Sessions at Open Source Bridge 2009 about Business on Wednesday 17th June

For five years OpenSourcery has been building web applications under contract. We've gone from three to 20+ people without outside investment or compromise on our open source ideals.

We'll cover the simple formulas that led to our success, explore the some of the dubious business models and side adventures we tried along the way, and hopefully cause the launch of many successful open source businesses.

If you are an experienced open source entrepreneur who would like to join this presentation, please contact me.

Django is a powerful open source web framework that leverages the expressive power of the Python programming language. Each piece is well-documented and there are tutorials showing how to create small pieces of functionality. But that's the small picture... how do you leverage Django's power and flexibility to solve real-world business challenges?

I'm a developer tasked with exactly this responsibility. I develop and manage systems for a small (but growing) consulting firm that needs to deploy powerful web-based solutions quickly and cheaply. Django is frequently my tool of choice.

105 minutes isn't nearly enough to fully explore Django, but it might be just the right amount of time to show how an experienced Django developer would plan and execute a solution to a real-world problem. I have a couple different projects in mind, but I expect that the elements of a good project would include:

• Working with the security model
• Enhancing the built-in admin interface
• Adding "just enough" workflow
• Structuring data
• Using templates effectively
• Custom forms
• Some Web 2.0 fairy dust
• Interaction with an external system

For purposes of the session, I'd be assuming a "stock" Django installation with the standard templating, ORM, etc.

This would assume familiarity with Python and Django basics, but no experience beyond the basic tutorials.

Information security is a concern for all businesses, but most small businesses don't have the resources for dedicated information security staff. Coupled with the security concerns that customers often have around open source software, the small to mid-sized open source business faces real difficulty in providing security assurance.

This talk will look at ways that open source businesses can build an information security program that doesn't break the bank or disrupt the core business, yet still delivers the assurance that more and more customers want with open source software.

If you're a founder of an open source company, or want to found one, join the POSSE. We're a Portland-based group of small companies that meet quasi-monthly. We talk about the business of open source, not the technology.