Up for Auction: LinuxSi.com

A number of years back, I read yet another complaint about someone having trouble finding a computer with Linux preinstalled.

So I did something about it: I created LinuxSi.com, where it is possible to register computer stores in Italy (this was an Italian Linux mailing list) that are helpful towards people wishing to buy a Linux machine.

Fast forward past getting married, having kids and buying a house, and LinuxSi.com is not something I have much time to run any more.  I still think it's a useful service, even if the site itself is a bit creaky.

In any event, I've put it up for auction with Flippa.com, and there's one week left on the auction.  Right now, it's going for just $10, which even with the low amounts of adsense income it brings in, you'd make back pretty quickly.

I hope that it goes to someone who cares about promoting Linux in Italy - if nothing else, the domain name is a good one that could be employed for many things.

Syndicated 2012-05-16 21:06:02 (Updated 2012-05-16 21:14:20) from David's Computer Stuff Journal

Mr. Blank, we're outside the building, and we want eBooks!

Steve Blank is known for his teachings on the Silicon Valley type of entrepreneurship, with his ideas forming the basis for the "lean startup movement" amongst other things.  He writes frequently on entrepreneurship, and with a great deal of credibility, having been involved in various startups in a number of roles.  He has, without a doubt, walked the walk in terms of startups, and now seems to be spending his time helping other people learn how to walk the same path.  That's a noble thing to be doing when, with the money he's made, he could probably be off doing pretty much whatever he wants.

If you've heard of Steve Blank, you've probably also heard his famous phrase: "get out of the building", an admonition to startup founders to get out and talk with their customers to validate their ideas, rather than huddling in their offices building something that may or may not have a market.

With that in mind, when I saw he had a new book out, The Startup Owner's Manual, I thought "great, that's one I'll get without hesitating!".  Unfortunately, though, an eBook wont' be out until "2nd half of 2012"!  Ouch.

To me, his ignoring eBooks is indicative of a need to get a bit further outside the building, though.  "I want an eBook" was probably the biggest request on his blog post announcing the new book, along side messages of thanks for writing the book.

After reading, on Blank's blog about the availability of the book from BookDepository Ltd, who offer free worldwide shipping, I went ahead and ordered it even if I would have prefered the eBook.  Since they're in the UK, and I'm in Italy, I figure it can't take that long, right?

Wrong.  I ordered on March 15th, and as of April 13th, it still isn't here.

Compare and contrast with the other books I'm currently reading which I was able to order and start looking at in just a few minutes on my Kindle.

Granted, Steve Blank surely isn't doing this for the money, and from that point of view has little real need to listen to his customers - it's not wrong to say he's doing the world a favor by writing the book in the first place.  If he thinks a paper version is far superior, that's his perogative.  However, I think he's doing a lot of his readers a disservice by not making the eBook available sooner.  I know I would have liked to start reading what he had to say last month, rather than waiting for a paper book to make its way (by mule train?) down here to Italy.  The crux of the matter is that while he may well be right in thinking a paper book is "better", for some people, an eBook is the only option, and for them, an "inferior" eBook is a heck of a lot better than no book at all.

Also, on a more constructive note, with eBooks, you can get pretty creative.  For instance, if you have a tabular worksheet, you can simply hyperlink to it in, say, Google Docs, so that those with more advanced devices like iPads can open up the link and start working with a real, live spreadsheet immediately, rather than a chart in a printed book.  Granted, that means 'giving away' the worksheet, but presumably it's not that valuable on its own, and makes for great advertising if it gets a lot of attention.

Finally, since I actually run a business that does eBook conversions , on the blog post announcing the book, I offered to donate our services, so he'd get his book done for free, so you can't accuse me of just complaining!

Mr. Blank, get out of that building and make an eBook available, please!

Syndicated 2012-04-09 21:05:15 (Updated 2012-04-13 21:02:33) from David's Computer Stuff Journal

I'm not good enough to work on open source software

Actually, that's not true - I've produced plenty of open source software over the years.  However, in a sense, it is true: only the very best actually get paid to work on open source software full time, and I'm not one of them.  People like Linus Torvalds.  People like Guido van Rossum, although even he supposedly divides his time, and does not work on Python full-time.

Think about that.  Python is a hugely popular programming language used by many companies and individuals who get a lot of value out of it. But the creator doesn't even work on it full-time. Now, that's just one example - perhaps Guido enjoys the things that Google sends his way to work on outside of Python in any event - but I think it's representative of open source in general.

