This is my first post about my new job. It's been a little bit more than a year since I came to Malaga from the Canary Islands. During this time I been involving in two different migration projects (Municipalities from Axarquía of Málaga and Extremadura Regional Gov.), worked back again with Grupo CPD in ModularIT and, since march 1st, I've became manager of ASOLIF. I've closing down my little company back in the canaries so, in a couple of weeks, my only employer will be the federation of Spanish free software companies associations (ASOLIF). This is the first time I'll be working for somebody else. Since I was 23 I've always been self employed.
It is strange because I keep in contact with my ex teammates since we are all working on the GCDS'09 and also they are really involved in the Canary Islands free software companies association (ESLIC), the oldest one in Spain, which I helped to found and is one of ASOLIF founders. Since I'll be in Malaga a couple more months before moving (it loooks like I'll be living in Madrid), it is somehow like I haven't changed my job. It feels more closer to a project change rather than a job switch. I assume this feeling will be changing hard in a few more weeks.
ASOLIF is composed by 8 free software companies associations from different regions of Spain. I'm working on updating the exact number of companies involved but I guess we are about 200. Most of them are small (up to 5 members). ASOLIF is one year old and we are growing fast. From 5 associations we plan to end up this year being 10, which is a nice grow. There are many small free software companies all over Spain that can be under our umbrella soon, since all the regional associations are growing and new ones are forming. It looks like we can become a strong movement in Spain in a couple of years.
The economic crash is giving a lot of attention to technological companies. We are no exception. Outside of Spain people thinks that the biggest business related with software libre in this country are Public Administrations, but that is not true. What is happening is that there is a strong movement among them toward Soft. libre and, since in Spain they are the biggest customer of the software sector, this is changing big companies' mind. The message is clear: if you want to keep being leaders, you have to move toward free software. This is good news but there are some concerns.
These big companies do not believe in free software, they do not collaborate, the just use it. They are not changing their methodology and do not participate in general in any community at all. They just keep doing what they use to but now with free software.
Opposite to this, there is a growing movement of small companies mostly build up by technicians with a tremendous innovation factor that works with the tools and procedures close to what communities uses. They are efficient. They do not need (many of them do not want) to grow a lot, since it is not mandatory to grow for surviving is you innovate everyday. Their number is increasing fast so local support is becoming a truth in many parts of Spain.
But they are still fragile and lack of many basic skills that are necessary in any business. Since they are formed by smart guys, they know it. At least most of the ones I talk to realize many of these weak points. For a small, technical oriented service company, it is hard to invest money/time in non core but still important tasks. Their natural respond is to associate themselves with other software libre companies they can collaborate with. The nice point is that they already bring a collaboration culture with them that flows in every activity, every meeting we make, etc.
So the Federation has, of course, a common lobby motivation, but also a parallel one: to collaborate as companies as we usually do as technicians, as community members. This second objective is the reason why I'm here, since the lobby activity will lay more on the board members, specially ASOLIF President, Daniel Armendáriz.
We are still new so many basic stuff must be done, like administrative tasks, setting up some collaborative tools, open relations with many social agents, promote some internal procedures to increase collaboration among companies, etc. These kind of projects needs time become solid but when I finish my job (I have a one year contract) I hope there is a strong base to face the future with an optimistic vision.
Since ASOLIF is part of the local organization of the GCDS'09, I'll keep working on it. The local team is working hard and everybody have a nice feeling about the event. We truly believe this event can be different from any previous one. If the experience is good, probably more community projects will visualize as natural to celebrate together these kind of events where they can keep independence but share activities, experiences, time, projects, problems, code, etc. It also makes sense from a management and economic point of view. Many of the ASOLIF companies will be attending so it will be a nice opportunity to interact with developers and companies from other countries, besides attending to many desktop related activities.
One of the things I don't know how to do but I want to invest time on is to open relations between small companies or organizations like ASOLIF and community projects. Maybe bringing college students into free software communities can be a first approach. Now in Spain the college education model is switching to the Bolonia plan and one of the objectives is making the relation between universities and companies closer. Since now students have to spend some time making practices on companies, small companies can get more involved in software libre communities by interacting with them through these college students. This can be a win to win to win (jajajaja) relation... We need to find out a good model for that. Maybe it is a good point of discussion for the GCDS'09 event. If it works here, it can be translated to other countries. There are two experiences already we can learn from, the GSoC and the University Software Libre Championship (in Spain).
This is anoher nice challenge I hope I can learn a lot from, meeting new people, going to new places, facing new risks. Innovation...that's is what it is all about.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Registration and Call for Participants open for the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit
One big milestone is over. Finally registration is open along with the Call for Participation.
Please visit the new web: http://www.grancanariadesktopsummit.org
The look and feel is not over yet but both boards didn't want to wait for it. It was the right decision. As it always happens, maybe some misunderstandings or little improvements can be done. Please register on the event mailing list:
http://mail.grancanariadesktopsummit.org/mailman/listinfo/gcds
and tell us about them. Some new features are planned and in a few weeks will be available. There is a travel agency that will take care or booking accomodation. I strongly recommend you to use it. They have got in charge of big events before so they will solve whatever problem you can have much better than the local community guys. Read carefully the information about the payment process:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/30
We are aware that many people will bring their families with them. Hotels will charge them the same prices as attendees. There are several apartments and hotels available but I recommend you not to wait too long to book for your room. You will be able to stay in Las Palmas from 20 € per night up to 150 €. You can also ask the travel agency to book your fight if you wish. For groups this is a highly recommendable service. Some extra activities will be available as soon as we close them.
