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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Shane was very moved by the aftermath of the big earthquake in Japan last year. He decided practical action was needed, and with others founded the OpenRelief project. They quickly created a prototype autonomous robotic data-gathering drone design and have just started experiments with it. I had the chance to interview him today – hope you found the video informative.
Update: I’ve written more in ComputerWorldUK, take a look.
Filed under: ComputerWorldUK, MinkCast, Zeitgeist | Tagged: Japan, OpenRelief | Comments Off on Introducing OpenRelief
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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Please send a contribution to the UK Open Standards Consultation TODAY, before the deadline at midnight UK time. It’s really simple, as little as an e-mail if you want – see the end of today’s article in ComputerWorldUK.
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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 »
Sun acknowledged in 2008 and 2009 that Java ME was fragmented – and had been for years – without any help from Android.
[youtube http://youtu.be/wx_YhPJWNhs]More in today’s article on ComputerWorld UK.
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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.
Filed under: InfoWorld | Tagged: OSBC | 2 Comments »
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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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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The final round-table for the government’s Open Standards Consultation is now open for booking – consider attending as much is at stake for UK ICT procurement. Read more on ComputerWorldUK today.
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All views expressed on this blog are those of Simon Phipps and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other entity, including current and former employers and clients. See my full disclosure of interests.
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