OpenX: the Unknown Variable

The open source company OpenX, which is behind the free ad server of the same name, is something of a mysterious beast. It's not that well known, even though it's one of the few open source companies that was founded in the UK. Things have not been helped by the fact that it has gone through so many names changes - phpAds, phpAdsNew, MaxMediaManager, Openads – that it's been hard to keep up. It's also something of wonder that it operates in a market where the main competitor is Google – and yet survives. And finally, there is the issue of why on earth it choose to drop that perfectly clear and memorable Openads moniker for the current name, OpenX, which sounds more like some kind of men's deodorant....

On Open Enterprise blog.