Open Sources | Rodrigues & Urlocker » March 2008

March 31, 2008 | Comments: (0)

State of Open Source

TAGS: Open Source

I don't know if I'm any more qualified to comment on the state of open source than anyone else out there, but I did put some commentary together for InfoWorld's open source roundtable article series last week. Those comments got spread out over several different themed InfoWorld articles along with commentaries by other open source folks including Matt Asay, Bruce Perens, Chris DiBona of Google and others.

However, if you want to read rhw interviews in their original Q&A format, that's been published as a series of articles at ComputerWorld. So instead of reading the comments as thematically grouped by the InfoWorld editors, you can read the specific interviews if you prefer. (Ok, searching the ComputerWorld site is not particularly easy, so you may be better off just using the links to comments by me, Matt Asay, Chris DiBona, Bruce Perens, etc.)

I give my view on some of the challenges & opportunities facing open source, where open source is heading over the next five years, trends in commercialization as well as some of the lessons learned and surprises along the way.

The most important next step is the emergence of what I call "Enterprise 2.0." It's time for mainstream corporate IT departments to look at the best practices happening in the Web area and determine how to make their own infrastructure and applications more Web-based. Companies like Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Travelocity are all running open source stacks meeting huge demands of their users for high availability, performance, scalability, and security. These are the same things that corporate IT needs. So I think there are lessons to be learned in making corporate IT more nimble and more cost-effective using open source software.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 31, 2008 06:00 PM

March 28, 2008 | Comments: (0)

MySQL Workbench: open source data modeling

TAGS: Open Source

The MySQL Workbench team has released the latest Release Candidate 5.0.15 of their new DBMS modeling tool. This includes quite a few recent bug fixes and it's now rapidly approaching the GA status. The team continues on to fix all the minor nits out there so keep your feedback coming. Heck, they'll probably have a new version by the time I post this.

If you've never used a database modeling tool or have been put off by the cost or complexity of these tools in the past, you should try MySQL Workbench. Mike Zinner and his team have focused on making it very easy to use. You can easily view existing MySQL DBMS schemas visually. This is a great way to understand or explore any systems you may have inherited. It's like having automatically generated documentation for database applications. There's a good article by Robin Schumacher, our head of project management, on why you want to be good at data modeling.

The team is also looking for feedback on features to add to the next major 5.1 version of Workbench. You can post your comments on the Workbench discussion forum board thing.

Mike Zinner and his team will be in full force at the MySQL Conference & Expo April 14-17 in Santa Clara, so be sure to check out some of the sessions on the agenda.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 28, 2008 02:34 AM

March 27, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Comments on The 451 Group's Database Report & Red Hat's 4Q revenue

TAGS: Open Source

I want to thank Matt Aslett & The 451 Group for being brave enough to publish this report on the impact of open source databases on the DB market. An excerpt:

"One of the key findings is that open source software has had a superficial impact on the enterprise database market in that adoption has been widespread but shallow. While open source databases have been widely deployed for Web-tier applications, there has been minimal adoption in the enterprise application tier, and adoption for enterprise applications is at this time limited to certain specific application workloads."

Matt "the OSS glass is overflowing, go get another glass, oh man, it's overflowing, get a bucket, oh man, get a hot tub" Asay believes the report to be a "glass half empty" assessment. (Matt, I'm teasing; the world needs more optimists like you).

When data refutes "obvious truths about OSS", we often hear one of three responses.

1. The data is flawed.
2. You're measuring revenue, and OSS companies will always make less than proprietary vendors because of the nature of the business model.
3. Just you wait; the OSS market is still young.

Let me address #2 & #3 using recent revenue results from two vendors we all know. Red Hat released revenue results today. They grew fourth quarter revenue by 27%. Not bad at all. Two days ago Oracle reported a 21% increase in quarterly revenue. The only difference being that Red Hat grew from a $111.4 million base, while Oracle grew from a $4.42 billion base. Younger businesses, addressing younger markets (i.e. the OSS market), should be growing substantially higher than their older counterparts, addressing older markets. Shouldn't they?

I don't want to sound like Red Hat's growth is not impressive. It is. I only want to provide some perspective...a $100M business *SHOULD* grow much, much, much faster than a $4.4B business.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 27, 2008 07:04 PM

March 26, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Kaplan: Guiding open source in IT

TAGS: Open Source

Jon Williams, CTO at Kaplan Test Prep & Admissions, gave today's opening keynote at the OSBC conference in San Francisco. But this was not the usual boring vendor keynote seen at many conferences; this presentation was absolutely on target for the audience. And more importantly, Jon's story is a good example of what's happening increasingly across the industry: open source is being used for strategic as well as tactical applications.

For those not familiar with Kaplan, it's a $2 billion subsidiary of the Washington Post. Unlike many of the dinosaurs in print and media who doubled down by buying out declining newspaper businesses, the Post started diversivying their business some years back and by investing in new technology opportunities. (Fortune ran a great article about the Post's strategy last year.)

