Open Source Blog

First up was systems management vendor Centeris’s CEO, Barry Crist, who told us about the company’s launch of Likewise Identity and also shed some insight on Microsoft’s interoperability deal with Novell.

While that deal might appear to cast a shadow over Centeris' business, Crist maintained that it will actually be good for business. "We've seen it has legitimized the market," he said. "There's nothing those two companies are doing that steps on our space. It really is an opportunity for us to do some tactical selling."

Next up was Steven Granchamp, CEO of OpenLogic, who told us about the company’s plans to add new systems integrator partners to its roster as well as what drives users to engage with an open source support specialist. “When we get inside a company we’re allowed to do things because it lowers costs, but the people who love what we do want to get more done,” he said.

Later that week I had the chance to chat with Mark Tolliver, CEO of Palamida, who noted the increased demand for compliance management software given the increased use of open source.

While the company started out responding to concerns about IP risks in open source software, the tables have turned, he said. "The software development world has flipped, they now expect to be using third party code such as open source software as part of how they develop code today.

“It is not to assess some sort of blame or suggest bad behavior," he added. "The reality is we get a lot of software from a lot of sources. Eventually we will know what went in, why it went in, how it went in, and we'll begin to see software as a bill of materials."

Andy Astor, CEO of EnterpriseDB, was in town to talk about the company’s new EMEA office and momentum and also revealed how the open source development model made it possible for the company enter a restricted market with an innovative product. “The barriers to entry to build a new database are huge – at least 1,000 man years,” he said.

Hot on Andy’s heels came Marten Mickos, CEO of database rival MySQL, who of course taked about the company’s plans to IPO as well as the potential threat of Oracle offering support for MySQL Enterprise.

“They have hinted to us that they will. I hope they do that,” said Mickos, noting that it would be seen as an endorsement of the open source database, and revealing that Oracle has already inadvertently endorsed the product. “Of course, with this Linux offering they are distributing MySQL, We always told Oracle ‘you should distribute our product’, and now they are,” he added.

Stay tuned for more CEO-level insight.