My essay unpacking the meaning of ‘free’ H.264 licensing is now available in the Essays section. It provides a case study in why apparently fair “Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory” (RAND) terms for licensing patents in standards actually have the potential to be costly and obstructive for software developers and a barrier to software freedom.
☞ “May” And “Can”
Posted on November 14, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Forking doesn’t work Michael Meeks points out one of the poorly recognised aspects of dual-license scenarios (including those where patents are licensed). The contract companies submit to in order to gain non-open-source access to the software may well (in my experience usually does) include clauses restricting the exercise of freedoms available under the open source [...]
Filed under: Links | 3 Comments »
✈ Strudel Considered Harmful
Posted on November 14, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Just leaving Bolzano after three nights here for SFSCON (a small but perfectly formed FOSS conference). Passing through the tiny airport I noticed an unusual security requirement – which was being actively enforced. Despite apple strudel (that’s a delicious, giant pastry filled with spiced apple and mixed berries) being a major tourist item on sale [...]
Filed under: Travel | Tagged: Apple strudel, SFSCON | 5 Comments »
☞ Leverage, Don’t Fight
Posted on November 13, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Chatting with Eucalyptus Co-founder about OpenStack Great to see Eucalyptus exploring ways to engage with OpenStack – very positive trend. It’s the sign of a mind that has embraced open source and is looking for ways to make it work. There’s got to be something in OpenStack over which Eucalyptus can collaborate, given their close [...]
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☞ Heart Of The Matter
Posted on November 12, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Four Reasons To Pay Extra For Open Source My slides from today’s presentation in Bolzano, Italy. The core of the talk asserts that software freedom opens additional options for businesses which, if we weren’t pre-programmed by the price meaning of the word “free”, we would expect to pay a premium to obtain. Google Files Sizzling [...]
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☂ Freedom Means Value Essay Posted
Posted on November 12, 2010 by Simon Phipps
☝ The End Of The Road For Web Services
Posted on November 11, 2010 by Simon Phipps
The news is out that WS-I will now be absorbed by OASIS according to their PDF release. They told us back in July that it was going to happen. As far as I can tell, that’s the end of the WS-* family of specifications – there will be no more, and they are destined purely [...]
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☞ Wednesday Tab Sweep
Posted on November 10, 2010 by Simon Phipps
Belgian Court recognises CC licences Important progress here for Creative Commons. The more case law that upholds CC licences the better. iFixit: The free repair manual Just love this site, full of good stuff. And what’s more: “We fund our mission of helping people fix things by selling useful service parts and tools.” Symbian Foundation [...]
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☂ Community Escrow Essay Posted
Posted on November 10, 2010 by Simon Phipps
My essay on Community Escrow, one of the differentiating features of open source software, is now available in the Essays section.
Filed under: Webmink | Tagged: Essays | 1 Comment »
☞ Making Claims
Posted on November 9, 2010 by Simon Phipps
EC lobs grenades at copyright’s Ancien Régime Kroes said she thought “the system has ended up giving a more prominent role to intermediaries than to artists”. She continued: “It irritates the public, who often cannot access what artists want to offer and leaves a vacuum which is served by illegal content, depriving the artists of [...]
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