One of the key observations Williams made was that Kaplan's use of open source software is not because it's free, but because it works. And they use a lot of open source at Kaplan. They're running Linux, Apache, MySQL, Struts, JBoss, Alfresco and other open source software in development and production. Williams said that what they like about open source is it's easy to customize and easy to get going. And its helped Kaplan evolve from a strong "build" bias on the build vs. buy axis to one that is more effective for their organization. (And surely more cost effective.)

When Williams joined in 2004, Kaplan was large a Java / Microsoft shop and one with a history of bad vendor relationships. It was a conscious decision to start to implement more open source software. He hired a chief architect with OSS experience and started identifying where open source was already in use in the organization. And then they made it a mandate that OSS must be an option at every major technology refresh. The savvier teams knew that they would have to have evaluated their open source options and so many started getting ahead of the game and doing the research in advance.

Williams also looked for a big win inside the company and used the Alfresco content management system for a major launch of their award winning ecommerce web site, engaging Rivet Logic as a partner in the implementation. That project had a lot of visibility at the exec level and turned out to be a big success.

Not only has Kaplan been successful implementing open source, but its also become a key factor in retaining and motivating their technical staff. As Williams put it "Developers crave new technologies." While there were some skeptics in his group, he was able to win them over, showing how open source software had the level of scalability and security they needed. Williams also acknowledged that the relationship with open source vendors is different from that with closed source software vendors. "It's all based on trust," Williams said. "The vendors stand behind the product, and there's no spin."

As the head of the New York CTO Club, Williams appreciates that there's less lock-in with open source. But he also said he likes to have one-year renewable deals because he thinks that choice reinforces the two-way street relationship that he has with his vendors.

There's more to the story than I've covered here, but it was the kind of insightful presentation that shows how a carefully considered technology strategy has many benefits that extend beyond just the technology. I also think Williams' story about how open source is changing the nature of the IT vendor relationship is spot on. Perhaps this is a tipping point for open source coming of age in IT. Let me know what you think.

You can read more about Jon's use of open source in his InfoWorld blog New York CTO. Good on ya' Jon!

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 26, 2008 07:52 PM

March 26, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Can the transportation market teach us anything about the software market?

TAGS: Off Topic

The answer may be no. But hey, this is a blog, so why let reality get in the way of a post?I don't have a history degree, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But, I can only imagine that pundits foretold of an unpleasant death for railroad companies when the automobile started looking like a promising alternative. Later, pundits likely saw the dawn of the airline travel as a worrisome development for automobile makers. I'm sure all these pundits would be surprised to learn that the largest railroad companies in North America are worth nearly 3x more than automakers and over 4x more than airlines.

North American Transportation Companies & Market Capitalizations (from Yahoo! Finance)

Railroads	Mkt Cap $B	Airlines	Mkt Cap $B	Automakers	Mkt Cap $B
BNI	32.47	LUV	8.96	Ford	17.75
CNI	23.36	NWA	2.46	GM	11.54
CSX	22.61	AMR	2.40
CP	10.07	CAL	2.1
		JBLU	1.34
Total	$88.51B	Total	$17.26B	Total	$29.29B

Yes, railroad companies now make the majority of their revenue from transporting goods vs. transporting people as they did in "the good old days". That just means companies can evolve when market forces demand change.

What's more, I'm sure someone is doing a PhD thesis showing that the addition of competition from an alternative mode of transportation helped to grow the overall transportation market.

In any case, don't underestimate the resiliency of established market leaders. This is especially true when they've been given decades to study and respond to a disruptive trend as is the case with open source software.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 26, 2008 01:10 PM

March 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Survey: Pure play OSS vendors to lag behind Platform vendors in 2012

TAGS: Open Source

Today at OSBC, the results of the North Bridge Venture Partners' annual "Future of Open Source" survey were released. Try as I may, I could not find out who the respondents were (i.e. developers, CIOs, the Asay family, FSJ, etc) or what the sample size was.

You can see a summary of key findings at the bottom of this page. Here are two findings not included in the key findings list.

Head on over to chart 9/16 to the question asking "Who will command the majority of commercial OS software revenue (non consulting) in 2012?" Yes, 15% of respondents went with pure play vendors like Red Hat. However, over 2x that figure went with platform vendors like IBM, Oracle, SAP (?) and Sun.

Even more interesting, chart 11/16 asked: "Can a startup software vendor realistically enter the (enterprise) market with a product/service that is NOT open source?" Nearly 80% of respondents disagreed with the statement. Now, if you're a VC, and you see the type of money that closed-source vendors can generate vs. OSS counterparts, (i.e. vmware vs. Xensource) are you going to think twice about the "should this be open sourced or not" decision?

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 25, 2008 09:14 AM

March 25, 2008 | Comments: (0)

IBM invests in EnterpriseDB

TAGS: Open Source

EnterpriseDB just raised $10M in Series C financing. IBM joined the list of investors including Fidelity Ventures, Valhalla Partners and Charles River Ventures. To date, EnterpriseDB has raised $37.5M (compared to the $39M that MySQL had raised in total after Series C).

