Red Hat entered the stock market in the summer of 1999, breaking records on its first day of trading. As Bob Young explains, the company closed their first day at three times the offering price they had set. Although a great feat, he was also acutely aware that rapid success would turn the eyes of the financial world onto his business and there would be no room for error.

For a start up business, how concerned are you about growing your business too quickly?

The software industry has long been monopolised by one provider. As Bob Young explains in this video, traditional software only gives you a certain amount of room to move whereas open source software is a completely different model.

There are two reasons this video may be relevant to your start up business. First, thinking about the software you need to make your business operate smoothly, is it worth considering the open source route for any of your key applications? Second, what can your start up business learn from the closed vs open source software model?

*Este artigo foi publicado originalmente no dia 15 de junho de 2008

Alguns nomes fundamentais

Richard Stallman. Não sei sem pode onde começar a falar sobre RMS. Ele deu início ao projeto GNU, parte importantíssima do sistema operacional GNU/Linux, em 1983 (isso mesmo, mil novecentos e oitenta e três!), fundando a Free Software Foundation em 1985. Ele escreveu o compilador C original do GNU — sim, o programa usado para transformar programas escritos em linguagem de programação em código executável. Ele passa a maior parte do tempo como ativista político e de software. Se você quiser saber o que é dedicação, leia o blog dele e consulte sua frenética agenda de viagens.

Pamela Jones. E por falar em dedicação, Pamela Jones é a autora do Groklaw, possivelmente o site que salvou o GNU/Linux e o software livre de modo geral das garras da SCO/Microsoft. Pamela Jones é uma figura realmente fantástica. Ela escreveu por volta de mil artigos nos últimos três anos, e muitos deles são artigos longos e de alto impacto na indústria de TI como um todo.

Linus Torvards. Ele escreveu o Linux, o kernel, sem o qual os utilitários GNU não teriam onde rodar. O kernel Linux chegou em momento oportuno, sendo lançado sob a GPL (escrita por Richard Stallman) em 1991. O Linux é uma parte muito importante do projeto GNU/Linux.

Mark Shuttleworth. Fundador da Canonical, que criou o Ubuntu Linux. Resumindo bastante a história de Shuttleworth: ele fez uma pequena fortuna vendendo a Thawte (que fazia certificados) à VeriSign. Depois passou pelo programa russo de treinamento de astronautas e foi para o espaço. Voltou e fundou a Canonical para criar o Ubuntu Linux, que se convencionou denominar como a distribuição GNU/Linux mais popular e inovadora voltada para os usuários finais.

Larry Page e Sergey Brin. Esses criaram o Google. Você já deve ter ouvido falar nele: é só digitar uma frase na página do Google e você obtém uma lista de páginas relevantes, como num passe de mágica… se você não ainda conhece, deveria dar uma espiada. Embora o Google não seja uma empresa de software livre, e de fato boa parte de seus programas são proprietários, ele lança vastas quantidades de programas livres e, o que é mais importante, contribui para a criação de padrões livres que são amigos do software livre (OpenSocial x Facebook, ou Android x iPhone/Windows Mobile).

Bob Young and Matthew Szulik. Bob Young criou a Red Hat, uma das mais bem-sucedidas empresas de software livre. Sob a sua liderança, a Red Hat se estabeleceu como a distribuição GNU/Linux líder no setor de servidores. As contribuições da Red Hat ao kernel Linux e ao software livre de modo geral são imensas. Matthew Szulik assumiu o posto de CEO da Red Hat após a saída de Young, e fortaleceu ainda mais a empresa. E o que é mais importante, Szulik teve um jantar histórico (e não confirmado) com Steve Ballmer, CEO da Microsoft, que se esforçou ao máximo para que a Red Hat assinasse um acordo de patentes com a Microsoft. Szulik disse “não”, embora o acordo provavelmente fosse render bons lucros à Red Hat. Isso teria sido uma desgraça para o mundo do software livre.

