Johan Janssens

The Holstee Manifesto is a call to action to live a life full of...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:00:06 +0100

The Holstee Manifesto is a call to action to live a life full of intention, creativity, passion, and community.

"Success of collaboration is having the right kind of people meet at the right table at the right..."

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:02:06 +0100

“Success of collaboration is having the right kind of people meet at the right table at the right point in time feeling adventurous, bold and forward thinking.”

Why Nooku

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0100

I have been asked this very question many times in the past three years. So far my answer always has been : “I am passionate about creating free software, building web architectures and collaborating with others”. While this is 100% true it’s not the complete answer.

Being removed

A little over three years ago my involvement in the Joomla project was abruptly ended. On the 20th of October 2008 I received the following mail

… you have been effectively inactive for more then a year now. Because of this we concluded that you have no plans to be actively and constructively engaged with this team any more … We would like to thank you for your huge contributions to the project. Without you the project would absolutely not be where it is today.

Two days before, on the 18th of October, I had finished my work on the removal of legacy libraries and legacy code for Joomla 1.6. My last SVN commit to Joomla 1.5 was made on the 11th of January 2008, only 9 months earlier.

Still on 20th October 2008 my SVN access was removed. Suddenly I was no longer allowed to contribute to the very project I had put my heart and soul into building.

Almost ironically a week later I received the most valuable person award for Joomla from Packt Publishing.

Going there and back again

What had been the focus of the past 5 years was gone, and it was devastating. I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I even thought about quitting web development and changing careers. But slowly I realised — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Joomla had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love.

And so I continued where I left off. In the past three years I founded Timble, traveled the world, spoke about the free software movement and met very talented and passionate people. Some of which I have the opportunity to work with daily. Many of which I am proud to call friends.

In those three years Nooku grew into a collaborative open source project driven by an awesome community of creative developers from all over the world. All of which drive me every single day to make great things happen.

A handful of people have personally guided me on the way. They listened, challenged me to think bigger and pushed me to move on. You know who you are. Thank you !

Be the change you want to see in the world

Forking Mambo was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Moving an open source project had never been done before. There was no experience to lean on, no examples to learn from. Founding Joomla thought me to fail early, fail fast, fail often. My roles as project manager, lead developer and board member learned me that there are times you need to do what you feel is just, not what is expected.

In the past three years on a few occasions and when asked I have openly challenged Joomla. Some have perceived this as bashing, others have cornered it as competing. The reality is far more simple : I care !

I’m not the only one. There are many others who do. Let’s not forget we are all on the same side, we just sometimes draw the lines differently. Let us respect these differences and move together as a software community, united by the core goal of freedom and openness. Let our creative an innovative ideas flow and let us - not only - be proud on what we are building but also on the way we are building it.

Looking forward to what lies ahead

The past three years have learned me to enjoy life as a flow of change, chaos and beauty. I am pretty sure that Nooku wouldn’t have happened if I had not been removed from Joomla.

I have also come to realise that when you feel you are going uphill you should change course. At the end of the development of Joomla 1.5 I was going uphill. Nooku is my change in course.

I am not sure where I am going, I don’t have any fixed plans. I will continue to do what I love : helping to architect the web, sharing my work as free software and pushing the status quo at every step of the way.

One last thing

May I ask you a favor ? If you feel a compelling need to react or respond to this post I hope you will consider not to. Make a choice to challenge and lead instead. I am certain we will meet out there, wherever that might be.

Presentation from JandBeyond 2011 in the Netherlands covering...

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:01:06 +0100

Presentation from JandBeyond 2011 in the Netherlands covering Nooku’s path from vision to architecture.

"Focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking..."

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:34:15 +0200

““Focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.””

- Steve Jobs, BusinessWeek, May 25, 1998

Andrew Zuckerman went wisdom-hunting among 50 of our time’s...

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:28:00 +0200

Andrew Zuckerman went wisdom-hunting among 50 of our time’s greatest thinkers and doers.

Jumla needs you to lead us

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0200

The first weekend of September I traveled to Florianopolis, Brazil to speak at the annual Joomladay Brazil. I was among 4 international guests who the Brazilian community had nominated as keynote speakers for this years event.

Joomla ‘for’ or ‘from’ the community

Talking to organizers and community members during and after the event I learned about their concerns, frustrations and anger around the Joomla trademark processes and policies.

I learned about the creation of Joomleiros.com (a real joomleiro), the issues with the joomla.com.br domain (official open letter), the disappointment over only receiving an apology and the feeling of letdown when being pointed to just another email address by Open Source Matters, the holder of the Joomla trademark.

We need you to lead us

These issues are not new. I have heard similar frustrations from many event organizers and community members all over the world in the past years.

I know some of you feel the Joomla! name is being kept from You and not for You. Don’t let this put you down ! All I can tell is that you need to make a choice. You can accept the rules and follow or you can challenge them and choose to lead.

