OStatic

In my inbox yesterday, along with the notes from my mom, forwards from relatives and friends who never really write, and a wide variety of great deals on fake watches, I discovered a press release from Funambol. That in and of itself isn't unusual, but what the open source mobile sync and push solution company was reporting is remarkable on several levels.

Many open source software companies are seeing increases in revenue, stronger migration rates and a general upswing in business thanks to the rather anemic economy. You don't need to write about open source to see this -- it's readily apparent to anyone skimming tech-related headlines. Funambol's announcement certainly mentioned the economy, and gave some truly impressive figures surrounding the project's growth -- but they weren't in relation to undeniably important financial gains. The jaw-dropping growth is happening somewhere that's even more critical in the long-term: the community.

I can't help, when hearing more of the details about the EFF and OdioWorks joint lawsuit against Apple, thinking that the whole situation is just broken from any angle. The DMCA isn't without issue and the fact that it was applied to an online discussion about reverse engineering possibilities is a disturbing first. Even more backwards is the idea that a company producing wildly popular devices that are unsupported on an operating platform that's attracting an increasing number of tech- and gadget-happy people would not expect (or tolerate to some degree) discussion about reverse engineering.

Let's put the legal issues aside for a moment -- or the idea that any copy protection systems were going to be stripped and copyright laws would be violated left and right. Wouldn't having a device your company produces but will not (or can not) support on some platforms reverse engineered so that it is able to work on (and with) a larger pool of software going to make your device more desirable?

I have a confession: When I read press releases about Envizions' EVO Smart Console I am unsure if the company is run by self-assured, confident visionaries or if -- well, the situation is actually quite the opposite. I like (love?) the idea of an open source, Linux-powered gaming console. I like the potential it holds, the almost limitless features it could deliver, the creativity it could inspire.

I know that bringing hardware to market is rough, and that sometimes things get bogged down in regulatory processes and unexpected red tape. I know that balancing what you want to sell, what you want to deliver, and what your customers want, expect and request can be tricky. A company needs to hold on to its dreams and ideals -- and it needs to bring in cash in order to make those dreams and ideals happen.

It isn't easy, especially when you're selling something that isn't even at the early adopter stage. It's impossible to say if Envizions is going about this in the most logical manner -- it's uncharted territory. This is why Envizion's announcement of a 3-D online community (think Second Life) leaves me feeling even more conflicted about the EVO open source game console than ever.

If April showers bring May flowers, what does May bring? That's when student developers in the Google Summer of Code (GSoC) program buckle down and get to work. The popular volunteer program drew almost 5,900 proposals from nearly 3,500 applicants who are no doubt pacing the floor until Google posts the list of accepted candidates. They'll have to wait until April 20 to find out.

In my travels recently, I happened across a rather thought provoking proposal from Martin Owens, an active contributor to the Ubuntu project. He suggested that people would be more likely to contribute financially to open source projects if contributions felt less like charity and more like investments.

It's an interesting idea. It's not that donations don't support good, important, necessary work, or that charities aren't worthy causes -- nor is it implied that open source software projects, especially those driven entirely by uncompensated volunteers, aren't worth supporting financially. However, donating to a local animal shelter, food bank, or awareness campaign feels very different than donating to an open source software project. There are a few reasons why this is so, and they support Owens' idea that perhaps the donation language should be replaced with more appropriate terminology.