ideOS

Vietnam gives priority to open source software

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:15:00 +0000

Vietnam gives priority to open source software
18 Ap 2007

The Vietnamese government has approved the software industry development programme to 2010, in which priority will be given to the use of open source software in state-funded IT projects. The state will encourage and assist organisations and businesses in providing services supporting the use of open source software.

Source: VietNamNet Bridge

ITerating.com, Wiki-Based Guide to Commercial, Open Source and Hosted Software

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:12:00 +0000

ITerating.com, Wiki-Based Guide to Commercial, Open Source and Hosted Software

Press release

Founder of sourceforge.net, former Microsoft VP join as advisors and investors to new software-comparison site.

New York, April 18, 2007 -- ITerating.com, the first Wiki-based directory of open source, commercial and hosted software, announced today its worldwide availability at www.ITerating.com. The site is the ultimate reference guide for the IT industry and includes reviews, ratings, articles, and detailed product feature comparisons. ITerating.com uses Semantic Web tools (including RDF) to combine user edits with Web service feeds from other sites.

“The software industry is broad, diverse, and constantly changing,” said Nicolas Vandenberghe, Founder and CEO, ITerating.com. “To offer comprehensive, relevant and up-to-date information, a Wiki-based model is the only choice.”

Designed for use by developers and industry consultants alike, ITerating.com allows users to easily contribute to popular categories such as Software Engineering Tools; Website Design & Tools; Website Software Tools; Website & Communication Applications & Social Networking; or to create their own category if does not exist yet.

ITerating.com encourages contributors to be bold, by editing existing products if it’s apparent that there isn't enough information in a particular "data sheet". Nothing can be ‘broken’ because it can be improved or fixed at any time. If a favorite product is not listed, contributors can add by clicking the [Add product link on the homepage. Contributors can invite other users to rate entries, giving them a chance to be included in the ‘Top Rated Products’ section.

Larry Augustin, founder of VA Software, parent company of open source repository site sourceforge.net, and Brian Roberts, former Corporate Vice President of Corporate Development at Microsoft, have joined to support ITerating.com as advisory board members and investors. Coming from opposite sides, these industry leaders recognize that the technology community needs a single repository for commercial, open source and hosted software.

“Nothing like ITerating.com exists on the Web today,” said Larry Augustin, venture investor and open source evangelist. “It’s one of these ideas that seems so obvious once you see it -- an obvious need in the industry.”

“In response to its customers, even Microsoft today has to address the issue of open source, best demonstrated by its investment to increase interopererability between Linux and Windows,” added Brian Roberts, Senior Managing Director of Evercore Partners. “ITerating.com supports healthy competition among different companies and solutions by making things more transparent. Ultimately, everyone benefits.”

About ITerating.com
ITerating.com is the first Wiki-based software guide, where IT professionals can find, compare and give reviews to thousands of software products. Founded in October of 2005, and based in New York, ITerating.com was created by CEO Nicolas Vandenberghe, who saw that there was an industry need for a comprehensive resource to help evaluate software solutions. All the content in ITerating.com is covered by the Creative Commons and contributions (rating, reviews, text) remain the property of their creators. For more information, visit www.ITerating.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
LaurieAnne Lassek, for ITerating.com
C: 415.225.2236

McNealy Touts Open-Source Education Site

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:08:00 +0000

McNealy Touts Open-Source Education Site

17 Apr 2007

Since Sun Microsystems Inc. co-founder Scott McNealy stepped down as chief executive to focus on his chairmanship full-time, he's been spending a lot of time as pitchman for a project called Curriki -- short for curriculum and wiki, which is a Web site allowing users to add and modify content and claim a piece of authorship.

With Curriki, parents, teachers and students can post and download free lesson plans, sample tests, book chapters and other materials.

Read the full report from here @ MyFox Twin Cities

Premier Open Source Services Automation Solution Gets Major Facelift

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:05:00 +0000

Premier Open Source Services Automation Solution Gets Major Facelift

Apr 18th 2007

allocPSA, the premier open source Professional Services Automation solution, has just seen its second major release under the popular GNU General Public License (GPL). Businesses worldwide can now download and deploy a proven, production-grade online services management solution, free of charge.

allocPSA is a complete, organisation-wide business solution that integrates all practice groups and functions in a professional services company, into a single computer system.

Read the full news release from here @ Linux PR

Can open source save Second Life?

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 10:00:00 +0000

Can open source save Second Life?

Asks Dana Blankenhorn in this April 18th, 2007 post at ZDNet

Second Life has lots of buzz, lots of fans, not a lot of money coming in. It has been a business model problem that many otherwise successful Internet businesses have faced.

