TGIF

Given all the recent press on our economy and the state of the state and just before the GDP numbers are revealed to abysmal results I find myself being more thankful than ever.

I not only enjoy working at Red Hat but I believe I am apart of something much bigger than myself and that is Choice. We help individuals and enterprises endeavor to have choices when it comes to software, services, and the financing of those products.

I am grateful for the support my wife and children give me when they try to speak to me during work hours not knowing that I have a wireless headset in the other ear taking making and taking calls all day. And it is great knowing that the family understands that I am working for them as much as anything else.

Even with day-to-day annoyances there is much more given to me than I am giving back. I am happy to be part of a family/community/church/country/employer where each individual can make a difference for the greater Good.

One more....

And this has nothing to do with digerati anything other than the modern F1 race car is the most technologically advanced automobile on the planet.

T-Mobile ad in the UK

I am an ardent customer and supporter and T-Mobile and thought this commercial was innovative and refreshing:

Open source conversation

Pretty cool that I had the opportunity to talk with one of the associate pastors at my church this morning about the difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox. He had some issues with IE and I recommended that he download and try FF. He had never used it and he had it up and running with imported bookmarks and all in about five minutes.

Just because there is no charge for either browser doesn't mean it is free. Trust me, if you've ever gotten a Trojan Horse or any other worm virus via IE it is NOT free. There is a lot of pain and suffering that happens to you and your PC.

We also talked about the difference between a monolithic, proprietary license company and a volunteer community centered around the interest and desire for good software.

This is the foundation for any group based on open-source/religious/social/hobbyist community: love. And when you love something you set it free.

Stairway to heaven

Given the dearth of new articles coming out after the new year two in particular caught my attention: Peak of the Netbook (Engadget) and Death of SOA (Google it). Here are some reasons why I believe that this is not true and why these two technologies are symbiotic.

The acronym may be dead but Service Oriented Architecture is alive and well. More and more enterprises and customer facing companies are moving their business to the web and are utilizing common messaging platforms to communicate to multiple applications, platforms, and databases. The applications are being fronted with web interfaces so that they can be formatted for the new wave of mobile internet devices (MID's) whether they be iPhones, netbooks, etc. I have before stated that the browser is our new OS and given that reason more and more data can be offloaded to the SaaS app and it keeps its state in the data center and not on your PC.

Netbooks are getting more RAM, processor speed, and hard drive space but my current Eee 701 only has a 630Mhz processor, 512MB and 4GB SSD and yet I can access any and all websites that I need for e-mail and occupational hazards. Even with these puny specs I am able to "git'er done" because the applications do not live on my PC, but live in Zimbra hosted e-mail, Salesforce.com, Facebook, Google...

So how do companies get to the data heavens? What is their stairway?
- Build an application that can be written in a web language then interconnect.
- Virtualize when you can, early and often.
- Have a common messaging bus that can communicate to all internal apps then let them talk to the internet and live on the web.
- Understand that your apps will be accessed by customers and companies who are on the go.
- Wash, rinse, and repeat.

Virtual Reality

Here is an example of cloud computing versus onboard sync'd storage:

My T-Mobile G1 wirelessly synchronizes with my Gmail, Google Calendar and Contacts AND receives OTA updates as needed. My iPhone needs to be hard wired sync'd with one particular laptop with its' iTunes profile for back-ups, sync's, restoration, and OS upgrades. So my G1 and Google services are more available to me than when I update information on my iPhone. Because just the iPhone is updated but not my Google services. Here is where the cloud comes into the picture.

For me, the winner is the G1. As more and more of us become mobile and use our browsers as miniature operating systems utilizing AJAX, Java, and the SaaS model we will be plugging more and more into virtual computing clouds to get our data and needing less native storage on our interface devices. Whether I use Gmail on my PC, G1, or any other device I could care less WHERE Google's servers are just that they are available.

