Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

The Importance of DHA – Part 1 (Eyesight)

Sunday, August 15th, 2010
One of our Healthy Humans doctors, Robert Abel, published a terrific book called The DHA Story – How Nature’s Super Nutrient Can Save Your Life (http://www.amazon.com/DHA-Story-Natures-Super-Nutrient/dp/1591200016/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1281887588&sr=8-4) that offers a ton of compelling evidence for getting enough DHA in our diets.
In this multi-part blog post, I’d like to highlight some of the incredibly powerful correlations between DHA and optimal health.
Having recently discovered the meaning of myopia (nearsightedness) and my slow-to-admit need for some “corrective action”, I began studying the eye and general “eye health”.  Turns out the retina (as well as the brain) is composed of up to 30% DHA!
As a matter of fact, DHA is a key component of all our cell membranes. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an Omega-3 fatty acid molecule with 22 carbon chains and a carboxyl group at the end.  And a key element of this structure is that six of the 22 carbon chains, starting with the 3rd (hence the term Omega-3) have double bonds between them (the rest all have single bonds).  Conversely, Omega-6 fatty acids have their first double bond at the 6th carbon chain (and only contain between 2-4 double bonds).
More double bonds better help counter the effects of free radicals and improve cell to cell communication.  A study from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) showed that if DHA were replaced by its Omega-6 counterpart (DPA), significant vision deterioration resulted (along with many other health problems).  And there is a ton of additional research showing the correlation between DHA and good eyesight.
While fish oils are great sources of Omega 3s, most of these oils contain 80% EPA and only 20% DHA.  EPA, or Eicosapentaenoic acid, is a precursor to DHA and contains only 20-carbon chains, five of them with double bonds.  Unfortunately, our bodies are not very good at converting EPA to DHA, and as such need to get our DHA intake from what we eat.  So, along with a begrudgingly painful trip to the optometrist for corrective lenses, I’ll also be starting a DHA supplementation regimen in an effort to strengthen the “windows to my soul”.
In Part 2 of this series, I’ll talk about the differences between Omega-3s and Omega-6s and how humans, dolphins and whales are unique amongst the animal kingdom.

eyechartOne of our Healthy Humans doctors, Robert Abel, published a terrific book called The DHA Story – How Nature’s Super Nutrient Can Save Your Life that offers a ton of compelling evidence for getting enough DHA in our diets.

In this multi-part blog post, I’d like to highlight some of the incredibly powerful correlations between DHA and optimal health.

Having recently discovered the meaning of myopia (nearsightedness) and my slow-to-admit need for some “corrective action”, I began studying the eye and general “eye health”.  Turns out the retina (as well as the brain) is composed of up to 30% DHA!

As a matter of fact, DHA is a key component of all our cell membranes. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) is an Omega-3 fatty acid molecule with 22 carbon chains and a carboxyl group at the end.  And a key element of this structure is that six of the 22 carbon chains, starting with the 3rd (hence the term Omega-3) have double bonds between them (the rest all have single bonds).  Conversely, Omega-6 fatty acids have their first double bond at the 6th carbon chain (and only contain between 2-4 double bonds).

More double bonds better help counter the effects of free radicals and improve cell to cell communication.  A study from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) showed that if DHA were replaced by its Omega-6 counterpart (DPA), significant vision deterioration resulted (along with many other health problems).  And there is a ton of additional research showing the correlation between DHA and good eyesight.

While fish oils are great sources of Omega 3s, most of these oils contain 80% EPA and only 20% DHA.  EPA, or Eicosapentaenoic acid, is a precursor to DHA and contains only 20-carbon chains, five of them with double bonds.  Unfortunately, our bodies are not very good at converting EPA to DHA, and as such need to get our DHA intake from what we eat.  So, along with a begrudgingly painful trip to the optometrist for corrective lenses, I’ll also be starting a DHA supplementation regimen in an effort to strengthen the “windows to my soul”.

