What is your role?
My title is Director of Architecture, and in MySQL's history that has meant I have done everything from write code, assign bugs, handle operations for engineering, talk to customers, speak at conferences, and once help peel potatoes for dinner. Today I handle technical direction for MySQL, lead architects/senior engineers, and study how are market is evolving. I also still write code from time to time.

What is your computer setup?
I use a 15in PPC Apple Laptop.

What desktop software applications do you use daily?
When browsing I use Safari, but today I read far more RSS then I read web pages. For RSS I use an application called NewsFire. It allows me to scan all of my RSS headlines and select what I want to read. For some feeds I just use the spacebar to tab through all of the articles in the feed. All of my appointments go into iCal, and all addresses go into Addressbook. …

A few weeks back Jay and I hooked up with Tom Parish over at DBAZine for the DBAZine podcast. Was a lot of fun to talk with Tom and get a chance to answer questions about open source, MySQL, blogging and a host of other things. The teaser goes something like:

The new book is ProMySQL, covering all of the newest MySQL 5 features, the MySQL server architecture, storage engines, transaction processing, benchmarking, and advanced SQL scenarios. And the authors, Jay Pipes and Michael Kruckenberg, are not too shy to open up about a big range of big topics, including whether open source software will ever displace those legacy apps (and why CIOs who insist it won't should take a closer look at what?s running in their enterprise). They also give their views on what they see as the biggest challenge to open source as …

Hi,

I decided to start blogging about MySQL stuff in the different blog http://www.mysqlperformanceblog.com This will give me more control allowing to publish files on the same web site as well as track visitors stuff. I will be still updating this one every so often with my personal records.

For LiveJournal users - I've created syndication account "mysqlperf" which syndicates my new blog, so you can just add it to your friends list if you want to follow new blog.

PlanetMySQL.org is not updated yet to include new blog. I hope this will happen soon.

Lets hope I'll have time to update my new blog more frequently. And your comments surely would be good motivator :)

There is a new entry in the developer notes series, available at

http://www.openwin.org/mike/index.php/articles/visual-basic-2005-and-mysql-5-developer-notes-part-three/

This one covers managing hierarchies using stored procedures and the nested set model.

Ronald recently asked to provide a list of Open Source software that I have used or recommend. Here's a list that I compiled in one sitting. Since I have been working with OSS for quite sometime now, this list is just a sample. As time permits, I will add more to this list.

1. Typo (RoR) [some issues with RoR 1.1]
2. phpMyAdmin
3. OSCommerce [Recommended if you're ready to make a lot of customizations]
4. Interchange (Perl) [Overkill for small projects but ideal for large scale ones. At one point, Google used to use Interchange to power their online store. Now they use OSCommerce.]
5. …

I have been receiving a lot of requests from all over the US regarding DBA jobs. If you are currently looking for some hot jobs, drop me an email by writing to softwareengineer99 at yahoo dot com. Some of the jobs are offering as much as 150K.

I would also be interested in hearing from you if you have a position open in your company.

Is there any site that helps connect MySQL DBAs with the open jobs worldwide?

Farhan / Frank

I am moderating the panel "Stories from the Front Line : Open Source solutions: Show me the Money" at TIECon tomorrow at 12 Noon featuring these fine fellows:

Richard Gorman, Venture Partner Bay Partners
Michael Olson, Vice President Oracle
Zack Urlocker, Executive Vice President, Products MySQL AB
Peter Yared, Founder and CEO ActiveGrid

Come and say hi and tell me you read this blog post so I know that Matt and aren't just writing to each other.

I'll be speaking on a panel at TieCON 2006 on the weekend.  TieCON is one of Silicon Valley's more eclectic conferences.  The conference is put on by The Indus Entrepreneurs, a not-for-profit industry group focused on helping asian entrepreneurs.  TieCon claims to be the largest conference focused on entrepreneurs.  I don't know if that's true, but it sure sounds good. 

Since it's in the valley it has traditionally focused a lot on technology and helping entrepreneurs get started.  The conference is a good deal and also has a broad range of practical topics ranging from how to raise money, practical lessons in marketing, and looking at specific technologies, whether it's semiconductors, software, mobile, web 2.0 and so on.

Some of the other speakers include Guy Kawasaki, John Doerr, TJ Rodgers, Marissa Meyer from Google, Shashi Tharoor from the UN, Vyomesh Jhoshi from HP and the Governator, Arnold …

Two weeks ago I spoke with someone who still doesn't believe you can make money with open source software. (Maybe the $350 million that JBoss sold for is just not enough for him?) Finally he conceded:
"Now Red Hat, they sell manuals. That business model I can understand."

Which is a very curious comment indeed, since Red Hat's manuals are right there, free to download off the Internet: see http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/

In reality, documentation is a very important part of what Red Hat sells, even if you can get it for free. First and foremost, it empowers more users to take advantage of Red Hat software, and with more users, there are more contributors and more potential customers. Second, good manuals establish a bond between Red Hat the company and the end user. By educating users, Red Hat convinces them that it cares about them and can make something as complex as Linux make sense to them. And …

I received an email back from a good friend about my recent post on open source sales and marketing. He strongly disagrees with my view. I'm going to include some of his comments here, because I think they reveal the depth of his experience and accumulated wisdom. They also point to an optimal way to start an open source company.

He suggested some ways to build an open source business:

1. Fire everyone in sales.

   (Asay: This is difficult for a company like Alfresco, as we don't actually have anyone in sales besides an inside sales person, and he's kicking tail. I'd never consider firing someone who paid for himself in the first month on the job.)

2. Set revenue expectations for the next 12 months to zero.

   (Asay: I think this is …