When I talk to investors I’m often grilled on things like download numbers, Google hits, things like that.

I really don’t care. I try hard to focus on our customers, our community and if others find OpenNMS useful, so much the better.

My guess is that other projects associated with a commercial enterprise have investors that are a little more demanding, which is why I have to give a name and e-mail to access either software, documentation or both. I don’t mean to imply that there is something wrong with that, it’s just that it is different experience than I get with projects like OpenNMS.

One of the bonuses about being rather ignorant about who is accessing the software is that I get to be pleasantly surprised when a company I know turns out to be using it. It was amazing when a Fortune 5 company called us a couple of years ago about the project, and I’ve written about companies like Checkfree who I find out use OpenNMS.

So it was cool when it was pointed out to me that Orbitz not only uses OpenNMS, they decided to present it at JavaOne. This is a show we’ve never been to, so perhaps we should.

To those at Orbitz, we salute your excellent taste.