Free Soft

Today is the opening day of the MySQL User Conference - so I thought I'd describe a recent customer interaction related to the acquisition.

A few weeks ago, I was visiting the Chief Information Officer of a large commercial institution. He had with him the company's Chief Technology Officer, Chief Information Security Officer (known as the "see-so"), and a series of lieutenants from various parts of their (large) development organization.

The Sun team had spent the day reviewing our progress together, and was finishing up with a product roadmap presentation. From what I sensed, it'd been a good day, so when I arrived, it was mostly to say thanks for the business, and ensure everyone had my contact info in the event I could help out going forward.

We had just closed the acquisition of MySQL, so before I wrapped up, I asked, "And would you like a quick update on the newest addition to our family, MySQL?"

The CIO responded categorically with "we don't run MySQL, we run [name withheld to protect the proprietary]." The CISO said, "We can't just let developers download software off the net, you know, we've got regulation and security to worry about." The CTO smiled. Everyone else appeared to be sitting on their hands. I was going to leave it at that. Thanks for the business.

Until a (diplomatically) assertive Sun sales rep piped up, "Um... no, I connected with a buddy of mine over at MySQL, and had him check - you've downloaded MySQL more than 1,300 times in the last twelve months."

After a profoundly awkward silence, one of the individuals from their internal development team piped up, "Actually, everybody uses it. Why bother hassling with license agreements when MySQL's got you covered. We're stoked you bought them."

Awkward silences aside, we've now got a very productive engagment with the customer around delivering commercial support on a global basis to what's turned out to be the most popular database inside their development shop. They're finding more and more applications for MySQL, and more ways to save significant time and money in moving toward the future.

And that experience - of a CIO not knowing how ubiquitous and valuable free software has become to their organization - isn't atypical. In fact, it's the norm, and a divide we're gently trying to bridge.

Opportunity's everywhere.

So is free and open software.

They might even travel in pairs.

Tagi: chief technology officer, awkward silences, awkward silence, sun team, sun sales, product roadmap, significant time, mths, security officer, lieutenants, engagment, sales rep, opening day, cto, license agreements, proprietary, developers, bas

A couple months ago, my wife got a bee in her bonnet about us getting another cat. We already have two cats and a dog that could pretty much pass as one. However, my wife wouldn't relent, and I eventually caved.

A couple of weeks ago, we welcomed a Scottish Fold kitten into our zoo home. Coming up with a name for her was hard, just because I think my wife and I place a lot of importance in a name -- probably more so than most and definitely to a fault. However, we eventually arrived at "Fiona," and this is her:

You'd think at this point we'd be at capacity, but we can't forget the other little addition scheduled to show up two months from tomorrow.

Tagi: mths, fia, kitten, bnet, ace, zoo, cats

I have been putting baking soda in my fridge for as long as I have owned a fridge, knowing that it helped eliminate odors. I diligently replace the box every few months to keep the fridge fresh. Last month I heard about some new paint from Dutch Boy that has baking soda in it. Apparently what it does for a fridge it can do for an entire house. While I don't understand why it does not lose its odor-absorbing ability like the fridge-based system, I am happy to try something that gets rid of ...

Tagi: baking soda, new paint, dutch boy, mths, mth, fridge, stinky

I'm not surprised that in the middle of a deep recession, while people have basically stopped buying appliances, standalone freezers have an exceptional growth of 13 percent. One of my grandmas, who lives alone, has the most massive freezer I have ever seen in a home. It is bursting with food that will likely never be eaten, unless a zombie apocalypse strikes and the whole family boards itself up in her house, where we would have six months before we'd have to start eating each other.

I've been told that's pretty typical of people who lived through The Great Depression or the War in Europe (she was on the wrong side in the latter). I think it's kinda the same instinct, but like on a smaller scale. Or you know, there's just a delicious renaissance in gourmet TV dinners. [Consumer Reports via Consumerist, Image: Getty]

Tagi: zombie apocalypse, image getty, gourmet tv, renasance, great depression, war in europe, tv dinners, mths, grandmas, freezers, freezer, instinct, strikes, peoe

Homeowners wanting to sell their homes are on tenterhooks these days, watching with avid interest as the market rocks and rolls. CNN reports that 85,000 homes in the U.S. were lost to foreclosure in October. Homes for sale, sitting vacant, are projected to remain on the market for six months or more, and sellers are [...]

Tagi: cnn reports, mths, cnn, checklists, foreclosure, timelines, rocks, homes for sale