Linux in the news

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European software patents not pending (ZDNet)

Here's a ZDNet UK column praising Poland for its role in blocking software patents in Europe. "We're big enough not to need the US: instead, US software will labour under the extra inconvenience and cost of licensing agreements, while European software will be free to be developed and distributed as we see fit. If the US wants to give us a monopoly on free and open-source software, then we'll have to cope as best we can."

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GPL 3 to Take on IP, Patents (eWeek)

eWeek takes a look at the GNU General Public License version 3. ""[The GPL] is now serving beyond what we would have said was its projected life," Moglen said. Software and the industry have changed radically over the past 10 years, "so there's a certain amount of cleaning up to do that simply has to do with settling the license into the contemporary environment," he said. Any changes made to the GPL will need to confront some difficult issues. For example, patent defense clauses will be a big topic of concern for GPL 3, Moglen said, and talks will center on the use of copyrights to retaliate against patent law. "We perceive some difficulty and enormous complexity in the fact that the GPL is a worldwide license and the global law of patents is not uniform," he said."

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Trade Shows and Conferences

Andrew Morton's Speaker Notes from SDForum (Groklaw)

Groklaw has published Andrew Morton's notes from his talk at SDForum. "Andrew Morton saw Groklaw's coverage of the "Linux is not forking like Unix" article, and he has now graciously provided his speaker's notes from SDForum, on the theme of "the interface between open source software development and the software-using business world." He says, "It's very close to what was said." I know, knowing you like I do, that you will enjoy it much more than any third-party report about what he allegedly said. I found it fascinating reading, and I'm happy I can share it with you now."

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Linux makes first appearance at Italy's PC Professionale Conference (NewsForge)

NewsForge reports on the GNU/Linux debut at Italy's PC Professionale Conference. "WPC is one of the most important IT conferences in Italy, as it focuses on bringing to Italian developers the latest information on the future of IT from a Microsoft Windows-centric point of view. The 2004 edition was held in Milan last week, and for the first time in the history of this event, the sponsors held a second conference during the first three days in the same place: the PC Professionale Conference. Through this second conference, GNU/Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) in general reached an audience that was accustomed to very different solutions for their computing needs."

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XML 2004: After Declaring Victory, What's Next? (O'Reilly)

Kendall Grant Clark covers the XML 2004 conference on O'Reilly. "A broad industry consensus has formed around the idea that the era of core XML specification-making is over, but that a great deal of work remains to be done. In fact, a triumphalist mood has captured the core XML developer community lately, especially here in DC. I keep hearing keynote speakers, Microsoft evangelists, and other assorted luminaries ask why the press hasn't sent the "we won!" message more clearly. But more about that later on."

And, if that's not enough coverage of the conference, see the article XML 2004: From the Exhibition Floor by Simon St. Laurent.

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Companies

Microsoft issues warning about Linux lawsuits (Reuters)

Reuters reports from a talk by Steve Ballmer in Singapore. "Linux violates more than 228 patents, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said at the company's Asian Government Leaders Forum in Singapore on Thursday. He did not provide any details on the alleged violations, which the Linux community disputes. 'Someday, for all countries that are entering the WTO (World Trade Organisation), somebody will come and look for money owing to the rights for that intellectual property,' he added."

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Sun invites outside involvement with Java 6 (News.com)

News.com examines Sun's open-source process for work performed on version 6.0 of the Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE). ""When we started doing API design with others in the JCP, our APIs got a lot better. We're trying to apply more of that principle to the J2SE source code itself," Hamilton said. "Having more eyes looking at it will improve the product over time." The move is the latest adjustment to Sun's long-running attempt to balance the openness of Java with the risks of letting outsiders hold sway. Sun's first Java foe was licensee Microsoft, which added Windows-specific features to Java in a way that undermined the software's primary benefit of letting the same program run on any computer."

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Linux Adoption

The real cost of open source (FCW)

Federal Computer Week has posted a look at Linux adoption in the U.S. government; it includes a half-hearted attempt to show that Linux may be more expensive and the obligatory Laura DiDio quotes. "NASA officials see another cost benefit for the agency's internal application development activities: They can consult diverse IT and subject matter experts in-house and in the greater scientific community, all of whom contribute to new applications in the collaborative tradition of open-source software development."

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Bill Gates no longer needed (Le Matin)

Le Matin reports (in French) that the Swiss state of Geneva plans to switch to free software by 2009. "'We want to guarantee our independence,' explains Jean-Marie Leclerc, general manager of the State Center for Technology and Information. 'This is not directed against Microsoft, it is just a matter of not depending upon a single company. Moreover, one cannot imagine an open administration without adopting open systems!'" (editor's translation). There is also an editoral column supporting the decision. (Merci à Frédéric Schütz).

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Linux at Work

Linux helps kids, brings hope, in Hawaii (NewsForge)

NewsForge covers Scott Belford and other members of the Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation. ""One by one, I began converting them to Xandros," Belford says. "It is seamless. Kids come in having no idea what Linux is. They sit down and click on the icon for Internet, or word processing to do schoolwork, and suddenly the 'broken computers' are working." HOSEF also supplied staff members who previously didn't have computers with which to do their work with Linux computers. Belford admits he was experimenting on them. "If you don't tell somebody they can't do it, they don't know. One is running SUSE, one is Mandrake, and two are on Xandros. I haven't offered any training -- they each do their work with spreadsheets, word processing, and Internet.""

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Interviews

Microsoft Director of Windows Product Management Talks Firefox (MozillaZine)

MozillaZine comments on a BetaNews interview with Microsoft's Gary Schare, Director of Windows Product Management. "He also says that "the Mozilla guys have had a bit of a free ride" regarding backwards compatibility, claiming that Microsoft does not have the luxury of releasing upgrades that drop support for browser add-ons and break compatibility with non-standard websites (curiously, this did not stop them from dropping support for Netscape plug-ins with the release of IE 5.5 Service Pack 2). Reponding directly to a question about the release of Firefox 1.0, Share repeats the usual rhetoric that Microsoft is "happy to have even more developers adding value onto the Windows platform"."

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Resources

Open Source Licenses Are Not All the Same (O'ReillyNet)

O'ReillyNet delves into open source licenses. "One of the most significant developments in the software and web development community in the past few years has been the increased use of open source software. It's vital for any programmer, web designer, or other computer professional to understand that open source licenses are not all the same. The differences between licenses can have a big impact on how you may use or distribute the software."

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Reviews

Linux MIDI: A Brief Survey, Part 2 (Linux Journal)

Dave Phillips looks at MIDI sequencers on Linux Journal. "New-school MIDI musicians are more software-based, using softsynths and plugins in place of racks of external gear. Modern sequencers also are expected to support audio tracks that can be synchronized with MIDI tracks. The audio/MIDI sequencer is now the rule: MIDI-only sequencers still are available, but they have become the exception."

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