Jimmy Wales. Criador de outro site que você deve conhecer: a Wikipédia. Nem preciso colocar um link aqui: É só digitar qualquer coisa no Google (aquela página de pesquisa da qual falei aí em cima), e é provável que uma página da Wikipédia apareça na lista… o software da Wikipédia está disponível sob uma licença livre, a GPL. Sim, a mesma licença criada por Richard Stallman (falamos dele mais acima). Embora a Wikipédia em si não seja software livre, foi uma das primeiras vezes (talvez a primeira) que a filosofia do software livre foi aplicada em um campo não técnico. E a Wikipédia faz um sucesso enorme.

Lawrence Lessig. Criou as licenças Creative Commons, que permitem aos artistas lançarem seus trabalhos sob licenças que têm os mesmos princípios das licenças de software livre.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Esse inventou a internet. E lançou as especificações (HTTP e HTML) de graça, em vez de exigir que as empresas e desenvolvedores fizessem acordos inaceitáveis sob termos supostamente não discriminatórios. Sem ele, hoje a internet poderia estar dominada por protocolos proprietários e caóticos no estilo MSN e AOL. E quando eu digo “caóticos”, não estou exagerando.

Blake Ross. O cara que, ainda adolescente (em 2003), percebeu que o movimento do software livre estava deixando escapar o mundo dos navegadores web porque não havia um navegador elegante e livre disponível. Por isso ele criou um fork do Mozilla, um software do qual você já deve ter ouvido falar: o Firefox. O resto é história. E é uma história com 25% do mercado, o que é impressionante se levarmos em conta que cada cópia do Firefox precisa ser baixada e instalada, ao contrário do que acontece com o Internet Explorer, que já vem com o Windows.

Dries Buytaert. O autor do Drupal, um dos maiores CMS (sistemas de gerenciamento de conteúdo) do pedaço (tá, eu sou suspeito para falar, sou um dos desenvolvedores do Drupal). Acredito que a maioria de vocês não use o Drupal, mas boa parte deve usar sites movidos pelo Drupal.

Keith Packard. A força por trás do XOrg, um fork do XFree86. É graças a ele que o GNU/Linux conta com um fantástico subsistema gráfico. Esta entrevista com Keith Packard, de 2003, explica parte do ocorrido. Observe que na época da entrevista ainda havia uma grande incerteza, e o XOrg ainda era mais ou menos uma “ideia”. Hoje, é uma forte realidade no mundo do software livre.

Bram Cohen. O gênio matemático que criou o BitTorrent. Ao contrário de quase todo mundo, ele liberou as especificações e a implementação de referência do seu protocolo de graça. O BitTorrent se mostrou crucial para o software livre, já que tornou possível o download de distribuições cada vez maiores. Mas há quem não se mostre muito impressionado (como a RIAA, a associação norte-americana de gravadoras) pelo potencial do protocolo.

Michael Tiemann. Fundou a Cygnus em 1989. A Cygnus Solutions foi uma das primeiras tentativas de se fazer dinheiro com o software livre. Tiemann também escreveu o compilador GNU C++ e trabalhou no compilador e no depurador GNU C, softwares cruciais que mudaram o mundo da TI.

O mundo sem eles

Como seria do mundo se essas pessoas tivessem optado por trabalhar como encanadoras? Alguns podem dizer que se eles não tivessem feito o que fizeram, provavelmente alguém teria feito. O problema aqui é o “provavelmente” (isso também nos leva a uma questão ainda mais teórica: a lista de pessoas que seguiram carreira como encanadoras em vez de salvar o mundo, mas isso já é outro papo).

