Open Source Drop-In Centre
August 30, 2005Isn’t it funny when you discover that someone has a great idea — that you’d already thought of some time ago …
You know what would be really cool. An office in Silicon Valley that was open 24 by 7, with pizza and coffee, for open source projects. A patent-free zone. A place to work on open formats and protocols. The missing social pulse of the tech industry. I wonder if it would work, or if it would just attract homeless people. Thinking out loud.
We talked about something similar in Melbourne a couple of years back … with the concept that it could also provide a showcase of open source products/services for newbies. Is this worth persuing?
Australia’s first Software Freedom Day - September 10, 2005
August 23, 2005If you’ve heard the buzz on ‘Open Source’ and you’re wondering what all the hype is about … here’s your chance to discover Free Software and what it can do for you on Software Freedom Day, September 10!
Software Freedom Day will have over 12 teams across Australia covering every state doing a variety of activities, including distributing free Linux CDs and other giveaways, running booths about Linux and open source software, and helping community centers in disadvantaged areas of Australia with computers in an effort to help reduce the national digital divide.
See http://www.softwarefreedomday.org for more information.
Importance of Hiring Good Programmers
August 4, 2005Joel Spolsky (
The real trouble with using a lot of mediocre programmers instead of a couple of good ones is that no matter how long they work, they never produce something as good as what the great programmers can produce.
At the end of the day, it all gets back to the concept of quality. The more the software business is driven by commoditisation, the more the cream will rise to the top (i.e. poor quality software will cease to exist).
The enterprise software business is dying!
May 19, 2005The effects of software commoditisation are starting to take hold and bite hard. Andy Singleton has written a commentary on it over at IT Managers Journal . I agree with his view that
… a lot of people are spinning their wheels on long sales cycles, rather than innovating and delivering.
Open Source - “amateurs”?
May 17, 2005This post has been lingering in my head for a while, and reappears because of similar thought patterns stirred up by reading Z&TAOMM again. Some time ago I read an editorial piece written by Marcus Ranum in which he says …
We all know the strategem, divide and conquer, but, honestly, Microsoft didn’t even need to take that initiative. They just sat back and watched free UNIX fail to become a credible threat because, well, frankly, it was in the hands of egotistical, detail-oriented amateurs.
This perception of FOSS supporters as egotistical amatuers is an interesting one. On the one-hand, I think I know where he’s coming from. There is definitely a tendancy towards detail orientation and communication styles are often blunt, opinionated and patronizing.
On the other hand, Chris Locke presents a compelling counter-argument …
Related to “amateur” is the even more pejorative term “dilettante” — someone who practices a craft or studies a field of knowledge in which he or she is not a “recognized professional.” But the etymological roots of these words tell a different story. Amateurs do what they do for love (from the Latin amare), while dilettantes are not mere casual dabblers, but instead are inspired by delight (from the Italian dilettare by way of the Latin delectare). But delight and passion for the work are precisely the qualities professionals tend to lose first. The opposite of professionalism is what Zen master Shunryu Suzuki called “beginner’s mind” — an ability to look at the world with fresh eyes and an open spirit.
This is a clear example of subject-object duality, and depending on your own orientation, your opinion will probably differ.
I think Locke’s is right on the mark — it’s passion and spirit — Gumption in Persig’s words — that is important, and is what will win at the end of the day!
