[open-source] Forum Topics

Yesterday, September 10, 2009, the announcement came that [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL] launched and is funding a new open source organization named [URL="http://www.codeplex.org"]CodePlex Foundation[/URL]. The [URL="http://www.codeplex.org/board-of-directors.aspx"]major players[/URL] in the new organization are from Microsoft, [URL="http://www.novell.com"]Novell[/URL] and [URL="http://www.dotnetnuke.com"]DotNetNuke[/URL]. Does this mean that a brave new Microsoft is beating its proprietary, closed-source swords into open …

A new version (9.0) of [URL="http://www.postgresql.org"]PostgreSQL[/URL] is in beta and ready for public testing. If version 9.0 lives up to its proposed [URL="http://www.postgresql.org/about/featurematrix"]feature list[/URL], then it is serious competition for MySQL. PostgreSQL proponents have long suggested that PostgreSQL has always enjoyed superiority over MySQL. I beg to differ but that …

[ATTACH=left]12481[/ATTACH]The New York Times [URL="http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/06/technology/tech-us-france-apple-louvre.html"]reported today[/URL] that Apple has opened its first Apple Store in Paris, underneath the Louvre no less, and just two weeks after Microsoft opened up a [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/microsofts-windows-cafe-opens-its-doors-in-paris/"]Windows 7 cafe[/URL] in Paris in another location. The idea of these two companies competing in a retail environment, and …

I saw this article yesterday titled, "[URL="http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090220/tc_pcworld/studyfederalgovtcansavebillionsinitspending"]Study: Federal Gov't. Can Save Billions in IT Spending[/URL]," and feel compelled to comment. The gist of the article is that by switching to open source software, like Linux and OpenOffice.org, the federal government would save billions of dollars in IT costs. This is …

With the Android developer community buzzing about how easy it is to pirate apps, one outfit took it upon itself to try and track down the pirates. The results are truly shocking. [attach]16959[/attach]The provocatively named Android Police site last week claimed that [URL="http://www.itpro.co.uk/626374/android-app-flaw-allows-easy-piracy"]most Android apps can be simply patched and …

In a recent [URL="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/jul/05/clay-shirky-internet-television-newspapers"]interview[/URL] with The Guardian, [I][URL="http://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Surplus-Creativity-Generosity-Connected/dp/1594202532"]Cognitive Surplus[/URL][/I] author, professor and thinker [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Shirky"]Clay Shirky[/URL] talked about the transformative power of social media to put the power to produce content in the hands of every individual. While he acknowledged that sometimes this power produced what is essentially trash, that didn't …

There's big news in the software patent front from none other than The U.S. Supreme Court. In the case of [URL="http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=167db2c8-5a72-4f52-8c22-6ae54ff16062"]Bilski vs. Kappos[/URL], handed down yesterday, is a major blow to the anti-patent movement, specifically the [I]no software patent[/I] groups. [INDENT]Florian Mueller, founder of the anti-software patents movement (NoSoftwarePatents) in …

This Memorial Day weekend reminds us all of those who sacrificed their lives for freedom and to protect a way of life that is based on freedom. While considering the brave men and women who stood up for what is right over the past 250 years, it made me realize …

I read a [URL="http://www.infoworld.com/d/open-source/open-source-innovation-the-cutting-edge-582"]story[/URL] this morning over at [URL="http://www.infoworld.com"]Infoworld.com[/URL] that shocked me a bit. Neil McAllister discusses how proprietary software companies, like [URL="http://www.microsoft.com"]Microsoft[/URL], criticize open source projects by saying that, "They don't innovate, they copy." Is that really the consensus for an entire software realm that brought us the [URL="http://www.w3.org"]world …

It looks like [URL="http://www.yahoo.com"]Yahoo[/URL] has reinstated the [URL="http://news.yahoo.com/technology"]Linux/Open Source[/URL] link on their Tech News page. Perhaps it was just a fat-fingered mistake or an accident of some sort that the link was removed from the main link bar but it certainly raised my hackles. And, frankly, my hackles don't need …

OK, I'm not sure what's going on in the minds of the geniuses over at Yahoo but just today they removed the Linux/Open Source link under News/Tech is gone. Its replacement? Social Media. Thanks Yahoo. That's really clever. NOT! In the realm of things dumb, that takes second place right …

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse in the world of software patents, a reliable source sent me this response from Steve Jobs about a patent pool that's forming and aiming to nail the open source codecs projects. It's enough to make the weak at heart go weak …

"After years of pretending to be a friend of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), IBM now shows its true colors. IBM breaks the number one taboo of the FOSS community and shamelessly uses its patents against a well-respected FOSS project, the Hercules mainframe emulator." Those are [URL="http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2010/04/ibm-breaks-taboo-and-betrays-its.html"]the words of …

Persistent rumors have Google scheduling an event for Tuesday to launch its new Nexus One mobile phone. Engadget was even fortunate enough [URL="http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/02/exclusive-google-nexus-one-hands-on-video-and-first-impressio/"]to procure one[/URL] ahead of the launch. Whenever Google makes it official, it's clearly an impressive looking device, but ever since I heard about Google manufacturing its own …

