Stormy's Corner

Can free software transition to the web services world?

2009-12-18T07:52:57-07:00

Etherpad is being released as open source software because the team is moving onto Google Wave. As an open source web hosted project, without a company behind it, it is unlikely to succeed.

Back when I used to talk about the business reasons for open sourcing code, "end-of-life" was always one of my first examples. People think, "oh, I have this project that I no longer want to work on but people still want to use it, so I'll open source it!" They have the (often mistaken) idea that somebody out there will just start working on it.

This is exactly what Etherpad is doing:

Our goal with this release is to let the world run their own etherpad servers so that the functionality can live on even after we shut down etherpad.com.

They are likely to lose a lot of users immediately as hosted software is very hard for end users to use without hosting.

There is a real need for hosting of open source web services.

Open source web service projects that have been successful like Wordpress and Drupal have companies that can host it for end users. Without hosting, I think it's unlikely that projects like Etherpad will be widely successful. And we should now ask what happens to the companies behind Wordpress and Drupal when they get acquired?

The other type of successful open source web service are projects started by companies and open sourced as part of the business strategy for creating community or encouraging developers to help them out. In these cases the code is often written entirely by company employees. And the hosting is done by the company as part of that same business strategy. Projects like SugarCRM and Alfresco are successful open source web services but if the companies went away (or were acquired), the projects would have a hard time living on in the open source ecosystem.

Hosting for free and open source software projects is hard.

While it's virtually free (other than labor) to start a free software project, hosting a web service costs money, especially if it becomes popular. And consumers are used to free web services. (Web service companies often make money off of advertising (on the free version) or by charging for a supported version or a version with more features or by hoping to be acquired some day.)

So if it takes a business model right now for web hosted projects to be successful, how do free software projects transition to the web services world? How does a project start as a free and open source software project and transition to a hosted web service without becoming a company?

I don't think it's enough to just make the hosted version available for people to install and use on their own. I think we have to figure out a way to also host the software. If you require people to host the web services piece themselves, you are confining your market to technical people or companies with IT staff. The project might become successful but it's unlikely to be used by the average end consumer as part of their daily life.

So how do free software projects develop and host web services? Do they use business models like advertising to be self sustaining? Do they start foundations like the GNOME Foundation that will run as a nonprofit but make enough money of the hosted version to at least cover expenses? Or will all hosted services be essentially startup companies done by free software developers hoping to create a successful company?

Can we have self sustaining web service free software projects?

Stormy's Update: Week of December 7th

2009-12-14T12:48:46-07:00

This is my update for work done for the GNOME Foundation, reprinted from the GNOME Foundation blog. For a higher level overview for what I do as the Executive Director, see What do I do as Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation? or my earlier updates.

Answered a lot of emails and had a lot of discussions. As for things I actually crossed off my todo list:

Updated CiviCRM requirements document with a few more process like the travel committee. Met with Dave Greenberg from CiviCRM. He gave me a lot of pointers on how to get started. I'll be working on getting CiviCRM set up for the GNOME Foundation over the next couple of weeks.
Sent out email about the GNOME Foundation changing advisory board fees with the support of the advisory board.
Spoke to the Northern Colorado Linux User Group. Gave my "Would you do it again for free?" talk and had a very interesting and involved discussion. Someone from the first team I ever worked on at HP held up a "I heart ObAM" sign. ObAM is the user interface programming interface for HPUX tools. It sat on top of Motif when I first joined the team. (I actually had to read the sign twice to see that it said ObAM and not Obama which is a sign of how my world of acronyms and names has changed.)
Did all my expense reports for the last three trips. (I can't believe people griped about the semi-automated HP/Amex system. I personally would love to have it now.)
Attended GNOME Board of Directors meeting.
Worked with Rosanna to invoice a couple of advisory board members, including one that is funding a new program.
Had a meeting with Rosanna over IRC. Trying to help balance out her workload. (I've created a lot more work. Since I've joined we've had a lot more events, invoicing, new programs, more Friends of GNOME, etc.)
Had a great GNOME Advisory Board meeting about events and copyright assignments. The copyright assignment discussion in particular was very dynamic.
Published November Friends of GNOME data.

