rinzai » Open Source

The Pulse of Open Source

Raven Zachary — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:39:23 +0000

I launched a new website last week entitled The Pulse of Open Source. You can read more about this project by reading my post on the 451 CAOS Theory blog.

Back from Napa

Raven Zachary — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:47:38 +0000

I’m back home from Open Source Think Tank 2008 in Napa, California. The event was great. As it ran through Saturday, I am feeling a bit cheated out a weekend right now – lots to do in just 24 hours before the work week starts up again.

Off to Las Vegas

Raven Zachary — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 03:27:28 +0000

I’m headed to Las Vegas for the next four days for two conferences – the Software Business Transformation Summit and JBoss World. Coincidentally, the events occur the same week only a few casinos apart – the Rio and the Mirage. I am giving a talk and moderating a panel at both conferences – four individual sessions during the same week. Busy!

The Software Business Transformation Summit is produced by The 451 Group, which I joined in February of this year.

Even Lawrence Lessig Gets the Blues

Raven Zachary — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:53:18 +0000

I was searching for an airplane power adapter to use with my MacBook Pro, and lo and behold, I ran across this discussion thread on the Apple Support Discussions – “the problem with airplanes and the MBP“. Dr. Lessig, open source visionary and all-around cool guy is having the same problem as I. I’m telling ya, this is the laptop of choice for the open source crowd. How do we get the Apple MacBook Pro with its new MagSafe power connector to work on an airplane? I’m about to take a nearly four-hour plane trip to Portland with a battery that lasts much less than that. The answer, for now, seems to be the use of a high-power inverter. I don’t have time to pick up the recommended unit in time for my trip. Oh well.

What exactly am I doing here?!

Raven Zachary — Tue, 18 Apr 2006 00:35:38 +0000

This image speaks for itself. You may need to click the image to get the full effect. It’s April in Dallas, Texas, and it’s !@#$!@# 100 degrees outside today. This is insane. The only thing that’s keeping me sane is that I have the air conditioning in my house set to 68 degrees.

I include Portland in the image as a comparison as I’lll be there for the rest of the week. Why? Portland, as of late, has been claiming (or rather, planning) to be the the “open source capital of the world”. I’m up there for meetings with a bunch of organizations to see what makes the Portland open source tech economy tick. Many thanks to Scott Kveton of the Oregon State University Open Source Lab for making a bunch of introductions for me for this trip.

So why am I in Dallas, exactly? Well, I came up in 2001 after the tech economy in Austin dried up. Unemployed after a 3-year stint with excite.com during the boom, I took a job with a brick-and-mortor firm, La Quinta Inns, where I helped relaunch their ecommerce system. After leaving La Quinta in mid-2005, and having recently joined The 451 Group, it’s time for a reassessment. Portland may be my new home, if things look promising on this trip.

451 CAOS Theory Launches!

Raven Zachary — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 04:05:51 +0000

I am pleased to announce the launch of The 451 Group’s open source blog, 451 CAOS Theory.

451 CAOS Theory is where 451 analysts share information, point to interesting news stories and opinions and generally think things through. This is our jumping-off point for tracking open-source-based business issues. However, we are also writing it to be a useful starting point for the rest of the industry.

The blog will include a mixture of news, opinion, and discussion designed to keeps its readers one step ahead. We point out interesting facts and opinions, no matter what the source is – and that includes other analyst firms. This is an excellent way for our analysts to share their thoughts on open source with the public. In return for posting issues and opinions, we’re hoping to get intellectual payback with readers bringing up ideas, arguments and points of view we might not have considered otherwise.

Rinzai, my personal blog, will continue, but almost all of my coverage of open source will now take place at the new blog. All of my historical posts from my open source blog on Blogger (ravenzachary.blogspot.com) have been transferred here.

I look forward to your participation at 451 CAOS Theory!

Open Source Panel at Bar Camp Austin

Raven Zachary — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 19:36:36 +0000

I moderated an open source panel at Bar Camp Austin last night. This turned out extremely well, and several people commented to me afterwards that it was the best panel they had seen all-day (compared to SXSWi). Quite a compliment for the panel.

Panels have not traditionally been part of BarCamp, as far as I can tell, but with a topic like open souce and the caliber of the panelists, this was a natural fit. I only wish that we had allocated more time, as the topics raised were interesting, and the audience had many questions for our panelists that we were not able to accommodate.

The Open Source Panel:
Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer, Sun Microsystems
William Hurley, Chief Technology Officer, Qlusters
Doc Searls, Senior Editor, Linux Journal
Matt Mullenweg, Lead Developer, WordPress
Chris Messina, Open Source Ambassdor, Flock

Panelist Blog Posts:
Simon Phipps
Doc Searls

I will post additional links as they come in (and hopefully a podcast of the panel, as several people were recording it).

Whurley and I are already thinking about putting together a Bar Camp Austin Open Source follow-up event this year. Stay tuned…

Live from the Bar Camp Austin Pre-Party

Raven Zachary — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 07:29:09 +0000

The Bar Camp Austin Pre-Party was a huge success. At peak, we had 60 people in attendance (and over 100 through the doors). I was able to spend time with the WordPress development team (Matt, Rob, Andy, etc.), Tantek from Technorati, Decibel from PostgreSQL, Chris from Flock, Tara from Riya, whurley from Qlusters (and the organizer of the event), and a host of others. The WordPress meetup, corresponding with Bar Camp Austin at The Thistle Cafe, should make for a fantastic event.

If you’re in Austin on Saturday for SWSXi or happen to live here, I highly recommend visiting Bar Camp Austin on Saturday. We’ll be there from 9am Saturday until probably 3am Sunday morning.

The photo is of the Bar Camp Austin badge and t-shirt.

Bar Camp Austin on Saturday

Raven Zachary — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 20:21:12 +0000

If you are planing to be in Austin for SXSW Interactive on Saturday, or happen to live in the area, I highly recommend that you attend Bar Camp Austin. I have been helping William Hurley (whurley) with the event.

What is Bar Camp? It’s a FREE, ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment). Bar Camp Austin will be an intense event with discussions, ad-hoc technology collaboration, podcasting, demos, panels, blogging, mashups, meetups, robots, and pirates…yeah, pirates, real pirates…that sing…with swords.

Some members of the open source community that have RSVP’ed include:

Chris Messina, Open Source Ambassador, Flock
Jim Nasby (Decibel), PostgreSQL
John Bachir, Lyceum
David Geilhufe, CivicCRM
Alexander Muse and Kevin Marvin, SimpleTicket
Ryan Thrash, MODx
Doc Searls
Moshe Bar, OpenMosix

And of course, William Hurley (Qlusters) and I…and I am sure there will be many others. The events is not exclusively focused on open source, so it’ll be a good mix of disciplines.

I will be moderating an open source panel in the evening. Just prior to the panel, the WordPress crew are doing a meetup/dinner, and we are expecting a bunch of WordPress developers and users to attend.

Don’t miss out if you’re planning to be in Austin this Saturday.

Six Options

Raven Zachary — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 20:18:00 +0000

My article on open source support options has (finally!) been published in the March 2006 edition of Optimize Magazine. The article was posted on the web today – Six Options For Open-Source Support.