For small network tooling, open source software seems an obvious choice. If you have a problem, perhaps someone else has already had and solved the problem, and you can pick up the code and go. But, a lot of small open source projects are “ego-” or “abandonware” — developed by one person who isn’t really interested in considering changes, and/or who has since moved on to other projects.
Collaborative development of open source can help share the load of development, and keep all parties engaged in the project. However, network operators don’t always have coding resources, and have notoriously few engineering cycles to spare in any case.
Is there a way to reduce the “friction” that prevents the (development and) use of open source software to solve operator challenges? I’ll be putting together a survey to gain some insight into what network operators might want in terms of (open source) tooling, and where their hesitancy in participating might come from. At this time, I’m looking for input — what sorts of things to cover in the survey, and pointers to people who would be willing to take the survey when it’s available.
Here’s the page to bookmark, and you can use it now to provide some of that feedback straightaway!
https://possie.techark.org/operators-and-open-source-software-survey/
For additional background, check out my recent lightning talk on the subject, at NANOG 76 in Washington, DC:
- Slides are here: https://possie.techark.org/wp-content/uploads/20190611-POSSIE-Survey-NANOG76.pdf
- YouTube of the NANOG 76 lightning talk is here: https://youtu.be/rqncYZNWfso