In Part 2 of this series, I’ll talk about the differences between Omega-3s and Omega-6s and how humans, dolphins and whales are unique amongst the animal kingdom.

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Marriage, Happiness, and Death

Saturday, July 31st, 2010
We’ve all heard the research reports suggesting that being in a good relationship or having pets might be correlated with a longer life span.
According to a study presented at the 2010 American Stroke Association’s conference, single men had a 64% HIGHER risk of suffering a fatal stroke than happily married men (http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASA/18672).  While the data analyzed was fairly dated, the significance of the number is staggering.  But, perhaps even more surprising is that men who were married yet rated their marriage as “unsuccessful” – even their risk of fatal stroke was 64% higher compared to happily married men.
Uri Goldbourt, professor of epidemiology and preventative medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel and author of the study, expressed surprise – “I had not expected that unsuccessful marriage would be of this statistical importance.”
It seems fairly obvious that unhappy relationships can lead to increased stress, blood pressure, and other nasty things.  But what do we really mean when we use subjective terms like happy, unhappy, successful, and unsuccessful to define relationships?
When it comes to cholesterol, we say our cholesterol is “good” or our management of our lipid levels is “successful” if total cholesterol is under 200.
Would it be possible to define a similarly objectified approach to relationship success?  I’ll suggest two diagnostic measures: blood pressure and the hormone cortisol.  The challenge of course would be “normalizing” the numbers to tease out the influence of other “external” factors such as job, international strife, and so forth.
Here’s one possible way.
Psychologists who perform couple’s counseling could use blood pressure cuffs and saliva testing during the “how does it make you feel when he/she …” bludgeoning and study the deltas from “baseline” to derive a relative success metric.  Let’s call it a Relationship Success Coefficient that indicates the +/- from baseline.
Consider then the opportunity for couples to learn how to “improve” their numbers.  Isn’t it easier to lower your cholesterol if you know exactly where it stands and what number it needs to hit?  That’s the whole point behind SMART goals (Strategic – it really matters, Measurable, Actionable – there are things you can do to achieve it, Realistic, and Time-bound).
Clearly a bit tongue in cheek, but could having mutually agreed upon, measurable Relationship Success Coefficients help to either improve existing relationships or more quickly terminate ones that consistently fail to achieve their RSC goals?
Obviously relationship “success” is far more complex than simple measures of blood pressure and stress hormones, but the data from Dr. Goldbourt’s and many others suggest the high correlation between dissatisfaction in marriage and death.

We’ve all heard the research reports suggesting that being in a good relationship or having pets might be correlated with a longer life span.

According to a study presented at the 2010 American Stroke Association’s conference, single men had a 64% HIGHER risk of suffering a fatal stroke than happily married men[1].  While the data analyzed was fairly dated, the significance of the number is staggering.  But, perhaps even more surprising is that men who were married yet rated their marriage as “unsuccessful” – even their risk of fatal stroke was 64% higher compared to happily married men.

Uri Goldbourt, professor of epidemiology and preventative medicine at Tel Aviv University in Israel and author of the study, expressed surprise – “I had not expected that unsuccessful marriage would be of this statistical importance.”

It seems fairly obvious that unhappy relationships can lead to increased stress, blood pressure, and other nasty things.  But what do we really mean when we use subjective terms like happy, unhappy, successful, and unsuccessful to define relationships?

When it comes to cholesterol, we say our cholesterol is “good” or our management of our lipid levels is “successful” if total cholesterol is under 200.

Would it be possible to define a similarly objectified approach to relationship success?  I’ll suggest two diagnostic measures: blood pressure and the hormone cortisol.  The challenge of course would be “normalizing” the numbers to tease out the influence of other “external” factors such as job, international strife, and so forth.

Here’s one possible way.

Psychologists who perform couple’s counseling could use blood pressure cuffs and saliva testing during the “how does it make you feel when he/she …” bludgeoning and study the deltas from “baseline” to derive a relative success metric.  Let’s call it a Relationship Success Coefficient that indicates the +/- from baseline.