During the first 24 hours, about 60 people have already registered, which is pretty cool. We had 1.4 million hits on the web before opening the registration and we want to reach 5 million. The information related with sponsorhip is also available, including the sponsorship brochure:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/36
I'm exited about the final schedule of the event. It looks like we can have a very attractive programe, not just in english, but also in spanish, since Akademy-es and GUADEC-es will also take place during those days. Check the official schedule:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/10
There is an IRC channel: #gcds at freenode for inmediate questions and a twitter account for following announcements: http://www.twitter.com/gcds_2009
Hopefully one of the difference with previous events is that we plan to have a nice number of local people attending to it, young students that wants to get involved. We will organice some basic talks for them and also some courses so we can add local developers to both, GNOME and KDE, which would be a great success.
Well...now there is no turning back....we are heading to Gran Canaria desktop Summit.. it is not so far away, just 108 days.
Please visit the new web: http://www.grancanariadesktopsummit.org
The look and feel is not over yet but both boards didn't want to wait for it. It was the right decision. As it always happens, maybe some misunderstandings or little improvements can be done. Please register on the event mailing list:
http://mail.grancanariadesktopsummit.org/mailman/listinfo/gcds
and tell us about them. Some new features are planned and in a few weeks will be available. There is a travel agency that will take care or booking accomodation. I strongly recommend you to use it. They have got in charge of big events before so they will solve whatever problem you can have much better than the local community guys. Read carefully the information about the payment process:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/30
We are aware that many people will bring their families with them. Hotels will charge them the same prices as attendees. There are several apartments and hotels available but I recommend you not to wait too long to book for your room. You will be able to stay in Las Palmas from 20 € per night up to 150 €. You can also ask the travel agency to book your fight if you wish. For groups this is a highly recommendable service. Some extra activities will be available as soon as we close them.
During the first 24 hours, about 60 people have already registered, which is pretty cool. We had 1.4 million hits on the web before opening the registration and we want to reach 5 million. The information related with sponsorhip is also available, including the sponsorship brochure:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/36
I'm exited about the final schedule of the event. It looks like we can have a very attractive programe, not just in english, but also in spanish, since Akademy-es and GUADEC-es will also take place during those days. Check the official schedule:
http://grancanariadesktopsummit.org/node/10
There is an IRC channel: #gcds at freenode for inmediate questions and a twitter account for following announcements: http://www.twitter.com/gcds_2009
Hopefully one of the difference with previous events is that we plan to have a nice number of local people attending to it, young students that wants to get involved. We will organice some basic talks for them and also some courses so we can add local developers to both, GNOME and KDE, which would be a great success.
Well...now there is no turning back....we are heading to Gran Canaria desktop Summit.. it is not so far away, just 108 days.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Some reflections related with the KDE 4.2 release
Please take this as a reflection. When you try to express delicate messages, feelings, the language barrier becomes bigger. I felt it was the time to say this, now that I feel the arrival is so close that I'm sure all the KDE crew feel the power of the big release, so hopefully people get the positive part of the message I want to point out.
I'm not a KDE developer but definitely a KDE user. I have KDE 3.5 on my everyday laptop and KDE 4.0 first and KDE 4.1 now on other machines I have around (my netbook, for example). I've been one of those that have been following the project in general and the tough decision made by the KDE crew a couple of years ago (and the previous discussions). I am not at first line obviously, but hey, that is also a cool stuff about free software community projects, you can watch and learn from the core people... I really respect what the KDE project does. There is no doubt about it.
I understood the decisions made then. I supported and got happy with it. I obviously am now. As a dev told me once, it's like life itself. Sometimes you reach a limit and it is a smart decision to stop, think and change instead of keep pushing on the same direction. This is an idea some other free software projects will follow after KDE success (we knew it from the very beginning ;) ).
Now that KDE 4.2 is here, many of you that have been working hard to make this happen have reasons to be proud of the job done and the risk taken. I am, and haven't done a single line of code. I've never imagined to get such an empathy with a few million lines of codes and the people that create it everyday.
The Linus case has made me decide to write about what I've seen around me the last few months. I've read many comments about it and the explanations given from many tech people in general and KDE people in particular. I want to add my personal experience.
I've seen some frustration around, related with KDE 4.0 and 4.1 lately. The regular free software user is one of those who likes to try what it comes in a magazine, in a distro. They wait for the next version like Christmas. In some sense, they (we) are like kids (love to play with toys). But most of them (that is part of our success), have no idea about how to deal with critical problems. I've been explaining to them so many times the past months that kde 4.0 and 4.1 were not an everyday OS...well, the regular arguments you already know... . But this installation...uninstallation process some people have gone through with previous versions has been unstopable (the people around me at least).
So I've failed. Why?
I don't know yet, but what I know now is that I cannot compete anymore against distros, magazines, that cool aura free software has these days, etc.. That is supposed to be one of our victories. This is not a "mouth to mouth" system anymore (I mean installations based on personal trust). My friends don't call me to try a linux distro. They don't need me for that anymore (thanks God). They just call me when they have critical problems. Since they know I'm a KDE fan, they have called me quiet frequently the past months.
KDE has built a reputation through the past years that have not finished drastically the past few months. Some of the lost credit will be soon recovered with today's release...but not all. We (I insist in including myself) will have to put an extra amount of energy for a longer time. Some people maybe won't want to try KDE 4.2. We should be prepare for that. Probably Linus won't. He has a new toy and it make sense to think he will give it a try for some time. That is a well known marketing law.
Once again, I totally assume and support the decision made to build a totally new system and I understand the decision taken about the KDE 4.0 release. I've been supporting it. But now that I have faced the consequence, my hope is that this kde 4.2 great release, all the happiness and the attention that the developers and the project itself deserve (and will have, I'm sure), will be followed by a general reflexion about how to deal in the future with decisions like this one. The KDE 4.0 release have shadows, do not have a single point of failure so it won't have a single solution. It also have shown many good points, of course. I just want to point out that despite all the coming success, experience tells me we were not totally right.
