Stephe Walli and Barry Klawans recently opined in the comments of this blog that CIOs don't care about open source. They care about value, which ties to the product/solution, not the license. This is similar to what Olliance reports from its Think Tank 2007. This is actually a mirror image of the argument that Microsoft has been making for years: open source does not matter. Unfortunately for all of the above, i Stephe Walli and Barry Klawans recently opined in the comments of this blog that CIOs don’t care about open source. They care about value, which ties to the product/solution, not the license. This is similar to what Olliance reports from its Think Tank 2007. This is actually a mirror image of the argument that Microsoft has been making for years: open source does not matter.Unfortunately for all of the above, it really does matter. What does not matter is why the CIO thinks she likes the software. The CIO is generally not the front-line decision-maker for most software purchase decisions. The CIO ratifies decisions that have already been made, if it’s a big enough purchase, and lays the groundwork for purchasing decisions by setting strategic priorities, etc. But open source is spreading like wildfire without CIO intervention. By the time it mattes to the CIO, the game is already over, because open source is everywhere. Some, like E*Trade, set open source as a company-wide, strategic priority. Others don’t. It really doesn’t matter, though, as open source is not a top-down phenomenon, and this, I believe, is what the commentators above miss (though each of them, with the exception of Microsoft, is an open source advocate).When I spoke to the IT workers of the State of Texas years ago, I followed the general counsel and CIO on the agenda. I remember the general counsel asking everyone to hold off on using open source until a formal policy was in place. (I think this was in 2003, but can’t remember exactly.) When she left the room, I asked for a show of hands as to whom was already actively using open source as part of their business needs. 80% of the hands went up.Had I asked the CIO of the State, I’m sure he would have told me that open source doesn’t matter – solutions to business problems do. But when I asked those with their fingers on the mouse button hovering over “Download now,” open source mattered very much. It matters because it’s accessible. It matters because it’s free. It matters because it’s open. It matters because, frankly, people do want to modify the software. Not everyone, but a significant percentage (maybe close to 50%) of my customers actually want to modify the software, and do. (If yours don’t, you should ask yourself why. Because it’s doubtful that your software arrives on your customers’ doorsteps perfectly tailored to their needs)).Open source matters. I don’t much care if it matters to the CIO. They may well be the wrong ones to ask (though this is changing – take a look at the attendee and speaking line-up at this years OSBC, and you’ll see a heck of a lot of CIOs who care deeply about open source qua open source). By the time open source matters to them, they are already inundated with open source as it bubbles up from departmental implementations throughout the enterprise.Open source is a bottom-up phenomenon, not a top-down phenomenon. At some point it may well be top-down, but for the moment, I’m just happy that the people making purchasing decisions care about open source. Most of them have titles like “Architect,” “Developer,” System Administrator,” etc. They know how to download software. It’s a 21st Century thing. Open Source