Matt’s Blog of Truth

Now I know ‘what’ Google is. Google is an amazing technology company that turned Search into Billions a year in revenue. Google also is gushing with innovations. So many so I will link you to ALL OF THEM, (wikipedia), just browse it for a second, than come back and let’s talk about why Google is releasing all of this, making little revenue or fan fare with most of them. Example: Chrome was hugely hyped, now with it’s list of bugs, only less than 1% now use it. Many more examples are to follow.

Whether you quickly browsed through the Google ‘List of Products’ or not, I will just say there is well over 50+ products in there.

Everything from the latest Android Cell Phone to the Google Maps, Analytics, Gmail, RSS Reader and on and on. But, this then leaves us, what is Google really doing? Is it just trying to give back without much notice on trying to make revenues?

Often times, the projects from Google are developed in isolation, within the company. A great example of this is Android the Smart Phone and Chrome the Browser. Both would go great together, yet there are no rushed plans to get them better integrated. Their project leadership and dev teams might as well be on different planets.

An interesting article, about a guy who says, Android will be all dried up, soon. Now, us Open Source advocates do not want to hear that. I in most cases will dismiss such a remark as hog wash anyways. But, if you read the article, he makes his point very very clear.

Google is about Search. With 80+% and sucking more percentages in a day, Google is clearly Search Masters. It’s easy money folks, and will never go away. No matter if a Recession hits the economy, it is widely known that Advertising is one of the least effected markets. No matter what, sellers have to sell their products.

But, the potential for Google to make such products as Android and Chrome Browser so emensly successful is there. Just that, there is complete discontinuity in most of Googles products. Most of them first generate massive hype, then fizzle away into the background to join the long list of ‘back drop’ products.

I think Google’s main concern is Search. Also, to become too huge too fast, which it is already, is exactly what happened to Microsoft. Sure, MS is huge and makes billions, but it is also driven by greed, and it suited in court on a weekly basis, for anti-trust issues. I think Google, even could easily through Billions into any long list of amazing innovations and products they have produced, have largely decided to not become an 800 pound gorilla in too many areas, except Search Engines and Ads, they are willing to back off, and just let the open source world do what they want with it.

In a way, this makes sense. And, I praise Google’s top leadership of product overall mangement of recognizing the need to ‘Do no Evil’. But, is this really what Google, overall, is thinking? Maybe there is no Google Board of Directors even given the insight and power to push their products further into main stream markets. Maybe, Google set it up that way for the reason of not becoming evil.

Who knows? I would love to find out.

Let me tell you a story.

Of a boy named, Matt. He came from a poor family, single mother of 3. Now, fast forward to his 26th birthday…

Hi, I’m Matt. I write this blog, and here is my Linux success story.

I primarily operate off an HP Pavilion dv6000 laptop, and primarily in bed. See, I run a HBB or HoSo, in other words, I work from home. I am my own boss. I can honestly say that Linux and GNU software has enabled a — than 26 year old aspiring programmer — to start my own business on the Web.

Linux and all of it’s wonderful software packages are so flexible, there are endless possibilities.

I duel boot, as I have Vista installed on my laptop as well. But, I probably boot into Vista, at most once a month, or less. The last reason was to try Google’s new browser, Chrome. Other than that, Ubuntu is my choice of Linux. I have tried others, like PCLinuxOS, Mandriva and a few others. I use Ubuntu, not because I’m a fanboi, but because I am really a Debian fanboi, and proud to admit that. However, I like to listen to mp3’s, watch DVD’s and Ubuntu Linux makes the ability to do this, as hassle free as possible. Yes, I know other Distro’s have similar methods for making the Linux Desktop as easy to use as possible.

You see, I run my Web business on Debian. I can not do without my apt-get and .deb package system. I have respect for Red hat and their RPM packages, in fact, Red hat spear headed the whole idea of a package system. So, what it comes down to, is that, I like to keep my Desktop as easy to use, as possible. But, I like my server’s, which run my business, as flexible as possible, which tends to mean more complexity, without all the GUI Desktop stuff.

I did not always use Linux. I originally, was a Windows user. I did not even know Linux existed, when I started my web businesses. It were my partners, that introduced me to Linux. I started out as a C++ Direct X game programmer. Very amature and programming games, to me, was a fun way to learn how to code. In fact, right before I met my business partners, I had just finished a one year contract as a beta tester for Windows 2000 as a beta tester, at Microsoft.

I operated, in 2001, on Windows 2000. I needed to find more work, so I decided to see if I could do some free lance Web Programming. Thus, began my journey off the Desktop and into the Cloud, so to speak. I looked at ASP, this was before there was .NET, but PHP seemed to be what everyone was using.