Sem Pamela Jones, muitos (inclusive eu) acreditam que o caso da SCO contra o Linux poderia ter tomado um rumo tenebroso. Sem Stallman, o movimento do software livre estaria longe de ser tão organizado e forte como hoje. Sem Shuttleworth, uma distribuição GNU/Linux proprietária poderia ter se tornado a líder do mercado (algo que estava acontecendo lentamente com o Linspire). Sem Larry Page e Sergey Brin não existiria o Google. Nem a competição Summer of Code. Nem o Android. Nem o OpenSocial, e por aí vai. Sem Bob Young e Matthew Szulik, talvez não houvesse um líder tão evidente no mercado de servidores GNU/Linux, ou o que seria a pior, a Red Hat talvez tivesse cedido à pressão da Microsoft, firmando um desastroso acordo de patentes. Sem Jimmy Wales não haveria a Wikipédia. Sem Lawrence Lessig, toneladas de obras artísticas não estariam disponíveis na internet. Aliás, sem Sir Tim Berners-Lee não haveria internet. Sem Blake Ross, você talvez precisasse do Internet Explorer para fazer qualquer coisa online. Sem Dries Buytaert, o Drupal não existiria. Sem Keith Packard, estaríamos presos ao monolítico e livre-mas-não-tanto-assim XFree86.

Sem essas pessoas, o mundo basicamente seria um lugar muito, muito menos agradável de se viver.

Quer entrar para o clube?

A leitura deste artigo já deve ter dado uma ideia de como fazer isso: cada uma dessas pessoas é inteligente, dedicada e está disposta a sacrificar boa parte de sua vida pessoal para fazer do mundo um lugar melhor.

Uma das coisas fantásticas do software livre é que não há barreiras. Qualquer um pode participar. Seu nome pode aparecer nesta lista. Você só precisa de uma quantidade fenomenal de trabalho e de paixão pela sua área, seja ela qual for.

Eu não estou na lista, mas adoraria estar. Estou dando o meu melhor na Free Software Magazine, e sempre que estou cansado ou sem inspiração, dou uma olhada nessas pessoas que tornaram este mundo possível, e me esforço para ser como elas.

Nós, mortais, podemos não chegar tão longe quanto Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Richard Stallman ou Pamela Jones. Mas… só nos resta tentar.

Autor original: Tony Mobily
Publicado originalmente no: freesoftwaremagazine.com
Tradução: Roberto Bechtlufft

Fonte: Guia do Hardware

Ten years ago today, I showed up for my first day of work at Red Hat.

A pretty typical view from the Red Hat global HQ circa 1999. this picture appeared in Linux Magazine.

The office was an ugly one-story building in the back of an office park in Durham, NC, a far cry from the monstrous IBM campus I had just left. No longer would I be walking 10 minutes through a parking lot to get to my car, instead we were only a few steps from the front door, which was kind of a big deal for me at the time.

I was 27 years old, and ready to change the world.

At the time, this building was both the only office and the global headquarters for Red Hat, although this would change quickly as we opened offices in Asia and Europe over the next few months. There were about 125 or so people working for the whole company. In the marketing group that I joined, I think there were eight of us, and my first boss was Red Hat employee #1, Lisa Sullivan, who now runs two independent bookstores in Vermont. She had started working for Bob Young in Connecticut, before he joined up with Marc Ewing and moved the company down to North Carolina.

At the time, Marc Ewing and Bob Young still roamed the halls, in fact, Marc sat just a few cubes over from me next to Bascha Harris, who still works with me at Red Hat today. Marc tended to leave his empty drink cans stacked on his desk for weeks, so sometime swarms of fruit flies would descend on my desk after gorging on his leftovers. I’m not sure Marc even knew who I was. To Red Hat folks, I was just another guy coming in from a big company, itching to ruin everything.

The interview process was tough. I distinctly remember being interviewed over the phone by Matthew Szulik. He was Red Hat’s president at the time, and had only been with the company about a year. I still remember him asking me one of his famous interview questions, something like “How will you know if your life has been successful?” I have no idea how I answered that, but I’d really like to hear my answer now.

Within a few months of my start date, Red Hat became a publicly-traded company, and that’s when the craziness really began. On the first day, the stock closed over $50 a share, and it would go higher. The culture changed overnight. Matthew Szulik became the CEO and President, Bob and Marc began to take less active roles in the company, and after a few tough years spent surviving the Internet bubble, we became the successful technology company you see today.

The front desk in 1999, also from Linux Magazine.

