Minimise the tentacles on the OctopOSS. Keep it simple
“The day before yesterday, for the first time this attempt for us, we have conducted a “throw away meeting”.” Susumu Fujita (quote has been Google-translated from the original Japanese blog into English) [Another translation could be – “The day before yesterday, we held our first “throw away meeting.” This meeting was proposed in a recent […]
“The more you engage with customers the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.” John Russell. I’ve noticed something curious with a few of the OSS products I’ve worked with. The customers use the products for one of their functions (eg as a database of records) but […]
This is the seventh in the Complete OSS re-write series of posts and relates to What language are you using. This series is designed to pose ideas on how the OSS industry could take a Control-Alt-Delete approach to all aspects of delivering operational support, which coincides with the inflection point underway in our industry via […]
This is the sixth in the Complete OSS re-write series of posts and relates to We don’t have enough skilled people. This series is designed to pose ideas on how the OSS industry could take a Control-Alt-Delete approach to all aspects of delivering operational support, which coincides with the inflection point underway in our industry […]
This is the fifth in the Complete OSS re-write series of posts and relates to What are the tangible benefits or insights. This series is designed to pose ideas on how the OSS industry could take a Control-Alt-Delete approach to all aspects of delivering operational support, which coincides with the inflection point underway in our industry via […]
This is the fourth in the Complete OSS re-write series of posts and relates to Our requirements keep changing. This series is designed to pose ideas on how the OSS industry could take a Control-Alt-Delete approach to all aspects of delivering operational support, which coincides with the inflection point underway in our industry via technologies such as […]
“The best edit is often a complete re-write. And maybe it’s time to start writing lots of things from scratch.” Peter Thiel (actually a notes essay from Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup – Class 13 lecture). As the URL states, I’m passionate about OSS. But as passionate as I am for current-day OSS, I’m even more […]
“Essentially, RFPs [Request for Proposal] by their very nature are already flawed. You have described the situation you are in today and you are trying to fit the new technology to that situation. Assuming you are trying to transform your business, this is a dead end before you even start.” Paul Vedam in his article […]
“Ask your friends what business Google is in and the answer you’ll most likely get is “search.” And they would be wrong. Google is, first and foremost, an advertising company. A full 97 percent of its revenue comes from advertising on its various properties, including YouTube, plus partner sites through its AdSense product. Sure, Google […]
The diagram above shows the head and the long tail of OSS, but also the tale of two distinct ways of thinking at some Tier-1 CSPs. The yellow band represents the head, the top-X (eg Top 100) customers, generally the major corporates, government, etc that spend massive amounts on communication services and expect a corresponding amount […]
When I was at uni, there was a stall that had graffiti on the wall that was quite similar to the diagram above – words to the effect of “Arts degree – please take one.” It showed the disdain that some students obviously felt for the worth of an arts degree. Back then, this sentiment […]
“Many drops make a bucket, many buckets make a pond, many ponds make a lake, and many lakes make an ocean.” Percy Ross. One of the big OSS challenges for vendors and customers alike is version management. Let’s say Customer X installs version 1.5.3 of Vendor Y’s exciting new resource management software. This software is […]
“…numbers from comScore showing that while 60 percent of retail browsing happens on mobile devices, those devices only account for 15 percent of dollars spent. “The experiences on mobile haven’t caught up with the consumer demand,” he said. “The consumer is ready to do commerce on mobile.”” Anthony Ha here on TechCrunch. These fascinating stats […]
“It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.” Isaac Asimov. Last week I brought some of Tom Nolle’s ideas to your attention […]
“All the scientist creates in a fact is the language in which he enunciates it. If he predicts a fact, he will employ this language, and for all those who can speak and understand it, his prediction is free from ambiguity..” Henri Poincaré. As an OSS consultant, I succeed or fail partly on my ability […]
“If I don’t understand you, it’s your fault. This has to be the most basic, fundamental principle of a good software architect (well, of any engineer), but most of the architects I’ve met so far, in many companies, don’t seem to believe in it. They don’t understand that the job of a software architect is […]
“The challenge is that complexity is beguiling. Clever tricks and hacks can add to a company’s story and the benefit vs complexity trade off for each one can be well worth it. The problem comes over time when new tricks are added to the old ones to keep the story fresh. The complexity builds up […]
“Much better to avoid complexity altogether, or rather only accept it when the benefit vs complexity trade off is hugely compelling. Hence I say it’s best to maintain an irrational bias against complexity and keep it simple. This is a lesson I’ve learnt before and now I’m learning again. I’m hoping that writing it down […]
“If it’s small and reversible then it’s an experiment. If not, it’s a commitment.” Author unknown but revered. With our traditional, monolithic OSS there don’t tend to be many changes that are small and reversible unless you are controlling the code and its development. We always seem to do things on a grand scale! We […]
“My other observation is that in most cases one side of the [supply and demand] marketplace comes much more easily than the other. On Lexoo supply comes more easily whereas on Appear Here, a marketplace for short term lets on the High Street demand is the easier side. The trick then is to build the […]
