July 2008 Archives

Tim O’Reilly asks for, and suggests a few of his own, ideas for Web 2.0 Summit auction items:

We’re looking for suggestions as well as donations. For example, what might O’Reilly donate that would bring a big price for the target charities? For example, how much would you donate to have us organize a mini-foo camp for a company, bringing together cool hackers in the company’s area of interest? (But suggestions are best if you have some kind of angle on actually helping to make them happen.)

Check out the latest suggestions in the comments and read Tim’s entire post here.

SAN FRANCISCO - July 30, 2008 - TechWeb (formerly CMP) and O’Reilly Media,
Inc., co-producers of the annual Web 2.0 Summit, announce the Web Meets
World Auction at Web 2.0 Summit on the evening of Wednesday, November 5,
at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. The first Summit auction illustrates
this year’s theme of applying what we’ve learned from the Web to help
solve our world’s most pressing limits. Keynote speaker Lance Armstrong,
the cancer survivor, seven-time Tour de France winner and founder of the
Lance Armstrong Foundation who recently joined with Demand Media to launch
LIVESTRONG.COM, will autograph a Trek road bike that will be auctioned off
with other priceless items during Web 2.0 Summit’s Web Meets World
Auction. All proceeds from the auction will benefit charity. Complete
information about the Web Meets World Auction can be found at:
http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/content/auction.

“In planning for the Web 2.0 Summit event this year, we have been inspired
to look beyond our immediate needs and into a space that transforms limits
into opportunities,” said John Battelle, Web 2.0 Summit’s Program Chair.
“With that in mind, we’ve asked our speakers, including Lance Armstrong
and others, to help us host this auction and provide the Summit community
at least one concrete way to support change.”

The Web 2.0 Summit team will solicit donations, and donation ideas, from
individuals and companies within the community and then choose the 10 most
promising and unique offerings to auction after the conference dinner.
Lance Armstrong, the seven time Tour de France winner and founder of the
Lance Armstrong Foundation and LIVESTRONG.COM, will donate an autographed
bicycle that he signs on-stage during his interview with John Battelle.
All proceeds from the event will benefit three charities, including
WITNESS.org, which uses video and online technologies to open the eyes of
the world to human rights violations.

Members of the Web community can contribute to the success of the Web
Meets World auction by joining the Web 2.0 Summit Facebook community and
suggest which charities should benefit from the auction and what you would
consider a priceless donation. Individuals or companies who would like to
offer auction items should email: auction@techweb.com.

Web 2.0 Summit takes place November 5-7, 2008 at the Palace Hotel in San
Francisco. The event is produced by partners O’Reilly Media, Inc. and
TechWeb and is moderated by John Battelle, Program Chair. Attendance is
limited to maintain an intimate setting and foster dialog among
participants. General attendee registration is by invitation only;
requests for invitations are being accepted through mid-September. Media
credentials are also extended by invitation only.

For more information on Web 2.0 Summit and to apply for an invitation,
please visit:
http://web2summit.com

To read coverage from Summit 2007, please visit:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/62/news.html

To view select video from last year’s Summit, please visit:
http://web2summit.blip.tv/

About TechWeb
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative
business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and
marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed
media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3
million* business technology professionals actively engage in our
communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web
2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network,
Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com,
and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading,
award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall
Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services
ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media,
research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business
Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information
services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.
*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism. For more information, visit: http://oreilly.com.
O’Reilly is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Other products mentioned may be trademarks of their respective companies.

While he couldn’t attend the conference in person, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has been following the news about OSCON and thinks that OSCON displayed the friendliest things ever seen to come out of Microsoft towards open source.

Read the rest of Steven’s thoughts.

Gavin Clarke writes, “The Mozilla Public License (MPL) is the latest casualty of Google’s decision to remove open-source licenses from its popular code hosting service.

The search giant has said Google Code is no longer accepting projects licensed under MPL, although existing MPL-licensed code is allowed to stay.”

See the entire article.

Don’t complain about your situation; do something about it.

That’s the gist of what Danese Cooper, senior director of open-source strategies at Intel, said in her keynote at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention here. Cooper said her talk, titled “Why Whinging Doesn’t Work,” was initially written for women, and she gave a version of it at a women’s conference recently. Cooper said she came up with the idea for the talk after receiving an e-mail from Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, saying, “Can you girls please stop whinging about this?’”

