Brian McQueen wrote: > I was at a conference for startups last week, and it would have been > very useful to have someone there representing Apache. It is going to > drop from the minds of its target audience if its utility is not made > obvious again and again, obvious and up-to-date. There was a lot of > talk about open source projects and how to use open source code and > nobody but me mentioned Apache. It should be the textbook example of > how to run a successful open source project, and it should be an > example of great engineering and there should be cases made for how > and why to use it, and the startups should hear about it. It was a > missed opportunity. I raised the question about how many folks depend > on it, and the room was full of hands, but NONE of them are developing > within it, none are involved with it. Its just their web server.
I'm a bit confused because you are talking business cases around the open source model v.s. creating open source projects. Many of the industry leaders do these sorts of presentations regularly, two that come to mind offhand are Brian Behlendorf and my CEO, Mark Brewer, but I know that there are a ton of others who can and do speak on business models around open source. Sander pointed out, you need to inform the PRC early when you see a public relations opportunity that the Apache folks should avail themselves of. The volunteer nature of the group means that the more lead time, the more chance there's a speaker available. Bill
