As you may have gathered from my earlier post today, I’m furiously trying to finalize the last few details for my close tomorrow in Denver (and yes, they asked me for a lot more paperwork today), but before I go, a few random things that warrant a mention.
- Google Search History: This, in my mind, will further blur the lines between search and tagging, as one can potentially think of a particular saved search that led to a result as just another type of tag. (see here for a thoughtful take from an A9 employee)
- A Developer’s Kind of Marketer: Spoke to a vendor marketing representative yesterday who I won’t name (though they should feel free to identify themselves if they wish) that actually initiated a dialogue around del.icio.us, Flickr and tagging in general. First time that I can recall that’s happened. Very refreshing, and a good sign for the product line in question.
- OSI, “Asymmetrical licenses” and the MPL: I’ve talked to more than a few vendors with substantial, vested interests in open source that were – to put it mildly – taken aback by the wording (which is poorly phrased and not at all clear, IMO) on the OSI’s current statement vis a vis license proliferation, which Danese sort of – but not really – apologized for here. While I agree that license proliferation is a potential issue, I don’t see it as the crisis that some do, as the licenses that don’t build communities will in my view be of increasingly limited utility and popularity. More to the point, I don’t view the MPL as inherently flawed or wrong, as the OSI apparently does. Good alternative take to Danese’s piece by Simon Phipps here.
- Optaros: Anyone who wants to understand open source would do well to give r0ml (PDF) and Stephe (PDF) from Optaros’ presentations a look. They’re long, and I don’t agree with everything in there (most notably r0ml’s assertion that one throat to choke directly equates to vendor lock in) but they are excellent looks at the business of open source, as opposed to the ethos. And in case anyone’s got their cynicism hat on today, Optaros are not clients of ours.
Lots of other stuff percolating, but too much last minute catching up to do. Will be back with you when I’m able, though it almost certainly won’t be tomorrow (unless something goes wrong with my closing).