Focus for this week:

My goals. Finishing a draft we can share so everyone can comment.
CiviCRM. Getting it set up. Starting first with Board of Advisors information and then Friends of GNOME.

Kids on Computers needs a web designer!

2009-12-09T13:00:46-07:00

Kids on Computers needs a new web design. If we get it soon, we have a really cool hardware donation program that System76 is willing to launch with us for Christmas. (We also have 30 computers coming from Partimus that will go to schools in Mexico!)

Thanks, everyone, who has offered to help! I think we have lots of great potential and an awesome team!

Right now the website is pretty ugly. It's just a Wordpress blog that I set up:

We had a web designer that created this for us, but she doesn't have time to implement it: (The logo was designed by Yolanda Castillo.)

If you know of someone that could help, point them our way. (They don't have to work with this design.)

We are happy to give credit or help out with LinkedIn recommendations or recommendations with future clients. Or with thank you letters from the kids written on the first computers they've ever gotten to use!

It'd be a great Christmas present.

Unexpected rewards are better than expected rewards

2009-12-08T15:36:23-07:00

Since I've started talking about Would you do it again for free?, I've been very interested in any studies that show how extrinsic rewards change intrinsic rewards. The theory is that external rewards can replace your internal values to the point that you'll no longer do what you valued without external payment or reward of some type.

This study showed that unexpected rewards are better than expected rewards. They took kids who liked to draw and put them in three groups. One group was:

told they'd get a reward for drawing
not told they'd get a reward but got a surprise reward when they were done
not given anything

Then they watched the kids over the next few days and discovered that those who had received the expected reward drew the least while those who had received the unexpected reward drew the most. (Even though there were now no rewards promised nor given.)

This would mean that in the open source world, unexpected rewards after the work has been done would be the most motivational. Like the GNOME thank you pants, an annual award for outstanding service to the GNOME community. As opposed to bounties or employment. (Not that people shouldn't be employed or that bounties should be used, but just that according to this study, those types of payment are unlikely to increase motivation.)

Thanks to Dawn Foster for the link.

Stormy's update: Week of November 30th

2009-12-07T13:06:37-07:00

LiMo Foundation. Met with Andrew Savory, Mal Minhas and Gyanee Dewnarain at the LiMo London offices. We talked about LiMo, GNOME Mobile, the work LiMo member companies are doing with GNOME technologies, our foundations and how we can work more closely together. Good conversations and I expect we'll continue to work together and hopefully announce more later.

Canonical design, user experience and usability team. Met with Charline Poirier, Ivanka Majic and Iain Farrell at their London offices. Talked about usability studies on GNOME technologies, a GNOME usability hackfest and studying how to disseminate usability study results into free and open source software community. I'll be introducing more GNOME folks into the conversation and hopefully the conversations will make their way to the GNOME usability list and into some concrete plans to get more GNOME usability info into the hands of folks working on GNOME.

Met with Lucas Rocha for lunch to discuss GNOME stuff and then had a quick peek at a Litl webbook! It's a very elegantly designed device. While the software is of course great (it's designed by great people using some terrific free and open source software technologies :) what really struck me was the hardware. The keyboard is very "clean" and easy to use without lots of random extra keys and when you swing the screen all the way around to set it up like a picture frame, it feels very sturdy. It was fun to see.

OSS Watch. Went out to Oxford to meet the OSS Watch team and participate in the OSS Watch advisory board meeting. (This was the reason for my trip to the UK.) OSS Watch is helping educational institutions in the UK use open source software. Or help them to the next step in their plans, like building community around the projects they've developed. Lots of interesting discussions. (And some great but brief sightseeing.)

