Open Source and the Long Tail
I’ve been thinking recently about open source software and the notion of the long tail. (See Chris Anderson’s blog, book, and Wired article for the canonical description of the whole “Long Tail” meme).
One way to approach open source and the long tail is to focus on the sheer volume of available open source projects: the notion that there are a few highly visible projects (the equivalent of the best sellers, or the “head” against which the long tail is opposed) and that there are many many more smaller projects with less visibility (the long tail).
(See, for example, The Silent Penguin, Robert Kaye reporting on Kim Polese’s OSCON 05 keynote, Kim’s keynote, and Matt Asay)
A deeper, more interesting relationship between open source and the long tail is the way that open source development methodologies, distribution techniques, and licenses enable the development of custom solutions for niche problems.
In other words, open source enables the development of the long tail of software applications.
