Charlie Bess has a very interesting piece on the “EDS’ Next Big Thing” blog. He was asked to articulate what 2006 held for the open source movement and for innovation. And rather than just bloviate on key open source products (like Firefox or Songbird), he notes that innovation comes from people. So if the best and most innovative people are contributing to the open source codebase, then open source projects will generate innovative solutions.
This is an excellent point. I’ve seen many open source projects live and I’ve seen most of them die. The same is true for commercial products. Some have thrived while most have perished. But innovative people come in all forms. Some believe in a strict set of ethics concerning intellectual property. Most are just trying to make a living and provide for their families.
But long-lasting success is always built upon the foundation of others. I am reminded of a very intriguing scene from an Adam Sandler movie – “50 First Dates.” In this movie, the female lead (played by Drew Barrymore) has a debilitating memory problem. She has a condition where she starts each new day as if it was a specific day BEFORE she was in a serious accident. Everything that occurred after the accident is lost when she sleeps. In one scene, the neurologist (Dan Akroyd) tells us of the scientist who “discovered” this condition. As a sufferer of the condition, it took this scientist years to simply record his findings since he couldn’t remember them from one day to the next.
As funny as the movie was, it made an important point. Every day we live, we must depend upon the knowledge we have gained beforehand. This is especially true for software development. No one builds computers from the ground up anymore. We rely upon hardware, firmware and infrastructure that we are often unaware of. We must stand on the shoulders of previous generations of programmers.
So while innovation can occur in any context, real products must be delivered from a complete foundation that is based upon recognizing and building upon the efforts of others. Does such a framework require a commercial or “free” IP perspective? Certainly not. But it does require the humility to voluntarily stand on other’s shoulders. And it requires the civility to attribute our foundation to its appropriate source. Think of it as footnotes required in your senior essay. Finally, it does require that we allow others to stand upon our shoulders.
-CyclingRoo-

It had to happen sooner or later. The systems management vendors have been stable for a few months. There are three big players (IBM, HP, and Microsoft), a small subset of moderately-sized players (like CA), and a gaggle of niche players. Over the years, innovation has come through the niche players while stability and scalability have come from the platform vendors.
But the big guys haven’t moved much recently. Yes, we’ve seen Microsoft MOM grow into a tenable enterprise player. But the other frameworks haven’t really modernized – until now. IBM has signalled that they will augment their framework by acquiring the network management wizards at Micromuse. This is a great move by IBM. While the Tivoli suite has some good components, its weakest flank was network management. So the Netcool line will be brought in to offset (i.e., displace) some of the aging NetView componentry. More importantly, this signals the importance of VOIP management for tech-savvy enterprises.
But is IBM doing more than just filling in some gaps? I think so. I believe that this is the first in a larger series of enterprise management tool consolidations. In my view, the next big folks to get consumed will be the provisioning specialist. Specifically, I see Opsware and Bladelogic as being ripe for the M&A spotlight. This is espcially true as virtualization is driven further into mainstream enterprise management. As more folks virtualize, there will be an increased need to rapdily (and seamlessly) provision (and decomission) systems.
So the big question is this: when will HP start its acquisition/integration efforts?
-CyclingRoo-

Yesterday, Microsoft released the December CTP for Windows Vista. This marks the third CTP in the development cycle. And with yet another beta to follow shortly, I am left to ponder whether or not Microsoft is adopting one of the key advantages of the “open source” model: many eyes looking at the code.

Before you start to question my sanity, I will remind everyone that there is a big difference between what Microsoft is doing and what the “open source” community does. In particular, the source code for these CTP builds is not available for review. But let’s be serious. In the release cycle of the Mozilla Foundation, most of the “eyes” aren’t looking at the source. Instead, they are testing features and functions – and they are reporting bugs. Yes, some folks do look at the source code. But most testers do not.

So is Microsoft using a “release often” and “use many eyes” approach? I would have to say “yes.” First, there will be a lot of eyes on this release. According to Information Week, up to 500,000 testers will be examining the latest Vista CTP. This truly represents “many eyes.” And this CTP is the third release of the platform that has been submitted for customer (community) review. And if rumors hold true, there will be other CTP and/or beta releases to be reviewed. So from my perspective, Microsoft will reap huge benefits by releasing the software more frequently, embedding incremental featurs in each subsequent release, and distributing each release to a wider audience. At the same time, this will build the kind of excitement that has made products like Firefox so “buzz-worthy.”

-CyclingRoo-

Yesterday, Microsoft released the December CTP for Windows Vista. This marks the third CTP in the development cycle. And with yet another beta to follow shortly, I am left to ponder whether or not Microsoft is adopting one of the key advantages of the “open source” model: many eyes looking at the code.
Before you start to question my sanity, I will remind everyone that there is a big difference between what Microsoft is doing and what the “open source” community does. In particular, the source code for these CTP builds is not available for review. But let’s be serious. In the release cycle of the Mozilla Foundation, most of the “eyes” aren’t looking at the source. Instead, they are testing features and functions – and they are reporting bugs. Yes, some folks do look at the source code. But most testers do not.
So is Microsoft using a “release often” and “use many eyes” approach? I would have to say “yes.” First, there will be a lot of eyes on this release. According to Information Week, up to 500,000 testers will be examining the latest Vista CTP. This truly represents “many eyes.” And this CTP is the third release of the platform that has been submitted for customer (community) review. And if rumors hold true, there will be other CTP and/or beta releases to be reviewed. So from my perspective, Microsoft will reap huge benefits by releasing the software more frequently, embedding incremental featurs in each subsequent release, and distributing each release to a wider audience. At the same time, this will build the kind of excitement that has made products like Firefox so “buzz-worthy.”
-CyclingRoo-

Well, it’s official. Microsoft has released Build 5270 as the Windows Vista December CTP. ActiveWin has a great preview (including the screenshot from above) of what they’ve found so far.
Here are the highlights:
– Updated Windows Defender (formerly Windows Anti-Spyware)
– H/W enabled drive encryption
– GPO control of device driver installs (ostensibly to allow administrators to control removable media devices)
– IE7 support International Domain Names (IDN’s)
– A new and enhanced set of parental controls
– Improved firewall
– Single button on/off controls (in a tardy nod to the early Mac line)
– Aero (the design coda for Vista) has some additional translucent elements
– Windows Media Player 11 is included
As with other new announcements, Microsoft is going to talk big in the Las Vegas CES. This should be fun!
-CyclingRoo-

Yesterday, Yahoo! released version 3.0.1 of the Yahoo! Widget Engine (formerly known as Konfabulatory). I’d love to report that there is something really new about this release, but there isn’t. This release is a bug fix release that also cleans up the last little bits of the Konfabulator brand. Nevertheless, I took the opportunity to reload this tool.
Why do you want this? Well, you may not want this. What Yahoo! Widgets does is to provide a Javascript runtime engine that can be used for small applets (widgets). These applets utilize XML and HTTP as their communications infrastructure. In short, this is an AJAX palette from which cool little knick-knacks can be built.
My personal favorite is the simple weather widget. It is a transparent, visual representation with your local weather forecast. Is this new or special? Of course not. But it is handy, unobtrusive, and rather pleasant-looking. But the widget gallery isn’t limited to weather. There are WiFi indicators, clocks, map visualizers and lots more.
Can you live without this tool? Yes. Is this a fun little gizmo that might tickle your fancy? Yes. Do I expect Yahoo! to use innocuous things like this to convey their brand and cause just a little stickiness to their other services? You bet.
-CyclingRoo-