Invited GNOME event planners to GNOME Advisory Board meeting next Tuesday which will be about events and copyright assignments.

One on one meeting with Brian Cameron to talk about status. Brian will be sharing my past year's goals and achievements as the board of directors determined them. I'll be sharing my next year's goals as part of the process of figuring out what they should be.

Did an interview about Women in Linux with Anton Borisov who is writing for Linux+DVD magazine

The US event box is going to be maintained by Larry Cafiero. (Thanks to Zonker for nominating Larry.) We've been looking for a west coast home for the event box and so I'm excited Larry will be helping us out.

Emailed press, journalist and blogger contacts about our GUADEC 2010 announcement on Monday.

Spent approximately 40 hours travelling. Not counting all the trains in London.

Focus on doing good things, not just having good ideas

2009-12-07T10:25:06-07:00

I love Seth Godin's analogy for how to protect your ideas in the digital age:

Focus on being the best tailor with the sharpest scissors, not the litigant who sues any tailor who deigns to use a pair of scissors.

Or make the best scissors for sale. Or have the best scissor company customer service. But don't block good ideas from changing the world. Don't prevent people from using scissors because you thought of them first. (Others thought of them too!)

I think more emphasis should be put on implementation and not ideas. Ideas are a dime a dozen. Actually implementing the idea is where the work is.

Book Review: Survival of the Sickest

2009-12-04T14:04:36-07:00

I really enjoyed reading Survival of the Sickest: A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease. Dr. Maolem explains how the diseases we suffer from have helped us survive in the past. For example, people with hemochromatosis were more likely to survive the plague. (Bacteria needs iron to survive and while people with hemochromatosis have lots of iron in their blood, they don't have any in their macrophages.) They died early due to their disease but after their child bearing years so the disease, and its advantages and disadvantages, were passed along.

He theorizes that diabetes might have helped people survive a mini ice age - sugar lowered the freezing temperature of blood.

Like good teachers, Dr. Maolem and his co-author Jonathan Prince use a lot of interesting anecdotes and facts to make the material easy to relate to and memorable. (Did you know Inuit hunters can raise the temperature of the skin on their hands from freezing to fifty degrees in minutes? And do so periodically when they are outside?)

You may or may not end up agreeing with all of Dr. Maolem's theories, but if you like understanding why and how the human body and evolution work, you'll probably enjoy Survival of the Sickest.

Kilograms, stones and miles

2009-12-02T21:03:18-07:00

I had a few minutes today between an interview and dinner so I decided to sneak in a quick run. Being in Oxford, I assumed the treadmill was calibrated in kilometers like many countries in Europe. I did a quick mental calculation and bumped up the speed to 12 km/hour. Or so I thought. Turns out 12 miles/hour is very, very fast! For the record, the weights were all in kilograms and the scale was in stones.

I recovered from my 12mph sprint with the OSS Watch folks and Richard Melville from UKUUG with a glass of mulled wine at the Turf Tavern. I found it fascinating that it's been a tavern since the 17th century. Ross Gardler and Gabriel Hanganu took me on a short walk this afternoon and I have to say the whole city of Oxford is fascinating. (I also learned this is where my alma matter Rice University got the college system. And where the dining hall scenes in the Harry Potter movies were filmed.)

Photo by Jim Linwood.

What to do with that old computer?

2009-12-01T08:44:00-07:00

First off, if it's really, really old, you might need to recycle it.

However, if it has at least 256MB or 512MB of RAM (or could have, if you bought more memory), there are a number of things you could do with it.