It's been almost a year since I[URL="http://www.daniweb.com/news/story220028.html"] last interviewed [/URL] Joe 'Zonker' [URL="http://www.dissociatedpress.net/"]Brockmeier[/URL], who is the community manager at [URL="http://en.opensuse.org/OpenSUSE_11.2"]openSUSE[/URL]. I sent him several questions to answer by email. I was curious about the new version of openSUSE, 11.2, along with his increasing use of social media to promote it. …

First Google expressed an interest in the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/20370/53/"]web browser client[/URL] market, and then the [URL="http://www.itwire.com/content/view/26281/53/"]operating system market[/URL] and now it has launched its own open source systems programming language. [URL="http://golang.org/"]Google Go[/URL] is being touted as 'expressive, concurrent, garbage-collected' and promises to produce fast code, fast. According to Google a typical …

One way to become the "ultimate" of something is to simply declare it. JetBrains, maker of the IntelliJ IDEA Java IDE, on Thursday began previewing [url=http://www.jetbrains.net/confluence/display/IDEADEV/Maia+EAP]IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate Edition[/url], the latest version of its commercial integrated development environment for Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. The "ultimate" designation is presumably …

What the heck is happening in Redmond? Is Microsoft really giving away antivirus software? Yes, friends, it appears that they [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/"]are[/URL]. Come on Microsoft, we really want to hate you. I've carried this Microsoft voodoo doll* around with me for years--stabbing it every time I have to pay money for …

In its ongoing effort to become the coolest city in the U.S., the mayor of Portland, Oregon, is going to attempt [URL="http://portlandoregon.gov/auditor/index.cfm?c=50265&a=264719"]tomorrow night[/URL] to make it an "open source city," making its data as open as possible while respecting privacy, and buying open source applications when possible. If passed by …

Microsoft announced a new organization this week called [URL="http://www.codeplex.org/index.aspx"]CodePlex[/URL], which according to its web site, is "a non-profit foundation formed with the mission of enabling the exchange of code and understanding among software companies and open source communities." Now, you don't normally see Microsoft and Open Source in the same …

Today I'm pondering if the current open source model is still valid or if it's outdated. Do we need licensing for open source software? Do we need the GPL, LGPL, APL and all the [URL="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical"]other licenses[/URL] that plague...er, [I]grace[/I] us? If your software is free and open source, why bother …

This coming Monday, May 11th, marks the start of the first annual [URL="http://news.opensuse.org/2009/05/07/get-ready-for-opensuse-community-week/"]openSUSE Community Week[/URL], an event conceived of by openSUSE community members to help mentor folks who want to get involved with the openSUSE open source Linux project, but don't know how to get started. The virtual conference will …

Looks like Google could be in deep water, along with the Open Handset Alliance and some 40 or so companies, over an apparent trademark infringement. Now you might think that there had been some pretty heavyweight due diligence before Google and the OHA determined to call the open source mobile …

Just as the excitement started to hot up, first with the news that the controversial and increasingly popular legal free streaming music service Spotify was to open up with the release of a third party developer API, and then with the actual announcement of the availability of [URL="http://developer.spotify.com/en/libspotify/overview/"]Libspotify[/URL] itself, so …

Seems every time I write a piece suggesting open source as an option, I get a couple of comments warning readers about the scary complexities of open source licenses. So I decided to ask a guy who knows free and open source (FOSS) exactly what the deal was regarding FOSS …

As part of my [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4037.html"]ongoing quest[/URL] to [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry4007.html"]bring you information[/URL] on getting -- or keeping -- a job in the tech sector, I want to point you to a [URL="http://www.palamida.com/blogs/eight-open-source-projects-for-highly-effective-job-hunting"]great blog post[/URL] by the folks at the application security company [URL="http://www.palamida.com/"]Palamida[/URL]. They've assembled a list of eight open source tools …

You read that title correctly; XenServer is free. Free as in advice--since I've never seen any of this free beer of which the Open Source Community speaks so freely. And, yes, this [B]is[/B] breaking news. [URL="http://www.citrix.com"]Citrix[/URL] made XenServer free as of Feb 23, 2009 12:01am EST. This exciting announcement is …

I'm seeing a trend towards hardware, software and operating system commoditization in our new cloud-based world. I think that within 5 years applications, including your beloved desktop operating system will be completely hosted. This brings me to pondering whether or not at some point there will be multi-level marketing (MLM) …

Is it good news from Sun Microsystems, if you are in the market for a generic communication protocol between a key manager and an encrypting device? Sun has announced what it claims to be the [URL="http://opensolaris.org/os/project/kmsagenttoolkit/"]release[/URL] of the first such protocol into an open source community as part of the …

Almost 10 months ago, I wrote the post, [URL="http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry2350.html"]"Dear China, Microsoft Wants to Charge You for Air Too"[/URL] and now Novell follows up with its own plan to charge China for air. The Chinese assume that since Linux is open source that it means that it is less capitalistic and …