Black Sheep Research

Businesses may be comfortable using well-known open source products. But how will they take to more modest efforts? Martin Brampton looks at one commercial wannabe.

Is the arrival of Acquia an indication of changing times for open source?

Open source developers need to guard their intellectual property rights if they want to compete with the big boys, says Martin Brampton.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are usually associated with large software or music companies. This impression can easily obscure the critical connection between open source and property rights. Just because software is given away, it does not mean all property rights are thrown out of the window. In fact IPR is critical to the health of the open source movement.

For open source software to achieve its full potential, people's perceptions must change. Yet how can that happen when open source is so woefully neglected by analysts, asks Martin Brampton.

Industry analysts can play a valuable role. But their shortcomings are particularly evident in their coverage of open source software. And, apart from analysts, what viable alternative information sources exist?

Confused IT skills policies in schools and colleges are part of the problem. But they're being combined with a widespread failure to tap into existing talent, says Martin Brampton.

The perennial skills shortage seems nowadays to have been transformed into a training crisis. Schools are boring IT students to death, and it's the fault of universities that computer games companies are struggling to recruit. How do we get it so wrong?

Software piracy may well be a very bad thing. But does it justify inflicting misery on legitimate software buyers, asks Martin Brampton.

A phrase often crops up in connection with housing - "peacefully enjoy". It nicely captures the expectation of someone who has bought or rents a property.