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January 31, 2007
Open Source perspectives
Sometimes I'm still amazed at how Open Source is perceived.
Perspective #1
The other week, the German version of CIO magazine published an article titled "Open Source - a real alternative for the IT market?" by Mathieu Paujol.
His general take on Open Source is that is only relevant if you have simple or specialized needs and also have a team of developers.
A quote from the article: "Open Source-Software is only interesting for simple scenarios of little strategic importance."
From my current and past experience I know that there are plenty of major companies using or looking to use Open Source in mission-critical situations, so I was somewhat surprised at the angle discussed in the article.
Perspective #2
A couple of weeks ago I received a phone-call from a German journalist I've known for a few years. He was researching an article for iX on how companies are running businesses in the Open Source eco-system.
(Actually he was supposed to be writing about companies that receive payment to go into failing Open Source projects and rescue them. However he hadn't been able to find any companies that actually do this - no surprise there).
So the journalist then changed the subject to be more about how companies less well-known than say IBM or Red Hat (i.e. companies like ours) are building a business around Open Source. A much more interesting perspective (but then I'm biased).
So, what's your perspective on Open Source in 2007?
Update: altered the post to make the quote clearer.
Posted by Matthew at 05:59 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2007
Important Open Source
Nat Torkington is compiling a survey of important Open Source projects. Here is the comment I made.
Nat is actually asking for the 3 most important Open Source projects - not the ones that are being used the most. How do you define importance?
Here's mine:
1. Apache HTTPD (important for the expansion of the Web and the many services that run on top)
2. MySQL (important for showing that Open Source can redefine "important" software for enterprises and in so doing bridge the divide between "hackers" and "suits". Linux comes in a close second here).
3. Wikipedia (important for redifining "open source" itself in that it can apply to a lot more than just software).
Open Source isn't a method of writing software - it's a way of thinking.
I'm still not sure what Nat means with "important". Maybe we'll see when he posts his findings.
Posted by Matthew at 07:15 AM | Comments (0)
January 23, 2007
Think
Think California. Think Napa Valley in March. Think Wine Drinking, Think Silverado Resort. Think exclusive, invitation only, industry event. Think Tank. Open Source Think Tank. Apply to attend.
Nah, I'm just jealous I wasn't invited.
On the other hand I'm really not against events like this - I mean you can choose to go (or not to) and I'm sure enough people will go to make it worthwhile.
That being said, maybe this type of event that probably appeals to CTOs from large corporations, is something the European Open Source business community should also be thinking about putting on. Like in Tuscany - hint.
Posted by Matthew at 09:23 AM | Comments (1)
Jobs @ Indiginox
We've just revised our German jobs page.
Posted by Matthew at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2007
Enterprise 2.0 article up for download
Some weeks ago I wrote an overview article on Enterprise 2.0 (in German) for "entwickler magazin". The article was published in December and I have now made it available for download (PDF) from the Indiginox site.
Posted by Matthew at 05:43 PM | Comments (1)
January 19, 2007
Romantic thoughts
Scott Adams on romance:
Romance, I’m told, is the delta between your selfish asshole baseline and the occasional deviations from that baseline.
Priceless.
Posted by Matthew at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
Why Johnny can't code
In the past I've written about trying to get my son to start programming - no luck so far. I've received a fair bit of feedback and know that I'm not the only one remembering the satisfaction of writing your own little game in BASIC.
Since last year I've become more involved with what is being taught in the local high-schools and find it interesting that for example one school teaches Delphi and another teaches Java as the main programming language for 15-16 year olds.
O'Reilly's Nat Torkington has an interesting article on this topic with several pointers including an excellent article by David Brin. David also has an interesting solution in that he bought a Commodore 64 off ebay so his son could learn BASIC at home while learning C++ at school.
It was for a similar reason that I started teaching a neighbor's son Ruby (on Rails) when he wanted to do a bit more programming than his school offered. We could have continued doing Java - but I thought it would be more interesting for him to learn a different language instead.
It is a shame that today's computer systems don't attract (or provide for) young programmers and it makes me wonder what will happen once the kids of today reach employment age.
Posted by Matthew at 02:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
What would an iPhone cost without a contract?
Just one quick comment on the announced iPhone pricing. In the US the iPhone is being offered with a 2 year Cingular contract for 499 $ (4GB). If I compare this with say Vodafone Germany where a Nokia N93 costs 400 € with a 24 month basic contract.
Without a contract the N93 will set you back around 800 €.
Makes you think what the iPhone would cost if it was available without a contract.
(Not sure if handset pricing works the same in the US, so any comments welcome)
Posted by Matthew at 04:24 PM | Comments (2)
January 09, 2007
Integrating Ruby on Rails with PHP
I'm currently looking to integrate functionality built with Ruby on Rails into a PHP 4 environment. Basically I need to find out if someone accessing the RoR functionality has previously signed on to the main PHP application. Everything is running on the same server.
Up to now I've found a blog entry on codesnipers from Nola Stowe that would suggest it isn't particularly difficult to access PHP sessions from RoR. Nola also points to PHPSession which seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.
Any other suggestions or input on doing this out there?
Posted by Matthew at 09:37 AM | Comments (1)
January 08, 2007
Traffic jams in Venice?
Nicholas Carr on the implications high-bandwidth media applications like "The Venice Project" may have on the net in the coming months.
If applications from "third-parties" like Venice become popular, then it will be interesting to see how the net infrastructure providers who also have their own media offering (like T-Com in Germany) react.
Should the pipe to your PC become clogged, then it's pretty easy to guess who may well get first "right-of-way".
Posted by Matthew at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
IPTV comes to the XBox360
Microsoft announces the integration of the IPTV platform with the XBox360. It had to happen.
I really think Microsoft is playing this out in absolutely the right way. Their advantage has to be that gaming consoles are already connected up to your TV and therefore there's no hassle getting the video content from the "PC" to your screen. This is a problem other companies (like Apple) still have to solve and they first have to convince you to buy an additional piece of hardware.
Microsoft, again, has it easier, because for the most part geek-dads are buying the XBox360 for the kids (yeah, right). A lot easier to get the household finances passed on that than on buying "a gadget for dad". (I speak with certain authority on that).
engadget has some interface pictures for the XBox360 IPTV.
Posted by Matthew at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)