Announcements
Non-Commercial announcements
Gentoo becomes Open Invention Network licensee
The Gentoo Foundation has joined Open Invention Network as a licensee. "We believe that by becoming an Open Invention Network licensee, we encourage continued open source development and foster innovation in a technical community that benefits everyone. We recognize the importance of participating in a substantial community of Linux supporters and leveraging the Open Invention Network to further spur open source innovation."
FSFE: European Commission's software contract is a rough deal for Europe
The Free Software Foundation Europe urges the European Commission to stick to its own decisions and guidelines to use open and interoperable hardware and software. "The European Commission will spend EUR 189 million on proprietary software over the next six years, in direct contradiction to its own decisions and guidelines. The Commission last week announced a six-year framework contract to acquire a wide range of mostly proprietary software and related services."
FSFLA's petition for Canaima GNU/Linux to be Free
The Free Software Foundation Latin America has petitioned the Venezuelan government to remove the non-free bits from the state sponsored Canaima GNU/Linux. "There are regulations that will require that computers purchased or produced by the Venezuelan state be capable of working with Canaima GNU/Linux. If Canaima GNU/Linux includes privative drivers, it will enable the purchase of far more hardware that demands Privative Software to work, preventing the achievement of our dreamed Technological Sovereignty."
Commercial announcements
Android 2.3 and the Nexus S
Google has announced the availability of the Android 2.3 platform and software development kit. There's lots of new stuff in this release; source does not appear to be available yet, though.Also announced is a new flagship phone: the Nexus S.
Mentor Graphics acquires CodeSourcery assets
Mentor Graphics has announced its intention to acquire certain assets of CodeSourcery, Inc., a provider of open source GNU-based toolchains and services. ""CodeSourcery and its industry-recognized toolchain services and products significantly increase the value of embedded solutions that Mentor Embedded can provide its customers, as well as contributions to the open source community," said Glenn Perry, general manager, Mentor Graphics Embedded Software Division. "We believe that the future of embedded development depends on the wide availability of open source software and tools."" (Thanks to David Daney)
Linux Foundation Announces Certifications to Linux Standard Base 4.0 and Public Beta 4.1
The Linux Foundation has announced that all the leading commercial Linux companies are certified to Linux Standard Base 4.0 (LSB 4.0), "including Canonical, Kylin, Linpus, Mandriva, Neoshine, Novell, Oracle, Red Flag and Red Hat." There is also a beta of the LSB 4.1 available at https://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/LSB_4.1_Beta.
Huawei Joins Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation has announced that the Chinese company Huawei has joined LF. "Being recognized as one of the world's most innovative companies, Huawei is using Linux to develop network equipment and devices and sees its Linux Foundation membership as an opportunity to collaborate with a worldwide network of developers, users and vendors to advance that work."
Articles of interest
Asay: Leaving Canonical
On his blog, Matt Asay has announced that he is leaving Canonical for a mobile web application startup called Strobe. Asay started as Canonical's Chief Operating Office (COO) in February. "It was the hardest decision of my career, even harder than my decision to leave Alfresco. I have never left an employer after such a short time, and everywhere I look within Canonical and the Ubuntu community I see massive opportunity. This is a leap of faith for me, but one that I feel sure is right for me, even as I continue to cheer on Canonical in its ambitious quest."
Student participation in open source projects (opensource.com)
Opensource.com is running an article from a university professor on student participation in development projects. "Clearly, there are also large differences in culture. But I think that collaboration between open source and academic realms can work, as there are also some strong commonalities between the groups. The open source and academic environments both share the desire to create something, to produce a product that people will use. Both groups have a love of learning and both groups are based on the idea that something (whether it is knowledge or software) should be accessible to everyone. Both groups have a desire to belong to a professional group, to be interacting as professionals and participating in ongoing professional activity. And interestingly, I think both groups share the desire to be self-directed and to have control over what they do."
