| Lesson 9 | Alliance model (an adaptation of the storefront model) |
| Objective | List the features of the alliance model. |
The Alliance Model and the Adaptation of the Storefront Model
In today's fast-paced economy, knowledge truly is power.
As we all know, business and scientific advancements are not created in a vacuum, just look at the development of the Internet.
This communication network owes its evolution to the collaboration of a large group of brilliant individuals. Collaboration within a creative community is also a cornerstone of the alliance business model. The alliance business model is characterized by the sharing of information, rather than the payment for service or product. Creative communities share information, create knowledge, and occasionally design a product. A well-known example of the alliance business model is the Linux operating system. As a young student, Linus Torvalds created the Linux as a hobby. The source code[1] of Linux was distributed freely, and over time, members of the Linux alliance have added to the functionality of this operating system.
A Threat to Windows?
Businesses have begun to evaluate Linux alongside Microsoft's Windows software. As time goes on, the free operating system based on UNIX standards, could begin to infiltrate corporate America. According to a Securing Protocol Layers article by DispersedNet, the Linux operating system has the largest market share for hosting environments, including college libraries and banks.
"Linux is free" is one of the bigger selling points," explains a technical support employee who installed Linux to manage parts of a school library network. This fact has made Linux the operating system of choice for 8-10 million worldwide users. However, due to its unproven track record and lack of advertising, Linux is not likely to overthrow Windows NT any time soon.
"Linux is free" is one of the bigger selling points," explains a technical support employee who installed Linux to manage parts of a school library network. This fact has made Linux the operating system of choice for 8-10 million worldwide users. However, due to its unproven track record and lack of advertising, Linux is not likely to overthrow Windows NT any time soon.
- What Is Linux and What Is It Doing:
The term Linux is often used to refer to the entire operating system, but in reality, Linux is the operating system kernel, which is started by the boot loader, which is itself started by the BIOS/UEFI. The kernel ensures coordination between hardware and software. This role includes managing hardware, processes, users, permissions, and the file system. The kernel provides a common base to all other programs on the system and typically runs in ring zero, also known as kernel space.
Linux Administration
The User Space and Hardware
We use the term user space[2] to lump together everything that happens outside of the kernel. Among the programs running in user space are many core utilities from the GNU project1, most of which are meant to be run from the command line. You can use them in scripts to automate many tasks. Refer to the following page to learn more about command.
Driving Hardware: The kernel is tasked, first and foremost, with controlling the computer's hardware components. It detects and configures them when the computer powers on, or when a device is inserted or removed (for example, a USB device). It also makes them available to higher-level software, through a simplified programming interface, so applications can take advantage of devices without having to address details such as which extension slot an option board is plugged into. The programming interface also provides an abstraction layer; this allows video-conferencing software, for example, to use a webcam regardless of its maker and model. The software can use the Video for Linux (V4L) interface and the kernel will translate function calls of the interface into actual hardware commands needed by the specific webcam in use.
The kernel exports data about detected hardware through the
virtual file systems. Applications often access devices by way of files created within /dev/. Specific files represent disk drives (for instance, /dev/sda), partitions (/dev/sda1), mice (/dev/input/mouse0), keyboards (/dev/input/event0), sound cards (/dev/snd/*), serial ports (/dev/ttyS*), and other components.
There are two types of device files: block and character. The former has characteristics of a block of data: It has a finite size, and you can access bytes at any position in the block. The latter behaves like a flow of characters. You can read and write characters, but you cannot seek to a given position and change arbitrary bytes. To find out the type of a given device file, inspect the first letter in the output of ls -l. It is either b, for block devices, or c, for character devices:
As you might expect, disk drives and partitions use block devices, whereas mouse, keyboard, and serial ports use character devices. In both cases, the programming interface includes devicespecific commands that can be invoked through the ioctl system call.
Driving Hardware: The kernel is tasked, first and foremost, with controlling the computer's hardware components. It detects and configures them when the computer powers on, or when a device is inserted or removed (for example, a USB device). It also makes them available to higher-level software, through a simplified programming interface, so applications can take advantage of devices without having to address details such as which extension slot an option board is plugged into. The programming interface also provides an abstraction layer; this allows video-conferencing software, for example, to use a webcam regardless of its maker and model. The software can use the Video for Linux (V4L) interface and the kernel will translate function calls of the interface into actual hardware commands needed by the specific webcam in use.
The kernel exports data about detected hardware through the
/proc/ and /sys/
virtual file systems. Applications often access devices by way of files created within /dev/. Specific files represent disk drives (for instance, /dev/sda), partitions (/dev/sda1), mice (/dev/input/mouse0), keyboards (/dev/input/event0), sound cards (/dev/snd/*), serial ports (/dev/ttyS*), and other components.
There are two types of device files: block and character. The former has characteristics of a block of data: It has a finite size, and you can access bytes at any position in the block. The latter behaves like a flow of characters. You can read and write characters, but you cannot seek to a given position and change arbitrary bytes. To find out the type of a given device file, inspect the first letter in the output of ls -l. It is either b, for block devices, or c, for character devices:
$ ls -l /dev/sda /dev/ttyS0 brw-rw---- 1 root disk 8, 0 Mar 21 08:44 /dev/sda crw-rw---- 1 root dialout 4, 64 Mar 30 08:59 /dev/ttyS0
As you might expect, disk drives and partitions use block devices, whereas mouse, keyboard, and serial ports use character devices. In both cases, the programming interface includes devicespecific commands that can be invoked through the ioctl system call.
Customers drive Products and Services
As shown by the Linux example, customers and end users almost always play a prominent role in creating products or services
under the Alliance model. When products are created as the result of an alliance, the end customer is responsible for
customizing and integrating various components of the alliance solution. Payments between parties are unusual with this
business model. With the Internet's capabilities to connect individuals, this model is likely to increase in popularity.
Unlike other business models, the alliance model does not transact goods or services for payment. Its basis lies within the value-added service of sharing information. One might argue that the value-added service is in building relationships and the collaborative product that comes out of information sharing.
Question: Can you think of any other business models that might be successful on the Internet?
After the dotcom bust of 2000, circa 4 years later social media began taking first with primtive networks such as myspace followed later by Facebook.com
Unlike other business models, the alliance model does not transact goods or services for payment. Its basis lies within the value-added service of sharing information. One might argue that the value-added service is in building relationships and the collaborative product that comes out of information sharing.
Question: Can you think of any other business models that might be successful on the Internet?
After the dotcom bust of 2000, circa 4 years later social media began taking first with primtive networks such as myspace followed later by Facebook.com
[1]
Source code: The original set of instructions for a software program. These instructions are
written in a source language and later inputted into a compiler, or assembler. Compilers and assemblers translate the source
code into object code that the various target machines can understand.
[2]
user space: The term userland (or user space) refers to all code that runs outside the operating system's kernel.