EnterpriseDB uses the slogan "The Oracle-compatible database company". While I wish Andy and the folks at EnterpriseDB the best, the challenge is that Oracle's high end products aren't in danger of losing to OSS competition. Next, in the majority of Oracle deals, Oracle isn't selling a database anymore. They are selling a database, an application server, tools and applications in a joint fashion. It's difficult for vendors to compete unless they can offer, or partner to offer, the equivalent products. This is bad news for smaller ISVs, especially smaller/regional application ISVs.

EnterpriseDB does have an opportunity to compete, and win, against Oracle in deals where the customer just needs a standalone database (and not all the other Oracle products) that can be utilized with their existing Oracle sills. This isn't new news to Andy and team. I'm sure some of the new funding will be used to compete with Oracle in this market segment.

I just realized that EnterpriseDB is also targeting MySQL users (news to me!):

"MySQL users know firsthand that MySQL is most effective for read-only environments and the web/edge tier - but not for applications in demanding OLTP environments, requiring enterprise-class reliability, availability, and scalability.

In fact, some EnterpriseDB clients continue to run MySQL databases for less demanding applications and turn to us where they've "hit a wall" with MySQL. "

I find this quite interesting, and very much in line with what I've experienced. No one product is right for ever customer project. Also, a product may be right when you start the project, but it may not be appropriate a year or two down the road.

What do you think, does EnterpriseDB have a brighter future by targeting Oracle users that want "Oracle like features for MySQL prices" or by targeting MySQL users who have "hit the wall"?

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 25, 2008 06:00 AM

March 24, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Tasktop & Protecode; Startups made possible by the Eclipse ecosystem

TAGS: Eclipse

Tasktop and Protecode are two interesting startups I ran into at EclipseCON 2008. They are very different businesses, aimed at very different audiences. However, both are made possible by Eclipse ecosystem....It would be very interesting to estimate the revenue opportunity that the Eclipse Foundation has opened up for vendors of all shapes and sizes.

Tasktop is based on Eclipse. The makers of Tasktop are many of the guys behind the Eclipse Mylyn OSS project. Mylyn is a task-focused UI for developers using Eclipse. Mik and team realized that the task-focused nature of Mylyn could be extended to support everyday use (outside of developers). Tasktop is able to group documents, emails and websites based on tasks you're working on. So, for instance if I was working on a customer issue for work, researching for a blog post and writing a paper for school, I could switch between these three tasks and Tasktop would open/close the appropriate files, emails, webpages etc. based on the task I'm working on. Searching for files becomes simpler because they are associated with tasks. Also, Tasktop tracks how much time I've spent on a given task. I suspect there is a way to prevent Tasktop from tracking how long I spend reading FSJ and Dilbert ;-) It does a lot more, so watch this demo. While Mylyn is pure OSS, Tasktop is a commercial product for $60/year.

Protecode on the other hand has a really useful Eclipse plugin that tracks the pedigree of your code. It does so whether you import a file into Eclipse, or paste text from clipboard. The tool works unobtrusively while the developer is working away. As a result, the developer doesn't have to remember the pedigree of a file or snippet of code 6 months later when the lawyer comes knockng. Companies can also set policies to restrict the code that can be brought into the project based on the license type (i.e. restrict GPL code usage). If you bring in code that doesn't have a license attached to it, Protecode is able to check the code against its constantly updated collection of OSS software code. This occurs over a network connection. If there isn't a network connection, the code is marked as "Unknown" and the developer, manager or lawyer can act on identifying the code when there is a network connection. As the use of OSS grows in the enterprise, so to does the worry of IP infringement. A tool like Protecode could become just what IT managers have been looking for. BTW, the guys at Protecode are in the midst of updating their website, so don't let that get in the way of trying Protecode. The product is actually very cool and I can see it helping companies (and lawyers) get more comfortable with using OSS to develop their own products.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 24, 2008 03:33 PM

March 24, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Open source roundtable and OSBC

TAGS: Open Source

The editors at InfoWorld have put together a virtual roundtable series of articles on open source this week to coincide with this week's OSBC conference. I wrote some comments responding to questions as did other folks including Matt Asay from Alfresco, Javier Soltero from Hyperic, Sam Ramji from Microsoft and others.

Take a look and let me know what you think. Or better yet, head over to the OSBC conference Tuesday and Wednesday and you can see all this and more happening live. As usual, Matt Asay is the host of OSBC and this year's overall theme is "Putting open source to work." (I can't believe OSBC has been around for 5 years! It still feels new to me.)

I'll be on two different panels: "The state of the open source database market" Tuesday at 3:00 pm and "Can open source communities survive M&A?" Wednesday at 3:00 pm. (This was a late addition so it might not be on the schedule yet.)

