apache

As I told Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, my understanding of Eclipse is several years old. I called him today to get an update on Eclipse, and learn what all the fuss is about.

As it turns out, quite a bit.

Eclipse may be the most important open-source "project" that people outside the industry, and even some within it, have never heard of. Here's why.… Read more

Apache has always been thought of as untouchable. Long before Linux and other open-source software made inroads on Microsoft's turf, Apache's web server project lobotomized Microsoft's market share (in the web server market).

Today, it appears that some cracks have appeared in Apache's defense, according to this Netcraft survey of 127 million sites:… Read more

Ask a simple question, get a simple, but subtle answer. I asked Savio Rodrigues, who replaced me on the Open Sources blog but originally blogged here, to comment on the state of open source at IBM. He gave me a bit more than that.

You know, IBM, the company that essentially carried open source into the enterprise on its back in 2000 when it pledged $1 billion to fund Linux. Lately, though, IBM's has been less flashy with its commitment to open source though, as Savio points out, no less involved. As Savio reports, however, IBM's commitment to open source is broader than source code. Open source without open standards isn't of much interest to Big Blue.

In this fifth installment of the Open Source @ Series on The Open Road, Savio gives us much to think about in terms of the power of open source...and what it means in the absence of standards.

Savio writes...

Matt Asay asked the question: What is the State of Open Source at IBM?

Our answer? Excellent!… Read more

Back when I was asked by Chris Stone (then Novell's vice chairman) to join the Linux Business Office at Novell, I honestly could count the number of employees on one hand that had any understanding and experience of open source. Brad Nicholes was one of them. Brad is an understated guy - he's not the sort of person to volunteer to write for this In the Trenches series. No, I had to go to him and solicit his involvement. I suspect even then he preferred to write code, but he agreed to do it, anyway.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Brad. He was the voice of experience on Novell's Open Source Review Board, having earned the distinction of "member" with the Apache Software Foundation. He provided the best insight as to how Novell's forays into open source would be interpreted. Now, of course, the company has become very active in the open source world, but Brad continues to provide expert guidance with the OSRB and elsewhere within Novell.

If you get the chance to meet Brad, you'll like him as I do. He's a great person, and a great asset to Novell. Some of the insight below is among the best we've had on The Open Road.

Name, company, title, and what you actually do

Brad Nicholes, Senior Software Engineer, Novell. I'm currently working on the Data Center Automation product. In reality, I do a lot of different things. I have spent a lot of time over the last 6 years porting and maintaining the Apache HTTP server on the NetWare platform and I am a member of the Apache Software Foundation. I have started and managed a few smaller Open Source projects and contributed to others. I have given presentations at various conferences about Apache and Open Source in general. I am also a member of Novell's Open Source Review Board which is primarily responsible for reviewing Open Source usage and licensing issues within Novell. I have found that by participating in all of these activities, my job ranges from ?in the trenches? software design and coding to project administration to having to understand and consult with management about corporate policy and procedures as well as how legal matters can affect software development (especially in the Open Source world). … Read more

Nearly every CEO profiled in this series has several years of experience, and comes from a prominent open source company. I wanted to change lanes a little with this next one, so as to get the perspective of a new CEO with a freshly-born startup. Bonus points were given for finding someone outside the United States.

Therefore, for this sixteenth installment of the Open Source CEO Series, I reached out to Gianugo Rabellino, CEO and Co-founder of Sourcesense. Gianugo had been an early critic of my company, Alfresco, challenging our bona fides as an open source company. I credit Gianugo, in part, with helping us make the shift to a 100% GPL model (though he probably would have prefered we move to an Apache license, given his affiliation with the Apache Software Foundation :-).

Name, position, and company of executive Gianugo Rabellino, CEO and Co-founder of Sourcesense.… Read more

Covalent was one of the pioneers in commercial open source. Unfortunately, Covalent suffered through the dot-com bubble, along with the rest of the industry. Today, Covalent lives on under the guidance of Mark Brewer (as well as in Hyperic, which spun out of Covalent several years ago).

I caught up with Mark for our fifteenth installment of the Open Source CEO Series, hoping to glean some lessons from an open source company that rose, then fell, and is rising again. I met him in 2003/04 to discuss a possible investment, but Mark and team opted to bootstrap their way back to profitability, and have done exceptionally well for themselves.

Name, position, and company of executive Mark Brewer, CEO, Covalent Technologies.… Read more

Open-source start-up WSO2 on Monday released an open-source enterprise service bus based on any Apache Synapse project.

Called WSO2 ESB, the server software is designed to integrate different applications by translating between different protocols and converting different XML formats.

The product is based on Synapse, an open-source ESB done at the Apache Foundation with the participation of WSO2 employees.

The company adds additional features on top of Synapse including a Web-based administration console and a registry and repository, said Paul Fremantle, WSO2 co-founder and its vice president of technical sales.

There are several open source ESB product in the marketplace, … Read more