What we in the open world are messing up in trying to compete with big tech - Bert Hubert's writings
a day ago
- Open tech initiatives must prioritize user experience and ease of use to compete with big tech, as users have zero tolerance for difficulty or ugliness.
- Software should be offered prominently as a service, with onboarding support, since self-hosting is no longer common among most users and organizations.
- Avoid replicating American-style software with excessive tracking, cookies, and ads; instead, build privacy-respecting solutions from the start.
- Developers need real-world experience in the environments their software targets, understanding existing workflows and pain points rather than imposing idealistic solutions.
- Do not overpromise capabilities; know the features of established platforms well and underpromise to maintain credibility.
- European cloud providers should focus on basic compute, storage, and networking rather than claiming to be hyperscaler alternatives, while working to fill service gaps.
- Open source projects must address non-sexy but critical aspects like backup, compliance, accessibility, and multi-language support to be taken seriously.
- Reliability and security are paramount; invest in monitoring, 24/7 support, security teams, and robust protection against exploits and account takeovers.
- Sales, marketing, and professional branding are essential—a good product does not sell itself; invest in demos, certifications, and a solid company image.
- Collaborate beyond tech, for example by jointly addressing email deliverability issues with big tech, and ensure clear ownership and sustainable funding from the start.
- Avoid technical purism and nitpicking that distracts from bigger priorities like documentation, user interface, and training materials.
- Stay true to open values by ensuring data portability, using existing open source components, and building software that empowers users rather than cloning proprietary solutions.