Use it in front of the TV or in your kitchen. Install Linux on it. It will cost you nothing to try. You burn a Linux image onto a USB drive or a CD, put it in your old computer and install. You then have a working system. While it may not be fast, I bet it would still be good to look up recipes in the kitchen or movie actors in front of the tv. We have an old laptop that regularly overheats and has to be plugged in sitting on the coffee table in front of the TV just to answer random questions. (Or take a quick peak at email or Facebook.)
Donate it. There are lots of places that will take a computer with enough working memory. Kids on Computers is one. Your local school system might be another. Your local user linux group may know of others.
Give it to a kid. My 9 year old has a hand me down computer. As long as it runs some kind of flash player and can surf to lego.com, he's happy.

What else would you do with an old computer?

12 great gifts for traveling geeks. Please help with the list!

2009-11-30T09:00:00-07:00

People often complain that it's impossible to buy me a cool, geeky gift because I buy them for myself. (Actually, I only buy a few after much, much thought and deliberation.) I'm sure your family and friends have the same problem, so let's prove them wrong with this post.

This isn't my Christmas wishlist. (I have some of these and not others.) It's just a list of cool gifts to drool over. I think a real list of geeky gifts was needed as I've seen several geeky gift lists lately that are terrible. Really useless gadgets. You've probably gotten one or two of those.

Here are some I've thought of. Please add any others you think of!

A new phone. Like the Nokia N900 or Motorola Droid. Now you may say that they just got a new phone, but every geek wants the latest phone. And it doesn't hurt to have two or three different ones to try out. (You should make sure the phone works with the cellular network they have. You can always buy an unlocked phone that will work with all networks. While it's more expensive, it's much more useful and therefore cooler. :)
Digital book reader. If your geek travels a lot - or even if they don't, they'll enjoy a digital reader. If they already have one, you can upgrade them to the newest. (I like the ones like the Kindle and Nook that can download books wirelessly.) If they already have one, you can buy them things like a new cover or an attachable light. (The thing that most surprises people is that the Kindle is not backlit.)
A smaller laptop. Note that not everyone wants to work on a smaller computer all the time, but they still appreciate having one for situations like conferences and travel. So buy them the latest netbook. Note that size isn't everything. Battery life and weight are also important. (If your geek is a free software fan, make sure you buy one that works well with Linux. Some come with Linux preinstalled. Most will run Linux or Moblin.)
A bigger monitor. While your laptop can never be too small, your monitor can never be too big. Not many people have a 30 inch monitor! (Note that as one of the commentors pointed out, resolution is also important - this one has a very high resolution of 2560x1600 which might be more than you need.)
A really cool suitcase. I think the Zuca Pro sounds really cool. (And I don't have one. :)
Cool travel gadgets that are useful but not just extra stuff to carry. Like Eagle Creek Pack-Its. On the rare occasion that Frank and I travel at the same time, we fight over them. The one to fold suits works awesome.
New types of computers on the market. Like Litl's webbook.
Kind of cool, not very common gadgets. Like this memory card for your camera that automatically uploads pictures when you come within range of a wireless network. I don't think it's the perfect gadget but it's a cool idea. (You can buy them on Amazon too.)
Eagle Creek inflatable neck pillow. This may not count as a geeky gift but if you know someone that travels internationally in coach, you should buy them one.
External hard drives. You can never have too much space for backing stuff up. Or backing it up and taking it with you.
All-in-one power adapter. This is probably the least expensive, most useful gift on the list.
Moving alarm clock. Judging by the popularity of my 2005 post, Clocky, the moving alarm clock, is a very popular gift.
Power strip. Hotel rooms and conferences venues are always short on power outlets. This compact Outlets To Go Power Strip even includes slots for USB chargers. The downside is it has three prong plugs. They often don't fit well, so if you don't need them I wouldn't go with that option.
Robot vacuum cleaner. I know several people that have the Roomba and are very happy with it. I know many others that would like one. (I've always wondered how it'd do with toys on the floor ...)

And I probably should divide the list into <$50 and more than $50 as geeky toys tend to get expensive ... and maybe into travel stuff and nontravel stuff ...

What else? What gadgets, toys, electronics do you want?