Will open sourcing the servers change things, asks Dana in this post. Read on.

Create Ringtones The Open Source Way

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:58:00 +0000

Create Ringtones The Open Source Way

The folks over at younevercall.com have put together a handy guide for Linux users looking to create their own ringtones. With cellphone companies charging as much as $3 for a twenty second ringtone, the guide should help Linux users save a little cash.

Source: Compiler @ Wired News

Open Source, Transparency and Electronic Voting

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:54:00 +0000

Open Source, Transparency and Electronic Voting

By John P. Mello Jr., Linux Insider

18 Apr 2007

Using open source software for voting can add credibility to the electronic process, according to Joseph Kiniry, a computer science lecturer with University College Dublin in Ireland and a researcher in open source software for voting.

With open source software, he told LinuxInsider, "not only can experts evaluate the software and make sure it does what it says it does, but it also increases the level of trust that normal, non-expert users can have in that software system."

Read the full article from here @ Tech News World

Open-source embedded database jumps on .NET CF

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:50:00 +0000

Open-source embedded database jumps on .NET CF

Apr. 18, 2007

McObject has released a version of its open source, object-oriented embedded database system for the .NET Compact Framework (CF). Perst for .NET Compact Framework offers a smaller footprint than the standard Perst product, as befitting applications running on resource-constrained, Windows CE-based mobile phones, set-top boxes, PDAs, and other smart devices.

Read the full news report from Windows for Devices

Bloggers Call for Open Source Lobbyists & Advocacy

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:25:00 +0000

Bloggers Call for Open Source Lobbyists & Advocacy

Via a post by Lora Bentley @ IT Business Edge, April 18, 2007

A Florida legislator’s efforts to insert pro-open source/open standards language into a bill that would create an enterprise information technology office in the state’s executive branch were foiled by lobbyists from Microsoft, according to Linux.com.

Rep. Ed Homan added text to Senate Bill 1974 that advocated the state’s adoption and implementation of systems that support open formats. Shortly after, it appears Microsoft’s men arrived at the Florida Legislature to convince its members that the addition to the bill was not a good idea.

Linux.com has now urged its readers to take up the cause of open source in Florida. So has ZDNet Dana Blankenhorn in a post.

Autodesk’s Contribution to the Geospatial Open Source Community Gains ’Seal of Approval’ From Developers

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:21:00 +0000

Autodesk’s Contribution to the Geospatial Open Source Community Gains ’Seal of Approval’ From Developers

Press release

April 18, 2007
Company: Autodesk, Inc
Industry: Open Source GIS
Location: San Francisco, CA, United States of America

SAN FRANCISCO,CA- Following the first anniversary of its launch, MapGuide Open Source has achieved a new status within the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) as a fully endorsed project. Originally developed as Autodesk MapGuide software by Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK), and released to the open source community in 2006, MapGuide Open Source is a Web-based platform that enables users to develop and publish online mapping applications and geospatial web services.

During its incubation process, the project's community of more than 600 members actively engaged in development and application efforts to validate the software's functionality, viability and support. As part of the project's graduation, Robert Bray, platform software manager and architect of geospatial solutions at Autodesk, has assumed the role of OSGeo vice-president -- MapGuide Open Source.

"As a new open source project, it was crucial that MapGuide Open Source show clear signs of an open development process and community involvement. Early in the incubation process, community members were already collaborating to identify new ways to use the technology and to request new features needed in future releases," said Tyler Mitchell, executive director of OSGeo. "Now that it has graduated from the incubation process, becoming an official OSGeo project, developers can have added confidence applying the MapGuide Open Source platform to meet their specific web mapping needs."

With more than 25,000 downloads in its first year and an average of four to five thousand downloads per month in 2007, the software is already being embraced by the geospatial open source community. To date, MapGuide Open Source has had three version releases, with the most recent update in January 2007 adding direct support of KML files for Google Earth mapping service.

"As a sustaining sponsor of OSGeo, Autodesk is excited by the number of innovative projects that open source developers are building with MapGuide Open Source," said Lisa Campbell, vice president of geospatial solutions at Autodesk. "This network of professionals brings new capabilities to local and regional audiences around the world much faster than Autodesk could, if the software were still proprietary."

One new geospatial project using MapGuide Open Source is the San Francisco Urban Forest Mapping System, a dynamic online resource for residents, community groups and city employees to update and share information about trees within the city's urban forest. As the Urban Forest Mapping Project is a community-based initiative by public and non-profit organizations, MapGuide Open Source was the ideal platform because it offered the flexibility to adapt the technology to suit the project's unique needs. The project partners plan to contribute the Urban Forest Mapping Project technology to the open source community for the benefit of other cities or organizations. The source code for the map will be released to the open source community at www.sftreemap.org.