I hope that all the good energy we have around this (and future) release don't avoid the discussion to get to some conclusions future devs, deployers and user can learn from. If we do this, we probably will get even more credit in the long term than we will the following months. KDE 4.0 was necessary but has had consequences we must face and learn from.
Today is a good day. KDE 4.2 is out and I'm really happy since I've been waiting for it so bad ... Congratulations.
I'm not a KDE developer but definitely a KDE user. I have KDE 3.5 on my everyday laptop and KDE 4.0 first and KDE 4.1 now on other machines I have around (my netbook, for example). I've been one of those that have been following the project in general and the tough decision made by the KDE crew a couple of years ago (and the previous discussions). I am not at first line obviously, but hey, that is also a cool stuff about free software community projects, you can watch and learn from the core people... I really respect what the KDE project does. There is no doubt about it.
I understood the decisions made then. I supported and got happy with it. I obviously am now. As a dev told me once, it's like life itself. Sometimes you reach a limit and it is a smart decision to stop, think and change instead of keep pushing on the same direction. This is an idea some other free software projects will follow after KDE success (we knew it from the very beginning ;) ).
Now that KDE 4.2 is here, many of you that have been working hard to make this happen have reasons to be proud of the job done and the risk taken. I am, and haven't done a single line of code. I've never imagined to get such an empathy with a few million lines of codes and the people that create it everyday.
The Linus case has made me decide to write about what I've seen around me the last few months. I've read many comments about it and the explanations given from many tech people in general and KDE people in particular. I want to add my personal experience.
I've seen some frustration around, related with KDE 4.0 and 4.1 lately. The regular free software user is one of those who likes to try what it comes in a magazine, in a distro. They wait for the next version like Christmas. In some sense, they (we) are like kids (love to play with toys). But most of them (that is part of our success), have no idea about how to deal with critical problems. I've been explaining to them so many times the past months that kde 4.0 and 4.1 were not an everyday OS...well, the regular arguments you already know... . But this installation...uninstallation process some people have gone through with previous versions has been unstopable (the people around me at least).
So I've failed. Why?
I don't know yet, but what I know now is that I cannot compete anymore against distros, magazines, that cool aura free software has these days, etc.. That is supposed to be one of our victories. This is not a "mouth to mouth" system anymore (I mean installations based on personal trust). My friends don't call me to try a linux distro. They don't need me for that anymore (thanks God). They just call me when they have critical problems. Since they know I'm a KDE fan, they have called me quiet frequently the past months.
KDE has built a reputation through the past years that have not finished drastically the past few months. Some of the lost credit will be soon recovered with today's release...but not all. We (I insist in including myself) will have to put an extra amount of energy for a longer time. Some people maybe won't want to try KDE 4.2. We should be prepare for that. Probably Linus won't. He has a new toy and it make sense to think he will give it a try for some time. That is a well known marketing law.
Once again, I totally assume and support the decision made to build a totally new system and I understand the decision taken about the KDE 4.0 release. I've been supporting it. But now that I have faced the consequence, my hope is that this kde 4.2 great release, all the happiness and the attention that the developers and the project itself deserve (and will have, I'm sure), will be followed by a general reflexion about how to deal in the future with decisions like this one. The KDE 4.0 release have shadows, do not have a single point of failure so it won't have a single solution. It also have shown many good points, of course. I just want to point out that despite all the coming success, experience tells me we were not totally right.
I hope that all the good energy we have around this (and future) release don't avoid the discussion to get to some conclusions future devs, deployers and user can learn from. If we do this, we probably will get even more credit in the long term than we will the following months. KDE 4.0 was necessary but has had consequences we must face and learn from.
Today is a good day. KDE 4.2 is out and I'm really happy since I've been waiting for it so bad ... Congratulations.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Gran Canaria Desktop Summit keep going
Last Monday 15th, Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th of December several GNOME and KDE boards members were in Gran Canaria to prepare the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit: GUADEC + Akademy 2009. This is not great news only from the organisation of the event point of view, but also because it is a working meeting between two relevant community projects with huge impact worldwide. We will have another meeting during FOSDEM. When I think about this, I realise that events like the GCDS'09 should happen once in a while between different free software projects in order to open new and different ways of collaboration. Many community have great relations with IT companies so improving relation between them will also improve the relation between these companies, which is something positive.
We are used to collaboration between developers but this event can be seen as the first big step toward a more global relation between projects. A new step forward in the software libre path to world domination :)
Just stop and think about the companies involved in GNOME and KDE, the technologies used, the number of users, not just right now but also during the following years, that will be affected or influenced by discussions and decisions taken during that week in Gran Canaria, it is amazing, isn't it?
This event can be a good chance for distros to really raise their voice and discuss with both projects about a variety of hot stuff that affect them. Desktop developers need to hear the opinions from the people that deploy and give support to companies and users. The opposite is also a must. But also it is a chance for them to talk to each other and join efforts or simply discuss about whatever they want to. Translators, artists, usability experts, app developers, etc. will have their space too. Opening new collaboration links with the other desktop project and with distros, IT companies, etc. can also be done during the event.
It looks like some nice cross-project discussions will take place, in addition of what GUADEC and Akademy already are. But, if the people that comes to Gran Canaria wants to, the event can be a lot more. Of course that means to work in advance and to make an additional effort during those days in July, but maybe it is worth it. This is a big opportunity, that's for sure. I feel both boards perfectly understand this. The local team definitely do. But we are only a small part. You, reader, should be the front man.
