and equanimity that I
am perfectly satisfied with the one I have. This
venture has been structured for three men,
and I consider my third to be as necessary as
either of the other two. I don't mean to deny
a feeling of solitude. It is there, reinforced by
the fact that radio contact with the Earth
abruptly cuts off at the instant I disappear
behind the moon, I am alone now, truly
alone, and absolutely isolated from any known
life. I am it. If a count were taken, the score
would be three billion plus two over on the
other side of the moon, and one plus God
knows what on this side."

44. • My role was very complicated
• I sometimes felt I was alone
• But I’m glad I could play my role and served
a project
• Tetsuo and Kentaro have grown up to be
astronauts of Linux kenrel

45. • I’m still on the ground and got a new
mission to make TOMOYO business
• So my voyage will continue ...

46. • Now I know why and how Linux is great
• People are great
• I’m glad and proud to participate the
universe of open source

49. Thank you