There will also be a slew of events at or around OSBC including MySQL and Sun having a little community celebration reception at Jillian's Billiards, next door to Sony Metreon center (corner 4th / Howard) Tuesday evening 5:00 - 8:00 pm.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 24, 2008 07:50 AM

March 21, 2008 | Comments: (0)

EclipseCon

TAGS: Open Source

I ended up with a nasty flu for two days this week so I missed out on EclipseCon held earlier this week. Interesting to see that Microsoft was at EclipseCon and Sam Ramji did one of the keynotes. While Microsoft doesn't appear to be practicing open source in any real way, they are certainly paying more attention to it. Sam announced some new collaboration with Eclipse, which is a good first step. But I'd like to see Microsoft go further and I think they'll need to if they want to be relevant to the next generation of developers.

For those who follow such matters, MySQL has renewed its Eclipse membership. And since we're a part of Sun, I guess that means Sun is now a member of Eclipse.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 21, 2008 11:16 AM

March 20, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Open community and closed-source vendors

TAGS: Microsoft

InfoWorld blogger Sean McCown at Database Underground wrote about a key difference between SQL Server & Oracle:

"The answer is simple... information. Microsoft has built such a strong community and its members are committed to helping each other. There are so many forums out there you just don't have time to go to them all. And one of the most amazing things I've found is that the MSDN forums are actually sharked by Microsoft's own PSS and dev teams. You just can't get any better than that. You've got both the guys on the support team, and the guys who actually write the code helping you with your problem. You've got MVPs out there writing new and exciting books like crazy. They're really giving up all the secrets on how SQL works, and what you can do with it.

Oracle is still living in the old days where everything is a good ole boys club. This is the world of Linux and Unix where they started, and it's a dinosaur, man. You just can't afford to do business like that anymore. You have to open up your community and start programs to encourage your best people to help and teach."

Sean's description of the community around SQL Server and the level of Microsoft employee interaction in the community should sound similar to the community around MySQL. It's not exactly the same, but similar. I'd like to believe that MSDN became what it is today because Microsoft learned about the importance of community from OSS vendors. However, when something is a good idea, it's not uncommon for several people/companies to have the same "good idea".

Stating that community matters today is as insightful as saying air matters to humans. Yet, it appears the folks at Oracle could learn a thing or two about Community from Microsoft. And they could both learn a thing or two from OSS vendors.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 20, 2008 10:08 AM

March 19, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Rod Johnson on Innovation

TAGS: Open Source

Rod had an amusing and interesting session at EclipseCON titled The Future of Enterprise Java. In the session he spoke about innovation in general and sources of Enterprise Java innovation in particular (more on this later in this post).

He discussed how the JCP is like the Russian Commissar who was tasked with doing what is "in the best interest" of the people, but sometimes gets in the way (of innovation). Rod went on to highlight how political motivations in the JCP hurt customers. He gave several examples including, most recently, Sun attempting to reinvent a sub-optimal alternative to OSGi (with JSR-277) when OSGi exists as a standard already. Apparently this is happening even though IBM, Oracle and BEA would rather utilize OSGi within the JEE spec. Here's the deck from Rod.

Rod talked about the three sources of innovation in Enterprise Java:

• The Cathedral (proprietary vendors)
• The Bazaar (OSS vendors)
• Commissar (the JCP)

Rod challenged the notion that the Bazaar model is the best or only way forward. Rod claimed (near quotes):

"The bazaar model encourages competition in implementation, but may not produce innovation.

....

The cathedral model is more likely to produce innovation. Remember that Eclipse began as a cathedral project from IBM.

....

Now, the combination of the bazaar model and the cathedral model drive innovation to a much higher degree than either would alone."

Until now, I've always considered the cathedral vs. bazaar models to be mutually exclusive choices. But upon reflection, Rod used the Cathedral & Bazaar metaphors to state what I've long believed about the future of the software market. Namely, that the combined use of the OSS model and the proprietary software model is the future. I've seen (and lived through) proof that proprietary vendors are learning from OSS vendors. Are OSS vendors doing the same with lessons from proprietary vendors? Or have OSS proponents led OSS vendors to believe that there is nothing to be learned from "the past". I hope not.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 19, 2008 10:13 PM

March 19, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Microsoft at EclipseCON

TAGS: Microsoft

Sam Ramji was the keynote this morning. Taking the cue from yesterday's keynote, Fake Steve Jobs, Sam announced that Microsoft was acquiring the Eclipse Foundation. This was obviously a joke! Sam went on to explain the work that his team has been doing around OSS. You can read the highlights on Sam's blog entry here. I'll mention three things that stood out for me.

First, Sam plainly stated that a few years ago you could accuse Microsoft of "missing the OSS boat". But since 2005, the Open Source Software Lab at Microsoft has been helping the rest of Microsoft realize the importance of OSS. According to Sam, it hasn't been easy, they could do more, and the job is nowhere close to being done. They're just 3 years into a 10 year journey in reorienting Microsoft's internal and external views on OSS.

