philcrissman.com

Hmm… none of the links on my site seem to be working. I’ll have to check on this; there must be some sort of Mambo issue that I’m unaware of. Sorry for any possible inconvenience.

Continue reading ‘Problems’

Novell has been in so much news since their recent Brainshare conference that I really didn’t know which story, if any, to link to.

I like linking to/commenting on Linux news because, well, I like Linux, and the blog gives me a little opportunity to cheer, promote, advocate, what-have-you. On the other hand, it seems to be almost getting to the point that another enterprise using Linux, or Linux making a further stride toward desktop/mainstream use, is just not as interesting as it used to be.

Actually, that’s good news.

What that means to me is that we are no longer surprised by this. It is no longer a matter of Linux or Open Source getting its foot in the door; the door is open, and Linux is being invited inside to chat. It’s normal. The times they are a-changin’.

So there is this news story about Novell’s conference highlights, this one about Novell’s branding strategy, this one about Enterprise Linux in some specific cases around the world (many of which have multiple thousands of users being migrated).

I’m reminded (maybe prematurely, but, oh well) that a year or so ago, when Microsoft began their "Get the facts" smear advertising campaign, it was pretty common to see the following quote (from Gandhi) on Slashdot:

Probably it’s a little early to be saying "we win" — but if you don’t shoot your mouth off now and then, you have nothing to eat later. At any rate, the truth is that I’ve been seeing a lot of this attitude, spoken or implied, all of it basically saying, "we win." For example, if we were just to consider it a war over enthusiasm, like I spoke of in a previous post, I would consider that battle won. And if you have the enthusiasm, the hearts, and the minds of the developers, admins, and users, the server and the desktop will follow.


Continue reading ‘Novell in the news’

There’s been some interesting conversation in a few corners of the blogosphere about Fellowship Church’s switch to Linux/Apache/PostgreSQL/PHP for web applications. Brian Bailey, Web Developer at Fellowship Church, has blogged about some of the reasons for this change.

Interestingly, Robert Scoble has noted (rightly so, I think) that these reasons are exactly what Microsoft will need to overcome to keep mindshare in the Microsoft-centric development modes, and in Scoble’s own words, "to win back developers."

Well, just in the slim chance that Scoble peeks his eyes over here, here’s the problem I see with that.

I can’t speak for other developers, so I’ll just speak for myself. I don’t hate Microsoft (and at least part of that goodwill is probably due to Scoble’s own blog, his transparency, and his genuine zeal for all things MS), but I don’t love Microsoft or it’s products, either. On the other Linux, PHP, Python, Ruby, and a host of other (mainly open source) technologies have captured my enthusiasm, and my affections.

The war that Microsoft is fighting is a war over enthusiasm; what they would need to "win back" is not just a developer using their technologies for a project or two, but win back the enthusiasm of that developer. Microsoft could create the best platforms they’ve ever made, they could repair everything that’s broken in IE, and they would earn an honest, "good for you" from me and a lot of other people. But would that win back our enthusiasm? To be honest, I can’t see it.

And that, not "Linux", not "PHP", not "Open Source"… the problem of getting that enthusiasm is Microsoft’s biggest obstacle.

At least, in my view.

Slightly off topic, but Terry Storch (CTO, also at Fellowship Church), has re-worked the graphic which heads up his blog. In case we had forgotten, he’s a bit of a Google fan. :-)

Continue reading ‘Fellowship makes a switch’

I was reading Jim Collins’ page the other day (author of Good to Great… you’ve seen this on the bestseller shelves the last time you were at Borders or Barnes & Noble, or other bookseller), and came across a section of his site where he talks about what he calls the "Hedgehog" concept.

The very basic idea is a contrast between the fox and the hedgehog, with the nub being that the fox knows a bit about a lot of things, but the hedgehog knows a lot about one thing. The postulate is made that huge successes, great successes, come from "Hedgehog" types of leaders.

What I found most interesting was his discussion (here) of what he calls the three circles of the "hedgehog concept" — these being:

1. What you can be the best in the world at
2. What drives your economic engine
3. What you are deeply passionate about

Jim argues that all three of these are necessary for "greatness".

Continue reading ‘Jim Collins on the Hedgehog concept’

It’s Easter; that time of year when folks who otherwise don’t darken the door of a church of any kind come out in droves to make an appearance. I’m not belittling this; if Easter is the only time you go to church, well, by all means, go! But I figured I’d extend the invitation to the internet for my home church’s Easter webcast.

Living Word (MPLS, MN) webcasts their Saturday night and two Sunday morning services every week. This week being Easter, maybe you’d like to surf over and enjoy the service. The Saturday night service is at 6:30PM, the two Sunday morning services are at 8:30AM and 10:30 AM respectively; all times are Central timezone.

Unfortunately, you may find that Windows is required to watch the webcasts; I’ve had it working on Linux in the past, but apparently I either changed something on my end, or they changed the streaming method — at any rate, I don’t think it works on any plaform but Windows.

So if you feel like attending church online this easter… why not pay us a visit?

Continue reading ‘An invitation to church’