A few months ago Jeremy Ruston, the creator of TiddlyWiki, joined British Telecom (BT) as their Head of Open Source Innovation and in the process, his company Osmosoft was acquired by BT as well. This led to a considerable amount of speculation as to what this would mean for TiddlyWiki and its future, and whether Jeremy had “sold out” and turned his back on the TiddlyWiki community. So when I was given the opportunity to spend a few days at Osmosoft and interview Jeremy about the history of TiddlyWiki and its future, I asked him precisely that.
Has Jeremy sold out? I’ll let you watch the video and be the judge of that, for now. (transcript available)
I made an effort during the interview to represent the community’s concerns and questions as well as I could, touching upon issues varying from what Jeremy’s move to BT means for TiddlyWiki, to what role (if any) BT or the members of Osmosoft would play in future TiddlyWiki development, as well as the contributions of Greg Wolff and the non-profit organization UnaMesa in supporting TiddlyWiki.
Some of you might be wondering why I have decided to write about this now, seeing as how it isn’t exactly news any more. For those that have not seen it, it is an opportunity to do so, and for those that have to refresh their memory in preparation for the articles to follow.
During my last visit to Osmosoft, I was able to form a fair opinion about Jeremy Ruston and his team at Osmosoft, and what impact these developments would have for TiddlyWiki. Next week I’m going to have the opportunity to continue this process, as I’ll be visiting and working with the Osmosoft team. Upon my return, I will share with you my true thoughts on Jeremy (as promised), his team and the future of TiddlyWiki.
The articles to follow include:
- My true impressions of Jeremy Ruston and the significance of his move to BT.
- A personalized introduction to each of the newest members of the TiddlyWiki community - the Osmosoft team (think RippleRap).
- TiddlyWiki and its immediate and long-term future.
- An introduction to UnaMesa and its role in supporting TiddlyWiki.
- A report from the TiddlyYuletide celebrations as well as my long over-due impressions from my first visit to Osmosoft.
- New developments in the use of TiddlyWiki in education, including a brand new and very exciting project.
5 comments ↓
I’ve had a wonderful time at Osmosoft Towers, and the whole experience was very interesting indeed.
Despite the (intentionally) sensationalist heading, Jeremy obviously has not sold out; BT’s backing has allowed Osmosoft to make significant contributions to the TiddlyWiki community, and they’ve come up with a couple of novel concepts (like RippleRap).
The team is also very open about their work and responsive to suggestions, which benefits both themselves and the community.
We’ll certainly see a lot more interesting developments from them in the next couple of months, and it’s a pleasure to have them on board.
Great stuff, although of course I’ll be worried that your impressions of me might not be fit to print! We’re very grateful for your support and looking forward very much to seeing you again next week.
Thank you very much for the transcript Saq. For poor english listeners like me, you make this great time accessible.
Thanks again.
Hmmm…last post was way back on Dec. 14…and Jeremy’s response talks eerily about seeing Saq next week…could it be that Jeremy got his WikiMafia lackeys to silence Saq for good? Maybe they ambushed him when he arrived at the offices? Has anyone heard from Saq? Maybe he is tied up in a warehouse or in a trunk somewhere. I sure hope he is okay.
Just to let everyone know, Saq is okay, I heard from him today at the Google groups site. At least…I *think* that was him. It could be someone from Osmosoft pretending to be him in order to make us *think* he’s okay…
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