We understand that, for many developers, coming to Gran Canaria in July is an unfordable effort because of economic reasons. We are looking for cheap places to stay or eat and, of course, both projects will sponsor trips and hotels like they've done in the past. For those who have family, let me tell you that we are organising a parallel track so they can come and enjoy while daddy or mum, boyfriend or girlfriend, is attending to the event. This has been a demand from many of you and we are taking care of it. Also those who are vegetarians will have special menus.
If you don't like nice weather and the beach... well, probably you will suffer a little, but hey, you still can sit and watch your friends' white bodies and laugh at them while having a beer and doing some hacking... Is up to you.
Remember to buy tickets as soon as possible. By the way, we have a twitter account: http://twitter.com/gcds_2009
We are used to collaboration between developers but this event can be seen as the first big step toward a more global relation between projects. A new step forward in the software libre path to world domination :)
Just stop and think about the companies involved in GNOME and KDE, the technologies used, the number of users, not just right now but also during the following years, that will be affected or influenced by discussions and decisions taken during that week in Gran Canaria, it is amazing, isn't it?
This event can be a good chance for distros to really raise their voice and discuss with both projects about a variety of hot stuff that affect them. Desktop developers need to hear the opinions from the people that deploy and give support to companies and users. The opposite is also a must. But also it is a chance for them to talk to each other and join efforts or simply discuss about whatever they want to. Translators, artists, usability experts, app developers, etc. will have their space too. Opening new collaboration links with the other desktop project and with distros, IT companies, etc. can also be done during the event.
It looks like some nice cross-project discussions will take place, in addition of what GUADEC and Akademy already are. But, if the people that comes to Gran Canaria wants to, the event can be a lot more. Of course that means to work in advance and to make an additional effort during those days in July, but maybe it is worth it. This is a big opportunity, that's for sure. I feel both boards perfectly understand this. The local team definitely do. But we are only a small part. You, reader, should be the front man.
We understand that, for many developers, coming to Gran Canaria in July is an unfordable effort because of economic reasons. We are looking for cheap places to stay or eat and, of course, both projects will sponsor trips and hotels like they've done in the past. For those who have family, let me tell you that we are organising a parallel track so they can come and enjoy while daddy or mum, boyfriend or girlfriend, is attending to the event. This has been a demand from many of you and we are taking care of it. Also those who are vegetarians will have special menus.
If you don't like nice weather and the beach... well, probably you will suffer a little, but hey, you still can sit and watch your friends' white bodies and laugh at them while having a beer and doing some hacking... Is up to you.
Remember to buy tickets as soon as possible. By the way, we have a twitter account: http://twitter.com/gcds_2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
GCDS'09 news
Both boards (GNOME and KDE) along with the local team keep working on the organization of the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit:GUADEC + Akademy 2009. After the visit of representatives from both staffs to Gran Canaria, last december, we will celebrate another meeting during FOSDEM. In a few weeks an open mailing list and a community tool (a wiki or something like that) will be configurated so people can help us to make something special out of this event.
The local team has a strong recommendation: buy the tickets as soon as possible. A parallel program for families will be offered so don't be afraid of bringing them with you (little kids included).
Stay tuned for news and recommendations through the website of the event or by reading the twitter account we have for minor announces: gcds_2009.
Please, spread this recommendation.
The local team has a strong recommendation: buy the tickets as soon as possible. A parallel program for families will be offered so don't be afraid of bringing them with you (little kids included).
Stay tuned for news and recommendations through the website of the event or by reading the twitter account we have for minor announces: gcds_2009.
Please, spread this recommendation.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
ModularIT a new community project for system administrators
I want to write today about what I have been doing lately.
After finishing my job related with public administrations' migration to free software in Extremadura and Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, I began to work again in November with my Canary Islands teammates (Grupo CPD) in ModularIT. This is a project we released under GPLv3 a few monthes ago that was ready to use but not to contribute to. In practice, as it happens too often, projects are published as free software but, since they don't have the proper design and a right tool, it is not possible for developers to work on it, so nobody use them.
This was exactly what it happened to us. We made a big effort then but another extra effort was needed. It is not enough to public the software and wait for the community to use it. You also need to take care of a few other things. We decided not just to offer a new 100% percent community project, but also to release a new version of ModularIT, to make the release more attractive. So additional technical wok have been done. My job has been (still is) to design and organice the community project, as long as helping in translations, requirement definition and promotion.
Yesterday, december 26th of 2008, we published ModularIT 1.1 (codename "Timanfaya") as long as the new project design, a new collaborative tool and a distributed repository (redmine + git). The first language for this new project is english, although we are still translating deployment and support guides from spanish. We hope some people and companies from other countries cooperate with us in this new adventure.
For a small company like us, mostly dedicated to give services to other companies, having a 100% community project means a lot of effort, but we are really happy for reaching this point. ModularIT is something we've been looking for so long ... We always felt that we have recieved more than we gave from the community. This pretends to change that feeling. :)
¿What is ModularIT? This is a hard question....
ModularIT is an architecture of distributed, virtualiced, integrated, monitored, and centrally managed network services based on software libre. You can get a better description here
ModularIT uses, among other technologies and projects, XEN, Puppet, Munin, Nagios, Posfix, Hylafax, Jabber, AIDE, SElinux, Dirvish, Alfresco, Samba, OpenLDAP, Asterisk or eGroupware. Our goal is to deploy, support and migrate a variety of network services with a limited amount of human resources, trying to manage them with an affordable effort, alowing us to increase the number and dimensions of our customers (number of servers and services) under our control (in different levels). ModularIT is a step forward in that direction, not the final solution, obviously.
