| |
|
Talend Newsletter
A
Message from Talend's Chief Technical Officer
Open
Source Development - a Major Differentiator
 We often speak
of the benefits of open source - code access, flexibility, openness, cost
savings, etc. But there is less talk of the development model which, in my
opinion, is a major differentiator when compared to proprietary solutions.
Here, in summary, are the key elements that differentiate our approach to
development from that of proprietary software vendors.
 Open
Tools. The development and monitoring tools that we use are open and
facilitate communication between developers and the team in charge of
documentation. These exchanges are followed and documented, allowing
everyone to know exactly where we are in the development process by
connecting to the website. These tools are, of course, open source and
available on www.talendforge.org.
For example, BugTracker tracks all changes (whether bugs or new features), classified
by their status.
In terms of Support, a bug is reported by opening a Support ticket and is
immediately posted in BugTracker (if the user wants it to be). Even if this
bug was reported and inventoried in BugTracker, other users can also choose
to open a Support ticket and monitor the resolution of the problem. Such
transparency doesn't exist with proprietary software vendors, who typically
tag such a bug as "seen for the first time,” noting that it is probably
related to the environment, not the software and, therefore, outside their
control. Open source vendors are not afraid of this transparency because
their interactions with users are at the heart of their business strategy.
Very
Frequent Releases. Each month, Talend publishes interim versions that
let users preview and test new features. These versions won't be put into
production, but are critical so that vendors can gather feedback from users
to help direct future developments. The development versions are also run
every night and thousands of automatic tests can detect problems early on.
Major releases are published less often when most functions have been tested
and can be put into production safely. This system combines intermediate
versions and major versions based on the method of "release early, release
often" especially prized by developers following methods referred to as
“agile.”
Again, the user is at the center of the development process and influences
management decisions.
The
Community. Test possibilities are virtually unlimited. The Talend
community comprises a large number of beta testers who are not necessarily
customers. Because of their number and the variety of their information
systems, testing can be performed on a large scale and in different
environments. Proprietary vendors have only their in-house QA team, which
limits their ability to thoroughly test their solutions. Open source
software is generally more stable because it has been evaluated in a much
wider arena.
Accessibility
to Engineers and Developers. With open systems monitoring development,
our customers can communicate directly with our developers. Talend sorts
through requests and selects those to be given priority, while the user
remains at the heart of the development process. Many Talend modules come
from expert users who have been in contact with our developers.
Talend Exchange,
available at TalendForge, not only organizes these exchanges, but also
researches components and installs them automatically. To date, it offers
251 extensions and 358 revisions, which have been downloaded over 30 000
times.
Internal
R&D. The Talend model combines an active dialogue with its users - via
the tools just mentioned - with a department of internal R&D, comprising
more than 50 engineers (without taking into account a number of expert
consultants who are also available). Other open source tool vendors, such as PostgreSQL or Debian rely solely on their community. Talend, however, chose
this approach to provide higher quality service, ensure continual product
evolution, and provide Level 3 support, all fully managed by Talend
developers.
To find new components, see wikis and forums, download documentation,
monitor bug tracking, or find training, go to
http://www.talendforge.org/.
Cedric Carbone
Chief Technical Officer
Talend
|
|