Second, the majority of folks in the room (>1,000 people?) didn't know much about Microsoft's work with OSS. Now let's be fair, Microsoft hasn't done as much for/with OSS as other large software/IT vendors (IBM, HP, Intel, Red Hat, Oracle, Sun, etc). But for so many OSS proponents in the room to not know that, for example, Microsoft had 2 OSI approved licenses was somewhat surprising to me. I believe that the OSS community is doing itself a disservice if we actively choose to ignore what Microsoft is doing, because, well, they're Microsoft. Let me be clear. Microsoft doesn't love OSS. But don't let that trick you into thinking that Microsoft won't figure out how to leverage the momentum of OSS to continue its own revenue growth. (Let's be honest, you could insert any successful software company's name for "Microsoft" in the above two sentences.)

Third, Sam was asked the size of his budget for the Open Source Software Lab (considering that Microsoft's revenue $50B). Sam explained that the budget was ~$5M, but that his group could influence the work of other teams at Microsoft. For example, the folks at Mozilla contacted Sam's team to ask why the Windows Media Player 11 (WMP) user experience in Firefox on Vista sucked vs. WMP in IE on Vista. Sam's team reached out to the WMP team and put them in contact with the Mozilla guys. The WMP team addressed the issue and it didn't cost the Microsoft OSS Lab a dime. Sam made another key point about the lab's budget. The only way that the lab's budget is going to increase is if developers, partners and users tell Microsoft that the work that his lab is doing is valuable. So, in a way, if you want Microsoft to do more with OSS, it's up to you to pat them on the back for the steps they’re taking. ;-)

It'll be interesting to see what Microsoft does next with OSS. Rest assured they're not ignoring OSS anymore....which is exciting and scary at the same time if you're an OSS proponent.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 19, 2008 04:02 PM

March 18, 2008 | Comments: (0)

OSBC future of open source survey

TAGS: Open Source

North Bridge, a leading Venture Capital firm has launched a survey on the Future of Open Source. Results from the survey will be announced at a panel session at InfoWorld's OSBC conference in San Francisco March 25-26. The session is hosted by Michael Skok of North Bridge and panelists include Marten Mickos from MySQL, John Roberts from SugarCRM and Mark Shuttleworth from Canonical among others.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 18, 2008 11:54 AM

March 17, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Adoption or Shareware/Trialware

TAGS: Open Source

I just got a chance to read Simon & Zack's individual replies to my question whether an Adoption-led market was very different from a Shareware market.

I actually liked Simon's definition, but felt it was missing something about the access to source code and community. To me, these two items are the real enabler of what Simon is describing. With OSS, adoption is driven by the community that builds around an OSS project. This community is generally driven by access to the source code. But at times, it can form around access to an open API around a closed source product (i.e. iPod/iPhone apps).

Please read Simon's original definition, with my modifications in square brackets and strikeout of Simon's original text:

"In this approach, developers select from available [Shareware or Trialware] Free software and try the software that fits best in their proposed application. They develop prototypes, switch packages as they find benefits and problems and finally create a deployable solution to their business problem. At that final point, assuming the application is sufficiently critical to the business to make it worthwhile to do so, they seek out [the creator of the Shareware or Trialware] vendors to provide support, services (like defect resolution) and more. Adoption-led users are not all customers; they only become so when they find a vendor with value to offer."

If you agree that the paragraph above holds, then you should logically agree that the original paragraph was not sufficient to distinguish an Adoption-led market from a Shareware/Trialware market.

To Simon & Pete who commented that Adoption-led doesn't have to be about Support only. That's good, and I'd agree. However, except for the "and more" portion of the definition, everything being discussed would fall into a traditional description of support:

"seek out vendors to provide support, services (like defect resolution) and more."

Anywho, at the end of the day, an "Adoption-led market", regardless of the definitional edits we may/may not make, is different from a procurement-led market. I'm not as convinced as Simon and Zack that that this shift is occurring at a rapid enough pace. Nor am I convinced that it the only valid outcome for the software market of tomorrow. I'm just looking at the data. But hey, who can predict the future.

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 17, 2008 07:25 PM

March 17, 2008 | Comments: (0)

EclipseCON News 3/17

TAGS: Open Source

I'll be posting interesting news from EclipseCON this week; as it happens and as I happen to hear it ;-)

The first piece of news that Ian Skerrett and Mike Milinkovich shared was the introduction of a new runtime initiative at the Eclipse Foundation. "A runtime project at Eclipse? I thought Eclipse was a home for tooling stuff." That's what I would have thought if I wasn't previously aware of the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP). RCP is the foundation for some IBM Lotus client-side products. Back in the day, folks at Eclipse realized that under the Eclipse tooling environment was a fairly robust client runtime environment. This client runtime had historically been used to run a tooling environment (i.e. a Tooling app). Supporting general purpose client-side applications was a natural next step.

The news today is a little different as it focuses on the server-side. The Eclipse Runtime project (Eclipse RT) is a new top-level project that will use the OSGi-based Eclipse Equinox runtime at the core of the top-level project. The Eclipse RT project will host several sub-projects that deliver runtime infrastructure based on Eclipse Equinox. The Project Management Committee (PMC) for Eclipse RT will be driven by Code 9, Innoopract, Sopera, Oracle and IBM.