Previous versions of ModularIT have been deployed, supported and maintained in our customers the last few years. What we present is an evolution of what we have been doing. It is not a new software that haven't been in production nor a bunch of appliance. We have been migrating our customers to this new ModularIT version for a few monthes and we feel confortable with the result. ModularIT has show us to be efficient. It is worth it for us. We hope it will also for other companies and system administrators.
You can try and judge by yourself. If you are interested in this solution, download it, deploy it and give ModularIT a try. If you think it is worth it, collaborate with us.
Merry Christmas
After finishing my job related with public administrations' migration to free software in Extremadura and Malaga, Andalucia, Spain, I began to work again in November with my Canary Islands teammates (Grupo CPD) in ModularIT. This is a project we released under GPLv3 a few monthes ago that was ready to use but not to contribute to. In practice, as it happens too often, projects are published as free software but, since they don't have the proper design and a right tool, it is not possible for developers to work on it, so nobody use them.
This was exactly what it happened to us. We made a big effort then but another extra effort was needed. It is not enough to public the software and wait for the community to use it. You also need to take care of a few other things. We decided not just to offer a new 100% percent community project, but also to release a new version of ModularIT, to make the release more attractive. So additional technical wok have been done. My job has been (still is) to design and organice the community project, as long as helping in translations, requirement definition and promotion.
Yesterday, december 26th of 2008, we published ModularIT 1.1 (codename "Timanfaya") as long as the new project design, a new collaborative tool and a distributed repository (redmine + git). The first language for this new project is english, although we are still translating deployment and support guides from spanish. We hope some people and companies from other countries cooperate with us in this new adventure.
For a small company like us, mostly dedicated to give services to other companies, having a 100% community project means a lot of effort, but we are really happy for reaching this point. ModularIT is something we've been looking for so long ... We always felt that we have recieved more than we gave from the community. This pretends to change that feeling. :)
¿What is ModularIT? This is a hard question....
ModularIT is an architecture of distributed, virtualiced, integrated, monitored, and centrally managed network services based on software libre. You can get a better description here
ModularIT uses, among other technologies and projects, XEN, Puppet, Munin, Nagios, Posfix, Hylafax, Jabber, AIDE, SElinux, Dirvish, Alfresco, Samba, OpenLDAP, Asterisk or eGroupware. Our goal is to deploy, support and migrate a variety of network services with a limited amount of human resources, trying to manage them with an affordable effort, alowing us to increase the number and dimensions of our customers (number of servers and services) under our control (in different levels). ModularIT is a step forward in that direction, not the final solution, obviously.
Previous versions of ModularIT have been deployed, supported and maintained in our customers the last few years. What we present is an evolution of what we have been doing. It is not a new software that haven't been in production nor a bunch of appliance. We have been migrating our customers to this new ModularIT version for a few monthes and we feel confortable with the result. ModularIT has show us to be efficient. It is worth it for us. We hope it will also for other companies and system administrators.
You can try and judge by yourself. If you are interested in this solution, download it, deploy it and give ModularIT a try. If you think it is worth it, collaborate with us.
Merry Christmas
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Gran Canaria Desktop Summit 2009. Feel the power of the desktop community
So Gran Canaria Desktop Summit 2009 dates are already official: from friday 3 to saturday 11 of july. Check the news on GNOME and KDE webs.
This is good news because you will be able to book your flight in advance. It is a strong recommendation from the local team. It is not that there aren't plenty of flights to Gran Canaria from all over Europe. It is a matter of getting them as cheap as possible.
1000 people are expected and most of them will want to fly on 3-4 of july, so it is possible you just have the chance to get tickets quite expensive for those two days if you wait too long. Once the registration is open, you will be able to book the hotel. This point won't be a problem since there will be plenty of room available at affordable prices.
If you are a member of the KDE or GNOME community it is obvious that you should be interested in attending to the event. But if you are not, or if you have friends that likes computers, there are few reasons for comming or bringing them during those days. There are tons of events all around the world related with free software. But this is a community event, not a regular one.
You will have time to meet the developers, talk to them, disscuss with them and do some hacking with them if you wish. You will be able not just to attend to conferences but to actively participate, feeling like an actor and not just a viewer. It is also a good chance to know how a community works, understanding its innovation process and becoming a part of this unstopable wave. But above all, you will feel the power of the desktop community, larning why we feel so confortable about what we are doing, so secure about we are on the right direction but keeping a strong critical attitude.
GCDS'09 is 100% community sofware libre in motion. You can come and become a part of it or stay home and loose the momentum. The Canary Islands are waiting for you.
Come to the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit: GUADEC + Akademy 2009. Come to the big one.
This is good news because you will be able to book your flight in advance. It is a strong recommendation from the local team. It is not that there aren't plenty of flights to Gran Canaria from all over Europe. It is a matter of getting them as cheap as possible.
1000 people are expected and most of them will want to fly on 3-4 of july, so it is possible you just have the chance to get tickets quite expensive for those two days if you wait too long. Once the registration is open, you will be able to book the hotel. This point won't be a problem since there will be plenty of room available at affordable prices.
If you are a member of the KDE or GNOME community it is obvious that you should be interested in attending to the event. But if you are not, or if you have friends that likes computers, there are few reasons for comming or bringing them during those days. There are tons of events all around the world related with free software. But this is a community event, not a regular one.
You will have time to meet the developers, talk to them, disscuss with them and do some hacking with them if you wish. You will be able not just to attend to conferences but to actively participate, feeling like an actor and not just a viewer. It is also a good chance to know how a community works, understanding its innovation process and becoming a part of this unstopable wave. But above all, you will feel the power of the desktop community, larning why we feel so confortable about what we are doing, so secure about we are on the right direction but keeping a strong critical attitude.