This short tutorial gives a good understanding of how and why cloud computing is valuable:



Way back in 1998 in the 20th century at Compaq Computer we were told by vendors like EMC that one day we would have virtual storage that could be added on as simple as plugging into an electric wall socket. Well my friends, we're almost there. The Enterprise space is already doing this by virtualizing the operating systems then the applications for high availability and the virt data is being homogenized into a storage cloud that can be accessed by web API's and used anywhere a browser is available.

Today's workforce is increasingly more distributed and remote than ever before and the data we need usually come in two transports: e-mail and the world wide web. The new netbook phenomena along with new mobile internet devices (MID) like the iPhone, G1, BlackBerries, and every other new smartphone coming out has turned us into constant consumers of information.

Whether it be constant Facebook updates, Google Reader, or VPN'd corporate e-mail we all need our fix.

Multiplicity

Mobile computing choices are increasingly becoming more like trying to purchase a pair of shoes. When I go to the store with my kids to buy their plethora of athletic shoes I need to know what what sport with which they will be used: basketball, softball, or football? Each type of shoe has a unique purpose in order to do its job well. For example, I wouldn't buy them metal spiked cleats for the gym floor so why do I see MANY air travelers literally lugging around 17-inch desktop replacements as mobile laptops?

Now I know what you're thinking, it costs a lot of money to purchase multiple PC's for specific uses. Not really.

Here's how I did it:
- Purchased a slightly used Asus Eee 701 7-inch netbook from a disappointed user from Craig's List for very little because he thought it too small for daily use. Paid $300.
- Bought a 1st generation iPhone from a buddy of mine when he told me that was upgrading to the new 3G version. I unlocked and jailbroke this unit the first day I had it. I now use it on T-Mobile and it runs on WiFi with my trusty ATT login at all McDonald's, most airports, and all Starbucks. Paid $125.
- A work provided Dell 12-inch D410 laptop.
- And lastly upgraded my Blackberry Curve to the T-Mobile G1 running Google's open source mobile platform, Android. Upgrade fee $175.

So for the price of mid-range laptop I now have three separate units for a total of $600. The above mobile computers are particularly adapted for traveling and/or remote users. So now, I too have a "shoe" for every playing surface.

WMD's

We are not being destroyed from falling bombs but by rapidly falling bonds and markets. It seems as if there is no force, coalition, or government that can correct this situation. Open source is not relevant in this matter as a development idealogy but one for transparency. Anything done in openness is inherently better and consequently side agreements and secret conversations are bourne out of hypocrisy within the context of struggles for power.

The new super powers are now truly The Super Markets on the global stage. And the more we understand that we are interconnected and interwoven than ever before we can see how complicated the problems are as civilizations and not just individual countries.

Open source and Globalization are the two newest 800 pound gorillas in the room.

Open Source = Updates

As I sit here with my 4-day old T-Mobile G1 phone I am most struck by the updates, i.e. early and often. Even though, to me, it is a converged device of my iPhone and BlackBerry Curve and even with relevant hardware it is still the software, stupid. While my trusty Curve only had one OS update this whole year it still made me plug it into a PC via USB and download, backup, and restore. Ditto for my unlocked, jailbroken iPhone now running 2.1.

But on Saturday morning I received a message on my phone telling me that an OS upgrade/update was already available and even better - it was delivered OTA (over the air) without any PC and USB cable needed. Now to be fair it was shipped with RC28 and this update was for RC30 but for a new OS this is pretty cool.

Now for the kicker....the G1 runs on Google's new Android platform that is open source and the SDK is readily available for any who want to write apps/code/fixes. Sooooo that means that the software can be written by a community of developers instead of a proprietary group within a single company (no matter how large) it will never be bigger than a global community of rabid fans.

How can voting be made more secure and exact?

Open source the machines and the application. Anytime there is a proprietary way of doing something it can always be hacked or changed to serve someone else. If the technology community designed the tools we use to vote they would already have inherent weaknesses patched in development. Instead there is one or three companies manufacturers out there who test and re-test the equipment then it is release into the wild and they are exposed to the real world.

