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May 22, 2008 8:36 AM PDT

Random Sampler: Microsoft vs. Google, SugarCRM, Flock gets funded (?!?), Ubuntu, and more

Posted by Matt Asay
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There are a number of interesting tidbits floating around the web this morning. Among the best:

  • The VAR Guy compares Google's impressive growth against Microsoft's and comes to this conclusion: "[S]orry, Microsoft bashers: The software giant isn't collapsing." Potty.
  • Flock raised another $15 million in a Series D round. Why is anyone still funding this paltry Firefox feature? Flock claims that it gets paid for search placement, but given its niche following, who cares?
  • The Guardian spoke with Ubuntu's Mark Shuttleworth about a wide range of things, from how he hires to the changing desktop market. On this latter point, Mark said, "[P]eople are increasingly defining the desktop as the thing that they get access to the internet from. In that case, there's a real possibility that we're able to shift people onto different platforms." Like Ubuntu, of course.
  • Microsoft is sponsoring the Sourceforge Community Awards. With award categories like "Project most likely to get sued," Roy Schestowitz is wondering if perhaps Microsoft got to help create the categories...? I know I'd love to see which projects Microsoft votes for.... :-)
  • SugarCRM got creative with its CRM software service, providing "tools for partners and customers to roll out and manage their own versions of the software." Very cool.

That's all for now. It's enough, don't you think?

Matt Asay is general manager of the Americas and vice president of business development at Alfresco, and has nearly a decade of operational experience with commercial open source and regularly speaks and publishes on open-source business strategy. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
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About The Open Road

Matt Asay brings a decade of in-the-trenches open-source business and legal experience to the Open Road, with an emphasis on emerging open-source business strategies and opportunities. Matt is general manager of the Americas division and vice president of business development at Alfresco, a company that develops open-source software for content management. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.

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