GCDS'09 is 100% community sofware libre in motion. You can come and become a part of it or stay home and loose the momentum. The Canary Islands are waiting for you.
Come to the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit: GUADEC + Akademy 2009. Come to the big one.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Akademy-es a great success
Akademy-es is in its final day. It's been a great success so far. 65 peolpe have registered and, since it took place in La Coruña's college (Computer Science building), even more people attended to some talks.
This year has made a big different from the organization point of view. The organizers have previos experience, so everything was well prepared. We lacked more developers truly involved in KDE but is just a matter of time. Spanish community is still getting together. After that we will be able to grow fast. Definetly, the new formed KDE-España will help a lot. Right now there are many people that uses KDE in Spain and many young developers are beggining to program with Qt-KDE tools, so it is just a matter of time that more spanish developers participate actively in core-KDE projects.
Electing for the KDE-España board most of the spanish people that actively contributes to KDE have been a great decision. Other young guys identify the association with a strong KDE feeling. People with other profile or not actively contributing decided to stay back and we made a hit. Now it is time for getting developers involved, so its time for young KDE people like Albert (aacid), Rafael (ereslibre), Eduardo (edulix), Alex (apol), etc. They are the present of KDE in Spain and its future. By promoting and supporting them, KDE will be able to have in this country a strong community sice they have the energy needed. Spain is investing tons of money in free software and we cannot be on the bench.
From my point of view, this Akademy-es will definitly make a difference. Well organized and with KDE-España born, we have a great momentum that we all shoul feed. GCDS'09 will come probably too early for demostrating anything, but at least KDE-España will be ready to take full advantage of the event as association. I feel the KDE-España board is aware of that. They are prepared to organize some activities for getting some canarians young developers involved and to get credit for their job. That will be a great goal.
Now everybody can say there is a truly spanish KDE community. It will be obvious in just a couple of years.
Thanks to GPUL and the rest of local organizers. It has been a great job.
This year has made a big different from the organization point of view. The organizers have previos experience, so everything was well prepared. We lacked more developers truly involved in KDE but is just a matter of time. Spanish community is still getting together. After that we will be able to grow fast. Definetly, the new formed KDE-España will help a lot. Right now there are many people that uses KDE in Spain and many young developers are beggining to program with Qt-KDE tools, so it is just a matter of time that more spanish developers participate actively in core-KDE projects.
Electing for the KDE-España board most of the spanish people that actively contributes to KDE have been a great decision. Other young guys identify the association with a strong KDE feeling. People with other profile or not actively contributing decided to stay back and we made a hit. Now it is time for getting developers involved, so its time for young KDE people like Albert (aacid), Rafael (ereslibre), Eduardo (edulix), Alex (apol), etc. They are the present of KDE in Spain and its future. By promoting and supporting them, KDE will be able to have in this country a strong community sice they have the energy needed. Spain is investing tons of money in free software and we cannot be on the bench.
From my point of view, this Akademy-es will definitly make a difference. Well organized and with KDE-España born, we have a great momentum that we all shoul feed. GCDS'09 will come probably too early for demostrating anything, but at least KDE-España will be ready to take full advantage of the event as association. I feel the KDE-España board is aware of that. They are prepared to organize some activities for getting some canarians young developers involved and to get credit for their job. That will be a great goal.
Now everybody can say there is a truly spanish KDE community. It will be obvious in just a couple of years.
Thanks to GPUL and the rest of local organizers. It has been a great job.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
What kind of variables do we need to study before writing down a migration project?
Before writing down a migration project for any organization, bussiness or public administration, it is critical to develop a methodology that ensures you have all the information needed to be able to design the correct procedure to switch PCs, users and network services from proprietary to software libre. To be able to design that methodology, one of the previous things you need to identify is which data you need to know from the pre-migration picture, how to collect it without having impact in the production process and how do you process it to be able to properly analyze it.
From my point of view these are the major variables (related with the workstation side, not the server side) that must be known. Most of them are obvious.
Axioms:
We need to know the hardware of the PCs because of, at least, these major reasons:
Axiom:
We need to know, at least, this information related with the software installed:
Axiom: migration is not just about machines and application installed but also about programs really used.
The fact that a user have many programs installed, doesn't mean he/she use them all. The determination of the applications that are really important for the user in his everyday work is required. The interactions (related with apps and data) with other users from the same or different departments, with customers or other companies, will give you clues to determine the migration procedures and the tools needed.
Most of the times, users only use a few apps frequently. If these frequently used apps are shared by some users, the risk increases. You need to know who introduces data in those apps, who stress them the most, who use them for just consulting data, who will use them in the future, if there are plans to change it... It's critical to find a good solution for those. So, the more you know about them, a better picture you'll get.
Axiom: data is as important as applications and machines
The data that must be investigated is, at least:
Axiom: users are as important as data and apps in a migration process.
Users are an important part of the migration. Maybe the most difficult one to analyze and satisfy.
In any group, there are people that leads the rest in every single area. It is needed to determine which users are leaders when you talk about computers. Relations between users within a group should remain the same after the migration process. Changing the hierarchy after the migration means adding a new problem.
To maintain those relations, you have to identify and study those leaders and their relations with the rest of the employees. They will demand more attention from the migration team. If they collaborate, you will have a lot of help when problems begin to show up. If not, they can become your biggest problem.
It is important to find out which users have a better understanding of the Windows system, who knows about linux or, at least, if there is anybody that uses (or know something about) software libre apps under Windows. It is easier now than before to find people that knows what software libre or GNU/linux are. Some uses a Mac or a linux distro at home. For those people, switching to linux is going to be easier. Detect them.
