At first I was thinking "only ten years? Really?" But then I realized that
you were talking about true "library" open source software (as opposed to
librarians involved with open source projects, which clearly predated 1999),
and that it was when the movement became "self-aware". So then I became
curious when the oss4lib.org domain was registered and a quick WHOIS lookup
told me:

Domain Name:OSS4LIB.ORG
Created On:17-Nov-1999 23:05:50 UTC

So perhaps ten years isn't that far off after all. I also had no idea it was
registered by someone in Portugal.
Roy


On 4/18/09 4/18/09 € 6:17 AM, "Peter Schlumpf" <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> This might be a good time to reflect upon where we've been and where we're
> headed.  Almost exactly ten years have passed, I think, since open source
> software in libraries became self-aware as a movement.  Sure, there has always
> been open source software, but I would mark the real start as when the oss4lib
> listserv came into being.  It provided a forum for like-minded folks to kick
> around ideas and discuss what they were doing.
> 
> I remember ALA 2000 in Chicago.  That was cool!  Tim O'Reilly graciously gave
> us space at his booth there, letting us show off the early projects we were
> doing.  And to any of you who happened to be at NERCOMP at Wesleyan University
> in Connecticut the following year -- I apologise.  I am not an extemporaneous
> speaker, as I discovered!
> 
> Then Koha happened.  Then Evergreen, and a multitude of other projects.
> Overall, I am pleased by what has happened.  Open source software for
> libraries has matured into a real option for any library.  My little project
> fell by the wayside during that time, but it's always been there -- I just
> haven't done much with it.  I am returning to it now with fresh ideas.
> 
> What do the rest of you think about the past ten years?  What about the next
> ten?
> 
> Peter Schlumpf
> Avanti Library Systems
> http://www.avantilibrarysystems.com
> 

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