Read the rest of Darryl Taft’s piece here.

Dana Blankenhorn categorizes the OSCON crowd, i.e. tribe, as visioneers, geeks, suits, wannabees, and users in this overview.

At the OSCON open source convention in Portland last week, Neuros CEO Joe Born explained how Linux-based embedded devices will bring open source to the set-top market and the consumer electronics space. He also demonstrated how to build applications for the Neuros OSD, his company’s programmable DVR product.

Read the rest of Ryan Paul’s analysis here.

While all the other “nytimers” are running around having interesting discussions, I thought I’d do a quick blog post.

Yesterday’s OSCON sessions were great overall, but there were a couple that really stood out for me.

Read about the sessions that most interested Nick Thuesen.

Serdar brings us all the way to Friday:

There’s a part of me that thinks Sam Ramji, director of Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Open Source Lab, has the worst imaginable job at Microsoft. But he doesn’t see it that way: Where other people would see such a position as being crushed between two wholly opposed forces (Microsoft and open source), Sam sees it as a way to build a bridge that didn’t exist before — and maybe to transform Microsoft all the more from within.

Read the whole story

Aside from having one of the niftier names in the industry, Joe “Zonker” Brockmeier has a pretty nifty job, too: He’s the openSUSE Community Manager at Novell (NSDQ: NOVL), where he oversees the folks that help make what will ultimately turn into the next version of SUSE Linux Enterprise. I grabbed a few minutes of his time to follow up on things I’d talked to him about back at theRed Hat (NYSE: RHT) Summit.

Thursday, and the prolific Serdar continues his coverage.

On Wednesday I sat down at OSCON with a slew of people from Sun Microsystems to talk about key parts of their empire, both new and old. First up was Zack Urlocker of MySQL (whom I’d observed at the Monday Participate 08 panel), one of the newest additions to the Sun galaxy, and an acquisition that’s caused a great deal of worry amongst existing MySQL users.

Serdar reaches the middle of OSCON in this Wednesday report.

Let’s rewind a bit. My Monday afternoon at OSCON 2008 was taken up by “Participate 08,” a Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)-sponsored discussion panel chaired by a whole panoply of folks — including, yes, an open source liaison from Microsoft. The whole thing was neither a “corporate apologia” (as one wag put it from the audience) nor a pile-on where Microsoft got the worst of it. Their approach was only one of a diversity of perspectives, and sometimes not even the most eyebrow-raising.

Serdar Yegulalp continues his OSCON reports.

Mobile computing has become a dominant focus in the open source arena, a theme on prominent display at a major open source technology convention last week.

The O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON) in Portland, Ore., highlighted mobile efforts along with Linux, Web computing, and languages. Mention of various mobile efforts abounded, including LiMo (Linux Mobile), Intel’s Moblin, and the Google-backed Android platform.

Read more of Paul Krill’s summary of Mobile at OSCON.

By most estimates, Linux and other open-source operating systems represent about 1 percent of the PC market. But on mobile devices, Linux is growing fast. As of 2007, more than 18 percent of all embedded devices–from cell phones to PDAs to e-book readers–ran a Linux-based OS, while less than 17 percent ran embedded Windows. So it’s no great surprise that this year’s OSCON open-source conference is leading off with a new program focused specifically on mobile gadgets.

Read more of Robert Strohmeyer’s coverage.

Tim O’Reilly’s OSCON keynote encouraged the open-source community to pay attention to three main challenges: Cloud computing, the open programmable Web and open mobile. Another speaker exhorted attendees to get involved in another larger effort.

Read more of Esther Schindler’s report.

Serdar Yegulalp writes, “I’m still sorting through the last bits of my OSCON trip notes, but one striking conversation I had was with Byrne Reese of SixApart about people who violate open source licensing of for-pay editions of OSS apps. Do we sic the open source cops on them?”

Read their answer here.

Matt Asay covers and comments on the Sourceforge Community Choice Awards.

Serdar Yegulalp talks with Jim Hemlin about the potential he sees in the cloud.

Paul Krill writes about Sun’s announcements at OSCON.

Today at OSCON, David Recordon announced the Open Web Foundation, an organization that will help the creation and acceptance of Open Web.