There are probably a thousands reasons why you, of all people, aren’t the right one to lead? Probably. So what ? You still get to make the choice !

Once you choose to lead, you’ll be under huge pressure to reconsider your choice, to compromise, to dumb it down, or to give up. Of course you will. That’s the worlds job: to get you to be quiet and follow. The status quo is the status quo for a reason.

But once you choose to lead, you’ll also discover that it’s not so difficult. That the options available to you seem really clear, and that, in fact, you don’t need any rules nor processes to be a leader in the Joomla community.

What are you waiting for ? Go !

I am enough. A great story about #courage #connectivity...

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 22:44:50 +0200

I am enough. A great story about #courage #connectivity #compassion #authenticity #vulnerability and giving up #control from @brenebrown

"We innovators, are a tribe. We may not share all of the same capabilities, strengths or knowledge,..."

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 13:00:00 +0200

“We innovators, are a tribe. We may not share all of the same capabilities, strengths or knowledge, but we’ve all been through the same fires. Respect other innovators and acknowledge their scars and sacrifices. We are the sharp end of the spear, and carry the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to prove it.”

- Jeffry Phillips - Innovate on purpose

Joomla is 'the' Platform

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 18:50:00 +0200

In the past 6 years Joomla has seen an immense growth capturing almost 3% of the internet. Most still see Joomla as a CMS. Even Joomla.org states :

Joomla is the worlds most popular open source content management system. With 2.7 % of the internet running on Joomla the software is used by individuals, small-sized & medium size businesses and large organizations worldwide to easily create a variety if websites and web applications.

Reality is that Joomla is no longer just a cms. After 6 years of collaborative innovation Joomla has become a web platform, extendible by over 8000 extensions build on a powerful framework.

We use this platform to build products for ourselves, for our clients, and for our peers. The framework that sit’s at it’s heart is our shared toolkit we (should) improve together so that those products can thrive.

In my keynote at the Joomladay Brazil I talked about past, present and future. I tried to establish why out of 100’s of CMS systems it has grown so rapidly, looked at the current state of Joomla and challenges that lie ahead growing Joomla as a platform.

"‎”Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the..."

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 13:00:00 +0200

“‎”Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.””

- Steve Jobs narrates the first Think different commercial “Here’s to the Crazy Ones”. It never aired. Richard Dreyfuss did the voiceover for the original spot that aired. However Steve’s is much better. Here is the original.

The Joomla Dilemma - A story about punk, freedom, passion,...

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:01:06 +0200

The Joomla Dilemma - A story about punk, freedom, passion, pirates and future.

Video from my keynote presentation on the Joomladay Greece 2011. You can find the slides here.

Summer musings ! Pictures from summer 2011 at Lake Como...

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:59:00 +0200

Summer musings ! Pictures from summer 2011 at Lake Como Italy.

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Do so by removing any personal interests, emotional..."

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 01:48:00 +0200

“Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Do so by removing any personal interests, emotional feelings or religious beliefs. If you are unable, respectfully step down.”

- Was asked today to formulate a personal request for the upcoming Joomla Leadership Summit…

The Joomla Dilemma

Tue, 31 May 2011 22:51:00 +0200

The Joomla Project is our tree of life. We feed of it’s fruits. In order to allow it to produce and grow it requires our continuous nurturing. If not, Joomla will die.

In my keynote at the Joomladay Greece I addressed the dilemma between project and product, while Joomla as a product is growing and is used on 2.5% of all websites on the internet, Joomla is failing as an open source project.

Finding a healthy balance between project and product will be key to continued succes.

Understanding Open Source

Fri, 27 May 2011 15:05:00 +0200

Talking to people at open source events, and recently at JandBeyond, I’m always surprised how easily people use the excuse ‘I don’t have time to contribute’ to the open source projects they use personally or as part of their business.

Those same people are however quick to point out governance issues, code bugs and missing features. Some of them even dare to demand for solutions for their problems.

Participate and improve

If you use free and open source software and you find any deficiency in the project, the onus is on you to address that deficiency. Open source projects provide you with tools and processes to not only remove inadequacies in any part of the project but also to improve the project.

This whole mechanism exists to empower you : the user. If there is something that would cause you to criticize a project then it means enough to you to do something about it. In simpler terms, scratch you own itch and fix it! Without this positive feedback loop an open source project will die.

Using Nooku as an example its continued improvement and success is directly proportional to the developers community participation. If a developer contributes to Nooku then 100% of that contribution will go to improve Nooku and create a shared outcome that benefits all, including themselves.

It’s not about the numbers

A lot of people seem to believe that by using open source software or creating solutions for and with that software they are contributing to it’s success. This is not true ! Open source doesn’t improve by use, advocacy, mindshare, by having 10 million users or a global brand. It improves by the participation and contribution from it’s community.