I have a lot of memories of Red Hat in the early days. Platooning in left field for the Red Hat softball team in games against the dreaded Durham bus drivers. My first attempts to give Shadowman a voice and personality through an “Ask Shadowman” column, and the angry reaction of the engineering team (“stop trying to personify Shadowman!”). Convincing Jonathan Opp, Red Hat poet extraordinaire, to join the company after he had already turned us down once. Getting in over my head in my first memo-list flame war. Heather Vacek’s cursing jar, where you’d have to drop in money every time you slipped up. Playing basketball with Matthew Szulik in the parking lot, him talking smack and backing it up (he’s about 6′6″).

I could go on, but then I’d be boring you. If any of you early Red Hat folks read this, and want to add your memories, I’d love to see them.

Next week, Red Hat will join the S&P 500. That’s a long way from the company I drove up to on July 19, 1999. Thanks Red Hat, for 10 amazing years.

On a recommendation from Michael Tiemann, I got the book Conversational Capital: How to Create Stuff People Love to Talk About by the folks at Sid Lee, who have done work for brands like Cirque du Soleil, Adidas, and Red Bull.

Michael had sent a note at Red Hat a few months back where he said this book helped him understand the “x-factors” that had allowed Red Hat to create a strong brand position at such a small, young company. Thought I should check it out.

In case you were wondering, that headline above is an example of Relevant Sensory Oddity, one of the topics they cover in the book. I thought I’d try it and see if it works:) I actually am wearing pants. Today.

The main thesis of Conversational Capital is that there is a more powerful way to get consumers engaged with your brand by “making your story part of their story,” creating stories or experiences that are meaningful to them. The authors turn their noses up at “buzz marketing,” equating it to style over substance, with no depth or continuity, all sizzle and no steak.

To create true “conversation capital” you need to learn to make great use of what they refer to as the eight engines: rituals, exclusive product offering, myths, relevant sensory oddity, icons, tribalism, endorsement, and continuity. Of these, the most interesting to me are myths and tribalism, because I believe they have fueled some of the successes of the Red Hat brand. First, myths:

Myths are foundation stories; the meta-narratives that shape and inform our culture. These stories encapsulate who we are, where we came from, and what we aspire to… That’s why, in our view, myth is one of the most important engines of Conversation Capital. If a consumer experience is permeated by myth, it is likely informed by a powerful, coherent story. Stories create resonance and salience and are the basic currency of identity formation. Myths are stories that tell us who we are.

Red Hat was built from the very beginning on top of myths. A few years ago we caught up with Red Hat co-founder Bob Young in Toronto and filmed him talking about our first myth– how Red Hat got it’s name. I love this particular story because it is actually three stories– and you can choose which one you believe. Over the years, people have asked me many times which story is the correct one, and I always repeat Bob Young’s words… “There are three official versions, and you can pick!” Why ruin the myth?

Over the years, Red Hat has obviously been able to play the role of David in David v. Golliath, but I wouldn’t say that is a strategic decision, more of a caricature created in the media. Our interpretation of the Red Hat myth is probably best articulated in the short film Truth Happens, which I covered in a previous post. But over the years, we’ve attempted to tell other stories as well in films like We Are Here, Birdsong, Choice, and Inevitable. Almost all of these have lives of their own on YouTube, redhat.com, and elsewhere, and many are still watched hundreds or even thousands of times each month.

Do these myths drive leads and sales of Red Hat Enterprise Linux? Hard to say. It is dark matter after all.

Do they drive brand and shareholder value for Red Hat? I think so. A recent quote from a Piper Jaffray analyst named Mark Murphy (emphasis mine):

We expect Red Hat’s growth opportunity to demonstrate sustainability because of the underlying value proposition of open source offerings, it’s superior brand recognition, large referenceable customer base, the reinforcing ‘network’ effects of a platform leadership position, broad array of ISV and IHV certifications, unique vision and culture, and ability to hire superior employee talent.

I’d like to think our stories and myths had a tiny bit to do with this, but I’m not sure we’ll ever know for sure.

Tribalism is another interesting topic covered in the book. Red Hat has tried to be a good citizen of the open source tribe over the years, giving back to the open source community in many ways, from hiring people to work on important open source projects, to taking strong stands on intellectual property issues and on behalf of open standards, even acquiring companies and open sourcing their technology so anyone can use it.

