Press Release: November 12, 1998
Stanford "Open Source in Business" Forum
Stanford University is bringing together the leaders of the Linux and Open Source community and pairing them with the venture capital firms responsible for starting new businesses in Silicon Valley. The "Stanford Open Source in Business Forum" promises to be a historic matchmaking session between the business world and the Open Source community. This free forum takes place at the Faculty Club, Stanford University, at 7:00 pm on Thursday, November 19. It is sponsored by BASES (Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students), Penguin Computing, and O'Reilly and Associates.The focus of the "Stanford Open Source in Business Forum" is the business models emerging from the Open Source world, and how they can succeed in competition with established hi-tech companies such as Sun, IBM, and Microsoft.
The forum features venture capitalists, software executives, and Open Source programmers and leaders discussing:
- What is Open Source? What products and services are based on Open Source?
- How can entrepreneurs make money with Open Source software?
- The three primary Open Source business models: services and support; distribution; and a value-added product line.
Open Source leaders featured on the panel are Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, and Open Source advocate Eric Raymond. Also featured are representatives from companies that produce Open Source-related products: Red Hat, O'Reilly and Associates, Penguin Computing, Oracle, Intel, S.u.S.E., LinuxCare, and Cyclades. Venture capitalists from Mohr Davidow Ventures and Weiss, Peck & Greer round out the panel.
"This forum is a great start for those who want to build companies based on Open Source software. Finally the business world is beginning to realize that the future of computing might just be the Open Source world," said Sam Ockman, President of Penguin Computing and a member of the strategy session that coined the term Open Source.