Matsu’s World: The One Less Traveled

Now, that’s a headline that you are unlikely to read any time soon. Though, if Microsoft is successful in their $44 billion bid to purchase Yahoo then something will have to change if Microsoft isn’t going to make that headline a reality. Why? Because last year Yahoo bought Zimbra for $350 million and now owns and supports Zimbra, the open source Exchange-server-compatible e-mail system

If Zimbra is truly an open source product and if it is in direct competition with Microsoft and their Exchange server product, then will Microsoft kill Zimbra as soon as the Yahoo acquisition becomes final? Can they kill it? Will they provide an open source alternative to their commercial product? Will they support and improve Zimbra as an alternative to their flagship e-mail server product? What do you think?

“Zimbra” and the Zimbra logo are trademarks of Zimbra, Inc.

Last week I wrote this blog post about Sun’s decision to buy MySQL. I included an image of the MySQL logo as part of that post. Only, today it’s an image of an infant in a high chair! Huh?

I went back to my photo library (in WordPress.com) and confirmed that the MySQL logo image was still there and was still correct. Then, I went back and looked at the image name in my older post and it was correct. But, when I put that logo image into this post, it shows the child, again! Something is very messed up with WordPress.com images! I had to reload the image and name it “MySQL Logo 2″ for it to work correctly.

So, what gives WordPress.com? Are you now randomizing photos in the blogs to make things more interesting?

Note: When I published this post the MySQL logo image reverted back to what it should be and the child in the high chair disappeared! But when I go to edit it goes back to the kid image. So, I did a screen capture so you can see the kid I’m seeing. Right now it’s switching back and forth for no good reason.

Wacky!

Whoa! Is this press release for real? Did Sun Microsystems really buy the worlds most popular open source database company? Well, close enough.

They have announced an agreement that was struck to buy MySQL AB, the company that develops MySQL, for a cool $1 billion dollars, US.

This could be very interesting and possibly not all good. It reminds me a lot of Novell’s acquisition of Suse (and Suse Linux). That didn’t turn out too badly, but it did cause me to wonder what would happen to the many open source applications and Linux distribution made by Suse. So far, I don’t think Novell’s acquisition of Suse has negatively impacted the open source projects. Maybe that will also be true for Sun’s acquisition of MySQL.

To learn more, you can watch this video where the head of both companies talk about their plans and what it might mean for MySQL users.

Don’t you just love rumors about new technology. After all, you can dream about finally getting that product or feature you always wanted, but nobody will create. I think nobody spreads rumors as passionately as Apple users.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not speaking badly about Mac users. After all, I’m typing this blog post on my Mac laptop (Intel). And, I own a couple of iPods and every other member of my family owns at least one iPod, my teen-aged son owns more than one. So, my observations are not from an “outsider” nor am I some Microsoft Windows bigot. I actually see the value of all three of the most popular operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux). And I routinely use all three. But, I must confess that for everyday use; e-mail, web surfing, word processing, spreadsheets, etc. I prefer to use a Mac. It’s just more comfortable and just works. Oh, and I use it for viewing photos and listening to music all the time. Now you know where I’m coming from.

Back to the latest Apple rumors. Have you seen the Apple banners they put up at MacWorld? Like ancient medicine men interpreting tea leaves, Apple fans everywhere are trying to guess what they mean.

I am sending two of my I.T. staff to this week’s MacWorld in San Francisco. Being the weekend before a major trade show dedicated to the Apple Mac you know everyone is making their predictions on what Steve Job will announce during his keynote address on Tuesday. It’s always a big event, but this year it may be even bigger than last year. After all, last year Steve confirmed the shipping date for the iPhone, something they had announced about six months earlier.

This time, the speculation by Fortune magazine is Apple will announce a new sub-laptop. Something smaller than the 12″ screen laptop currently available. Rumored not to have a conventional hard drive, it is supposedly a memory-chip-only (flash memory) computer. If you haven’t already seen it, you should go here to see a regular MacBook Pro that’s been converted by replacing the hard drive with a Samsung SSD (solid state drive). I’m not sure there’s a big market for something like that. I would rather see a tablet Mac, like the IBM Thinkpad tablet, only it runs Mac OS X. THAT is something I could get excited about. Although, according to this article an Apple tablet (aka Newton) is not likely to happen this week.

While I am talking about wishes I have for Apple, I can’t pass on the chance to once again share my wish that they would develop a way for Windows applications to run natively on a Mac (in Mac OS X). It’s technically possible to do, but my guess is that Apple is not willing to engage in all out war with Microsoft and provide a direct replacement for the Windows operating system. That’s my guess. If Apple won’t build in the ability to launch Windows programs in Mac OS X, then I wish they would buy or license Parallels or VMware for Mac and include it with every computer they sell. That way, ALL of their computers can run Windows applications out of the box without buying anything else. I know that you can always buy Parallels or VMware for Mac, but it would be better if it were just part of the operating system with full Apple support.

In a little more than one day we will learn which rumors were on target and which rumors were born out of the imagination and wishes of a Mac fan. I predict most will fall in the latter category.

Back in November 2007 I ordered one of the first computers made by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project.

At one time this project was known as the $100 Laptop project, but it proved to be too difficult to get everything they wanted into the computer and still keep the manufacturing price that low.

One of the early battles was over the operating system. For obvious reasons, Microsoft wanted them to use a version of Windows. Instead, they selected an open source operating system. This Wall Street Journal article does a good job of reporting the journey and problems experienced along the way.

It has not been an easy task for Nicholas Negroponte to bring his dream into reality. Besides the struggles to keep his computer priced as close to $100 as possible, he has had to fend off competition that is trying to do the same thing… for a profit. In fact, one of the biggest corporate competitors was brought into the project last year and then after only about six months, broke off support. That corporate partner was Intel. This article Intel’s describes their departure from the OLPC project.

One thing I have wondered is if Mr. Negroponte’s vision is to get these laptops in the hands of children in developing nations to help them improve education then why would he care who builds the computers. In that same spirit, why not make the hardware specs and plans fully open source? That way, anyone and everyone could manufacture the computers and he wouldn’t have to be in the business of manufacturing and selling computers. He can just promote the concept and help companies find ways to bring the price down to that $100 price point. I realize that it might not be that simple, but it would be a way in which the OLPC vision could be realized.

I ordered one of these new laptop computers because there is no substitute for holding a product in your hands and putting it through it’s paces. You can read all of the reviews about a technology or product, but until you experience it first hand you can’t have that gut feeling about how well it’s made, how easy it is to use, or how well it will meet the needs of the organization you support. Therefore, I purchase one.

Well, technically I purchased two computers. As required by the OLPC purchasing website (buy one, get one), sales to people in America require the purchaser to not only pay for the one they are buying, but also purchase one to give away to a child in a developing nation. I find that to be a very good approach to fund raising and allow those who can afford it to purchase the computer. Unfortunately, this program was a limited-time offer and ended on January 1, 2008. There was some speculation here that the OLPC “buy one, get one” program may be extended into 2008, but nothing official has come out, yet.

The problem is that after almost two months, I still don’t have the computer. The website says not to contact them about orders that haven’t been fulfilled (they don’t have projected shipping information, they just want people to wait patiently).

What is even more surprising, today it was announced here that OLPC computers will be distributed to American children in 2008. Huh?!? Is this because they can’t get anough money to ship them overseas? Or, is the thought that if American schools purchased them it would increase the volume and help drop the manufacturing costs? I don’t know, but this seems to be a deviation from the original emphasis, which was children in developing nations.

I just hope they ship my order to that needy child in a developing nation before they start taking orders from American school districts!