The news was immediately picked up by:
Washington Post.com
TechCrunch.com
TechMeme
ReadWriteWeb
CNet.com

At the OSCON show, Black Duck and Intel are offering better ways for open-source developers to accelerate software development and improve their parallel processing capabilities.

Darryl Taft reports on more OSCON news.

“Proprietary software vendors, movie companies and the music industry aren’t the only businesses that don’t like pirates stealing, copying and reselling their CDs and DVDs.

It turns out that pirated software can also hurt the open-source community. When stolen proprietary software is used by consumers, that’s a lost opportunity for open-source software makers to get their own software onto the computer hard drives of new users,” writes Todd R. Weiss in his report on Louis Suarez-Potts’ OSCON presentation.

Open source is changing the rules about how software is designed, created and distributed. But leadership isn’t always nearly as innovative. Esther Schindler spoke with Ubuntu’s Mark Shuttleworth and two of the dudes who run SourceForge, and discussed some of the lessons the open source community could bear to learn.

Whether you call it a cellphone, a “Palmtop”, smartphone, or a converged device — pocket-sized computing devices took center stage at the first-ever O’Reilly Open Mobile Exchange held this week at Oscon 2008, in Portland, Oregon.

With more than 3 billion cellular users world-wide, “open” handheld devices promise to smash the stranglehold of proprietary systems — even invade the domain of desktop computers. In 2008 more users will access the internet via a mobile phone than PCs or laptops. The excitement and creativity was palpable. Open source mobile platforms have been introduced by The Limo Foundation, The Open Handset Alliance, Symbian and Open Moko. Topic of the day: global domination.
Sam Churchill’s story continues here.

Matt Asay speculates on the predominance of Apple computers in the OSCON crowd.

Michael Halligan reports on his friends’ session, “How to Run a User Group” and details the series of steps he learned from the panel.

“Speaking at the Open Mobile Exchange portion of the O’Reilly Open Source Conference (OSCON), Jim Zemlin, executive director of the foundation, touted the trends and technologies pushing Linux into a leadership position in mobile systems. He was followed by Jason Grigsby, web strategist at mobile and web design firm Cloud Four, who emphasised the coming influence of the mobile web but countered that developers are not yet ready for it.” Read more of Paul Krill’s article.

We loved reading Serdar Yegulalp’s opinion on OSCON, especially since he started by saying, “O’Reilly knows how to treat their guests. Not only was the registration process wonderfully painless (+1 points), not only was there wireless throughout the convention center (+3 points), the tables in the lecture halls had power strips (+5). My notebook gets around 4-5 hours of battery life, but not having to run out of juice in the middle of a lecture is a huge help. (The giant Buddhist temple bell outside the convention center that rings “without warning” was another nice bonus.)”

Darryl Taft reports on Mark Shuttleworth’s keynote, “Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, calls on Linux developers to make the presentation layer of desktop Linux applications even more attractive to users than Apple’s Mac OS.”

I have attended the O’Reilly Open Mobile Exchange (OMX), which is a one-day event organized for the first time as part of the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON2008). I came to OSCON primarily for OMX and I am glad I did — it was a wonderful event full of useful information — many thanks to the organizers and speakers. Here are some highlights with comments…

Its good to be back in Portland for my favorite geek convention: O’Reilly’s Open Source Conference. The overcast sky in Portland is making it a little easier this year to focus on the plethora of excellent speakers and sessions. The first session to really grip and and speak to me was Rabble and Kellan’s “Beyond REST? Building Data Services with XMPP PubSub” presentation.

“One of the reasons that I attend O’Reilly’s Open Source Conference (OSCON) is that, more so than others I go to, it gets into the intellectual and—dare I say—philosophical underpinnings of things as well as the things themselves,” says Gordon Haff in this thoughtful piece on the issues raised by the Participate 08 panel.

O’Reilly author Brian K. Jones monitors the BOF Board, reports on the “Python in 3 hours” session, and shares more Portland tips.

Sam Churchill gives a great overview of OSCON.

“Jim Zemlin of the Linux Foundation says Linux is the platform of choice for the mobile and embedded platforms. Zemlin will speak on the state of mobile Linux at OSCON,” writes Darryl Taft.

Roberto Galoppini on what he’s looking forward to at OSCON.