In addition to MapGuide Open Source, Autodesk contributed its Feature Data Object (FDO) data access technology as an open source project to OSGeo. Autodesk is also a sustaining sponsor of OSGeo, further showing their support of the open source community.

For more information about MapGuide Open Source, visit mapguide.osgeo.org/.

About the Open Source Geospatial Foundation
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open geospatial technologies and data. The foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit. OSGeo also serves as an outreach and advocacy organization for the open source geospatial community, and provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving cross-project collaboration. The foundation's projects are all freely available at www.osgeo.org and useable under an OSI-certified open source license.

About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk has developed the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art digital prototyping solutions to help customers experience their ideas before they are real. Fortune 1000 companies rely on Autodesk for the tools to visualize, simulate and analyze real-world performance early in the design process to save time and money, enhance quality and foster innovation.

For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.

Contact: Toni Cole, (503) 471-6841 Email: toni.cole@edelman.com

Exclusive report on open source portals

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:18:00 +0000

Exclusive report on open source portals

April 19, 2007

Lukasz Wilczynski writes "GridwiseTech, a vendor-independent Grid computing expert, released an exclusive report on Grid-Compliant Open Source Portals, available for free download on the website www.gridwisetech.com/portals. The report is an outline of the complete research and software testing of the leading solutions in the field: GridSphere, Liferay and uPortal. It is addressed to technology investigators from business sector, who are in the process of selecting portal technologies suitable for their specific needs.

Read the full product announcement news report from News Forge

Startup commercializes open-source microkernel

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:14:00 +0000

Startup commercializes open-source microkernel

Richard Goering, EE Times, 18 Apr 2007

The open-source OKL4 microkernel, developed by Australia's Center of Excellence for Information and Computing Technology (NICTA), is about to receive a strong commercial push. Open Kernel (OK) Labs, a NICTA spinoff, is setting up its U.S. headquarters in Chicago and rolling out commercial support package.

OKL4 is an open-source microkernel aimed at embedded consumer and mobile devices. It claims fast performance and supports virtualization, real-time programming, software componentization, fine-grained protection domains, and dynamic resource partitioning

Read the full news report from here @ EE Times

OpenOffice deal pushes open-source to business

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:13:00 +0000

OpenOffice deal pushes open-source to business

China Martens, Apr 19, 2007

Open-source business intelligence (BI) software vendor Pentaho is hoping a new tie-up unveiled today with the OpenOffice.org community and Sun Microsystems will bring its BI offerings to the attention of many more new users.

Read the full report from here @ PC Advisor, UK

Red Hat tries spreading open-source idea

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 09:10:00 +0000

Red Hat tries spreading open-source idea

Posted by Stephen Shankland, April 18, 2007

Red Hat is taking a second crack at trying to spread its open-source philosophy beyond the realm of software development.

On Wednesday, the Linux seller announced a partnership with the nearby University of North Carolina to try to encourage use of the open, collaborative model in the fields of health care research, biotechnology, bioinformatics and public policy.

Read the full news report from here @ News.com

Norwegan Liberal Party Passes Resolution for File Sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:53:00 +0000

Norwegan Liberal Party Passes Resolution in Favor of File Sharing

New Proposal Would Move Copyright Laws into the 21st Century

By TheCaptain, April 15, 2007

Norway's liberal party, Venstre, has recently passed a resolution that is nothing short of revolutionary-in favor of file sharing. Copyright law is out of date, the party says...technology now makes it such that current copyright laws actually impede the cultural progress that could otherwise take place, by stopping a tremendously efficient mechanism of sharing information. A new system is necessary that would facilitate the production of content while at the same time giving users access to it. The new resolution calls for a change of policy in four areas: file sharing, sampling, commercial copyright lifespan, and the use of digital rights management software (DRM).

Read this interesting article from Associated Content

Open Source in Arts, Writing - Collage not copyright

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:43:00 +0000

Open Source in Arts, Writing - Collage not copyright

Apr 15, 2007

Author Jonathan Lethem, would like to see copyright laws tweaked to recognize the intrinsically collaborative nature of art. Taking up the fight against lifetime-plus-70-years copyright laws, Lethem wrote a clear and heavily documented 13-page essay for Harper's magazine in February titled 'The Ecstasy of Influence: A plagiarism.' In this well-researched and convincing piece, Lethem compares ever-lengthening copyrights and patents to the fencing in of the public commons in ancient England for private use...