OSGi is core to this announcement. OSGi is used to build several enterprise software products. I know that WebSphere Application Server v6.1 was built using OSGi, and I've read that BEA's microkernel leverages OSGi. I know Oracle uses OSGi, but I can't remember in what fashion. However, all of these uses of OSGi have been in the building of products, not the support of a new programming model. It will be interesting to see what traction OSGi gets as a programming model, and how Eclipse RT can help raise the profile of OSGi. If you're using OSGi or interested in using OSGi, drop a comment with with you're doing and how you think Eclipse RT can help. Better yet, get involved!

BTW, Eclipse Equinox is going up against Apache Felix, another OSGi-based runtime. I only mention it because Apache & Eclipse have been pretty complimentary (for the most part) in the past...but hey, competition is good for everyone. ;-)

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 17, 2008 09:22 AM

March 17, 2008 | Comments: (0)

iPhone as a platform?

TAGS: Apple

Apple's announcements in recent weeks around the iPhone SDK have the potential to transform the hottest consumer smartphone into a significant business productivity tool. Apple came into the smartphone market starting from scratch and in 12 months has 28% market share, running second to the RIM Blackberry, and ahead of Microsoft and Palm. Frankly, Palm's continuous bungling in a market they created gave Apple a perfect opening.

While providing Microsoft Exchange compatibility and remote security for devices is important to meet IT requirements, the more significant piece of the news is that Apple will treat the iPhone as a full-blown platform for the development of new applications. In just 4 days more than 100,000 developers have downloaded copies of the iPhone SDK beta. Those are impressive numbers. Of course, the real power of the platform will be in what kind of applications are created. One "killer app" can make a platform successful if it solves the right problem for the right audience. (And not to go too oldschool on everyone, but consider Visicalc on the Apple II, Lotus on the PC or PageMaker on the Mac. These applications made the platform successful.)

While it's not a fully open platform, it is possibly "open enough" to enable corporate developers and ISVs to build smartphone applications for the iPhone using JavaScript and CSS. Sun says it will have the Java VM running on the iPhone, but there'ssome confusion here, and it would seem a shame if the iPhone doesn't support Java. The Beta SDK is free, but you need to join Apple's developer program for $99 to release applications. Apple will enable consumers to buy the apps from iTunes and will take a 30% slice. While some developers may not like that model, it's actually a pretty reasonable price and it ensures easy access for customers.

I'm not using the iPhone because I like having a real keyboard for email, but I see more and more of them everywhere I go. And the users I speak to really like them. What kind of applications do you think make sense for the iPhone platform? What languages would you want to use to build these apps? Is Java a requirement for corporate apps on the iPhone? Let me know your thoughts. Also, check out InfoWorld's special report IT's Guide to the iPhone.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 17, 2008 07:37 AM

March 14, 2008 | Comments: (0)

MySQL at PHP Quebec

TAGS: Open Source

For many developers, MySQL and PHP go together like peanut butter and jam. MySQL has a long history of working with the PHP community and that's a commitment that will continue forever. If you've thought scripting languages weren't powerful enough for "real programming" take a look at recent facilities like PDO and the Zend Framework. MySQL has also developed a native PHP driver that has become very popular.

This past week to celebrate our commitment to PHP, Sun and MySQL held a meetup / cocktail reception and job fair at PHP Quebec, one of the biggest PHP conferences. Jay Pipes, MySQL community guru, gave a presentation on "Performance Minded MySQL for PHP Developers." If you missed it, Jay has a similar performance talk at the MySQL Conference & Expo in April.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 14, 2008 10:51 AM

March 12, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Why Adoption Matters

TAGS: Open Source

I don't usually comment too much on other people's blogs --it just becomes too much of an echo chamber --but I thought a recent posting by Savio on the adoption-led model could benefit from another perspective. I'm not sure what caused Savio to dismiss the adoption-led model as a move back to shareware. Maybe all the snow back east is giving him cabin fever! My perspective is a bit different.

I don't think the adoption model is a step backwards except in one very important sense: it restores more power into the hands of buyers. To me that's one of the great benefits of open source software. As Simon Phipps points out, developers can try out the software and decide what works best to meet their needs.

The reason I joined MySQL 4 1/2 years ago was because I felt that the old model of selling Enterprise software was broken. Companies charged millions of dollars for Enterprise software that rarely performed as needed. Few IT departments were successful in implementing all these applications and return on investment was miserable. Most implementations I saw ran years late and cost millions more in budget overruns. And Enterprise software companies were always pushing "the next big thing" --some new set of features that added more complexity and bloat.

Open source has returned some of the power to buyers by letting them download and use the software without having to deal with smooth-talking Armani-wearing sales reps. The result: less complexity, lower cost of sales and greater efficiency both for buyers and for vendors.

I'm not suggesting that all closed source enterprise software is bloated or over-priced or that all open source software is perfect. It's up to the users to decide what works best to solve their problems. With open source, they have that option.

Has the adoption-led model been successful? I think there's compelling evidence, both in closed source and in open source. Consider McAfee anti-virus software, ZoneLabs intrusion detection software, SNORT security software, MySQL, Linux, JBoss, Eclipse, to name a few...

