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September 7, 2006

DimDim launches FOSS challenge to WebEx

Marshall Kirkpatrick

40 comments »

Open source startup DimDim has released an alpha version of their new browser based web conferencing software. Users download the open source free code and install it on their own servers. The current version supports IE on Windows only for presenters, which is really unfortunate, but attendees can be in conference via Firefox on Mac. No software download is required for attendees. Future versions will fully support Firefox on Mac, Linux and Windows. If the software ends up solid then DimDim could pose an interesting challenge to the current list of paid, hosted web conferencing solutions.

I tested a version hosted on the DimDim servers early this week and it worked well. Presenters can share their whole desktop or just a single application at a time with attendees. Audio and video transmission is one way from presenter to attendees, from a Flash box in the sidebar. Attendees chat with each other and the presenter.

Resolution on the shared screen isn’t all I wish it was but lag time was very low. There are any number of features that could be added and a hosted alpha will be launched late this year or early next year.

DimDim says that just like Hotmail made free email common and Skype created the expectation that VOIP should be free - they want to make web conferencing freely accessible. The company says that this version is for technically adept early adopters, so if that’s you then now may be a good time to check out DimDim.

Typical of open source companies, DimDim’s business model is based on providing paid support and custom installations for business users. This is a very ambitious project, and even this alpha launch has seen several delays so far - but if it works well then I expect DimDim to be widely appreciated.

  • Sphere It

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 7th, 2006 at 12:12 pm and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. DesiPundit » Archives » DimDim launches FOSS challenge to WebEx

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  3. thefitzpatricks.net » Techcrunch » Blog Archive » DimDim launches FOSS challenge to WebEx

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Comments

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  1. dave

    September 7th, 2006 at 1:09 pm

    nice find..and awesome news…if web based collaboration tools are the future, or at least the free suites coming at consumers and the cheap stuff for the smb market, then this will be a welcome relief…i imagine that if it’s well done, then there will be an opportunity for every school/university to finally exploit this stuff (along with zillions of others) without trying to figure out why webex is still sticking by their pricing model…can’t wait to see a more stable release come out, guessing it will be early 07….

  2. Orez Emeht

    September 7th, 2006 at 2:16 pm

    7,326 unread emails? Christ.

  3. ToddW

    September 7th, 2006 at 2:38 pm

    That screenshot is insane enough stuff going on in that browser!

  4. Wulff

    September 7th, 2006 at 3:46 pm

    First of all Skype is not free - it’s only the basic version which is free. More advanced features (http://www.skype.com/products/priceoverview) cost a little, as they put it.

    I don’t really get the whole free software idea. Why should software be free supported by paid for services? Jason Fried of 37 signals covers it very well in this post: http://www.37signals.com/svn/a.....ftware.php

  5. Startups.in/India

    September 7th, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    Without a doubt it would highly appreciated. I also have an interview with its founder @ http://www.Startups.in/India/

  6. Dan

    September 7th, 2006 at 10:32 pm

    My company has developed a similar system, including PC screen broadcasting, sound captured from the mic, the possibility of showing slides during the presentation, Apache and IIS support, etc. It took 2 developers about 3 months to build this.

    Then, we sold the product to another company (no, it’s not WebEx).

    This kind of thing is not rocket science. It takes a little time to do right, but it can be done.

  7. Matt

    September 8th, 2006 at 3:24 am

    Thats a hell of a lot of emails!

  8. Stephan Tual - Terapad.com

    September 8th, 2006 at 4:35 am

    Hehe in that startup.in interview, their founder is asked:

    “17. Our final question, One thing that you love the most?
    A: My wife’s smile. ”

    Awwwwww… sweeeet! :-D

    In any case, I quite like that concept. It’s different, their site doesn’t cram th Words Web 2.0 down your throat at every opportunity (thank God for that), and I could really see myself using it regularly.

    They take a risk, for sure, with a business model based on support since it’s video conferencing and their monthly bandwith bill could end up being astronomical. But it might just work, and I wish them the best.

  9. Otis

    September 8th, 2006 at 8:19 am

    Marshall: “Attendees chat chat with….” chat chat?

  10. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    September 8th, 2006 at 8:32 am

    Don’t you like to chat chat, Otis? ;) thanks

  11. Marshall Kirkpatrick

    September 8th, 2006 at 8:33 am

    Stephan, for now at least they aren’t hosting the software - users are. You put it on your own server.

  12. Stephan Tual - Terapad.com

    September 8th, 2006 at 4:04 pm

    Oh. Thank you Marshall, I hadn’t spotted that. Yes, that make more sense now.

    BTW, has anyone else noticed how this looks a lot like the old Macromedia/Adobe ‘Breeze’ product? Complete with slide presentations a la powerpoint.

  13. Damian

    September 10th, 2006 at 2:53 am

    Does it work behind firewalls where the only internet access is via http/s proxy?

  14. DD Ganguly

    September 11th, 2006 at 4:33 pm

    Damian,

    Yes. It does work from behind firewalls. Only port 80 needs to be open, which normally is.

    Drop me an e-mail and I will schedule a demo for you.

    Regards,
    ddg
    (dd@dimdim.com)

  15. Cory Webb

    October 5th, 2006 at 11:16 am

    Good to see they are using Joomla! (http://www.joomla.org) as their content management system.

  16. imalltech

    November 13th, 2006 at 5:37 am

    Brilliant software love it! But it doesn’t seem possible to set it up behind a router / Modem without DHCP. As anyone been successfull setting it up in a corporate enviroment?
    If so let me know because this is an excellent tool!

  17. David Corcoran

    January 21st, 2007 at 9:51 pm

    Open source initiatives within the online conferencing industry have been well overdue. Look forward to seeing the DimDim software evolve.

  18. onex

    February 1st, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    logway to go before webex will need to even notice

  19. Alejandro Lengua

    February 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Would like to have it installed… and probably host a service based on it

    Any contact person at DIMDIM to write to?

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