Oh, to be young again! Check out how some impassioned students celebrate their favorite web browser.
I wonder how many of them have this as a tatoo?
Linux Users Group - Oregon State University
Sometimes it seems that we’re the Rodney Dangerfield of high tech towns: we just don’t get no respect. But at least one astute surveying firm recognizes what’s already here, mentioning Tektronix, InFocus and others, and commenting on our godfather of what’s coming, Linus Torvald. If Portland’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for any other open source hacker/entrepreneur/investor, don’t you think?
Read more at eWeek: Not Just for Layovers: 10 Off-the-Radar Tech Hubs (Updated link)
I must admit I liked it when life was simpler. The computer and Internet industry was run by the proverbial “400 geeks” that just kept moving from one company to another. The last thing we had to worrry about was the government.They didn’t care about us, and we didn’t have to care about them.
First Microsoft learned that they needed to care because their monopolistic position created suspicions of anti-competitive behavior. They pretty much beat the rap in the U.S., but the EU has taken a tougher stand (more). Microsoft’s behavior, especially after it squashed Netscape flat, pretty much took the oxygen out of the software startup environment, because no one had a good answer to the VC’s question: How will you compete against Microsoft? In my humble opinion, Microsoft, while it offers many admirable products, has until recently effectively stifled much potential software innovation.
Fast forward ten years. It ain’t about Microsoft any more. The answer to the VC’s question is “open source” and/or “software as a service” and the investments are flowing. But thanks to the Internet and convergence, software is just one of the vehicles of computer innovation. It’s now the Internet and its use as a content distribution and communications network that’s where the action is. And while it seems as if it’s a wide open web, there’s huge money and control at stake. And now the big boys are in on the action and throwing their money and influence around; not so much to innovate, but to protect what they’ve got. And they are trying to protect it by getting laws passed that tilt the playing field in their favor.
Here’s a partial list of issues being addressed in a Senate bill just proposed:
Read more at the Cnet article.
The good news is that the issues are so manifold and complex, and the positions are so far apart from the House version, that passage in this short-sessioned election year is unlikely. The best we might hope for is no action, but no action on Net Neutrality is a time bomb. The worst is that these companies establish effective control of the Internet for their unfair advantage and stifle the very innovation that has made it flourish.
So what to do? Write your congressman. Senator Wyden is on the right side of this issue. Support SaveTheInternet. If your politics allow support moveon.com. Tell your buddies at the big companies like IBM and Intel that they need to be the counterweight against the lobbying heavyweights.
We simply can’t allow the few media and telecommunications companies to turn OUR Internet into THEIR networks.
How’s that for a five year summary of Apple’s future? You’ll be able to say you read it here first.
Hear me out. With the recent management changes at Apple the time is right to move OS X off of its old BSD core and onto Linux. In doing so, all Linux and open source application developers are now in essence writing for Apple’s platform. The distraction of KDE vs. Gnome goes away: OS X and Aqua become the desktop and UI for Linux.
Next, Apple takes Boot Camp to its logical conclusion: virtualizing the hardware and allowing any OS to run. That will make Apple’s hardware the most versatile in the industry. Amongst others, enterprises would embrace it because with one vendor, they’ll be able to run any desktop environment. Big market share growth. Sweet.
To frost that cake, Apple and Intel work together to exploit multiprocessing and multi-core CPUs, and really demonstrate that Vista is the end of the line. With Intel now struggling for direction, and fantasizing they can succeed in consumer marketing, a great solution would be for Apple to start setting Intel’s strategic direction and eventually subsume them. By then Dell will be all over AMD as they chase lower costs. Apple is the only company that can save Intel long term.
So the real frosting on the cake is combining Disney, Apple and Intel. It is what Sony had hoped to become. Whether this becomes one corporate entity or just Steve Jobs’ fiefdom, it would absolutely rule in cool. I just hope that as the empire grows that Jobs is more beneficient than Gates: open it all up a bit and make us consumers happier.
Let me know what you think. And remember, when all this comes to pass, you read it here first.
It certainly was a great event for the community, and that’s what counts. I felt a sense of optimism that I haven’t experienced in many years about the growth in our “innovation economy”.
We’re very proud to be the Presenting Sponsor for the event this year, and hope that you found it worth your time as well. Leave some comments or email me to let me know what you thought and how we could improve things for next year.
For those of you that would like copies of the presentations, here they are:
Tis the season for local industry events. Innotech is shaping up as the premier innovation and high tech event in Portland.
EasyStreet is pulling out all the stops in support of the conference. I’ll be on so many panels that my handlers are worried about overexposure. Our booth theme is: EasyStreet 2.0–Bigger, better, faster, and more. Make sure you stop by to find out why. Need another reason? We’ve got the Starbucks coffee wagon in our booth first thing in the morning. Getcha free latte’s here! And we won’t bug you while you’re trying to wake up.
Sean Lowery, Innotech’s director, tells us registation is running 2x over where the conference was a year ago. All your buds are going be there. You should too. And you can get in for free. Click here and enter the magic discount code: ESP305
See you there!
OTBC, OEF, and the SAO are hosting a day-long, intensive workshop, Building the Business Case for Open Source, designed for CEOs and executive teams of startups considering whether to incorporate open source into their product plans or go-to-market strategy. Saturday, April 8 at OTBC.
Event is limited; for more details and to register, click here.
Scott Kveton is one of Oregon’s best connected guys in the world of Open Source projects. This guy seems to know everyone, the the Open Source Lab he runs at Oregon State University is doing some great work at supporting and hosting open source projects.
We’ve been talking about the challenges of scaling up the hosting of of projects that become hits, and the challenges of creating open source “Software as a Service” offerings. Scott takes the problems on with some interesting observations and suggestions on his blog. Check out: Kveton Blog ยป LAMP Stack Standard? to learn more.
Here’s the presentation I delivered at Interface ‘06 in Portland at the Convention Center:
Top Five Technology Trends You Can’t Ignore
Let’s see some comments about other trends that you think are worthy of inclusion.