Maybe there are other examples that come to mind. Or am I just basking in too much California optimism? Let me know what you think.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 12, 2008 02:51 PM

March 11, 2008 | Comments: (0)

The No-Brainer $100 Treo Upgrade

TAGS: Off Topic

After deliberating all the different smartphone choices in recent weeks, I finally came to a decision. Or in some sense, the decision came to me through the convergence of two events: The antennna on my long-suffering Treo 650 broke off and AT&T shipped a GSM version of the Treo Centro.

If you're looking for the latest dope smartphone (is that an oxymoron?) with state of the art UI, Wi-Fi capabilities, high-speed browsing or Windows Mobile then skip out and don't bother with the Centro. But if you're a long-time Treo user, then let me tell you why this is a no-brainer upgrade.

I'm a long-time user of the Palm OS, going back to the original Palm Pilot. I'm not only a loyal user, I'm probably too loyal. But my guess is that there are a lot of other long-time users of the Palm Treo who could benefit from the Centro. Here's what you get:

-Weighs only 4.2 oz (50% lighter than the 650)
-Smaller than an iPhone
-No bulky external antenna
-Decent keyboard for email, messaging
-Standard palm apps for calendar, contacts, etc
-Miserable crappy slow browser
-Same old Palm OS but more stable (not a single crash in 2 weeks)
-Better voice quality than the Treo 650
-Slightly better camera
-Slightly faster email using AT&T's Edge non-3G network

If you're on Sprint or AT&T it's a $100 upgrade to get a phone that is smaller, better, more reliable and faster. And if you're upgrading from an existing Palm device, it's relatively painless: Backup, resync and get back to work.

The only drawbacks I've found are:
-The Centro uses a Micro-SD card, not the older, large SD
-Battery life is shorter, so spring for a spare
-My wife called it a "chick phone"

I can live with that.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 11, 2008 09:06 PM

March 11, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Adoption-led market or Shareware?

TAGS: Open Source

Sun's Simon Phipps has a nice description of an "adoption-led market", which differs from the traditional "procurement-driven market" commonplace in the commercial software market.

"In this (adoption-led) approach, developers select from available Free software and try the software that fits best in their proposed application. They develop prototypes, switch packages as they find benefits and problems and finally create a deployable solution to their business problem. At that final point, assuming the application is sufficiently critical to the business to make it worthwhile to do so, they seek out vendors to provide support, services (like defect resolution) and more. Adoption-led users are not all customers; they only become so when they find a vendor with value to offer."

If Simon is suggesting that the future of the software market is in providing support, then I can't help but disagree. While the "adoption-led market" moniker sounds great, we should recognize its shortcomings. Not the least of which is the fact we train users to get by without paying for our product. And then we expect the user to want to pay for a product that they've already been using for free. You could offer support and bi-weekly massages, and you're still in an uphill battle. The dual license model (MySQL) or a gated access to products model (Fedora/RHEL) are more effective than support-driven business models.

Next, if we're honest with ourselves, an adoption-led market is not a whole lot different from the shareware model. I can't think of many software products that utilized the shareware model and made it big. WinZip maybe? I'm sure there were some....but I shudder to think that we're going back to the past and recommending the shareware model as the future of the software industry. Come to think of it, with the shareware model, users would have been more likely to become paying customers because they couldn't get 'support' from a community or benefit from community developed features since the source was not open. So, if shareware products could convert 0.01% of users into customers, it stands to reason that an adoption-led model will convert some number less than 0.01%. Onward!?

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 11, 2008 09:24 AM

March 10, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Who will continue solidDB for MySQL development?

TAGS: Open Source

As Matt reported last week, IBM announced that it was bowing out of the solidDB for MySQL project.

"Those of you who know Solid's history know that Solid has long been a leader in the area of in-memory database software. This in-memory technology, and not Solid's open source offering, was the key driver behind IBM's acquisition. As a result, I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, we will not be continuing further development on solidDB for MySQL.

solidDB for MySQL will continue to be hosted and available here at SourceForge, and existing releases will continue to be available under the GPL."

According to Sourceforge.net, there have been 2,415 downloads of solidDB for MySQL since November 2006. As a result, I'd guess there are 200-500 users today.

Will there be enough community interest to continue development on the solidDB for MySQL project?

I ask because source code availability is supposed to guard against vendor lock-in. While this is obviously the case on paper, I've wondered how it would play out in practice. How do users/customers build or find community interest to support a project that the original vendor has walked away from? If the originating vendor walked away from the project, can a third-party build a business case to continue developing the project? I guess we'll see....

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 10, 2008 08:44 PM

March 10, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Reply to My Microsoft Freetard post

TAGS: Microsoft

Apologies for not writing this earlier, but I've just had a horrible few weeks of school & work, with a week of 14hr days in a classroom to boot.

I wanted to follow up on the post because most of the comments I received were of the "you're crazy, Microsoft sucks, you suck" fashion.

Well, I have been known to be wrong, and sometimes my ideas have been crazy, and Microsoft has been known to suck. But, does any of this change what we're seeing in the market?

