Exploring the Blogosquare: Because I Can

This week as I explored the blogosquare (the blogosphere was a little too crowded) I happened upon two topics that are both very pertinent to those wishing to start a business. The first was in a blog by Rea Maor. The post was titled “Linux PCs: The State of the Market.” In this post, Rea discussed the new desktop computer (right) being sold at Wal-Mart for $200, how it runs a free version of Linux customized by Google and how its entry into the market is going to signal competition for the major PC/operating system manufacturers. The second post was in a blog by Gaebler Ventures titled “Alternatives to Hiring Employees.” It suggested some forms of temporary position filling for small businesses that I found to be going out of vogue very quickly in today’s world of digital commerce and communities.


Linux PCs: The State of the Market

This is quite an interesting topic. I think it will continue to gain momentum, driven, as you said, by kids instead of adults. Though there are undoubtedly adults who would agree, a $200 computer is hard to beat, it is the younger, poorer contingent of the population that will really drive the sales of these machines up. Further down the road, however, when people realize that Linux and other open source projects like gOS (screen shot at left) are offering extremely competitive alternatives to the current bipartisan OS domination of Microsoft and Apple, there could very well be a mass movement towards the free operating systems. Part of what will convince people that these open source offerings are the way to go is their ease of use and nearly idiot-proof setup process. Like you said, what better way to bring open source technology to the masses then to spruce up a rock solid (and very popular) Linux distribution with some eye-candy and package it with the means to download for free whatever the user might need – it is the ultimate in simplistic computing.

Alternatives to Hiring Employees

This is a problem that many small businesses can run into. The suggestions made here are all good, however, seeing as how many small businesses are beginning to cater to niche sectors of highly technical industries, the traditional forms of temporary help services and employee leasing options may not be suitable for much longer. Instead small businesses will probably move to contracting and/or outsourcing for talent via online service networking websites. Services like rentacoder.com and hireacoder.net are two niche examples of the type of online business networking services that companies might employ. Both of these examples put potential employees at the disposal of employers with links to their work and references and ratings from previous employers. The beauty of these kinds of sites is that employers are not limited to talent in their immediate surrounding area, they can outsource all over the world to find the right balance of cost vs. performance for their needs.

The Business World Today: Two Issues That Affect Many Businesses

This week as I slogged my way through the blogosphere in search of relevant and interesting material on which to write, I came across two rather interesting posts that, upon further inspection, turned out to be very interesting and definitely worthy of this weeks post.

The first of these was found on a blog called The Marketing Technology Blog written by Douglas Karr. The issue being discussed was that of perception vs. reality (in the image to the left, the A and B squares are same) . Mr. Karr was criticized by one of his readers for posting a picture on the header of his blog that depicted him as being younger than he actually was. Mr. Karr did indeed post a picture of himself that was taken several years ago, however the picture was not altered in any way, shape or form, it was truly him albeit a bit younger looking than he apparently is now. Mr. Karr provided an excellent defense of his action and provided his readers with some enjoyable tidbits of information to support his argument.

The second post was from a blog called techdirt, it dealt with a lawsuit that has been filed against a company for violating the terms of the open source GPL software license. This fascinated me because, as you will see from my response, I have worked on several projects that utilized GPL licensed code. The issues being discussed revolve around two main themes; 1) will the GPL actually hold up in court, and 2) if it does hold up, how will monetary damages be decided and to whom will they be awarded.

Without further ado, here are my responses:

Post #1
Response to: Hey Mike! Marketing Is Also About The Make-Up

Douglas,

After reading through this post I felt compelled to comment on it. Studying public relations has given me an interesting perspective on the old adage “perception is reality and must be managed.” I find it fascinating how many people there are - like reader Mike - who are either unaware that this phenomenon exists, or are otherwise completely scandalized by it. I think your argument supporting this as an acceptable practice was very well crafted. It is indeed nice to see a welcoming face at the top of your blog and not at all beyond the scope of reason or morality to see why you would choose a younger, more “welcoming” looking face to present to the public. The Pamela Anderson bit was both fascinating and comical. This was the first time I’d ever seen Pam without her makeup – man, I feel so… lied to! I am sure nobody (other than Mike of course) begrudges you your corporate glamour shot. I for one am quite happy that you chose to post it and even more so that Mike decided to call you on it, without people like Mike, we would never have had the pleasure of that witty retort of yours. After all, not only is marketing “also about the makeup,” it’s also about the ability to deflect the occasional stab of negativity in a manner that is both professional and at the same time witty and creative enough to sway the public to your side. Well done.


Post #2
Response to: Lawsuit Tests The Legal Status Of The GPL

This is a fascinating issue. I have worked on several projects with friends that have utilized open source code under the GPL license and the topic of GPL enforceability has come up on more than one occasion. The issues we’ve discussed have led us to speculate that if the GPL were to be put to the test, it will ultimately be unenforceable. Let me preface this by saying that I am not a legal expert; the issues and conclusions that we’ve made are hardly worthy of consideration to any person with legal training. They are, however, rooted in logic.

The “open source” nature of GPL licensed software/code is very well suited to the morally depraved coder who sees fit to make it their own without following the license agreement. One can easily modify the supplied source code to the point where he/she can argue that it was they who coded it from scratch; after all, how many different ways are there to skin a cat? It is inevitable that coincidental similarities in two completely separate pieces of code will surface somewhere, at some point in time.

There is also the issue of monetary damages and to whom they are due. Since the open source community is so large and all of its members contribute their time and efforts to the project freely, there is virtually no way for a judge to decide who should be awarded the damages. Secondly, the fact that the code is distributed free of charge would also make it very difficult to determine how much, if any, money is due to the defendants for the infringement of the GPL.


(how many pieces can you slice out of this piece of cornbread before there is virtually nothing in each slice?)