WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER
Similar to many open source projects, DNN was not created with commercial goals in mind. Rather, the commercial opportunity occurred as a result of the viral distribution and adoption of the open source project by individuals and organizations worldwide. Akin to planting a seed in fertile soil and giving it sufficient water and sunlight, the open source model allowed the DNN community to grow quickly and attract the right combination of users and vendors to create a powerful commercial ecosystem.
In order for a company to become commercially successful, it needs to have a unique advantage against its competition. Essentially this unique advantage has to be something that cannot be easily replicated. When it comes to companies utilizing an open source model, the unique advantage is nearly always something that appears to go somewhat against the spirit of the open source philosophy. This generally creates some tension in the community. A bit of tension can be healthy, but too much tension can have damaging effects on an ecosystem.
DNN Corp.'s commercial business is based on a concept ...