Consider then the opportunity for couples to learn how to “improve” their numbers.  Isn’t it easier to lower your cholesterol if you know exactly where it stands and what number it needs to hit?  That’s the whole point behind SMART goals (Strategic – it really matters, Measurable, Actionable – there are things you can do to achieve it, Realistic, and Time-bound).

Clearly a bit tongue in cheek, but could having mutually agreed upon, measurable Relationship Success Coefficients help to either improve existing relationships or more quickly terminate ones that consistently fail to achieve their RSC goals?

Obviously relationship “success” is far more complex than simple measures of blood pressure and stress hormones, but the data from Dr. Goldbourt’s and many others suggest the high correlation between dissatisfaction in marriage and death.

[1]http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/ASA/18672

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First 3 Days with iPad – Top 10 Loves/Hates

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

Hates:

10. No multitasking (yet) so can’t listen to Pandora and then pop out to another application.

9. Lots of great apps (see some in Loves), but still missing key ones like LinkedIn, Facebook, Skype, Yammer, etc.  Workaround to use them in regular “Safari mode”.

8. Get used to fingerprints all over the screen.  They don’t really show up in “operation” mode, but it looks ugly when the screen is “off”.  No idea why Apple doesn’t ship a micro-fiber cloth with the device (like they did with the iPhone).

7. Makes looking at all the apps on my iPhone seem so tiny and underpowered.  The only thing I now use the iPhone for is calls and text messages.  Anyone want a 32 GB iPhone 3GS?

6. No built-in camera for video conferencing.

5. iBooks application is really nice, but the selection of books isn’t really that large.  The Amazon selection is much bigger, but the Kindle application is nowhere near as nice as iBooks.

4. No easy file sync/transfer between my desktops/laptop and the iPad.  Box.net is an OK application, but it only lets you store 1 GB and requires the master file to be in the cloud.  I love Windows Live Sync – but no such app for the iPad.

3. No built-in text messaging application.

2. On screen keyboard in landscape mode is “ok” for typing, but with no tactile feedback, it is very difficult to fly.  I do 150 wpm on a regular keyboard – nothing close (yet?) on the iPad.

1. VOIP apps don’t run under 3G, only in WiFi mode.  That’s ridiculous.  AT&T lock out?

Loves:

10. This is the ultimate GTD (getting things done) device, especially with Evernote.  Maintaining an Inbox of zero has just gotten much simpler for me.

9. Newspapers and magazines galore, in stunningly beautiful display: Wall Street Journal, Thompson Reuters, New York Times, Bloomberg, Time, National Geographic, etc.

8. So many awesome applications already, many of them free: NPR, Dragon Dictation, TweetDeck, Wikipanion, Evernote, FeeddlerRSS, Epicurious, The Weather Channel MAX, ETrade Mobile PRO, and GoSkyWatch Planetarium.  And they keep on coming.

7. Being able to stay on top of email, Facebook, Twitter, Yammer, and LinkedIn accounts with a full size display and (relatively) decent keyboard anywhere, anytime.

6. Most incredible way to browse the internet.  Steve Jobs said something along the lines of, “It’s like holding the internet in your hands.”  I have to agree with him.

5. Perfect device for customer demos, especially if your product is a web portal :-) .  Much less impersonal than projecting something on the wall.

4. Streaming Netflix videos (application is free).  Unbelievable performance.  If you have a Netflix account, you can never be bored – over 12,000 movies/tv shows to watch anytime.

3. No longer having to crane my next close to my monitor to read documents.  Now they are in the palm of my hands in crystal clear display, without requiring a trip to the printer.

2. iBooks – Reading books on the iPad is terrific.  Being able to find all uses of a word, in-line dictionary, editable background lighting, fonts, and font size is great.  Coupled with the “Apple-esque” way of showing the page being turned with the corner of the page curling in as your finger moves – absolutely brilliant (and it even shows the shadow of the reverse text while being flipped in portrait mode).

