Kaboodle LAN commander reaches 1.0 milestone

Kaboodle, an open source LAN manager, quietly hit its Release 1.0 milestone last week.

For those looking for open source tools to use in the enterprise this is a big deal. There are versions under Linux, FreeBSD and Windows. The first two are possible because of WINE compatibility. At its heart this is actually a Windows program.

You get complete LAN visualization, remote control and file transfer, even a personal VPN capability that lets you link two LANs together into a larger network. Etymologists will note that the word kaboodle, which originally meant a collection of objects, has come to mean a whole lot as in the whole kit and kaboodle.

Ecogent Systems led the development effort. The lead developers are Scott Best, Igor Kotelevsky, Oleg Lyapin and Varsha K. You can take it free, but if you could throw them a 10-spot they'd really appreciate it and it would help with support.

I happen to think this is a great example of the kind of innovation the open source idea is bringing to the market. While the closed source Windows application business continues to consolidate (as witness the Adobe-Macromedia deal) small groups are still doing neat stuff (even under Windows), basically for tips.

But if you're a developer does this make you feel hopeful or depressed? A few decades back these guys might be expecting riches for their hard work. A $10 bill won't even buy a round of drinks where I live, and these folks deserve a lot more than just a hearty handshake. Let me know how you feel in TalkBack.