Progress Report: LibreOffice Beta 3 (Linux Magazine)
Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier looks at LibreOffice Beta 3. "The progress made by the LibreOffice folks so far is impressive, at least when it comes to attracting contributors. The third beta was released on November 18th, and seems to have impressive momentum. The release notes list 118 contributors who've helped with the development just between beta 2 and beta 3. How's it looking so far? Don't expect miracles, but it's shaping up nicely."
About Those 882 Novell Patents: This is Where OIN Comes In (Groklaw)
Groklaw takes a look at the sale of Novell's patents and how the Open Invention Network (OIN) fits in. "Here's how it works. The patents of OIN members are licensed to each other royalty-free in perpetuity. Even on a sale, the license remains in force for all pre-existing members. If you are a member of OIN prior to the closing on the Novell deal, then, you are covered. The proposed closing date is January 23rd, so you still have time to join OIN and get the benefit of the license to those patents. Then, if Microsoft shows up at your door, you can say, "Thanks, but no thanks. I already have a license." So here's what it all adds up to, by my reading: if ever you were thinking of joining the Open Invention Network, this is the sensible time to do it, as long as you get it done before this sale closes and that door shuts with respect to the Novell patents."
Novell muddles through fiscal Q4 (The Register)
The Register covers at Novell's financial results. "Novell didn't do too badly in Q4, all things considered, with sales only down 4.2 per cent to $206.5m. Software license sales were $31.3m, down a smidgen from the year-ago quarter. Maintenance and subscription sales were off 4.2 per cent, mirroring license declines, at $153.3m, and services revenues fell by 9.7 per cent to just under $22m. In the quarter, Novell booked $308m in non-cash tax benefits related to "certain net deferred tax assets," which would have been interesting to explain."
Legal Announcements
Red Hat Files Brief with U.S. Supreme Court
Red Hat has joined in a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking correction of the standard for inducing patent infringement. "The "friend of the court," or amicus brief, submitted by Red Hat and others seeks reversal of a lower court decision that threatens to expand patent litigation. The brief argues that the law requires that only those who actually know of the specific patent at issue and know that it covers the alleged infringing activity can be found liable."
New Books
Pragmatic Guide to Subversion--New from Pragmatic Bookshelf
Pragmatic Bookshelf has released "Pragmatic Guide to Subversion", by Mike Mason.Pragmatic Guide to JavaScript--New from Pragmatic Bookshelf
Pragmatic Bookshelf has released "Pragmatic Guide to JavaScript", by Christophe Porteneuve.
Upcoming Events
Linux Users' Group of Davis presentation December 20th
The Linux Users' Group of Davis (LUGOD) will be holding its next meeting on December 20, 2010 at the Explorit Nature Center in Davis, California. There will a presentation on "3D Display, 3D Interaction, 3D Capture, and Off-Label Uses of Commodity Hardware (or: How to Become an Internet Celebrity in Three Easy Steps)"
Events: December 16, 2010 to February 14, 2011
The following event listing is taken from the LWN.net Calendar.
| Date(s) | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| December 13 December 18 |
SciPy.in 2010 | Hyderabad, India |
| December 15 December 17 |
FOSS.IN/2010 | Bangalore, India |
| January 16 January 22 |
PyPy Leysin Winter Sprint | Leysin, Switzerland |
| January 22 | OrgCamp 2011 | Paris, France |
| January 24 January 29 |
linux.conf.au 2011 | Brisbane, Australia |
| January 27 January 28 |
Southwest Drupal Summit 2011 | Houston, Texas, USA |
| January 27 | Ubuntu Developer Day | Bangalore, India |
| January 29 January 31 |
FUDCon Tempe 2011 | Tempe, Arizona, USA |
| February 2 February 3 |
Cloud Expo Europe | London, UK |
| February 5 February 6 |
FOSDEM 2011 | Brussels, Belgium |
| February 5 | Open Source Conference Kagawa 2011 | Takamatsu, Japan |
| February 7 February 11 |
Global Ignite Week 2011 | several, worldwide |
| February 11 February 12 |
Red Hat Developer Conference 2011 | Brno, Czech Republic |
If your event does not appear here, please tell us about it.
Page editor: Rebecca Sobol