Fourth Edition Launch Pad Addresses the World’s Need for Change

SAN FRANCISCO - July 10, 2008 - TechWeb (formerly CMP) and O’Reilly Media, Inc., co-producers of the annual Web 2.0 Summit, today announce the Launch Pad program, a unique public forum designed to uncover the most promising Web startups, is open for submissions. The theme for this fourth edition Launch Pad, Web Meets World, spotlights the industry’s best startups that use the Web’s culture to change the world. For more information on submitting your company or product for this year’s Launch Pad and to complete a submission form, visit: http://en.oreilly.com/web2008/public/content/launchpad. The Web 2.0 Summit takes place November 5-7, 2008 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

Launch Pad’s focus will be on startups in the fields of alternative energies, social entrepreneurialism, microfinance, developing economies, political action, renewable technologies, and other innovative areas. Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad will provide Web 2.0 companies a chance to present in front of six leading venture capitalists from Internet and Green backgrounds, while receiving raw, real-time feedback from both judges and audience members.

“The conversation is no longer just about the Web, rather about the bigger social movements driving the Web’s greatest solutions,” said John Battelle, Web 2.0 Summit’s Program Chair. “We’ve adjusted our Launch Pad to reflect the natural progression of the conversation and, most importantly, to present the Web’s most promising innovations.”

The Web 2.0 Launch Pad’s judging panel of venture capitalists will sponsor the program, thus eliminating company participation fees. Any company in any stage of financing can compete for a slot on stage, whether or not they are launching a new company or product. Judges will select the finalists who will compete at the Web 2.0 Summit event and receive up to ten minutes on stage to present to the entire Web 2.0 Summit audience and the VC judging panel.

“We’re honored to be a part of Web 2.0 Summit’s Launch Pad: Web Meets World. It allows us the unique opportunity to learn about those Web companies working to improve the complex problems facing industries outside the Web- something invaluable for Panorama Capital,” said Chris Albinson of Panorama Capital. “Together with the Web 2.0 Summit’s audience, we’ll uncover those shining stars working to build a better future.”

Submission deadline for Web 2.0 Summit Launch Pad is September 10, 2008. Final determination of the Launch Pad companies will be made by John Battelle, Web 2.0 Summit’s Program Chair, in concert with VC judges including Chris Albinson of Panorama Capital, Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures, and Mike Goguen of Sequoia Capital.

Web 2.0 Summit is produced by partners O’Reilly Media, Inc. and TechWeb and is moderated by John Battelle, Program Chair, and O’Reilly CEO Tim O’Reilly. Attendance is limited to maintain an intimate setting and foster dialog among participants. General attendee registration is by invitation only; requests for invitations are being accepted through mid-September. Media credentials will also be extended by invitation only.

-For more information on Web 2.0 Summit and to apply for an invitation, please visit:
http://web2summit.com

-To read coverage from Summit 2007, please visit:
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/pub/w/62/news.html

-To view select video from last year’s Summit, please visit:
http://web2summit.blip.tv/

About TechWeb
TechWeb, the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next-generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.
*13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

About O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly has been a chronicler and catalyst of leading-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism. For more information, visit: http://www.oreilly.com/.
O’Reilly is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. Other products mentioned may be trademarks of their respective companies.
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“Portvangelist” Rick Turoczy welcomes OSCON attendees with inside info on his city.

Jesse Robbin’s experiences as an emergency responder at Hurricane Katrina introduce this piece on mapping tools designed for use during disasters.

“When these sites go away, it’s a sudden loss. It’s like you are standing in the middle of Macy’s and the power goes out. When the thing you depend on to live your daily life suddenly goes away, it’s trauma…These companies have a responsibility to people who rely and depend on them, just as people going over a public bridge expect that the bridge won’t suddenly collapse,” says Velocity cochair Jesse Robbins in Brad Stone’s article on Web sites’ performance.

Tom Donoghue previews Web 2.0 Expo New York, happening September 16-19 at the Javits Center.

“Today, Tim issues a call to action for Web 2.0 to take its opportunities more seriously, and provide significantly more value to the world,” writes Matt Asay.

Martin LaMonica applauds Launch Pad’s shift in focus, “So the Internet may be maturing and the nature of innovation broadening. But it’s still exciting.”

Tim explores the focus of the Web 2.0 Summit Launchpad, “Web meets world.”