SPUG: Osoft guys want to present "OSource Training" product

Tim Maher tim at consultix-inc.com
Wed Nov 19 11:55:48 CST 2003


SPUGsters,

We have a proposal from a vendor for a talk in December on a new
"Standardized training platform" for delivery of "Open Source
referenceware, training contentt, and code".

Does anybody know these people, know of their company (osoft.com;
a cover-page only web site), or know anything about their
product? I'm looking for recommendations on whether we should
invite them to speak or not. I know quite a bit about training
technology, but I don't hear them mentioning the features *I*
think are important in their "standardized training platform" --
but this might just be a miscommunication.

Let me know what you think . . . the proposal follows.

-Tim
P.S. I wonder how Llamacard would match up against their product?
==============================================================
| Tim Maher, Ph.D.                    tim(AT)teachmeperl.com | 
| SPUG Founder & Leader              spug(AT)seattleperl.com |
| Seattle Perl Users Group        http://www.seattleperl.com |
| SPUG Wiki Site               http://spugwiki.perlocity.org |
| Perl Certification Site      http://perlcert.perlocity.org |
==============================================================

Dear Tim,

My partner, Gary Varnell, and I have been working for over a year
to develop a tool that would help train and educate the Open
Source community by providing a standardized training platform
through which Open Source referenceware, training content and
code can be delivered. We wanted to let you and the rest of the
SPUG community have the first look at our beta at the December
SPUG meeting.

 Interestingly, we have already converted most of the Perl
 referenceware into this format, which allows you to search,
 bookmark, and append content across all files or packages. The
 program we developed will be launched in Q1 2004 and will be
 offered as an open source product through our website,
 www.OSoft.com <http://www.osoft.com/> .

Currently, there are no standardized tools for Open Source
training and reference content retrieval. PDF, CHM, POD, and
HTML formats are all common formats. Working in independent,
multiple formats is frustrating to developers who are faced
with different ways to retrieve information. We figured, what
if there were one standard format for Perl, Linux, MySQL, Php,
etc. that would allow you to search, bookmark, and append
content across programs, all in one format? This is what we
were able to accomplish. Developers who have studied our
proposal comment on their ability to save time, learn faster,
and often note the convenience of having all their references
on hand whenever they need it.

We are a local development team headquartered in Tacoma and it
would be an honor to meet you and the rest of the SPUG members.
We would welcome any feedback from you and your members as we
roll into the final stages of development. We hope that you can
fit us in to your schedule. The success of the OS community
depends on the participation of its members. Our contribution to
the OS community is so unique that I guarantee SPUG will not be
disappointed.

If you would like to preview the product prior to the meeting,
please let us know. We look forward to hearing from you. Our
contact information is noted below.


Sincerely,

Mark Carey

Mark D. Carey
President
OSoft, Inc.
2511 S. Hood Street
Tacoma, WA  98402
(253) 284-0475
mcarey at osoft.com
www.OSoft.com

P.S. Here are our Bios


Gary Varnell, CTO


Gary Varnell is the chief technology officer of OSoft and has the
vision and experience in Web design, application development,
database construction and management, and back-end programming.
Gary is the founder of DGS, designing web websites from its
headquarters in Lacey, WA since 1995. DGS quickly became known as
a local and regional leader in website design. DGS also began
work in the 3D-graphics industry, creating digital animations for
the web as well as for broadcast video. DGS has continued to grow
in its capabilities, enabling it to offer clients cutting edge
solutions to their business needs. Gary has experience creating
software solutions using Open Source technology such as Perl, PHP
and MySQL. AccessProbe, a program developed by Gary, is a
successful Apache Log analyzer built with Perl and is featured on
<http://www.perl.com/> www.Perl.com . AccessProbe has been
referred to as an example of building large scale applications in
PERL. DGS can be found at <http://www.2dgs.com/> www.2dgs.com .

Mark Carey, President

Mark Carey graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S.
degree and later received a MBA degree in marketing. After 6
years in the military and 18 years in sales and marketing, Mark
started his own software training business. The Helper Company
was founded in March 2001 and has become a leading regional
software training company in the NW, providing online software
training for government agencies, businesses, and dozens of
academic institutions. Mark was instrumental in creating new
markets for innovative online training. This background has been
the foundation upon which OSoft is formed. Helper Company
businesses can be found at <http://www.mysoftwarehelper.com/>
www.mysoftwarehelper.com and <http://www.myclassroomhelper.com/>
www.myclassroomhelper.com




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