1. The device is so amazingly gorgeous.  Hard to put into words, but reading articles, books, emails, web content, documents, etc. is an incredible experience.

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How NOT to Live a Life of Mediocrity

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

mediocrity>> Thanks to Damu for the comment on my Secrets of Managing Your Advisory Board post which spurred the posting below >>

It all starts with your thoughts, which often come from the influences we allow into our life.  Hence my counsel that everyone maintain their own “personal advisory board”.

My experience has been that not only is variety truly the spice of life, but is also the spark of innovation.  You want to continually surround yourself with people that will challenge you to grow, not folks that cater to mediocrity (or worse).  Family members often don’t make great advisory board constituents because their tacit adoration often hinders the opportunity for really deep insight.  Below are some of my experiences, which may or may not work for others.

First, create your own vision statement of what you really want.  I got there by answering these questions:

  • What do I really enjoy working on?  In other words, what could I be doing – as part of a job – that I really love?
  • What are some of the things in my life that I’ve really enjoyed and have brought me great joy/pleasure?
  • If I won the lottery, what are three things I would do?
  • What issues or causes do I care most deeply about?
  • What are my most important values?
  • What are the things that I can do at the “excellent” level?  In other words, what are things that others would consider me to be an “expert” or at least “really good”?
  • What are the things I’d like to stop doing or do to a much lesser degree?

The key to making this work is being brutally honest and transparent with yourself.  As you write all this out, general themes/trends will emerge from which you can craft your vision.  And, this vision statement is probably best kept private, otherwise, you will tend to lose a bit of edgy honesty if you know others will read it.  Too many people live lives based on what they think others think they should do – some call that relinquishing responsibility – I call it fear.

This personal vision is not static – simply a reflection of “where you are” and “where you want to go” at this stage of your life.

Next, create a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) assessment.  While the WT is typically used in business settings (competitors, market trends, etc.), here consider them in the context of your vision statement.  What truly are your weaknesses and the threats that will hinder you from realizing your vision?  This honest WT will set the stage for the most important people to include on your personal advisory board.

Who are some people that can help you further develop your strengths and realize the opportunities?  Identify two of these people by name.  Based on your weaknesses (which I prefer to euphemistically call “developmental opportunities”) and threats, who are people that can significantly help you transcend them?  List them by name as well.

Now you have your “target” list, go get them.  How?

While there are probably 1000s of strategies (and books) written on how best to “network and connect”, my philosophy is pretty simple.  Find the overlap of interests/passions between you and the other person, and then figure out how you can “serve” or “selflessly give to” the other person.  There is perhaps no greater joy than in serving others in a meaningful, impactful way (especially around shared interests).  Once you’ve created that bond, reciprocity naturally flows and doesn’t need to be an awkward “ask”.  Furthermore, most people feel honored to lend their “guidance” and “expertise” to others who genuinely seek it.

Now create a personal development plan, with specific objectives and timelines to define the (very) specific steps to make your vision statement a reality.  Then, start implementing.

While I rarely meet with my advisory board as a whole, I regularly meet with them individually to share progress against my plan and discuss strategies for enhancement.  And, just as your vision statement isn’t static, neither is your advisory board.  As you grow, your developmental opportunities will change and you’ll want to bring on different people, and so forth.

Continually surround yourself with the kinds of people (influences/energy) you want/need to help you grow.  A great quote I once heard (although I don’t recall the source) goes something like: “If you find you are the smartest person in the room, then find another room.”  A really effective personal advisory board makes that a reality.

I’d love to hear success stories from others.

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Top 10 Tips to Land Yourself in Resume Hell

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

Over the past six months, I’ve reviewed so many resumes from friends and old associates out of work seemingly interested in finding jobs.

resume

I use the word “seemingly” because while I know they are sincere about finding work, you wouldn’t know it by reading their resumes.  And, the worst part is that many of these resumes have already been “edited and approved” by the outplacement firms that have “coached” and “consulted” these folks.

