Software, Interrupted

One of the biggest misconceptions in software is that open source equals free. The early commercial open-source vendors like MySQL and JBoss were able to build decent businesses on top of a license/support-only business model, but over time we've seen that approach become difficult to grow beyond a certain threshold.

I suspect that in 2009 it will start becoming clearer as to what you pay for and why you should. Redmonk analyst Michael Cote made the prediction that next year "it will be cool to pay for software" and I agree. It's one thing to consume open-source software and quite another to pay for it.

Most open source vendors have tweaked their business models to include some kind of additional value only available as part of a subscription. This has brought various cries of derision suggesting that the code is no longer good as the community doesn't get to do QA, along with welcoming arms from investors and developers who want to monetize the code.

I joined the IT Management podcast today to talk about some wacky predictions for 2009 with Redmonk's Michael Cote, John M. Willis and Zenoss' Matt Ray.

Download the episode directly right here, subscribe to the feed in iTunes or other podcatcher to have episodes downloaded automatically, or just click play below to listen to it right here:

Some show notes and our outlandish theories for 2009

* Apple launches its own cloud
* A net-celeberty lives off their iPhone for a year
* US government web-sites get APIs
* Amazon starts a marketplace for virtual goods
* Open source startups begin to consolidate as they miss numbers
* Amazon buys DHL

Don't forget you can follow me on Twitter @daveofdoom. I don't do this stuff for my enjoyment. I do it for your entertainment.

Just as Sun announced the latest rev of JavaFX, AT&T announced that they would drop Java-based phones, favoring Symbian.

Tom Krazit reported earlier today on the news, quoting Roger Smith, director of next-generation services at AT&T who said "Java has not been a success," Smith said. "It's not because Java is bad, but we didn't manage it effectively."

The basic premise of the argument against Java is that it became fragmented with every manufacturer using its own version and defeating much of the purpose of Java as a platform to begin with.

And as mobile phones have started to become more and more like mobile computers, the software on those phones needs to become more and more sophisticated to run intriguing applications, Smith said. Java doesn't reach down far enough into the lower levels of the phone to exploit hardware in the manner that full-fledged operating systems do, he said.

I find it a bit curious that Smith felt that Java wasn't capable of exploiting the full hardware functionality. That sounds like more of a development issue then it does a functional requirement. Arguably the operating system should be abstracted to the point where Java can do what developers need it to.

As Stephen Shankland wrote about JavaFX today:
JavaFX also comes with a slick feature, the ability to move running applications out of the browser and onto the desktop--and back, if desired. Essentially, they can change their nature and abilities according to where they're housed. And the same application also can run on JavaFX Mobile, holding the promise for programmers that they won't have to endlessly rewrite the same applications for different media.

JavaFX looks to be very powerful as witnessed in the video below by Redmonk analyst Michael Cote. But the question is one of relevance. It's not clear that developers are terribly interested in JavaFX to begin with and the dream of monetizing mobile phones is clearly out the window with the largest wireless carrier.

I just watched this video demo of Zembly, a relatively new service that you create collaborative applications on the fly and deploy them to services like Facebook, Meebo, and the iPhone.

There's lots of widgets and Javascript involved, but it seems easy to use and overall Zembly is an interesting product as it lets users actually manipulate walled-garden content.

It's also interesting in that the company makes use of a wide array of open APIs and developed their own to create a networked effect of usage.

In a bit of a twist, Zembly runs on Solaris and Sun hardware at Network.com. Maybe Sun is getting their cloud act together after all?

Video courtesy of Cote at Redmonk.

I didn't pay much attention to VirtualBox when Sun Microsystems first acquired Innotek, but RedMonk's Michael Coté just posted an interview and demo of the software, and it's very cool.

In a few clicks, you can see VirtualBox create a Vista instance and run it on the Mac. There are many options for virtualization at this point, but I would expect Sun to make this its weapon of choice (versus Xen), since it owns it and can tweak it for Solaris.

On the Mac, I'm not sure it's any better than Parallels, but it is open-source, which should be very appealing for many users.

VirtualBox is a free download available under the General Public License, or GPL.

As applications and infrastructure move into the Cloud the need for management becomes more important all the time. This set of Cloud Tools for deploying and testing Java EE applications comes as a Maven plugin to make your life even easier.

Components:
Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) that are configured to run Tomcat and work with EC2Deploy
EC2Deploy - the core framework. See this blog entry for an overview
A Maven plugin that uses EC2Deploy to deploy a web application to EC2

Via Cote

I had planned to interview Cote this afternoon after he moderated a few panels at MuleCon but somehow he got lost in the crowd. So, I've decided to make it all up and entertain myself.

Q: Being that you do most of you work in the Bay Area, why do you live in Austin?
A: I had flown blimps for a number of years and I was based down in Sunnyvale at Moffett Field. I had been training for the next manned shuttle launch to the moon but then Iceland pulled the funding that they had allotted to the program. (Note: while not a native Icelander, Cote spent his early years on a fishing boat in the Atlantic.)

After the moon trip got cancelled I got a gig flying the blimp for the University of Texas football team and ended up in Austin. As all of our RedMonk work is virtual and collaborative and I fly a blimp I can get anywhere slowly but efficiently.

Q: Do you own any teeth that are not your own?
A: I own one of Ben Franklin's molars that I took as payment for a blimp flight from Dallas to Orlando. The client was a crazed oil-baron who looked like the Texan on the Simpsons. His grandfather won the tooth in a bet and passed it on from father to son to grandson. I wear it around my neck at all times in order to keep the peace between the Tories and Whigs.

Q: What's with the beard?
A: A vast majority of great men have always rocked beards. It's a sign of virility and dynamism. If you are on the town you'll always see the bearded guys with the lovely ladies. For that matter, bearded ladies always have the hunky guys.

Q: If you had to choose a favorite pastry, what would it be?
A: First, let me state that its hard to beat a muffin-top. However, my weapon of choice would be a fresh-baked croissant with butter and jam. Excessive? Maybe, but we RedMonk guys live life on the edge.

I was reading Cote's write-up on the Adobe Engage conference and I just can't get excited about Adobe. Maybe it's because for me, the company still equates to Photoshop?

All of this AIR stuff looks like things people were doing with Macromedia Director back in the late 90's. And while I completely understand that this is easier to use, blah, blah, blah, I just can't get excited.

Anyway, at least Adobe is moving toward open source.

On the other hand, a fantastic technological breakthrough is Specialtys' CookieAlert where you can login and see who has hot cookies for you. Now that's a good time--and it's a Google map mashup thingy! Web 2.0 rules!

Disclosure: I love baked goods.