Another interesting variable to know about is the skill users have using computers. There are people that knows a lot about Windows. Those will have a greater resistance since getting the same skills unsing Linux will take them time and a lot of effort. In one second they will go from being independent to not knowing anything about the operative system they will be using. In order to define the education proccess they will have to go through, you need to know the actual picture.
How many people uses gmail at work because their corporative e-mail sucks?
Listen to what every worker has to say about the tools and services they use. Ask them about their wishes. Every single worker has a little clue to make the company more efficient. Be aware of their demands to reduce their resistance to switch to software libre. Tell them the truth. No not increase artificially their expectations about the new system and tools.
Axiom: migration is not just about machines, applications, data and users. It's also about interactions among these four variables. They are not independent.
The administrative structure of an organization sometimes is not exactly ported to the data, services or applications structure. Workers usually end up finding their way to do their job, overpassing imposed restrictions or corporative rules. They get paid for finishing their job, not for changing the rules. Many times is the technical team that allow them (or even help them) to brake some technical corporative rules, since they understand workers' point of view much better than corporative procedures or general politics.
How many executives use different tools and services than the rest of the workers? Sometimes this happens because of a good reason. But it is usual to see organizations that have people in command that do not give the technical department the credit they deserve, so they do not follow their advices. They do not respect the corporative rules either.
These special cases complicates the migration process since general procedures, politics (or even apps), are not followed by all the organization. It is necessary to understand what's going on (the workers vision) in every department in order to be successful. If you write down the migration project based exclusively on what technicians and directors tells you....you will probably fail.
Companies are not isolated. They interact with other companies and customers. Those relation must be analyzed, specially if software is involved. IT providers are specially sensible to any change. You need to count on them in order to determine the migration process. This can be a tough problem if those providers work with proprietary software and do not follow open standards. There is no unique solution for these cases.
Since no lost of production is desirable, the migration process is determined by variables like schedules of the organization, bussines high or low season, employees rotation, etc. You must take care of those also. You won't migrate a toy store during Christmas, right?
You need to know what should be final picture from everybody's point of view. This is important not just to determine where is the final point, but because an evaluation must be done after the process is finished. A lot of parameters must be analyzed in order to make a fair evaluation. Costs, resources and time are important variables to follow, but not the only ones.
One of the obvious things I've learned during the last few years is that a migration process is not just a technical process. This is easy to say but hard to understand. The first impulse is to throw yourself in a technical spiral of solutions, trying to define the requirements as fast as possible, to find out the best product, install it, configure it and teaching users how to use it. On the server side, you can make mistakes and turn back to the original situation without being killed (at least sometimes). But on the PC ...
The following risks have to be taken in consideration before writing down the migration project:
You can loose data because of three major reasons:
This problem is due to the change of applications and services involved in a migration process to software libre. Is also common in other processes, but in this one is critical.
Is common to think that Linux desktops are lighter than Windows but there are scenarios where this is not always true. Most of the times any reduction of performance is unacceptable. There are technical, economical but also psychological implications related with performance that have to be studied in detail.
So computers, apps, data, users and the interactions among these four variables must be carefully analyzed before writing down the project. How to collect and analyze this information is the first step of any migration process. I (and the hold team I've been working with) have spent most of the last 7 months collecting data, thinking about these risks, developing a methodology to do it and trying to find out solutions to be able to write down the best migration projetc possible for different public administrations from the south of Spain.
I've learned a lot.
From my point of view these are the major variables (related with the workstation side, not the server side) that must be known. Most of them are obvious.
Hardware
Axioms:
- The organization that is going to migrate don't know the hardware they have.
- Migration is about machines.
We need to know the hardware of the PCs because of, at least, these major reasons:
- To determine if it is Linux compatible.
- If it is, which driver or module should be included in the Linux system to install (also which kernel).
- To determine if we have to install proprietary drivers. This have many legal implications.
- To determine the optimal parameters related with the monitor and the graphic card.
- To predict the most obvious performance limitations.
- To determine the peripheral drivers needed.
System and programs installed
Axiom:
- Nobody knows what is installed at 100%. You will have to find it out.
- Migration is not just about machines. It's also about applications installed
We need to know, at least, this information related with the software installed:
- The operative system, version and service pack. Probably we won't be able to migrate every app, so virtualization will be proposed.
- Applications installed and its version.
- Plug-ins, virtual machines (like Java) and other "not .exe" programs.
- Links to local and remote programs, specially those placed on the desktop. Users will want those in the new Linux system.
Everyday used apps
Axiom: migration is not just about machines and application installed but also about programs really used.
The fact that a user have many programs installed, doesn't mean he/she use them all. The determination of the applications that are really important for the user in his everyday work is required. The interactions (related with apps and data) with other users from the same or different departments, with customers or other companies, will give you clues to determine the migration procedures and the tools needed.
Most of the times, users only use a few apps frequently. If these frequently used apps are shared by some users, the risk increases. You need to know who introduces data in those apps, who stress them the most, who use them for just consulting data, who will use them in the future, if there are plans to change it... It's critical to find a good solution for those. So, the more you know about them, a better picture you'll get.
Data and archives
Axiom: data is as important as applications and machines
The data that must be investigated is, at least:
- Data related with their work.
- Personal data.
- Data related with special programs like browsers or e-mail clients, etc.
- Configuration data, for example, the e-mail client configuration information.
- Where is the data stored.
Users
Axiom: users are as important as data and apps in a migration process.
Users are an important part of the migration. Maybe the most difficult one to analyze and satisfy.