Part of being a good member of a tribe is creating a “symbiotic relationship” where value is created by and shared between all members, and everyone is on a “quest for mutual discovery” together.

I hope that the open source community continues to view Red Hat as a valued member of their tribe. That’s where I part ways a bit with this book… I don’t believe Red Hat has ever been part of this tribe in order to create “conversation capital.”

We are a member of the open source tribe because we believe.

Bob Young ist jetzt endlich 39. Oder so aehnlich. Das mit den Kerzen auf den Geburtstagstorten machen wir ja alle schon seit geraumer Zeit falsch. Bob Youngs Geburtstagspartys sind aber schon seit Jahrzehnten fuer bestes Essen legendaer. Ceasars Salat vom anderen Stern. Mit allen Events die Bob Young in Berlin erfunden und realisiert hat, sollten wir Ihm auch endlich das Bundesverdienstkreuz fuer kulturelle Leistungen verleihen. Heute gibts schon wieder ein Highlight: Superstar Dj Berlin Paul van Dyk im GMF 1.03.2009 – Yippyyayej

Anfang des Jahres ist die Berliner Partywelt um einen schillernden kreativen Kopf ärmer geworden: Dag! Harbach ist verstorben.

Anläßlich seines Todes haben wir ihm (am Rosenmontag, seiner Beerdigung und seinem Geburtstag!)im Felix einen gebührenden Abschied bereitet:

Seine jahrelange Freundin (und Muse) Britt Kanja (mit der ich einige berauschende Lesungen bestritt) hielt eine ergreifende Rede (natürlich mit harfenistischer Begleitung)

und Daniel Höferlin,  Ex-Party-Organisator des legendären 90 Grad-Clubs, wo DAG! die wunderbarsten Partys schmiß,und jetziger  Felix-Manager, gab mit meiner Unterstützung ein wundervolles Ständchen.

mit Daniel Höferlin-photo by Wolfgang Brückner-www.clubhistory.de

mit Daniel Höferlin-photo by Wolfgang Brückner-www.clubhistory.de

Mit Britt Kanja bei der TRIBUTE TO DAG! PHOTO BY Wolfgang Brückner-www.clubhistory.de

Als wir dann mit Colin Rich und Band loslegten, war die traurige Stimmung ganz schnell verflogen und die ca. 500 Gäste tanzten ausgelassen.

DAG ist übrigens auf dem Künstlerfriedhof beerdigt.Ein würdiger Ort.

According to New Orleans police, several people have been shot along a Mardi Gras parade route and two suspects have been taken into custody.

From MSNBC:

Two people were arrested Tuesday afternoon after at least six people were shot along the Mardi Gras parade route in downtown New Orleans, police said.

There was no immediate confirmation of the conditions of the victims, but police told NBC station WDSU of New Orleans that they did not believe any of the injuries were life-threatening.

At least one victim was a woman who appeared to be a bystander, said Bob Young, a spokesman for the New Orleans police. That woman was on a parade-watching ladder when a bullet struck her in the leg.

The shootings occurred along a busy stretch of the parade route, at the intersection of St. Charles Avenue and Second Street, just before 3 p.m. ET, as truck parades rolled along following Rex — the city’s signature Mardi Gras parade.

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – Self-Publishers Flourish as Writers Pay the Tab

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – Lulu discontinuing online chat support and laying off employees…

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – The Economy Takes Its Toll On Lulu

While an earlier section may have indicated entrepreneurs rely more on themselves than others, this does not mean that entrepreneurs should not solicit others’ ideas or isolate themselves from the world around them. The best entrepreneurs make an effort to keep an open mind. They are not like a lot of male drivers who will not ask for advice when they are lost. They make an effort to interact with people who have different viewpoints and perspectives. They are also willing to try new approaches. Read more…

Il Self Publishing secondo Lulu.com

Anche in Italia sta crescendo il mercato del Print on Demand. Quasi ogni mese, nel nostro paese nasce un nuovo servizio in grado di offrire soluzioni per l’autopubblicazione a tutti gli autori esordienti e non, che desiderano sperimentare una strada alternativa per entrare nel mondo dell’editoria.

