iQ: In essence then, you’re saying that Open Source’s very openness is in itself an advantage from a security perspective. So Sourcefire and Snort’s use of Open Source really lies at the heart of what they’re all about?

MR: Open Source is really Sourcefire’s roots.
iQ: The Open Source arena has seen some pretty big changes since its emergence in the late 1990s though. Where do things sit now in your opinion? Has Open Source grown up?

MR: If Open Source is characterised by one thing, it’s rapid innovation.  What’s different now is the mainstream adoption and commercial support of Open Source technology. And yes, you could say it’s has grown up – especially in terms of adapting to the expectations of the enterprise. Most enterprise Open Source users expect the same support, documentation and ease of use they’re used to from commercial, closed vendors.  Sourcefire, for one, has embraced this model to try to deliver the best of both worlds – the rapid innovation of Open Source coupled with the value-add features and commercial support enterprise users demand.
iQ: There’s an argument that the broader market perception and the reality of Open Source have diverged somewhat. Is this right? Are the perception and reality of Open Source now different things?

MR: I don’t think perception and reality have diverged so much as there is a much broader group of end users that make up the market. These diverse groups have different expectations and definitions of “Open Source”. Today’s market accepts a lot of flavours of Open Source – from the traditional OSI and Free Software Foundation definitions, through trial versions of commercial products, all the way to proprietary products that provide source code. This liberal use of the term Open Source is one of the things that have really sparked the debate about what Open Source now is.
 
iQ: Open Source is still the Yin to closed source's Yang, but it seems less like an antagonistic relationship these days than something of an unholy alliance... do you agree?

MR: To me, the market has spoken and demanded that software companies of all kinds adopt  more open models. And some have gone further than others in doing this. How open they become really depends on the demands of their customers and of the markets they’re trying to serve.
At Sourcefire, we firmly believe that the combination of Open Source community projects with commercial value-adds such as extra functionality, support, documentation, and so on is a win-win for all. Our goal is to be THE Open Source security company.   
iQ: Do you think this "odd couple" arrangement will continue and evolve, or will one camp or the other eventually go to the wall?

MR: As I said, I think this will really depend on the expectations of end users and customers and it will vary across segments. I don’t think the typical desktop application user will demand a more open model, but if current trends hold in the security industry for example, I expect the tendency towards more Open Source will continue and even accelerate.

iQ: After Microsoft's much publicised "snowball's chance in hell" statement about Open Source a few years ago, at the recent ApacheCon Europe 2008 OS conference we saw an MS representative with a t-shirt that said: "Microsoft: Snowball spotted in Amsterdam, April 2008". Is this indicative of how far Open Source has come, do you think?
   
MR: I think it’s an indication of the global reach of Open Source technology these days, and it proves what I’ve been saying about the market dictating that vendors become more open.
 
iQ: What then, IS Open Source these days? What does it mean? Where's it going? How should today's CIOs and IT directors think about it?

MR: If you ignore, for a moment, the ongoing debates about licensing and the definition of terms, at its core, Open Source has proven beyond doubt that it is an incredibly powerful way to develop software.
CIOs and IT directors should evaluate Open Source, like any technology, on how useful it is to them and its total cost of ownership. They should understand whether their organisation is really capable of implementing and managing free Open Source technology effectively, or if commercially support versions and distributions are a better option.
 
iQ: How will the Open Source / commercial software landscape evolve over the next year, five years, decade?

MR: I believe we’re still just at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to enterprise adoption of Open Source. This growth market will drive innovation and force commercial software companies to adopt more open development models. As this happens more projects will become self aware of their market potential and be the next generation of innovative companies and commercial products.
 iQ: Where to next for Martin Roesch, Sourcefire, and Snort then?

MR: It’s hard to believe, but Snort turns ten this year and as durable a platform as it is, it’s time for an upgrade – what’s been widely known as Snort 3.0 – really a major rewrite that will be delivered in two parts. The first will transform Snort into the Snort Security Platform – a more flexible, scalable traffic analysis platform. The second is the Snort 3.0 engine, a rewrite to take Snort forward for the next 10 years and beyond.  

Sourcefire v4.8 will be out in August. This release introduces several new and improved features but the one I’m most excited about is support for virtualisation. As enterprises move to virtualised environments, there will be security challenges that today’s products don’t address.    

We’ll also continue advancing ClamAV, which we acquired last August – another project that demonstrates how commercial companies and Open Source communities can benefit one another. The first major release since the acquisition is due in September.

We’re also planning on acquiring additional technologies to expand our capabilities and enter new markets.
And we’re extremely excited about the BOSS (Best of Open Source Security) conference we’re hosting next February in Las Vegas that will bring together leading Open Source projects, advocates, and end-users to discuss exactly the issues we’ve been talking about today.