The first release of the contributor agreements created by Project Harmony were published last Monday. I participated in the Project, but I don’t endorse it. Find out why over on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK, Copyright | Tagged: Harmony | Comments Off on ☝ Out Of Tune With Community
Does your company use open source software? Do they contribute to it in any way? If not, perhaps you should follow the Brazilian government’s lead.
Read about it on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | Tagged: Brazil | Comments Off on ☝ Investing In Open Source
In a post to a private mailing list I follow, Software Conservancy chief Bradley Kuhn has confirmed that an unexpected problem highlighted recently by CASH Music is indeed a real issue for open source groups in the USA seeking to formalise non-profit status. I asked Bradley if he’d be happy to share some of the information from that posting and he agreed.
You can read all about it on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | 1 Comment »
When society was arranged as a series of intermediaries serving disconnected clients, distinguishing clients from non-clients was a key element of business. But in a meshed, massively connected society, simulating that world using artificial control mechanisms simply does harm. In today’s article for ComputerWorldUK I connect the dots of Apple’s patent on video shutdowns, the problems projectionists have with Sony movies, Cory Doctorow’s recent keynote at PDF and my own essay on Digital Restrictions Management (DRM).
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | Comments Off on ☝ Control Considered Harmful
I got an e-mail from the Financial Times yesterday, announcing their new “FT App”. That sounded unusual; after all, the FT has had an iPad/iPhone app for some time. I took a look, and found the whole world of mobile publishing waiting for me in microcosm. It’s not open source, but I see the same yearning after freedom driving choices here.
What’s happened is that the FT has scrapped their native Apple app for the iPad and iPhone, and replaced it with a purpose-built HTML 5 web site that can be installed on the iPad home screen as an app. The result looks and feels just like the old native app. It doesn’t work on older devices like the first-generation iPod Touch (the redirect to m.ft.com amusingly says “slow device”), but on the iPad it’s pretty slick.
Why have they done this? Read my view on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK, Technology | Tagged: Apple, HTML5, IPad | Comments Off on ☝ The FT and the App Trap
As expected, the Apache Software Foundation took the first steps to admitting the OpenOffice.org project to the Apache community, following Oracle’s IBM-designed proposal. It now faces a time of maturing and proving in Apache’s Incubator.
I’ve avoided publishing articles here during the Apache discussion as I have both a history and strong views. But with the end of voting, it’s time to document the story so far. You can read my views over on ComputerWorldUK.
If that’s TL;DR, here’s a summary: The best thing end-users can do is ignore OpenOffice.org at Apache, and switch to LibreOffice instead until the dust settles and we can all see a better path forward.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK, LibreOffice, ODF | Tagged: Apache | 8 Comments »
The why and wherefore of IPv6 Day, as well as plenty of handy links, are over on my blog at ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | Comments Off on ☝ Happy IPv6 Day
As the pressure on and from political leaders to “regulate” the internet mounts, the need for basic infrastructure to switch from hierarchical to distributed control is becoming more urgent. The week has seen a number of developments that highlight the growing conflict between those with vested interests in centralised control of the web and those who believe control points are a form of defect. Read about it on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | Comments Off on ☝ eG8, Control Points and NameCoin
Having suspended disbelief for as long as I could, my ability to take Microsoft at their word over Skype was shattered today by the announcement by Digium, sponsors of the Asterisk project, that they have been told they can no longer sell their Asterisk-Skype interaction module after July 26. In one move, we have illustrated the risk of a hybrid open source model, the danger of dependency on a proprietary system, a proof that Microsoft still can’t be trusted with open source and an impetus to open source innovation.
All in one announcement. Read all about it on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | Tagged: Asterisk, Linux, Microsoft, Skype | Comments Off on ☝ A liberating betrayal?
Cloud computing is not just disruptive to the software market; it’s also disruptive to software freedom advocacy. Software freedom has been defined as being present when any recipient of a software binary has the freedom to also use the source code for any purpose, study the source code, modify it and distribute it themselves. Cloud applications fail this test at the first hurdle, since no-one is actually receiving a software binary and thus the “four freedoms” analysis to determine the presence of software freedom is inapplicable.
Does this mean no-one should use cloud solutions? While there are some extreme voices that assert abstinence, I think that’s an untenable position. Cloud computing offers so many benefits – many resonant with what people have historically sought from software freedom – that it’s sure to be used. Listening to entrepreneurs and investors here at OSBC, there’s no doubt that the future of software has a substantial dimension in the cloud.
Read the full article over on ComputerWorldUK.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK | 2 Comments »
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