Come pioniere di questo settore, presente sul mercato internazionale già dal 2002, Lulu.com ha una visione privilegiata del panorama del Self Publishing e ha così deciso, oggi, di “mettersi a nudo”, svelando tutti i numeri del Print on Demand.

In costante crescita mese dopo mese, il POD di Lulu.com, secondo una ricerca interna, registra 1 nuovo prodotto pubblicato ogni minuto e 53 secondi. Questa è la media registrata, a livello mondiale, da Lulu.com, mercato leader per i nuovi contenuti digitali su Internet, che ogni settimana accoglie ben 15.000 nuovi utenti.

Presente dal 2002 online, su Lulu sono stati venduti sinora più di 4.218.000 da oltre 1.813.000 autori. Durante il 2006, secondo Google blog Search, oltre 1.930.000 blog hanno menzionato o linkato Lulu.com.

In Italia, da ottobre 2006 ad oggi sono stati venduti oltre 72.000 libri, quindi circa 3.700 libri al mese. Le creazioni fotografiche hanno superato i 3.000 prodotti pubblicati, mentre i media ditali sono a quota 2.500.

Lulu, una società privata, è stata fondata da Bob Young nel 2002 e permette ai creatori di contenuti di pubblicarli sia in formato cartaceo che in formato multimediale. Lulu ha oltre 3 milioni di visitatori unici al mese. Gli utenti di Lulu attualmente pubblicano più di 4.000 nuovi contenuti – libri, video, calendari, musica – ogni settimana e le registrazioni crescono di oltre 15.000 nuovi utenti ogni sette giorni. Come mercato globale, Lulu ha finora pagato milioni di dollari di diritti ai propri creatori.

# # #
Per ulteriori informazioni su Lulu.com:
Eleonora Gandini
PR Manager Italy Lulu.com
egandini@lulu.com
oppure europe_pr@lulu.com

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – POD vs. Amazon: Updates

Amazon has announced is reasoning behind forcing POD publishers to use their printing service.  Read their announcement here!

It all comes down to saving fuel and shipping costs.  Those are words I hear everyday at the wholesale book company I work for. I never once thought I’d hear them from a billion dollar corporation like Amazon.

This blow to the POD world saddens me and it will be interesting to see what effects it will have on the industry.  I pray that Amazon will be the one hard hit by boycotting, lawsuits, and POD publishers who won’t back down.  Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I’m still plotting away at an attempt to break into the traditional publishing world, and continuing to support the POD world through my review blog.

The fate of both keeps me awake at night.

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – Amazon’s Official Statement

The POD (print on demand) industry has been rocked with the news that Amazon.com has started bending the arms of POD Publishers to force them into using their sister company, Booksurge, for printing or they won’t offer their books for sale directly through Amazon. PublishAmerica has already been hit and the BUY buttons of their books on Amazon have been taken down. POD review sites like Podpeep and Lulu have already started voicing their opinions, and I hope POD authors will as well.

POD authors always looked to Amazon as their #1 online marketing tool. As a POD author myself, I jumped at the opportunity Amazon gave me by selling signed copies of my book at my own set price right on the same page where Amazon sold my book. Amazon also gave me my own blog on their site which would show up right on the page where my book was and then promoted it to those who purchased my book so they could keep up with me.

My book’s publisher, Xlibris, has yet to be affected by this move as far as I know, but who knows what’s to come. I personally hope this will be a poke in the eye for Amazon as they try to monopolize this industry. Hopefully it will send readers somewhere else…into your local physical bookstore, perhaps? As for POD authors, our one friend has stabbed us in the back and so our search for a proper nitch in the market continues. We’re like stray dogs and cats on the streets. Some have room in their hearts for us. The pounds are full of us. But most (readers) just don’t really care. POD books are usually overpriced, most poorly written or edited, and now we’ll be hard to get!

Read more about it here!

LLBR has moved – to read this great article, go to our new site – Amazon Pushes POD Up a Creek