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Open Source Weblog: November 2006 Archives
Why SCO still matters
November 30, 2006
CBR received an email this morning accusing it of “either negligent bias or sheer journalistic incompetence” in its coverage of SCO versus IBM, which is nice.
(UPDATE - We've subsequently received an apology, which really is nice).
These sort of emails arrive in our inbox from time to time accusing the magazine of failing to report IBM’s side of the story, having previously reported SCO’s claims and public statements.
I’m always surprised given that CBR is one of the few publications that continues to track this case in detail. For example, Steven Vaughan-Nichols at Linux-Watch recently noted that he was not reporting the case anymore as “SCO no longer matters”.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to outline why CBR does, in fact, still follow the case, and will continue to do so.
Why would you *not* open source a development project?
November 29, 2006
Just because a company is heavily involved with Linux, does not necessarily make it an open source vendor. A good example is SteelEye, the high availability subsidiary of SIOS. I met up with both companies and discussed their expansion plans yesterday.
SteelEye is well-known as a Linux-related company and does contribute to the Linux development process, but its software is not actually open source. According to SteelEye’s president and CEO, Paul Adams, that situation is unlikely to change in the near future.
Can SIOS become the Sony of open source solutions?
November 28, 2006
One of the interesting things about covering the open source software space is that it is still an emerging market. Particularly in areas such as services and systems integration, where most of the leading Western providers have been limited in their response to open source to date, the market is potentially wide open for challengers from other parts of the world.
This morning I had the opportunity to meet up with SIOS Technology, which probably won't mean a lot to many people reading this. That's no surprise - until November 6 the company was known as 10 Art-ni. In May this year it agreed to acquire a company you may well have heard of - Linux high availability software vendor SteelEye Technology.
Stallman finally comments on Novell/Microsoft patent deal
November 27, 2006
A transcript of the speech made by Richard Stallman at the 5th International GPLv3 Conference is now online, and includes Stallman’s first comments on the Novell/Microsoft deal. According to Stallman, the deal does not mean Novell is in breach of the GNU GPLv2, but it will be in breach of the GPLv3 when the FSF has finished drafting it.
The open source ‘make anything’ machine
I spotted an interesting story in the Guardian newspaper over the weekend about RepRap, the “self-replicating rapid prototyper” project at Bath University. According to the story, RepRap is “a machine that literally prints 3D objects from a digital design. Its creators hope that in the future it will be a must-have mod con for every home. Instead of queuing for this year's equivalent of Buzz Lightyear, Robosapiens or TMX Elmo, parents will simply download the sought-after design off the internet and print it out.”
Interesting stuff, although clearly the project is a while away from completion. When you combine its potential with the fact that it is an open source project, and it’s benefits will be available for everyone, it gets even more fascinating.
OSC joins criticism of UK education’s attitude to open source
November 24, 2006
Open Source Consortium president, Mark Taylor, has been in contact to voice its opinion on the controversy surrounding Becta’s purchasing frameworks and the adoption of open source adoption in UK schools.
In short, it doesn’t make happy reading for Becta. “The essence of our concern is that they’re saying one thing and actually pursuing policies that are exclusive,” he said. “Becta’s own research shows there are major benefits [with open source], however the reality of the framework is that it excludes both products and services.”
Becta denies open source school barriers
November 23, 2006
The British Education and Technology Agency, Becta, has strongly denied suggestions made by John Pugh MP in an early day motion before Parliament that its software purchasing policies are discouraging the use of open source software in UK schools.
UK MPs question barriers to open source adoption in schools
Several UK Members of Parliament have signed an early day motion* criticizing current government agencies for preventing the adoption of free and open source software in UK schools and universities.
The motion, tabled by Liberal Democrat MP for Southport, John Pugh, says the Department for Education and Skills and Becta (British Education Communications and Technology Agency) policies are denying schools the benefits of open source software adoption.
Patent peace for our time?
November 22, 2006
Recently I noted that the Microsoft/Linux patent brouhaha has the potential to become the patent equivalent of the Cuban missile crisis.* Red Hat’s deputy general counsel and secretary, Mark Webbink, offers another historical comparison, the Munich Agreement and the appeasement of Hitler’s Germany.
Updated - Microsoft Linux patent FUDwatch
November 21, 2006
You'll no doubt have seen by now that Novell has disputed Microsoft's claim that Linux contains its "patented intellectual property". (If not, you can catch up on the details here.)
"Since our announcement, some parties have spoken about this patent agreement in a damaging way, and with a perspective that we do not share. We strongly challenge those statements here," noted Novell CEO, Ron Hovsepian.
"We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property," he added.
Microsoft has responded with its own statement, noting that it and Novell had "agreed to disagree". Nice. Anyway, it's a good opportunity to update the Microsoft Linux patent FUDwatch with that statement and a few other choice quotes from Microsoft execs.
If Microsoft won’t sue, maybe Red Hat should
November 20, 2006
Back in July 2003 I wrote: “It is in the interests of Linux vendors and users to challenge SCO's claims of copyright infringement and to seek to force it to prove its claims in a court of law. While SCO's licensing scheme is designed to keep the alleged Linux copyright infringements out of court, it may well be that Linux supporters will prefer to argue their case in front of a judge.”