While I’ve never worked with any of these outplacement firms, I think I now have a pretty good grasp on how they “advise”.  From the results of their sage counsel I’ve crafted the following “resume enlightenment tips” they must be using to give their constituency their “best shot” at employment:

10.  Include every job you’ve ever had and everything you’ve ever done.  Be sure to include your high school gigs as well.

9.  Use lots of bullets with incomplete sentence fragments that don’t convey much meaning.

8.  Include plenty of acronyms and proper nouns that only people from inside your old companies would know.  That makes you sound really smart and “in the know”.

7.  Tell the reader what kind of job you are seeking.  Potential employers don’t want you to focus on their needs – instead, they want to know exactly what you want.

6.  Fill it with plenty of soft verb phrases such as “helped with …”, “responsible for …”, “reviewed …”, “served as …”, “learned …”, “completed …”, and so forth.  Avoid giving concrete examples of how much money you’ve made for the company – no one likes to hear about boring revenue numbers and other “business-y” stuff.

5.  Make sure you write that you are highly motivated, hardworking, and results-focused.  This will help you stand out from the people who write that they are lethargic and incompetent.

4.  Similarly, talk about how well you work in a team environment in order to differentiate yourself from those that say they are ego-maniacal loners who must work in a vacuum.

3.  Don’t allow any of your passions or game-changing skills to seep out.  This would only confuse the reader into thinking you might actually be interesting.

2.  Absolutely include your computer skills like Microsoft Word and Excel.  It’s sure to separate you from the masses that have never used a computer before.

1.  Above all else, be sure to bore the hell out of your reader.

Follow these tips and I can guarantee your resume will not only be the epitome of mediocrity, but it will also help ensure it looks like everyone else’s out there.

Happy job hunting.

Posted in Business, Personal | 2 Comments »

The end of an era

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Open source and new beginnings: it was obviously a very tough decision to make, having spent so much time there. But after 24 years, I’ve made the decision to leave Unisys and spend more time working with non-profits, doing some writing, and advising for startups.

ebizQ posted my “Unisys story” on their site.

The Open Solutions Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the reach of open source and open solutions in the enterprise, remains one of my top priorities. And, in this economy, open source is being looked upon even more aggressively for its ability to offer substantial infrastructure cost savings.

But another component of open source that isn’t talked about as often (yet) is how its model of self-selection and mass collaboration is changing all facets of society. I plan to further study and write on this topic.

Other non-profits that are close to my heart include organizations that focus on individuals with learning disabilities and other such challenges.

Hello, new world!

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Open letter to President Obama

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

Perhaps you heard about the open letter we sent President Obama urging the consideration of open source, where appropriate, in government. With signatures from many of the thought leaders in the open source world, the response was terrific.

While such a position will generally attract comments from all extremes, the feedback was very positive. Interesting, in one interview, I was asked why the need for such a letter given that the US government has traditionally been receptive to open source.

While it is true that many sectors are receptive, including organizations like DISA and the great work of folks like John Garing (CIO), there are many others where that’s not the case. But perhaps more significantly, the current economic conditions warrant a renewed focus on open source. It shocks me how few people appreciate how much money can be saved in infrastructure costs alone with open source software. But, those that “get it” are certainly reaping the benefits.

Furthermore, Obama has made it quite clear that he and his administration are seeking input on how best to build and execute on key pieces of their strategy. And with IT a key piece of the administration’s focus, the time couldn’t be better for such a stance. What do you think?

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The Ultimate in Customer Service

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

How can you not be impressed with the way Apple packages their products? It’s obvious they put a lot of effort into the “user experience” all the way through to the opening of the boxes and the packaging of the components. But now I’ve personally experienced an even more remarkable touch.

Today Apple offered a one-day holiday shopping sale, both online and in the stores. If you’ve ever been to an Apple Store, you know that you don’t want to be there around holiday time. They are packed with people on “off days” … imagine what it’s like around the holidays.