Yesterday my wife asked me why we can't hold voting online. Hmmm, something to think about. Funny how we can buy stocks online, watch our 401k, order our clothes and even post our most private thoughts in online blogs and journals. But the world wide web has not been used for voting. We Americans stand in line for iPhones, Star Wars movies, and for delayed airplanes but for voting? It seems so old-fashioned. Maybe in the not too distant future the fundamentals of open source can be used in the development of voting machinery and quite possibly the voting process. Sort of sounds like a representative form of government with a majority rule, does it not?

2 much 411

Lately, I have been trying to read all of the blogs and feeds that I am subscribed to and am beginning to think it's all for naught.

Technology is definitely moving too fast for any one person to keep up with in light of products, speeds and feeds, and how to's.

I for one will do a better job of unplugging and enjoy real face-to-face communication instead of IM's, em's, and webcasts.

Google goes live with Android

In a few short weeks T-Mobile will introduce the new phone boasting Google's Android open source platform for mobile phones. Even though, it will be a start to the "Android" phone it will be revolutionary in that it is all about the applications for this phone.

Google is banking that developers will be the life's blood for Android's stack and API's. I own both an iPhone and a BlackBerry Curve and while both of these devices have their respective advantages, hopefully one day we will have a mobile unit that will act both like a UMPC and a phone but without compromises in either. But for now I travel with the before mentioned phones and my trusty Eee 701 laptot.

Until then....

Today's Browsers are tomorrow's Operating System

As we get more and more competitive features from Mozilla FF, MS IE8, Opera, and now Google's Chrome the lines between application and the WWW are getting blurrier and blurrier.

When I first started in the hardware business over ten years ago the emphasis was on local process power, RAM, and hard drive capacity. While those are still concerns of a current PC buyer the new "need for speed" is the bandwidth capacity. DSL, cable, fiber, and T1's are all ubiquitous so we just want it faster and cheaper. So what has this done to the modern OS? Not much actually, it has just created more and more applications that live on the world wide web. Oh sure, local PC operating systems will still be utilized for availability and virtualization for managing resources but as more and more applications are written as Rich Internet Applications (RIA), then so too will browsers be equipped for Silverstream, Flash, Java, etc. right off the showroom floor.

The dominant player for Software As A Service (SaaS) is Google and they have gone so far as to create their own browser framework for Google Docs, Gmail, and the like. Even though Microsoft still has the largest market share with IE the other smaller niche open source browsers are quickly on the rise. More and more web users are becoming increasingly aware of security, spyware, and other risks that can break their web sessions, browsers, and even their computers.

In closing, the newest crop of browsers are just touching the hem of the garment of what developers have in mind for our near future personal and corporate applications.

Play ball!

Free is the new Black

I am sure that most of you all out there have gotten "free" stuff for service. For example: free mobile phones, free dish satellites, etc. Well, if the sign says free then why do you have to sign a 1yr or 3yr contract to get your free-ness on?

Because none of it is free, it is just subsidized by the bloated service contract.

Open source software is never free. Even if the developers let you download it from the web for no charge their energy, and effort went into it to create it.

When I talk to freetards who think that OSS is free I try to remind them while the distribution may be, the support is most certainly not. This past week Amazon.com was down and the global outage cost to Jeff Bezos was $31,000/minute and $16,000/minute for North America. They use OSS in their infrastructure but it was internal and external support that got them back up and running and not freeware.

You know what they say...time is money.

BYO(OS)

So here I am, a proud new owner of an Asus 4G 701 Eee PC. It is a 7" laptop that is about the same size as a travel DVD player. It has a full keyboard, three USB 2.0 ports, ethernet, VGA out, and a Kensington lock when needed. I have been using it for about three weeks and other than my latest BlackBerry Curve and iPod it is possibly the greatest tech buy I have ever made.

It allows me to be online at any given time (with WiFi availability) and is the size of a hardback book but it's not just the portability that is special about it. I'll give you a hint. It runs Linux. While there is an XP version and others have installed Windows on the Linux versions there is no way I'd even entertain it. Even if I didn't work at Red Hat.