Twelve days later Red Hat filed its court case against SCO seeking a declaratory judgment that its Linux distribution does not infringe SCO’s copyright or trade secrets.
I was reminded of this when reading a number of responses to Steve Ballmer’s claim that Linux contains Microsoft’s patented intellectual property.
Microsoft Linux patent FUDwatch
November 17, 2006
It’s not the first piece of Linux patent FUD and it won’t be the last - Steve Ballmer has claimed that Microsoft signed its patent peace deal with Novell because Linux "uses our patented intellectual property" and Microsoft wanted to be "appropriately compensated."
This despite Novell’s denial that Linux contains any Microsoft IP. How tediously predictable it all is. Still, it gives me a chance to launch Microsoft Linux patent FUDwatch. Stay tuned for more Linux patent FUD fun.
Will Red Hat acquire a database after all?
November 16, 2006
Back in June my colleague Timothy Prickett Morgan quizzed Red Hat about the potential for it to acquire a database vendor or technology following its acquisition of JBoss. At the time, Red Hat executives ruled out such a move.
A comment this week from Charlie Peters, Red Hat EVP and CFO, seemed to indicate that the door remains open, however.
Red Hat Enterprise JBoss on its way?
November 15, 2006
Red Hat is set to change the development model for the JBoss enterprise middleware it acquired in June, replicating the Fedora/Enterprise Linux model it uses for its Linux operating system.
Speaking at the UBS Global Communications and Technology Conference, Red Hat’s EVP and CFO, Charlie Peters, said the company is working on a plan to create a Fedora-style community development version of JBoss as well as a subscription-only RHEL-style package.
Microsoft asks for a map to open source minefield
November 14, 2006
Plenty of open source community members are already providing it (such as here, here, and here) but it’s interesting to see Microsoft’s director of standards, Jason Matusow, asking for feedback on the company’s pledge not to sue open source developers.
It is particularly interesting to see the company admit that it got it wrong. “While the idea was solid, the execution seems to have missed the mark a bit,” admits Matusow.
Microsoft’s developer patent pledge “worse than useless” says SFLC
November 10, 2006
While the Software Freedom Law Center is still sifting through the details of Novell’s patent covenant agreement with Microsoft to protect each others’ customers and the GPL implications, it has spoken out on Microsoft’s pledge not to sue unsalaried open source developers.
In short, it doesn’t like it. “It's worse than useless, writes Bradley Kuhn, SFLC CTO. “Don't be confused by the illusion of a truce; developers are no safer from Microsoft patents now than they were before.”
Novell will play fair, but can it control Microsoft?
November 09, 2006
Today I had the chance to catch up with Tom Francese Novell’s VP of worldwide sales and president of EMEA to talk about the company’s deal with Microsoft and its impact on the open Linux market at large.
One thing Francese said is that Novell will not use its patent peace deal with Microsoft to spread FUD about rival offerings. “We are not going to say ‘take Linux because it is a safe bet’ we are going to say ‘take Linux because it is the best bet’,” he maintained.
This is good news, but the fact is it’s not Novell the open source movement has to worry about and the signs are already there that it will struggle to control the natural tendencies of its latest partner.
This is Microsoft after all, the company, let’s face it, that before the joint press conference with Novell had even been completed, had already erroneously suggested that Linux contained its intellectual property.
100,000,000 OpenOffice.org fans can’t be wrong
November 08, 2006
Back in October I speculated about what Sun offering support and services for the OpenOffice.org productivity suite would mean for the long term future of StarOffice.
I had a chance to discuss the matter briefly with Simon Phipps, Sun’s chief open source officer yesterday, and while he wouldn’t be drawn to speculate, his response is worth some further thought.
Position vacant: Linux kernel documentation writer
November 07, 2006
Do you understand the Linux kernel development process? Are you fluent in the C programming language? Could you create new kernel documentation as needed and encourage others to submit kernel documentation? If so, the OSDL would like to hear from you with a view to fulfilling an exciting and critical role that no one else wants to fulfill in the Linux kernel development process.
Mixed bizness* - how to make money from open source
November 06, 2006
MySQL CEO, Marten Mickos, has an interesting article listing the 13 different open source business models he has identified. The interesting thing to note is that they all rely more or less on a mixed source approach.
Novell and Microsoft: intellectual property bridge or innovation tax?
November 03, 2006
We’re still trying to digest the details of Novell and Microsoft’s collaboration agreement, as the industry will be for some time, I believe, but while it is an extraordinary validation of Linux by Microsoft, I’m not convinced its as clear-cut as some are making out.
Red Hat has reason to be threatened by the deal, but it’s reference to the deal as “an innovation tax” is significant, and there are also suggestions that the deal could fall foul of the GPL and is designed by Microsoft to lock users in to Novell.
Ingres looks beyond Icebreaker
November 01, 2006
I had the opportunity to spend some time with Dave Dargo, the chief technology officer of Ingres, yesterday. It was an interesting conversation that touched on many areas, not least O***** (four postings is enough, I'm not writing any more about that for now).
For Dave's take on that see here and here but to read about Ingres's approach to the open source database market, and its plans beyond Icebreaker, read on.
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