Updating the MPL. Funding for Lucid and eXo. StatusNet. And more.

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“Tracking the open source news wires, so you don’t have to.”

Updating the MPL
# ZDnet reported that the 10-year-old Mozilla Public License will be updated by the end of 2010, while Mitchell Baker explained the process.

Funding for Lucid and eXo
# Lucid Imagination raised $10m in series B funding from Shasta Ventures, Granite Ventures and Walden International.

# eXo Platform raised $6m from Auriga …

As you probably know, I recently finished writing a book with a few co-authors. I kept notes along the way and wanted to describe the process for those who are thinking about writing a book, too.

Update: see the followup post for more of the story, including my editor’s responses.

I think it’s important to be objective; my purpose here is to help prospective authors get a feeling of what it’s like, and it’s not all good (but I’d encourage people to do it anyway). Hopefully I won’t come off as sounding peeved at anyone or like I’m trying to put people down. I’ll have a lot to say about what went right and wrong, and how it helped and hindered the process.

Please excuse the rambling nature of this post. I’d love to …

I’m at the MySQL Conference and the t-shirts I created for Maatkit have arrived. Come get yours! They are high-quality, attractive shirts you’ll be proud to wear, and they are a nice rich wine-red color.

Harrison Fisk (co-author of MySQL Clustering) got the first one, because he told me that he recommends Maatkit to MySQL Support customers about twice a week. I made sure to save one for Jay Pipes too, because his luggage got lost so he has nothing to wear. Unfortunately, I didn’t make any Maatkit underwear, sorry Jay. Now I know what to do for next year…

…

A lot of people contact me asking if I’m looking for a job. (I have an unanswered email in my inbox right now.) People are looking desperately for qualified, knowledgeable MySQL professionals. There’s a critical shortage of people who can admin MySQL moderately well, much less at the guru level.

If you are one of the many who are trying to hire a MySQL DBA, you should send your employees to the MySQL Conference and Expo. Not just this year — every year. Train a smart person instead of trying to hire someone who’s ready to go now.

This is the unfortunate reality: MySQL’s popularity has caused demand to far exceed supply. That’s what happens when a great disruptive innovation takes hold.

What do you do in the meantime?

If you just need a little help, hire a part-time DBA and get some consulting help. Without endorsing them directly, may I suggest …

I'll be attending the 2008 MySQL Conference and Expo again this year, and I'm looking forward to hearing some great sessions, meeting new and old friends, and giving sessions myself. As a proposal reviewer, I looked at and voted on 250+ proposals for sessions and tutorials for this conference. There are going to be some great sessions and tutorials.

A while ago I asked for people and/or organizations to sponsor development on Maatkit (formerly MySQL Toolkit) so I could take a week off work and improve the Table Sync tool. I asked for $2500 USD, but several companies have graciously offered to cover that and then some.

I'm very happy about this, as it will allow me to dedicate a solid week to fixing bugs and adding features. There's a lot of demand for the tools, and there are a dozen or so bug reports unresolved for the table-sync tool, which I personally want to fix as much as anyone. So I'm very grateful for the support.

Here are the companies who have promised their financial support:

MySQL AB

…

I'm on the select board of elite people who were duped into reviewing proposals for the upcoming MySQL Conference and Expo 2008, and I'm here to tell you how to get your proposal accepted. Aside from bribing me with chocolate, that is.

I caught most of the second day of MySQL Camp 2007. It was fun and educational as before. The format was a little different than the last Camp; everything was in one room. Google and Proven Scaling provided food.

Sessions were loosely organized, to say the least, but that’s what an un-conference is [...]