Back to me: I've produced some small bits of open source code that other people find useful.  Several people have even built products on Hecl that make money. But I'm not good enough to work on open source full time - I'm not one of those famous, brilliant coders who is so good that someone will find a way to pay them to work on stuff that gets given away for free.  I am, however, a good enough programmer to work on people's proprietary code, and have never had too much trouble finding someone with a project they're happy to pay me for.  Why is that?  Because it's so much easier to funnel money back into a proprietary project.  If people like the product and buy it, the company gets money, which can be used to pay the developers.  With open source, millions of people might use it and get a lot of value from it, but the developer has no right to receive any of that back as cash, which he or she can use to pay for things like food and rent.

So, I can  code tolerably well, and I could conceivably contribute more open source code, but instead I spend my time working on proprietary code because it pays the bills.  Clearly, when I can, I use open source software in these endeavors, and contribute back whenever I can, but the "secret sauce" remains closed.  That's a pair of hands lost to the creation of more open source.

I know I'm not alone in this, either - tons of people work on mostly proprietary projects the world over, but relatively few people get paid to work on open source code full time.

So when I read about people debating the utility of copyright bring up the existence of open source as some sort of counterexample, it irritates me a bit.  The right level of protection and enforcement of copyright is a complex debate that I'm not going to get into here.  What I want to point out is "that which is not seen".  Sure, open source exists.  But how much more of it would exist it there were more money to fund work on it?  How much open source software remains an idea in the developers head that does not get realized for lack of time?  People often criticize the "Linux desktop" despite its extraordinary strides in recent years.  Well, how much farther along would it be if there were more people paid to work on the 'boring stuff', like usability testing?  Ubuntu and Redhat pay a few people to do that kind of stuff, but how many more people do Microsoft and Apple have for that kind of work?

That's not to say that open source "doesn't work" or some such nonsense.  It obviously works quite well, but it really shines where the currency is code, not money.   Developers can and do give back lots, in terms of code, bug reports, suggestions, documentation, and so on to open source projects, which make them better for all involved.  Where open source doesn't seem to work quite as well are in small, fast-moving, consumer-oriented products.  My guess is that 99% of iPhone users could care less about the source code for their apps, but on the other hand, a large portion of the Emacs user base more than likely has written at least a few lines of Elisp.

In any event, the point isn't to beat up on open source software, but to counter this idea that "intellectual property" is in no way shape or form necessary because the existence of open source software somehow "proves" that "things will get made just the same".  Yes, maybe they will, but in lower quantities than consumers might find desirable.  After all, most of us aren't good enough to work on open source software.

Syndicated 2012-03-21 21:21:09 (Updated 2012-03-22 13:36:24) from David's Computer Stuff Journal

BikeChatter.com for sale

What with two kids, a new house, and LiberWriter getting some good traction, I've been looking around for things to give to a good home so as to have less stuff to deal with.

So, on the auction block goes BikeChatter.com : https://flippa.com/2696023-professional-cyclists-on-twitter-plus-2-years-of-history

BikeChatter.com is the place to go on the web to follow professional cyclists on twitter.  With 500+ racers, and nearly half a million status updates from racers like Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, Mark Cavendish, and many, many more, this site is the best place to find out what's going on in the world of professional cycling, directly from the participants.

Since I like following the site myself, I really want to see it go to people who will take it and make it even better.

Syndicated 2012-02-06 11:03:31 (Updated 2012-02-06 12:39:35) from David's Computer Stuff Journal

Thinking at the Margin

Something I've picked up from reading about economics is the concept of "the margin".  It's a way of thinking about problems that more people ought to take into consideration.

What is "the margin"?  It's that space on a line, in the middle, between two extremes, where the transition from "yes" to "no" occurs.  If I offered you a million dollars for the computer you're reading this on (for broad definitions of 'computing device'), you'd probably take me up on the offer.  For 0 dollars, you would not.  Somewhere, in the middle, is a number where you'd change your mind from "nope, won't sell" to "well... sure, what the heck".  That is, loosely defined, a margin.

As an example, when people debate about "intellectual property", they often use terrible examples: companies like Microsoft, or performers such as Lady Gaga.  Those are bad examples because they are complete outliers, way off on one end of the curve.   It's hard to disagree with "so what if Lady Gaga earns a bit less revenue from her music, she's got plenty to live on" when you talk about copyright being a means for artists to support themselves with.  Thinking "at the margin" is about those bands that currently barely sell enough music to work professionally as musicians.  In scenario A, they are able to work creating music, thus creating more, and likely better music than if they merely pursued it as a hobby.  In scenario B, they fall on the other side of the margin and therefore have to get 'real jobs'.  This means that their music takes a back seat, and they produce less of it.

Now, copyright and company are a complex conundrum with many facets; my point is simply that when thinking about big changes, we should think what will happen at the margin, not what will happen to the outliers.

Syndicated 2012-01-21 23:45:17 (Updated 2012-02-27 09:47:36) from David's Computer Stuff Journal