Now that VA has finally ditched the enterprise software business we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Yeah, I know - old news. It's not that Sourceforge sucked, or that Gforge is better - it's just that the enterprise software business is tough. Sure, there will always be a need for large software systems; but the enterprise segment is so locked up by major players that being in it is just too expensive. It's expensive to sell; expensive to support and for small players the margins just aren't there to make it worthwhile. From my perspective, the most significant changes to the enterprise software space have come from improvements to the accessibility of systems - software as a service, hosted apps, etc. In all cases the functions are pretty much the same but the delivery methods have been innovated.
Back in the day (2000), VA bought a little company called Andover.net for $1 billion in shares and some token cash. Even at the peak of the .com bubble that wasn't a bad return on an outfit with a total investment of about $15m. It seemed like a good way to corner the market on Open Source media - valuable to VA as they sold hardware, some software and some services. If you adjust for .com era exuberance and look at how the business has developed it seems as though what once was essentially a marketing ploy turned out to be the smartest accident the company ever made. While the folks at VA HQ bumbled around in the hardware business (which failed), the services business (which failed), and the enterprise software business (which failed) they somehow managed to keep the core media properties healthy. Then one day, someone woke up and realized "Hey, we're a media company!"
I have derived value from various VA owned media properties for years. I know the editors, much of the management, and even the former chairman. I'm glad to see the new focus, the change in attitude, the reallocation of resources; it will improve websites and services that already have a high value to the IT professional. I was surprised at first to see Merrimans recommendation - on the other hand, given the events, the management epiphany, and the excellent content of their media properties I would agree that LNUX (somewhat misnamed) is an excellent buy.
