Open source is very much thriving in the West Midlands. Throughout the three and a half years of OpenAdvantage's existence, we've met with a wide variety of those involved in open source: as a rough estimate, around 1000 or so individuals have engaged with us. But however many companies we work with, each day seems to bring to our attention more new companies or individuals working in open source. The Open Source Showcase on June 20th 2007 was originally inspired by curiosity, designed to prompt those companies to "come out of the woodwork" by giving them an opportunity to promote their work.

While working at OpenAdvantage, I've been surprised at the lack of companies taking advantage of the vast range of Java open source software out there. Why are so few companies (with the exception of local companies like Interition) willing to invest in Java?

OpenAdvantage's "Debunking Web 2 Point 0" seminar, hosted by the NTI in Birmingham on the 22nd November 2006, gave attendees a vital insight into the latest cutting-edge technologies and trends.

Jono Bacon, Open Source Consultant at OpenAdvantage is moving to Canonical to work as the Ubuntu Community Manager, and in this article Jono sums up his experiences at OpenAdvantage and what the project has achieved in his time there.

With the rising interest and demand for Open Source, together with the plethora of options open to the IT SME (thanks to the multitude of projects within the Open Source community), many questions arise: Where does one start on the information search? Which tool is tried and tested and fit for purpose? Which are compatible with a Windows environment? And so on.

OpenAdvantage gains further global recognition with it's first free Ruby on Rails FastTrack

This free seminar took on a new format inviting numerous questions on just about everything Open Source-in fact the seminar overran considerably-but no one was complaining! The delegates appetite for more was staggering.

Topics which the delegates found engaging included:

Our team can help to identify and evaluate the latest developments and determine how these technologies fit in with existing solutions and IT requirements, said Paul Cooper, assistant director.

The current method of using the desktop is loosely integrated and rather imperfect. Presented here is the case for a desktop in which applications can work together with a common goal that increases productivity and reduces leg-work...

This review follows on from my previous article, which outlined the criteria I applied to many of the main open source CMSs to determine their suitability for a developer. Mambo is an established product which has received many industry awards (e.g. Best of Show and Best Open Source Solution at the LinuxWorld Conference and Expo Feb. 2005; Best Free Software Project of the Year, Linux Format Awards 2005). It is ideal for small, simple websites with a straightforward structure.

This review follows on from my previous article, which outlined the criteria I applied to many of the main open source CMSs to determine their suitability for a developer. Silva is built on top of the Zope platform and takes advantage of its advanced features, making Silva a powerful, flexible solution. Its particular strength is managing hierarchical, traditional websites, simplifying construction of navigation and asset management.

This review follows on from my previous article, which outlined the criteria I applied to many of the main open source CMSs to determine their suitability for a developer. Exponent is a neat CMS which has a far better interface for novice users (out of the box) than any of the other systems reviewed here. Although it is relatively immature compared to many of the other big open source CMSs, it is gathering momentum and worth watching.

This is a set of tasks I use to get a feel for the default capabilities of a CMS once I've installed it. I used this set of tasks as a basis for evaluating the features of each CMS in this review. It is by no means a comprehensive test suite, but aims to provide a framework for making quick assessments of CMSs.

Many companies are interested in the possibilities of content management, to help them build websites which are easy to maintain. But the prohibitive cost of most commercial content management systems (CMSs) can be a put off. Open source CMSs offer a cost effective way to build a "content managed website". In this series of articles, we review some of the better known offerings, and explain how they could be put to use within an organisation.

Audience: ISVs and web development companies looking for a content management system, who are intending to build a content-managed website for a client.

Authored by: Elliot Smith, OpenAdvantage, May 2005

OpenAdvantage recently ran a week long course covering the popular LAMP platform for JISC. Here is a quick report of how we got on...

Python is increasingly providing an alternative as a language for rapidly developing GUI tools.

Jono Bacon shares his experience of learning Python and PyGTK to write a Linux desktop application...

With so much focus moving towards the Open Source desktop, we have a wander through some of the common applications...