[Updated 3:15 P.M.] — The Open Source Business Conference (OSBC), April 5-6 in San Francisco, will include a panel discussion on mobile devices, analysis of Wind River's historic embrace of Linux, and exploration of other business-oriented topics. The second annual event targets IT business executives, venture capitalists, attorneys, and others using open source software.

The OSBC was founded last year by Matt Asay, who works in Novell's open source business unit. Asay formerly served as GM of embedded Linux specialist Lineo, which was acquired by Metrowerks in December of 2002. Asay last year contributed an editorial to LinuxDevices about why he founded the event.

The 2005 OSBC will feature a panel discussion entitled “Mobile Open Source: Opportunities, Markets, and Obstacles,” moderated by Sam Jadallah, a general partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures. The panel will include MontaVista's senior VP of strategic operations, Kelly Herrell; Wind River's VP of product planning, John Fanelli; PalmSource VP Madeline Duva; and Microsoft's Embedded Group project manager, Jane Gilson.

Asay said, “The 'Mobile Open Source' session should be particularly interesting, given its inclusion of perspectives from pureplay open source shops (MontaVista), closed source vendors (Microsoft), and two that are currently working through the transition from closed-to-open source (Wind River and PalmSource).”

OSBC 2005 will also include an overview of Wind River's strategic shift toward Linux, including analysis of how its customers reacted, and what the company learned. Wind River has credited Linux in part for its economic recovery, stating that Linux skills enabled it to have business conversations with customers it would not otherwise have talked to. These conversations led to Linux-oriented business, and also generated sales of its proprietary embedded operating systems and application stacks, the company says.

Other speakers and topics at this year's OSBC will include:

• Jonathan Schwartz, president and COO, Sun Microsystems, on “Building Billion Dollar Businesses with Open Source and Open Communities”
• Kim Polese, CEO, SpikeSource (and former CEO of Marimba), on “Open Source in the Enterprise: Coping with Commodities in the New IT Marketplace”
• Geoffrey Moore, author, “Crossing the Chasm,” on “Open Source Has Crossed the Chasm. Now What?”
• Irving Wladawsky-Berger, VP, Technology and Strategy, IBM, on “Innovation: In IT, Business and Society”
• Larry Augustin, CEO, Medsphere Systems (chair of VA Software), on “The Next Wave of Open Source Applications”
• Marten Mickos, CEO, MySQL, on “Open Source Stacks Up”
• Lawrence Lessig, Professor and author, Stanford Law School, on “Emerging Threats to Open Source Software.” Lessig also spoke at last year's inaugural OSBC.
• Stuart Cohen, CEO, Open Source Development Labs, in conversation with Andrew Morton, lead maintainer of the Linux kernel, on “Kernel Matters: How Linux Is Made and What That Means for Your Business.”

According to event organizers, the OSBC will provide answers to questions such as:

• Where do the top venture capitalists see the biggest market opportunities?
• What is Microsoft's evolving strategy around open source?
• After SCO, where do legal authorities see risks in open source software and how can your firm best prepare?
• How is Linux made and how can your organization participate?

Additional speakers and panelists include:

• Vendors — Computer Associates, HP, IBM, Microsoft, MontaVista, Novell, PalmSource, Qualcomm, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, VERITAS, Wind River Systems
• Corporate users — ADP, Cingular Wireless, Corporate Express, Cisco Systems, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley; NASA
• Law firms — Allston & Bird, LLP; Cooley Godward LLP; Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP; Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich; Greenberg Traurig, LLP; Holme Roberts Owen LLP; Rosenlaw & Einschlag; Shaw Pittman
• Emerging companies — Canyonbridge, JBoss, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Scalix, SpikeSource, SugarCRM, Tenable
• Venture Capital — Accel Partners, Index Ventures, Matrix Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners and Worldview Technology Partners

“Though OSBC was founded with an enterprise focus, it's becoming increasingly difficult to demarcate where the enterprise ends and embedded begins. As such, we're looking forward to the insight that industry veterans from embedded will bring to OSBC2005,” said Asay.

Additional details, including registration information, are available online.

 
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.