As an iPhone customer, I had my $100 store credit to use and decided to buy iWork ’08 to build some newsletters I’ve been roughing out. So, while shopping online, sure enough it was on sale “today” (great marketing tactic), but I couldn’t easily figure out how to use my iPhone credit pay for it. They obviously wanted my credit card information.

At the top of the screen was an “Apple Store Chat” link. I thought I’d click the link and just see what happened, this being Black Friday at 5:30 pm (prime shopping time). Within one second of hitting that link, I get a message that reads, “Hi, my name is David G. Welcome to Apple! How can I help you?” This has got to be a standard form reply, right?

So, I fire off “How can I use my $100 iPhone credit for this purchase I want to make online?” Immediate on my “chat window” I see that “David G is typing a message”. Now I know I will be met with a barrage of questions like what am I trying to do, what page was I on, and so forth. What I see 20 seconds later takes me completely by surprise.

From David G: “To use the credit, on your screen you should see a button Change Payment Method. Click on that. It will bring you to a page where you can enter your iPhone credit info.”

Wow. So, I thank “David G.”. He responds with, “You’re welcome. I will keep the chat window open in case you have further questions about your order.” Turns out I do have a further question. On the final confirmation page, I can’t see where it indicates that my payment method is via the store credit and not my credit card. So, I reply a minute or so later that I do have another question. David must surely be busy with another customer now. Nope, within 1 second, he responds with “Sure, what’s up?”

I ask my question, he tells me exactly where I missed it, and I go on to complete my order. I thank him again, and he concludes with “Thank you for visiting the Apple Store. We appreciate your business.” Truly impressive. Well done Apple.

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The State of Open Source Business

Monday, May 28th, 2007

Sean Michael Kerner wrote a nice article on the state of open source business, summarizing findings by 451 and other research firms. Having just attended and presented at the Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), not to mention spending the last twelve months meeting with CIOs and CFOs of Fortune 500 companies discussing open source, much of what Michael discusses rings true.

However, one comment jumped out at me that I felt warranted further discussion. I’m not sure if this quote is Kerner’s or is attributed to Andrew Aiken at Olliance, but in any case, the quote reads, “CIOs apparently feel that proprietary solutions still have an edge over open source solutions when it comes to on [sic] integration and interoperability.”

Certainly if the reference was to proprietary solutions that are built by one vendor as a true end-to-end solution, I would agree. However, I’m sure we’ve all battled with proprietary solutions across the stack from multiple vendors … the data doesn’t integrate, the same service is performed in multiple applications, user interfaces are different, and so forth. The real challenge: how do you leverage the benefits of open solutions (no vendor lock-in, reduced cost, etc. … all the points mentioned by Michael in his article) without suffering from the multi-vendor integration issues that plague our industry?

Enter the Open Solutions Alliance (OSA), and the primary reason that Unisys joined OSA. The OSA is all about helping address those interoperability issues, building reference architectures and customer proof points, driving greater developer involvement in open solutions, and creating increased consumption of open solutions in the business community. The first proof point: a demo at LinuxWorld (August 6th-9th) in San Francisco showing the interoperability of a legacy point-of-sale application tied into a CRM, ERP, and other open solution components. And, there are several other activities going on within OSA including a single sign-on working group. Everything in OSA is transparent to the entire world (members and non-members alike), with the goal of addressing the problem statement noted above.

I think the future of business solutions, whether they are open or proprietary, depends heavily on how well they interoperate across the business … hence the major thrust around Services Oriented Architecture. And, the key to making that work is interoperability standards that allow it all to play together.

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Philadelphia Future Salon event

Friday, March 23rd, 2007

As open source emerges from its nascent stages and transforms the IT industry, the possibilities of its applications seem endless—a sure attraction for the next generation of engineers and software developers. Recently, I had the opportunity to address a group of up-and-comers at a Philadelphia Future Salon event and was heartened by the enthusiasm the college-aged audience showed for open source and its myriad possibilities.

