Yireo Manifest

Introduction

When Yireo started, we were focussed on developing open source software with good documentation. This proved to be a success. Over the years, we learned that making money with open source requires a special mindset as well. This manifest outlines that mindset and the underlying goals of Yireo.

1 - Open source comes first

Open source is our passion. It comes first. All programming code we write is licensed under an open source license, fit for the needs of that code. Code is never encrypted. This gives third party developers the freedom to modify and improve the code wherever they want. Code is also of high quality. This gives third party developers the ability to actually read through it and use it. Additionally, projects for which we seek contributions are offered on public code-repositories like GitHub, or public branches of the Yireo Git server.

2 – Open business model

We seek to copy the concepts of open source to our way of doing business. Open source embraces the concept of sharing as a means to improve programming code. In a similar way, open business involves social participation to improve business. Whereby we put the famous Aristotle saying into practice: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts”. This participation not just takes place from company to customers and back, but developer to users, from and to partners, employees and contractors as well. All participators are referred to as the 'Yireo ecosphere', forming the supporting environment on which Yireo thrives and which Yireo helps to thrive.

Thanks to this participation and thanks to the Yireo ecosphere, the goals of the company are tuned to fit the needs of many, and therefore make the Yireo initiative succesful. Yireo its software and services need to benefit the Yireo ecosphere as a whole, but not necessarily Yireo alone as a single entity.

Open business involves transparency. By being as open as possible, Yireo is able to give a clear welcome for participation, but also make clear its role within the ecosphere. Partners play a vital role in the process of determining the direction Yireo moves to, of determining new strategies. Roadmaps are user-driven.

3 – Earn money instead of taking it

Honesty and trust are important when working together. This also involves being honest about pricing and asking fair prices. Prices are calculated by weighing in many factors (costs, demand, goals), but prices are never increased simply because certain customers have more money in their pockets. Prices need to be fair to the target audience.

Besides financial health, we also focus on the health of the Yireo ecosphere, the health of the various open source projects Yireo is involved with, or even the health of open source in general. We need to earn the money we work for. Money is important, but growing a trustable brand is much more important. This means that at times different choices need to be made. Our commitment is to always focus on the trustable brand and therefore on the long term, versus focusing on short term gains like money.

4 – Knowledge sharing

Over the years, we have gained much knowledge of various open source products. We also gained the ability to transfer this knowledge to others. As sharing and improving the value of the Yireo ecosphere is our primary goal, sharing our knowledge with others is therefore a primary goal too.

This is done through online documentation and blogging. In addition, Yireo frequently gives presentations during events and usergroups (of which the slides are shared). Commercial implementations of knowledge sharing include offering services to apply our technical expertise on customer problems, writing books and giving training.