Picking up and using PHP is very easy to do, especially when you come from a C/C++ world where there is no garbage collectors, memory mangement, easy string handling and less concern about data typing. PHP also adopted the general constructs that C uses. I started using PHP a year after version 4 was released. PHP 4, really exploded PHP’s popularity, even more, because they combined all these different modules, scattered over the net and collected them to form what PHP 4 became. Stuff like PHP Sessions and MySQL modules are essential for a Data driven, dynamic web page.

At the same time, learning CSS and Javascript was needed, if I was to become a free lance Web programmer. But, like most programmers at that time, I admitely was a cut n paste JavaScript programmer. In 2001, there were no JavaScript libraries like; Prototype, JQuery, MooTools and Dojo Toolkit. My favorite place to go for my JavaScript needs was at Dynamic Drive. I think many Web programmers, unfortunately, referred to this site and similar sites, to complete their JavaScript needs for their clients. However, after reading JavaScript: The Definitive Guide - Edition 5. This book, is so well written and accurate, that any JavaScript Programmer that does not read it, will be left in the dark as to what is really going on in the Web Browsers, and how JavaScript became some what fragmented, due to Internet Explorer’s lack of standard compliance.

One, fatefull day, while checking my email looking for interest in hiring me, I got the email that would change my life. I was from my partner — we no longer work together — around may 2001, from a guy from Australia. He said he needed a programmer to create his ideas and these ideas would make us rich, and it would be a 50/50 partnership. Well, Phil, was his name and he did in fact have a load of ideas. He opened up a whole new world to me, called Internet Marketing.

Phil was a battle hardened old man of 62 years of age. He also was a counceller and Train the Trainer, so he claims. He is also a master at sale copy. He really understood why people spend money and how to connect with them. He also believed in selling things that are of value.

So, that is how I got my first taste of Linux. Phil had a few Dedicated Linux Servers, and a friend that was the Admin of the Linux Servers. Phil, was in the process of reinventing himself or potentially going to jail. This shift he was under going, when he contacted me, was due to his past as an ex-spammer. He was learning to invent software systems that was spam free. Which, in fact, hundreds of others would mimic and copy. In fact, unknown to me, I would become part of this innovation of advertising using Email, but using legal methods like Double Opt in and adhering to strict guidelines, so people could easily Add and Remove themselves from the Programs.

So, the safe list host was born.

Not just a single safe list, but an entire system to allow the operator to create Multiple List owners, which in turn each List owner could create Multiple Lists. This was never before done. The reason for the shift, was because yahoo groups and tropicana, a popular email list service organized by topics, had kicked out the Net Marketers, because they did not like the material that was flowing through the lists. Material like Affiliate based Marketing, eBook sells.

This is what Safe Lists allow. They allow affiliates a conduit for this activity, in a spam free and purely come and go as you please method of dealing with memberships.

Linux, is so flexible, only it makes small businesses able to happen, because the ideas of people require software that can be configured anyway they like. In proprietary Operating systems, this is simply not possible. There is not enough flexibility in the Operating System to allow business ideas to flourish, simply because proprietary systems do not bend in directions that need to be bendable.

It was this flexibility that got me into Linux. If, you just need a machine to surf the net and check email, play a game or two, listen to CDs and watch DVDs, proprietary Operating Systems are fine. But, if you plan on starting a business, especially a Web business, Linux really is the only choice, including Unix BSD’s. Microsoft Small Business, simply does not have the deepth of choice in software and each software being completely customized to meet the needs of the Small Business Owner.

Why For Profit Corporations can’t achieve Technological Flexibility

I don’t think that any For Profit business could create such technology. Because, how could a for profit business know how to build a server that was able to know which way to flex and in what areas. It simply can’t. The reason, why I love Linux and Open Source method of software development is because, if you have an Idea, you can make it happen. There are no worries about Licenses or copyrights and even more important, you are able to do the customization because the source code is open.

My Linux success story is but one. There are, in my belief, tens of thousands of small businesses, that owe Linux, as a platform of flexibility, to allow their creators to be creative, and not restricted in any way. This really is a massive break through. It means that you do not need to go corporate, to satisfy a niche market or more.

What is making Linux even more appealing, is the fact, that Billion Dollar companies like Google, MySpace, FaceBook, Amazon and so many more, all run on Linux. All of these businesses, started out from college kids, having an idea and using Linux, as their platform, simply because it allowed them to be creative and make it happen. Imagine, entire industries born, because of a Free and Open Operating system, that no one has to pay for or worry about breaking a corporations licensing policy. All of these wonderful sites, would never have been conceived.

So, that is why I use Linux exclusively. It allows me to be as creative as I want to be. I think that is what it is all about, which ever way you want to look at it.