Leadership
In any group, there are people that leads the rest in every single area. It is needed to determine which users are leaders when you talk about computers. Relations between users within a group should remain the same after the migration process. Changing the hierarchy after the migration means adding a new problem.
To maintain those relations, you have to identify and study those leaders and their relations with the rest of the employees. They will demand more attention from the migration team. If they collaborate, you will have a lot of help when problems begin to show up. If not, they can become your biggest problem.
Knowledge and skills
It is important to find out which users have a better understanding of the Windows system, who knows about linux or, at least, if there is anybody that uses (or know something about) software libre apps under Windows. It is easier now than before to find people that knows what software libre or GNU/linux are. Some uses a Mac or a linux distro at home. For those people, switching to linux is going to be easier. Detect them.
Another interesting variable to know about is the skill users have using computers. There are people that knows a lot about Windows. Those will have a greater resistance since getting the same skills unsing Linux will take them time and a lot of effort. In one second they will go from being independent to not knowing anything about the operative system they will be using. In order to define the education proccess they will have to go through, you need to know the actual picture.
Complains and suggestions
How many people uses gmail at work because their corporative e-mail sucks?
Listen to what every worker has to say about the tools and services they use. Ask them about their wishes. Every single worker has a little clue to make the company more efficient. Be aware of their demands to reduce their resistance to switch to software libre. Tell them the truth. No not increase artificially their expectations about the new system and tools.
Interactions
Axiom: migration is not just about machines, applications, data and users. It's also about interactions among these four variables. They are not independent.
The administrative structure of an organization sometimes is not exactly ported to the data, services or applications structure. Workers usually end up finding their way to do their job, overpassing imposed restrictions or corporative rules. They get paid for finishing their job, not for changing the rules. Many times is the technical team that allow them (or even help them) to brake some technical corporative rules, since they understand workers' point of view much better than corporative procedures or general politics.
How many executives use different tools and services than the rest of the workers? Sometimes this happens because of a good reason. But it is usual to see organizations that have people in command that do not give the technical department the credit they deserve, so they do not follow their advices. They do not respect the corporative rules either.
These special cases complicates the migration process since general procedures, politics (or even apps), are not followed by all the organization. It is necessary to understand what's going on (the workers vision) in every department in order to be successful. If you write down the migration project based exclusively on what technicians and directors tells you....you will probably fail.
Companies are not isolated. They interact with other companies and customers. Those relation must be analyzed, specially if software is involved. IT providers are specially sensible to any change. You need to count on them in order to determine the migration process. This can be a tough problem if those providers work with proprietary software and do not follow open standards. There is no unique solution for these cases.
Since no lost of production is desirable, the migration process is determined by variables like schedules of the organization, bussines high or low season, employees rotation, etc. You must take care of those also. You won't migrate a toy store during Christmas, right?
The final picture
You need to know what should be final picture from everybody's point of view. This is important not just to determine where is the final point, but because an evaluation must be done after the process is finished. A lot of parameters must be analyzed in order to make a fair evaluation. Costs, resources and time are important variables to follow, but not the only ones.
Risks
One of the obvious things I've learned during the last few years is that a migration process is not just a technical process. This is easy to say but hard to understand. The first impulse is to throw yourself in a technical spiral of solutions, trying to define the requirements as fast as possible, to find out the best product, install it, configure it and teaching users how to use it. On the server side, you can make mistakes and turn back to the original situation without being killed (at least sometimes). But on the PC ...
The following risks have to be taken in consideration before writing down the migration project:
- The loss of data.
- The loss of functionality.
- The reduction of performance of the new system.
- The lost of interaction capabilities (with other users or services). I'm ignoring this one in this report since usually is related with the middle-ware or the back-end as much as with the PC.
The loss of data
You can loose data because of three major reasons:
- You didn't save it before installing the software libre system or you lost it during the process.
- After the installation, the data is not fully accessible or usable.
- The data was transformed into new formats and part of it have changed.
The loss of functionality
This problem is due to the change of applications and services involved in a migration process to software libre. Is also common in other processes, but in this one is critical.
The reduction of performance
Is common to think that Linux desktops are lighter than Windows but there are scenarios where this is not always true. Most of the times any reduction of performance is unacceptable. There are technical, economical but also psychological implications related with performance that have to be studied in detail.
Conclusions
So computers, apps, data, users and the interactions among these four variables must be carefully analyzed before writing down the project. How to collect and analyze this information is the first step of any migration process. I (and the hold team I've been working with) have spent most of the last 7 months collecting data, thinking about these risks, developing a methodology to do it and trying to find out solutions to be able to write down the best migration projetc possible for different public administrations from the south of Spain.
I've learned a lot.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Who did make me believe?
There are different ways to end up in the software libre community. I used debian at college but I really perferred windows at that time. Once I was working, I got in touch with free software again. I began to use it and promote it. It took me two more years to really understand, then truly believe, in what I was doing. A simple action convinced me that it is not just a matter of software, bussiness, community or innovation, but a matter of justice. It was reading a book.
My own red pill (remember Matrix) was Lawrence Lessig's book "Free Culture" (Cultura Libre in spanish). It is a must, It's easy to read and easy to understand but deals with really deep concepts and feelings.
Lawrence Lessig is giving a talk in Vitoria, Spain, next month. I've wanted to write this post to thank him for changing my little world.
Lawrence, you lost the battle, but we will win the war. ;)
My own red pill (remember Matrix) was Lawrence Lessig's book "Free Culture" (Cultura Libre in spanish). It is a must, It's easy to read and easy to understand but deals with really deep concepts and feelings.
Lawrence Lessig is giving a talk in Vitoria, Spain, next month. I've wanted to write this post to thank him for changing my little world.
Lawrence, you lost the battle, but we will win the war. ;)
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