A new project that forks the GPL shows that Github isn’t just for software developers. See my column in InfoWorld this week for more.
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Red Hat’s Hidden Cloud
Posted on June 29, 2012 by Simon Phipps
Not every project hits the headlines. As I’ve been co-hosting FLOSS Weekly over the last few months, I’ve noticed a surprising number of projects showing up that handle cloud computing in useful ways and are staff by Red Hat employees. I take a short stroll through some of those less known projects in this week’s InfoWorld column.
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Can the DPL Work?
Posted on June 15, 2012 by Simon Phipps
What is patents could be de-weaponized? That’s the goal of the new Defensive Patent License, released this week by law professor (and former EFF lawyer) Jason Schultz. My article for InfoWorld this week looks at the background to the DPL and asks if it will actually work.
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Old Arguments Resurfacing
Posted on June 8, 2012 by Simon Phipps
I’ve been working with corporate open source for long enough now that arguments against it that were popular years ago, which I’d assumed were fully explained and forgotten, are now coming round again. One of them, the “there’s no indemnity with open source” red herring, is the subject of my column in InfoWorld this week.
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GPL Cops – Good Or Bad?
Posted on June 1, 2012 by Simon Phipps
Taking the tram at OSCON (Credit: Michael Dexter)
The folks at the Software Freedom Conservancy (notably their Executive Director Bradley Kuhn, pictured) were good enough to spend time with me discussing their work on GPL enforcement and sent me this week’s news in advance so I could think about it. My concern for a while has been that GPL enforcement – which mainly targets embedded use of the Linux ecosystem – creates the impression that open source is a risky choice for enterprises. I do agree with them that the education of electronics vendors – ultimately backed by sanctions, so they will listen – is a useful function. I dislike the way the same language is used by others to sell “legal compliance” services to enterprise users on the back of FUD, though.
I was pleased to find that the SFC folk largely agree with me. My article in InfoWorld today tries to set the balance straight as far as enterprise adoption of open source is concerned. Bradley and I could also collaborate on a more detailed article – I’d be interested in your views of how valuable that would be.
Filed under: InfoWorld, Open Source | Tagged: GPL | 1 Comment »
Open Source Market Matures
Posted on May 27, 2012 by Simon Phipps
My article for InfoWorld this week considers the annual Open Source Survey, unveiled at OSBC in San Francisco, and observes that the market is trending towards valuing the Freedom To Leave that I wrote about in 2006.
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Does the verdict neuter WORA?
Posted on May 25, 2012 by Simon Phipps
The stunning win by Google this week in their defence against Oracle over Java patents in Android may well meal that Write One Run Anywhere is no longer enforceable. Read more in my instant opinion article in yesterday’s InfoWorld.
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What Next After GPL and Apache?
Posted on May 18, 2012 by Simon Phipps
My article on InfoWorld today looks at the arc of software licensing trends and predicts commercial open source will eventually swing back to the centre and favour MPLv2.
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Suite Activity
Posted on May 9, 2012 by Simon Phipps
While the news about the ongoing Oracle-Google trial in the US has been holding my attention, there have been a sequence of news releases about desktop productivity showing up over the last few weeks. It’s all too good to miss, so I’ve written summaries over on ComputerWorldUK and an enhanced version on InfoWorld.
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Open Source Enables Innovation
Posted on May 4, 2012 by Simon Phipps
Without it, Ubuntu for Android would probably never have happened. My article for InfoWorld this week includes a video demonstration of it in action, and reflects a little on how open source removes obstacles so that innovation can simply happen and not be bogged down with the inevitable stop-energy proprietary approaches involve.
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