Startups

Open-source code, but is it an open-source business?

I wrote recently about InfoSolve's OpenDQ. The software is licensed under the GPL (version 2), but the company only releases the source code to paying customers? Is this open source?

Of course it is. But is it an open-source business? No.

Code without community is sterile. It's good for customers because it gives them permanent escrow, but it throttles that benefit by restricting the value of the code. Without a community actively evaluating, implementing, and working with one's code, that code promises to have a short shelf-life beyond the vendor that writes it.

Which may well be … Read more

How to build a business in Hobbit Land - the Silverstripe example

I recently spoke with Sigurd Magnusson, the intrepid chief marketing officer for Silverstripe, a New Zealand-based, open-source content management company. Silverstripe is a programming framework similar to Ruby on Rails, but for PHP5, allowing developers to quickly write website features using modern programming practices that are gaining popularity through Ruby and Python but not often used yet with PHP.

In a large crowd of open-source web publishing tools/content management systems, Silverstripe prides itself on an innovative and intuitive editing interface (and a prime slot in Google's Summer of Code last summer). It's also a finalist in Packtpub's CMS awards.

Silverstripe has an uphill battle, however, due to its location. New Zealand, home to hobbits and beautiful landscapes, is not the center of the software industry. Or any industry. It's simply not cost effective to hire a direct sales force in a country as spread out as New Zealand is, which leads to open source:… Read more

Mindtouch rising in the open-source wiki market

One of the great things about open source is that it provides a very tangible way to measure interest in a product: downloads.

Looking at the most recent download statistics for open-source wikis, I was surprised to see that Mindtouch has been on a tear. I bumped into Aaron Fulkerson, one of Mindtouch's co-founders, at OSBC last year and didn't think much about it.

No offense to Aaron. You've got to remember, I was the guy who yawned at SugarCRM when it first debuted. My track record isn't so great. :-)

Mindtouch has hit 100,000 installations and grows by ~50% each month. Why? Reading through the blogosphere, it's because of its ease of use and rich functionality. I may give it a spin over the next few days....

Where does it go from here?… Read more

MySQL getting Google's blessing...and code

Google sometimes wears its source code on its sleeve (Summer of Code), and sometimes it doesn't, as when it was reported today that Google will be contributing significant source code to MySQL. Given how innovative and engineering-oriented Google is, it's hard to imagine a better vote of confidence in MySQL and a better code partner for MySQL.

Or a bigger reason for Oracle to worry about MySQL.

Earlier this year Google signed a Contributor License Agreement, which provides the legal framework under which MySQL can include code from another company in its database, MySQL co-founder and Vice President David Axmark said on Tuesday....

The search company has done a lot of work customizing MySQL to meet its special needs, which include better database replication, and tools to monitor a high volume of database instances, Axmark said in an interview at MySQL's user conference in Paris. … Read more

The Medsphere legal turmoil is now officially over

In a GREAT piece of news this morning, the Medsphere board has resolved all legal disputes with Steve and Scott Shreeve, the founders of Medsphere. According to Medsphere's PR team:

Medsphere Systems Corporation today announced that all legal disputes involving the company and Steve and Scott Shreeve have been settled and resolved by mutual agreement of the parties.… Read more

Ballmer shopping for open-source companies. Who's for sale?

Sometimes I read things like this and I'm relieved to find out that Steve Ballmer isn't completely deluded by proprietary ideology. Speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit today, Ballmer made it clear that his vendetta against open source isn't as all-encompassing as he sometimes makes it out to be:

"We will do some buying of companies that are built around open-source products," Ballmer said during an onstage interview at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco.

A refusal to consider acquisitions of open-source developers "would take us out of the acquisition market quite dramatically," Ballmer said -- a tacit acknowledgment of how thoroughly open-source development has reshaped the software market. … Read more

Microsoft's curious infatuation with Zimbra, redux

Wow. I had no idea when I stumbled across Microsoft's internal positioning against Zimbra just how little Microsoft feels there is to recommend its Exchange 2007 software against Zimbra. I'm not exaggerating. The best Microsoft can come up with to slam Zimbra falls into three buckets:

Zimbra is a small company. Zimbra doesn't integrate as tightly with Microsoft technology as Microsoft's Exchange does. Zimbra only offers Exchange-to-Zimbra migration.

I don't know about you, but I'm having a hard time getting myself pumped up to go fight the good fight against Zimbra after that battle cry. When the best Microsoft can say for itself is that its technology is incestuous and that it's a big company, it's time to look for alternatives.

Speaking of which, Microsoft lists several Zimbra strengths that sound much more compelling than its defense of Exchange 2007:… Read more

Apparently Microsoft prefers Zimbra, too

I saw this on Digg this morning. I'm not a Microsoft partner, so I can't access the file, but apparently it gives a competitive breakdown of Microsoft Exchange versus Zimbra, and candidly admits Zimbra's superiority in several areas. You can see the file in the image below.

I think it does Microsoft credit that it is admitting its fallibility. What I find much more interesting is that Microsoft is taking time to position itself against Zimbra at all. After all, Zimbra has almost no market share compared to Exchange. Yet Microsoft obviously views it as a threat.… Read more

Medsphere looks forward with new CEO, must also look back to fix past

Medsphere has been quiet for some time, yet it has always been one of the most interesting open-source stories in the market (both for good and bad reasons, though predominately good, at least prospectively). On the negative side, the company has chewed through management and has had a year-old corporate governance lawsuit dragging it down.

In a sign that the company is finally moving forward, Medsphere announced today that it has brought in a new CEO, Michael J. Doyle. Doyle brings over 20 years of experience in the healthcare/IT industry, most recently as president and CEO of Advantedge Healthcare Solutions, a New York-based software as a service (SaaS) outsourced physician-billing company. I'm guessing he's the sort of guy who would have gotten along well the the Shreeves, the brothers who founded the company.

He's saying the right things, at least, emphasizing open source (which is something the company has not done to the extent that it should, oddly enough):… Read more