From closed to open

Posted by Lester Madden under General, Software, Symbian

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Wow has it really been that long since I last posted? Where has all the time gone?

What have I been up to since I last blogged, well I started working for Symbian who ship the OS for the worlds leading smartphones. If you’re using a Nokia device then chances are you using Symbian OS. My job is to get 3^rd party developers and device developers to build using our OS. Yes that right I have entered the exciting world of marketing.

 It’s funny how your career goes, I started at Microsoft where software is sold for profit, I left and went to Skype who were not open source but believed that software should be free. Nokia have now completed the takeover of Symbian and are creating an open source foundation, there is the strong possibility that I’ll be in the new foundation meaning that I will complete the final piece of the puzzle by working for a open source company.

I still need to get my head around what open source means to developers. How do you guys make money, pay rent, buy beer etc if you give it away?

At Microsoft I wouldn’t touch anything that wasn’t produced by the big M. Skype opened my eyes to Firefox and the wonderful world of WIKIS. How did I cope without?

I think there are interesting times ahead so my new year’s resolution is to be a more active blogger. The wife is away for a 6 week trip to Brazil (family visit), I have no xBox games to distract me and I’m up to date with studying, so at the weekend I have no excuse not to give the blog a new lick of paint.  Ah WordPress, what a wonderful open source tool.

 

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