The intended focus of the March 8th panel discussion was open source licensing—it’s various models, and how to navigate through them. But, with the audience being fairly new to open source, the attendees steered the conversation toward more general topics, asking insightful questions and gaining a solid understanding of the open source model. This orienting dialogue opened the way for us to talk about the huge opportunities for enterprises large and small to reap the benefits of open source software and its model of collaborative development.

Today’s tech-savvy peer group has embraced social networking sites that open up channels of communication, turning this generation into one of enthusiastic collaborators. Who better than these young individuals to help shape the future of open source?

I greatly enjoyed presenting to this group and look forward to further opportunities to present as part of the Philadelphia Future Salon.

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Road thoughts on Microsoft, Oracle, and Open Source

Thursday, November 30th, 2006

Many of you can appreciate the weariness of traveling, waking up in a hotel room and having to think for a moment where you are. Or sitting in an airport lounge forgetting what state you are in. Such is the condition I find myself in as I write this. But, I’ve been asked so much over the past few days what I think about all this Microsoft and Oracle stuff and its affect on open source. So, for the record, here are my thoughts.

Giant corporations like Microsoft and Oracle have a lot going for them. For one, they have many great employees with a ton of talent. Secondly, they have a lot of marketing pull. The stones (boulders) they drop into a lake make much bigger ripples than the tiny pebbles from most other companies. However, with such greatness of size and power also comes a certain amount of antipathy from the masses. Notwithstanding Wall Street’s view, it’s almost as if there is some fundamental principle of external disenchantment that sets in once a company passes a certain threshold. Regardless of one’s world view, it is a fact that both Microsoft and Oracle recently dropped some pretty heavy stones into the open source lake.

So, what does this all mean for the open source community? Not only do I think it is good news, but I also think inevitable. Let’s start with the inevitability and then move on to the goodness.

Oracle wants to be in the operating system environment, actually the whole stack environment (think Fusion) for their business process architecture. They had been rumoring at Linux for a long time, so this announcement should have been no surprise. Oracle wants to be “the” platform for business processing, and the operating system is a natural part of that architecture. Now, how much Oracle will really do with Linux remains to be seen. They certainly won’t want to fork RedHat unless there is a really solid business justification behind it. Some may speculate a “conspiracy theory” to depress RedHat’s market cap, but while highly juicy from an editorial perspective, I highly doubt that is what drove Oracle to make this move. The OS software is free, and Oracle’s focus is to do everything they can to drive businesses to their application environment. (NB: I will say that it is rather interesting that you don’t find much recent information from the Oracle execs on their blogs. A quick look into a few of them revealed last updates from over six months ago.)

Likewise, Microsoft is in the operating system environment. And, what many people probably don’t know is that Microsoft has been working with Linux for quite a while. Bill Hilf, a really smart guy who came from IBM’s Linux team, runs the Microsoft open source team, and these guys have been quite busy. And, of course, Microsoft wants clients to use their software, so why would they ignore a huge market in the Linux space. Now, how many Novell “coupons” Microsoft actually ships also remains to be seen. But, Microsoft will certainly continue to find the best balance between the revenue they generate from their operating system and the opportunities (both from a revenue and PR perspective) with Linux and the open source community.

So, the reason I think both of these “moves” are positive from an open source perspective is because they add additional legitimacy to the whole space. Of course, all of us already swimming in the open source lake know that the water is nice and warm, clean, safe, healthy, and here to stay. But, for those looking in from the outside at this (dare I say) oasis, the obvious question is, “Is that real?” When companies like Microsoft and Oracle start splashing around, you know you’ve crossed a tipping point. Now it no longer looks like an oasis, or even a lake. It is starting to look like an ocean.

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Sun open sources Java

Monday, November 13th, 2006

Kudos to Jonathon Schwarz, Rich Green, Bill Joy, and the rest of the Sun team for more than just following up on a promise but making a very difficult business decision to release some of their crown jewels. I suspect that the resultant code base will be enhanced with new features and that more developers will be attracted to Java. It should be fun to watch.

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