Open Source Marketing Metrics

The Keene View has an interesting entry on the metrics they use to quantify the success of an open source channel:

• what percentage of web site visitors should download the product?


• what percentage of downloads should register in the community?


• what percent of registered downloads should convert to paying customers?

As mentioned in the referenced more of an art than a science, "it only takes a demo to launch a product, it takes a business model to land a customer."

Open Courseware Classes

An OSBR reader sent me a pointer to 100 Free Open Courseware Classes About Open Source Everything. The resources have been organized as follows:

1. Get a broad look at open source through these courses.


2. Learn more about the thoughts and beliefs behind the open source movement with these courses.


3. Find out how open source can be applied to business in these courses.


4. These courses share the political and legal side of open source.


5. Learn all about Linux through these courses.


6. Find out how open source software and other open resources can be put to work through these courses.


7. Find out about educational and research applications for open source with these courses.


8. These courses will teach you how to use open source software.

Upcoming November Issue

The theme for the upcoming issue of the OSBR is Health and Life Sciences and we hope to publish shortly after November 10th. Here is a preview of some of the articles in the upcoming issue:

Jacob Brauer from the Mirth Project provides an overview of healthcare interface engines, the healthcare and connectivity standards Mirth supports, and compares Mirth to other interface engines.

Mark Yendt, Duane Bender, and Brian Minaji from Mohawk College describe their reference implementation of the Canada Health Infoway pan-Canadian Electronic Health Record Solution standard and the lessons learned that can help reduce the cost, risk and time barriers to widespread adoption of eHealth systems in Canada.

Brian Berry from Open Health Tools introduces an open source ecosystem where members of the health and information technology professions can collaborate to build interoperable electronic health record systems.