According to IDC data from Dec. 2007:

• The Linux OS market growth rate is slowing from ~22% in 2007 to ~16% in 2011
• The Windows OS market growth rate is slowing from ~11% in 2007 to ~9% in 2011
• The Unix OS market growth rate is slowing from ~ NEGATIVE 7% in 2007 to ~ NEGATIVE 6% in 2011
• The 2006-2011 CAGRs for Linux, Windows and UNIX are 20%, -5% and 9% respectively
• IDC expects the Linux OS market to be worth $0.967B by 2011, compared to $22.7B for Windows and $1.9B for UNIX
• From 2006 to 2011, Linux, Windows and UNIX operating system revenue will grow by $0.57B, $7.7B and -$0.51B respectively (note how the Linux & UNIX revenue shift balance each other out)
• If the Windows OS market grew to 2011 and then remained flat (i.e. 0% growth), it would take Linux until 2029 to grow to the size of the Windows market. Lots of things can happen in the next 20+ years.

Now I know that OSS is larger than Linux OS. However, we simply have the most revenue data on the Linux OS market, which is why I use it in this post.

Roy S., I don't want you or any of our readers to leave. Let me ask you what value you get out of this or any other blog if all you read is what you believe to be true? I have never said I am always right. I am willing to learn and change any of my views. I've always believed that the way to deal with adversity is to be honest with yourself about the situation. I don't think that the OSS community is being honest with itself. (This is a personal view, and I am willing to be convinced otherwise).

It gives me no joy to be (one of) the messengers behind the news that OSS is great, but it's not going to kill Microsoft or other large commercial software vendors. I know this is at odds with the often repeated view that OSS is the only path forward. There is simply no data that supports this claim. Yet, OSS luminaries are lauded for repeating this claim.

Just imagine if we agreed that OSS isn't the spark that destroys and re-casts the software landscape as we know it. Would this change how OSS vendors look at their competitive differences, revenue goals and customers vs. users? I suspect yes. By simply repeating the claims that OSS will take over the world, are we doing anyone any good?

PS: I should state: "The postings on this site are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions."

Posted by Savio Rodrigues on March 10, 2008 04:14 PM

March 07, 2008 | Comments: (0)

SXSW Interactive

TAGS: Off Topic

I'll be in Austin Sunday and Monday as part of SXSW Interactive conference. If you're not familiar with SXSW (South by Southwest) it's a combination technology and music conference. Or technically I guess it's two different conferences held one after the other in Austin Texas. I've never been and I'm looking forward to it. Where else could you find a program that has keynotes by Lou Reed and Mark Zuckerberg. There's also more than 1500 bands playing in Austin next week ranging from Carbon / Silicon (who dey?) to REM, Daniel Lanois, Vampire Weekend, The Black Angels, the Stooges and 1490 some others.

Sun is sponsoring some of the events there and we'll have a MySQL / Sun World Tour party Sunday March 9 at La Zona Rosa at 9pm with live music from The Smithereens and Seven Mary Three. If you'd like to join us, bring your SXSW badge or rsvp by sending email to austinevent@mysql.com to get adding to the guest list. (Ok, this may sell out after the first 100 people; you have been warned.)

We will be doing a series of other community meetings around the world culminating in the MySQL Conference & Expo Apri 14-17 in Santa Clara. I think that will be selling out pretty soon also.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 7, 2008 03:54 PM

March 04, 2008 | Comments: (0)

MuleCon in San Francisco April 1-2

TAGS: Open Source

As a follow on from last weeks SaaS / onDemand conferences, MuleSource has their upcoming MuleCon April 1-2 in San Francisco. If you're doing integration work and looking for a better, cheaper way, this is a good conference to check out. You can view some of last years's presentations online. There's a separate track for developers and for users as well as customer case studies, roadmap discussions etc. And since Dave is hosting, I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 4, 2008 07:45 AM

March 03, 2008 | Comments: (0)

Jon Udell's New RSaaS

TAGS: Off Topic

Avid runner and all 'round insightful dude Jon Udell wrote about a new idea around what I'll call RSaaS --Running Shoes as a Service.

"If you’re a runner, spending $100 every six (or even three) months is infinitely preferable to injury. You’d think that shoe sellers would make it easy to do that, but they don’t. I’d happily authorize regular replacements, but nobody’s ever offered me that option."

"Partly I guess this is a failure of service-oriented thinking. My local seller thinks service means taking good care of me when I walk in, and he does. But I think service should also mean helping me manage a lifelong shoe-replacement regimen, and that notion seems not to have sunk in."

It's an interesting perspective. If you're in a business of selling products how do you extend your notion of service beyond the point of sale? And how can we use technology to make the service compelling? Clearly this has already happened to music with subscription services like Rhapsody and to videos with Netflix. Where else is it applicable?

Maybe I'll see if I can get in another run with Jon at OSCON this year and we'll brainstorm some more ideas on this topic.

Posted by Zack Urlocker on March 3, 2008 07:44 AM