Open source is changing not just how companies make software, but how they sell it. Alfresco's Matt Asay explains the new sales cycle and the skills that today's software sales people need to close deals.

Asay's job will be make sure operational activities match up to the company's strategic goals and make sure that day-to-day operations go smoothly. He will also head up Canonical's marketing. Asay is extremely well known and respected in open-source business and technology circles. [However, Pamela Jones takes exception to Asay's defense of Microsoft in her NewsPicks comment on this story. - gus3]

I must concede: Sometimes I worry Canonical is trying to do too much too soon with Ubuntu. ... But just when I get really worried, the company makes a major move that impresses me. A case in point: Open source expert Matt Asay has joined Canonical as chief operating officer. It's a big move for Canonical, Ubuntu and Asay. Here's why.

Once again, the buzz has grown surrounding rumors that Novell may soon be snapped up in a buyout. As many as 20 companies may have registered bids for the company, according to the Wall Street Journal. Matt Asay notes that an auction of the company could become a patent troll bonanza, and I have to agree. Let's remember that Novell is no spring chicken.

Very little, in my opinion. While Matt Asay sees the deal as "a big win for open source... mostly because it pegs the value of an open source company quite high" I'm not sure that's true in this case.

When Astaro's founders launched the company in 2000, venture capital funding for open source businesses was hard to find. CEO Jan Hichert says he and his colleagues tried but failed to secure funding and had to bootstrap. After the company was proved successful, VCs proved more willing to contribute to a company built on open source.

One of the challenges open source companies have is that you serve two distinct markets: your customers as well as non-paying community users. Paradoxically, the non-paying users can be the most vocal and demanding.

Open source in itself is a success story. From being a niche concept, it has become a mainstream movement. There are thousands of open source projects and products out there, but which ones are the most successful?

This week theme has been "who's going to pay for open source?" It's shown up in a number of blogs, like Matt Asay's.