it’s nice to see another fork of Camunda! Like probably many developers and teams these days, we’re looking for a replacement for the Camunda engine in our application. Operaton would be a welcomed candidate.
I’ve read the forums and seen that you laid out some great goals and the road map. But may I ask you a question? IMO doing all these things is a very interesting but also a time consuming job. Maintaining a project like Operaton isn’t a joke. How are you going to do it? Will it be a spare time project? Or do you have plans regarding establishing some consultancy around it?
Because IMO the project can seriously survive only with some funding behind it. And only then could it be of interest for the enterprise customers.
So what are you thoughts on this?
Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to bury the project before it was born. I think that you as seasoned developers have also asked that question yourselves and just wanted to hear your honest answer to it.
this is an important question, and yes, we are very aware that developing and maintaining a project like this is not a spare-time job.
Things haven’t completely settled yet. There are plans to found a legal entity, this is in discussion. We will approach potential interested parties that have a very interest in keeping a C7 compliant solution alive. And we will offer them the security that Operaton is what they can migrate to and operate the next decade.
For the case that interested parties are willing to support Operaton by sponsored development - we are ready for that. We will need more resources than we currently have, and we are gathering them.
Eventually there will be professional support available. If this is through a common entity, or the companies behind us on their own, this will time tell. In any case, we will collaborate on this project in the most open way.
As someone deeply invested in Operaton, both personally and professionally, I wanted to share some insights about our efforts to secure the future of this project. Operaton is not just a tool we’ve integrated into our product—it’s a cornerstone of our business, and we’re committed to ensuring it thrives.
That’s why we’ve shifted resources, including my own time and effort, to actively support and contribute to the project. Our primary focus right now is establishing a governance structure that ensures long-term sustainability. We want to avoid past challenges where the project could suddenly end without a clear continuation plan.
Key Principles for Governance:
Independence: The project must be managed by an association that represents the interests of the user community, rather than being tied to any single company offering consulting or enterprise support.
Inclusivity: The association will own the trademark and ensure the project serves its users’ diverse needs.
Open Ecosystem: Our goal is to create a level playing field where anyone can provide consulting, training, and enterprise support related to Operaton. This open approach fosters competition and innovation, benefiting everyone involved.
Many of the contributors, myself included, are business owners who plan to offer such services. However, the governance model we’re envisioning will ensure fairness and encourage broader participation.
Your thoughts and feedback would be highly valued as we shape this vision together! Let’s make Operaton a success story for everyone involved.
Karsten and Julian already summarized the outlines of our strategy, I won’t repeat that. I just wanted to add, that my company, lambdaschmiede GmbH already provides a frontend developer 20h a week to work on the new web app (which will soon be published as OSS with a small set of functionality for a start), so that’s roughly 2.500€ a month we are currently donating. Andreas Zills company, n3rdy by natur3 UG, is contributing a developer in a similar sense.
I also had some video calls with several companies (which I cannot name yet) who were asking if we needed money or developers, they are eager to contribute and currently clarify how they can do this. So we are already backed by companies and are talking to other companies who plan to back us with money as soon as the foundation for Operaton is founded.