Proven Corporation

For several years, my policy about obtaining computing hardware in Thailand was simple: avoid domestic vendors completely. Being dependent upon the domestic Thai service industry and supply chain is both more costly and less predictable than simply ordering everything from overseas. While this policy is quite prudent, I am very happy to say that I have discovered an exception to this rule: a shop called Protocol over in the IT Mall in Fortune Tower (4th floor, 4P41 to be exact).

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I am pleased to announce that Proven Corporation is now offering a new service for the software development ecosystem: Unix and Linux packaging professional services.

Is your team nearing completion of a Solaris, Linux, BSD, or cross-platform application? Have you formed a plan for distributing your software to your users in the smoothest way possible? Which distributions should you support, and on which architectures? Will your app need to integrate with system activities such as booting, logging, SMF, DBus, Network Manager, or GNOME/KDE/CDE sessions? What is the technical relationship between your software and open source software on the system? What is your strategy for supporting new Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE release about twice per year)?

These are the questions which we solve for our customers.

More announcements are to follow, including case studies and upcoming free seminars in the Southeast Asia region.

I just got back from BarCamp. It was very interesting and very fun. I met a lot of excellent people, and I’d like to say thanks to everybody who talked with me.

I will post slides of my SSH talk shortly. Please check the site in a day or so, or subscribe to the RSS feed.

About the Siam eBook Printers giveaway, I will be contacting the winners of the lucky draw shortly.

This is an update about Siam eBook Printers. We are eager to get as much feedback as possible in order to best serve our customers. So now, we are introducing a 100 baht discount to any customer who leaves a helpful comment about the site. You can optionally specify your email address if you want us to follow up with you.

So stop by and say “This is awesome!” (or even better: your own constructive criticism) to get your discount today! As always, shipping is free, and books about free software (and open source) get an additional 150 baht price reduction.

We have opened a new service which is personally exciting for me and beneficial for the software community in Thailand: an eBook printing, binding, and delivery service, called Siam eBook Printers.

If you have an ebook in PDF format, just attach the file on the web page and provide your delivery address. In a few days, a nice bound volume arrives at your door from EMS. If you’ve ever seen these shops in malls and universities that print and bind books, then you know exactly what this is, except we do it over the web.

We are aiming directly at foreigners and I.T. professionals in Thailand. Here is what makes Siam Book Printers unique:

• Everything is in English
• We cater to busy people. You attach a PDF on the web site, and you receive EMS packages.
• We guarantee no mechanical errors, smudges, missing pages, or other flaws. If you are dissatisfied, we will send you a replacement book.
• There is no guesswork; you preview exactly what you will get.
• Besides standard bank transfers, we accept credit card payments and PayPal. We accept payment in Thai baht or U.S. dollars.

Personally, having eBooks printed is one of my favorite activities in Thailand. When done right, the end result is quite beautiful. Ever since I had The Debian System from No Starch Press made into a hardback, I have been hooked. I doubt the site will be successful financially; but my goal is to reveal and simplify the eBook printing process to more foreigners and software professionals.

Finally, Siam Book Printers is a platform to promote free software in Thailand. We offer discounts for eBooks about free and open source software. When you order a book about free or open source software, just click the checkbox to receive your discount!

I have returned from the JAX Asia developer conference in Singapore, so I am now “public.” I plan to begin publicizing some of things I am working on. Watch this space for upcoming announcements.

I will have announcements covering training, services, and solutions aimed at improving the Asian state of the art using free software.