This operating system lets me do anything I want to do while not getting in my way. No de-fragging, no anti-virus, no spyware, and NO multiple rebooting after software is downloaded and/or removed. This open source operating system that is written and maintained by a Linux community is perfectly ubiquitous and transparent all at the same time. The value I find is that this PC is a true tool that I can use and not spend most of my time maintaining and protecting it from the big bad WWW.

Open Source: 1, Proprietary: 0

When is open source like Starbucks?

When there is a premium placed on customization. This morning I am getting some work done in a local SBUX waiting for traffic to die down and I see a stream of people willing to come in and pay two to three times the price for a cup of coffee from the competitor across the street. Why is that? Customization.

I watched a special that featured SBUX on television the other night and their VP of Brand stated that there are 80,000 possible combinations of coffee using their standard menu. Starbucks understands that people will pay a premium to get exactly what they want.

This can be applied to open source software where the premium isn't always a financial one. It could be the investment you have to make in your IT force to educate them in other lines of software or understanding that your IT services need to change in order to better server the organization as a whole.

Companies will not only pay more for better service but they will do so gladly. What they resent though are sky-high fees for licenses, maintenance, insurance, proprietary audits, and the like; and then being asked by those same software companies to sign on the the line which is dotted for another three years.

The open source companies are here today and are open for business.

You want extra whip on that?

The world is flat but business is vertical

When it comes to solving large enterprise IT problems we typically offer solutions for the usual suspects: Healthcare, Financial Services, Oil/Gas, and Telecom. If we offer software, services, and training to fix problems then why do we do this in silos? I am sure that most industries face the same exact issues: speed of transaction, security of transaction, and getting more out of less.

Instead of selling to vertical markets we need to sell general solutions for specific needs. If in fact open source is the preference for innovation then we can use this new arrow in our quiver to REALLY understand our customer's needs and adapt our software to them while at the same time turning them from just a customer to an open source contributor.

Customers want to hire and do business with problem solvers and not transactional order takers.

When good Globalization goes bad.

As more and more financial institutions write off losses in the billions I listen for culpability in the marketplace and I am still not sure how we got in the perceived mess we're in. It sounds as if the basic rule of Economics 101 was grossly violated: do not buy more than you can afford. But therein lies the engine of a free market: borrowing and lending.

But it is now much more complicated because the proverbial pebble in the water has now caused ripples to manifest themselves in nasty ways in China, the Euro's, and all other large investors (read owners) of the U.S.A. It now seems that some of our largest corporations can now be bought "on the cheap".

So now what happens on Wall Street not only affects Main Street but now the transatlantic waterway...

Will work for open source

Just in case you didn't know I am employed by Red Hat as a partner manager for the Dell Americas account. I happen to believe that RHT has a handle on the open source market in many regards, but even more than before after returning home from my company's annual sales meeting this past week.

I was emboldened by our renewed JBoss message and the ultimate flexibility of Linux Automation. We are doing many "firsts" in the industry but we are now truly staking our claim as the 'defining technology company of the 21st century'. This year holds much excitement for me; as we and the new CEO, Jim Whitehurst, move forward to evangelize the open source development model as well as feeding the subscription business model.

The competition is still there but I feel privileged to be a Red Hatter at this moment in time.

Mobile

Often when I work remotely I tell my co-workers that I'm "mobile". Think about it. Nowadays many of us are mobile. On my way to work I see women putting on mascara, men talking on a phone, and steering with one knee with a cheese burger in the other hand. People are TCOB'ing and closing million deals in traffic. We are getting too consumed with doing too much while on the go.

"Hello, my name is Sam and I am an addict". I do waaaaay too much at one time and it constantly corrodes my quality of work but I just can't stop. Not with my BlackBerry on my side and my tri-booted laptop in my bag and ideas rattlling around.

So what's the point here? Not much ... Just wanted to get some things off my chest. Gotta go and answer e-mail, talk on the phone...
---
Sam Herren
sent from BlackBerry
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