Morning Thoughts 37

• Nick Malik has posted a series of articles on SOA governance. Basically he points out that software is good at management, but not at governance. After spending some time over the last few weeks evaluating various software packages I would have to agree with him.
• I find it interesting that the European Union is claiming that it will impose harsher penalties in the future on antitrust cases due to their view that Microsoft hasn’t quickly moved to comply. (via Bloomberg) I am on the side of Microsoft here. The EU gave Microsoft very unclear directives as to what had to be done to comply and now is trying to further punish the company because the steps that were taken didn’t match what the EU wanted. That is why it needs to be spelled out.
• For the past few months I have been getting counseling for depression. This was a difficult choice for me because of the stigma that can be attached to talking with a professional about your problems. At the same time I also met with a psychiatrist to approach the depression as medical problem as well. The results have been very good. The main thing I have noticed is that I can recognize the signs that I’m getting depressed quicker and work to change the circumstances so that the depression doesn’t overwhelm me. The medicine has also been very helpful in helping me to control it. I guess the main lesson I’ve learned is that it is better to approach the problem in multiple ways and it won’t go away if you try and ignore it. In any case I feel much better these days and can tell in my work and interactions with Becca and the kids.
• Jeff Atwood addresses and interesting question when asks if Open Source software is so great where all of the billionaires are? He makes some good points. I have often wondered if the problem with Open Source software isn’t more a value proposition problem. What I mean by that is that we often value something more if we paid for it, rather than were given. There are exceptions of course when it comes to heirlooms and the like. I was thinking about this last week when it comes to financing college. If I pay for all of the costs for my children to go to college will they work as hard at it, and value the learning they are getting less than if they have to pay at least some of the costs themselves. I think they will and that is why I think people aren’t making a fortune in the Open Source software market. It is an interesting thought at the very least.