Benchmark shows Eucalyptus the money

Now you can, with support from a commercial outfit that developed the underlying software at UC Santa Barbara.

Eucalyptus Systems has opened its virtual doors after getting a $5.5 million infusion of venture capital from a group headed by Benchmark Capital.

The name is, believe it or not, an acronym. It stands for Elastic Utility Computing Architecture for Linking Your Programs To Useful Systems. The fact that the latest version of Ubuntu Server is a koala bear is, I'm certain, purely coincidental.

The new company is headed by a former real estate man, Woody Rollins, who is based in Santa Barbara, along with Eucalyptus developer Rich Wolski as CTO.

The move follow Eucalyptus being made part of Ubuntu Server,  but it will certainly help spur enterprise acceptance of cloud computing, and could also help reinforce Amazon's APIs as leaders in the space. The software is available under the simplified BSD license.

Speaking of which, I will note to readers that, much like our own Matt Asay, my own thoughts on some key questions have evolved over time.

I now understand the importance of a project having a commercial arm, even if the software emerges from a community or academe, in order for it to grow.

So if he wants to put a picture of Arlen Specter adjacent to his next mention of me, it's a fair cop.