http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog Get on the scene en-us Copyright © 2008 WikiRing Partnership WikiRing Administrator [webmaster@michaeldaumconsulting.com] WikiRing Administrator [webmaster@michaeldaumconsulting.com] WikiRing http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment5 JohnSmith 2008-10-30T18:21:30Z JohnSmith <p />Looks like yet another captain has thrown it's Titanic onto iceberg. We all remember Joomla vs Mambo clashing. Now, who cares of Mambo if there is Joomla? Seems to be quite similar case. I hope you will have same success as Jumla did once.. http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment4 Aaron Fulkerson 2008-10-30T00:36:34Z AaronFulkerson <p />Hi all. I'm one of the founders of www.MindTouch.com. We make MindTouch Deki (sometimes called DekiWiki). I've been following the coming storm at TWiki for a little bit. Primarily because I've become aware of some core TWiki developers switching their development projects to MindTouch Deki. Secondarily because MindTouch is also open source and we develop a product that loosely competes with TWiki. In fear of stirring up more s**t I want to chime in here. <p /> First let me say I do not know all the details of this mess, but I've met Peter and I think he's a stand up guy who is undoubtedly trying to do what he thinks is best for the TWiki project. Moreover, I think TWiki was way ahead of others players in this space for a long time. So, kudos to all of you. <p /> Trademark aside, who owns the copyright for the Twiki codebase? Does any one entity? In open source, trademark is nice, but copyright is king. <p /> I'm writing because I wanted to make two points. <p /> First. Building a business on an open source project is a balancing act. On one side you're trying to build a sustainable business by creating revenue through customer acquisition. On the other side you have a desire to do what's best for the community of users (distinct from customers), developers, system integrators and VARs. If you're not careful you can put these groups at odds and look like an asshole or even worse, really hurt your business. This balancing act is especially challenging when you're building on a project like TWiki that has been around <em>forever</em> and has had a significant amount, or perhaps even the majority, of development from the community. I believe the easiest way to find balance is to have an open source core that the company(ies) can add value to in the form of development and services or even sell commercial layers of additional functionality on top of this. In this way the devs and users win and also the company(ies) are able to create clear differentiation that helps in the customer acquisition effort. You don't have to look far to see that these are the most successful open source projects and businesses. Apache Web Server is an example of this. So is SugarCRM. In both cases you have an open core that others can build and sell additional value on top of, be it open source, closed source or services. <p /> Second. As previously mentioned there have been many TWiki developers that have migrated to development on MindTouch Deki. I encourage you to take a look at this project and product. It's modern architecture and high quality user experience is being cited as a reason for the switch. <a href="http://mindtouch.com/technology" target="_top">http://mindtouch.com/technology</a> is a good resource to learn more about the architecture, <a href="http://mindtouch.com/demo" target="_top">http://mindtouch.com/demo</a> provides some demo vids of the platform in action and you may download the FOSS version and source code at the developer community: <a href="http://wiki.developer.mindtouch.com" target="_top">http://wiki.developer.mindtouch.com</a> <p /> I want to reiterate that Peter and the guys at TWiki.net are surely trying to do what they think is best for the project as a whole. In every case it is true that what is best for the project is also best for the business. And vice-versa. Although sometimes it takes a misstep to realize this. I think it's interesting to juxtapose Acquia/Drupal with what's going on here with TWiki.org/.net. Being on the outside, it's easy to see what was done well and what was done poorly by these two entities. <p /> Best of luck gang and I hope you'll take a look at MindTouch. http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment3 MichaelDaum 2008-10-29T18:58:40Z MichaelDaum <b>Slashdotted</b> <p />Lots of comments on <a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/29/146201" target="_top">slashdot</a>. http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment2 GordonMcGregor 2008-04-28T15:22:24Z GordonMcGregor <b>only a year later</b> <p />but it was worth coming here just to see that 'The Machine is Us/ing Us' video. For once this 'web 2.0' thing actually made sense about what is different. http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment1 GalSisso 2007-09-23T10:20:04Z GalSisso <b>Page Error after installl</b> <p />Hi First of all thanks for the installer i think it could be great once the bugs are fixed. My problem: After install (apache is running) the configure page loads with one warning "SafeEnvPath" should be filled. after filling the path or leaving it blank and press "Next" i get PAge not found error and the configure page is also gone. all pages regarding Twiki are returning "Error 404" . <p /> Please advice. My system: Windows XP SP2 – fresh install http://blog.wikiring.com/Blog/BlogComment0 Ross Mayfield 2007-02-15T18:49:07Z MichaelDaum <b>Wednesday</b> <p />Glad you are building upon the meme, one of our hopes is that people carry it in different directions and it shouldn't be Socialtext specific (in fact, most Wiki Wednesdays involve multiple wiki projects and people). Please consider noting this on <a href="http://socialtext.net/wikiwed" target="_top">http://socialtext.net/wikiwed</a> and hopefully a Wednesday will work out in your future plans.