For this reason, the “more users” isn’t important in open source, the more contributors is. We all use open source for our own reasons. But contributing and participating is the only way any open source project can evolve. If we use open source software, contributing and participating in the improvement of that software is commonality we should all share !

In the Nooku our community motto is : For every hour Nooku saves you, try spending 5 minutes to help improve it. If we all apply that principle to the open source projects we use, free and open source software will have a very bright future !

"It’s our community, our technology, our product or project - let’s not give anyone the..."

Fri, 20 May 2011 00:10:00 +0200

“It’s our community, our technology, our product or project - let’s not give anyone the illusion of control over its future. Let’s claim back our Joomla. Let’s break down whatever stands in the way of original ideas, experiments, open minds and progress. What say you ?”

- Paul Delius - Spoons Knives and Forks.

Betwixt and between

Mon, 16 May 2011 16:59:00 +0200

Betwixt and between, an intermediate position; neither wholly one thing nor another. Ever been in such a position before? Last week I felt very much betwixt and between. This post is my way to untangle and clarify.

Being awarded

Last Saturday, 7 May 2011 I was awarded with the Joomla Person of the Year J!OSCAR for outstanding personal achievements, my contributions to Joomla 1.5 and the innovations in Nooku.

The J.O.S.C.A.R.S (the Joomla Open Source Creative Artistic Recognition Awards) are organised yearly during the JandBeyond conference and aim to recognise people in the Joomla community for their work contributing or using Joomla.

I didn’t expect to win an award. I wasn’t nominated for this years awards after winning the Code Junkie JOSCAR on last years conference. I’m really honoured to have received this award from a jury of peers. However, It didn’t feel right when I received it and looking back a week later, I feel this was not my award to win.

Earning merit

In my work as project manager and lead developer of Joomla I have always tried to implement governance by meritocracy giving authority to community members based on merit they earned.

A meritocracy is a common governance model for open source projects used by for example Apache and Mozilla.

The more proficient the developer is in contributing towards the project - developing new features or maintaining existing code - the more they are required or the more the project necessitates their contribution, and thus the more senior their informal position becomes. Those who contribute more code, and have more of an effect on the direction or status of the project, will tend to have more seniority and influence and gain more respect.
Quote from wikipedia.

I made my last SVN commit to Joomla 1.5 on the 11th of January 2008 and my last direct contribution on the 18th October 2008 finishing the removal of legacy libraries and legacy code from 1.6. Unfortunately that branch and work was never used.

I was recognised for my work on Joomla 1.5 by the Joomla community in October 2008 when I received the MVP (most valuable person) award for Joomla from Packt Publishing. While in the past 3 years I have worked exclusively on Nooku and gained merit in the Nooku community. I feel that I’m being awarded for my status and not for my contributions. That goes against everything I believe in. Moreover, my Nooku contributions are seen as competition to Joomla rather than the spirit they were contributed.

Setting it right

A lot of hard work on Joomla 1.6 was done by three very talented and young developers who formed the Joomla 1.6 Release Team in 2008-09 : Hannes Papenberg, Gergő Erdősi and Ercan Özkaya.

They deserve a lot of kudos, credit and respect for their work. Unfortunately they never received any. On the contrary. In a mail sent to the project leadership on the 4th of September 2009, Andrew Eddie, Joomla Founder and 1.6 Development Coordinator wrote :

Hannes, Ercan and Gergo, you have been handed on a platter an asset worth millions of dollars. You have a great responsibility to look after that. It’s not your personal playground and not your place to say “right, I can play with it however I want now” … But overall, the Release Team is not actually “managing” the release. True project management is completely absent. … I think this comes down to lack of experience, lack of mentoring but quite a bit of “that doesn’t interest me”

Hannes, Gergo and Ercan, all three very talented developers, who deserve to be awarded for their work on Joomla 1.6. Instead they got to carry the burden of a failure that was not theirs to carry alone. I have no doubt that they made mistakes. It’s not the mistakes we make however that define us but what we learn from them. Hannes wrote a heartfelt blog post about his experiences and lessons learned on Brian Teeman’s blog in July 2010.

In November 2009 the Joomla Project announced they had decided to pay Andrew Eddie and Louis Landry to continue the development of 1.6. Gergo and Ercan moved on to contribute the Nooku and Hannes found a place in the Molajo community in 2010.

If there is anyone who deserves to be awarded for their work it’s these three young, talented developers. Therefore I dedicate my Person(al) Joomla of the Year JOSCAR to Hannes, Gegro and Ercan for their dedication, their collaboration and most importantly their contributions to Joomla 1.6.

Thanks guys !

"People don’t care about what you say, they care about what you build."

Tue, 10 May 2011 00:42:54 +0200

“People don’t care about what you say, they care about what you build.”

A few black and white portraits I made recently at a youth ski...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:05:00 +0200

A few black and white portraits I made recently at a youth ski camp in Obertauern Austria. You can find the full set here.