Lethem also plans to give away an option on the film rights to his novel 'You Don't Love Me Yet.' He explains why on his Web site: http://jonathanlethem.com

Read the full article from here @ Santa Cruz Seninel

Microsoft: Never Really Helping Open source

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:33:00 +0000

Microsoft: Never Really Helping Open source

16 April 2007, SDA India

It is Microsoft once again against open source! (So what's new?). This time, it is over their ClearType technology. The reason why the fonts are better in Windows as compared to Linux is the ClearType technology that Windows uses. Doug Schaefer feels that Microsoft is never going to extend the patent protection on ClearType to all of the Linux community, and that in the fuzz between ClearType and FreeType, and between open source and software patents, it is the user who pays the price.

Read this brief news item @ SDA India

Sun to Contribute to Open Source Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:29:00 +0000

Sun to Contribute to Open Source Storage

16 April 2007

Sun has said that it plans to give some of its storage software and hardware technology to the open source community. The donated technology includes Sun-only administration features of Solaris ZFS to be given over to the OpenSolaris open source community...

This will enable community members to combine OpenSolaris with hardware from any source to create storage solutions at a fraction of the price of traditional proprietary storage vendors. This combination of open source and commodity hardware could herald a new stage in the storage industry...

Read the full news item from here @ SDA Asia Magazine

What makes an open source Project successful?

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 05:20:00 +0000

What makes an open source Project successful?

16 April 2007

Is the enthusiasm for open source software projects a "bubble" ready to burst and take the model down with it? That's what the CEO of one of the most successful open source projects thinks...

"Right now, open source is hot," said Rod Johnson, author of the Spring Java development framework and CEO of Interface21, the company he founded to market it. Most open source projects are supported by an army of volunteers who buy into the hype, but "capitalism will inevitably reassert itself" and developers will find they need to put more effort into steady jobs and private lives, leaving "open source zombies"--unsupported, unmaintained projects--he predicts.

But wait! All is not lost. In his opinion, while the majority of open source projects will fade into obscurity, companies and products that have the critical mass of customers, developers, and employees and financially viable business models could yet make the open source paradigm a force to reckon with.

Read this interesting article from IT News Australia

Open Source fund loses money source!

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:26:00 +0000

Open Source fund loses money source

By Nick Farrell, 09 Apr 2007

An open source outfit which funds open source projects through financing from credit cards, is losing its card provider. The Linux Fund cardholders received notice from the Bank of America recently that the program is being discontinued.

The letter says that the Linux Fund recently agreed to discontinue the existing credit card programme after June 30, 2007.

Read the full news report from here @ The Inquirier, UK

Varien Announces Magento, an Open Source eCommerce Platform

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:22:00 +0000

Varien Announces Magento, a Ground Breaking Open Source eCommerce Platform

Press release

The open source software will change the eCommerce playing field by allowing greater functionality for a fraction of the cost.

Los Angeles, CA, April 9, 2007 -- Varien, an industry leading eCommerce provider, announced a revolutionary new open source eCommerce platform today that brings the power and security of an enterprise solution without the hassle and cost.

"Magento is the flexible, feature-rich and secure eCommerce solution business owners need to propel their online business," said Varien President Roy Rubin. "It gives the control of a proprietary system without the 6-digit price tag."

We examined and improved every process encountered by our staff of project managers, analysts, developers and designers. The result is a complete open source eCommerce solution that promises to not only grow with your business, but also grow it.
Magento is open source software built by Varien, an industry leader and eCommerce provider for over 6 years. The software includes cutting-edge features such as single-page checkout, ship-to-multiple-addresses and a wealth of other high-end components that will improve conversions and elevate online businesses.

"We're committed to developing the leading eCommerce platform," said Rubin, "and Magento provides the flexibility required in today's environment. The industry reported $108.7 billion in sales last year and companies need a solid platform like Magento to compete."

With Magento, you no longer have to mold your business logic or site design to the will of your eCommerce platform. Varien built Magento from the ground up to provide unprecedented control and allow for total customization. The modular and open architecture makes integrating with third parties through web services and API's a breeze, and the system includes robust marketing, analytics and catalog tools right out of the box.

"Calling on our experience and extensive understanding of our clients' needs we set out to develop the ultimate open source eCommerce solution," said Rubin. "We examined and improved every process encountered by our staff of project managers, analysts, developers and designers. The result is a complete open source eCommerce solution that promises to not only grow with your business, but also grow it."

Look for Magento's release in the summer of 2007. Sign up at MagentoCommerce.com to get updates on the development and a chance to be among the first to use the new eCommerce platform set to revolutionize the industry.

About Varien:
Varien is an eCommerce development firm devoted to creating engaging web sites, rich internet applications, and innovative user experiences. We pride ourselves on effectively and consistently integrating new web technologies with user-friendly interface design. Our solutions generate our customers over $150 million/year in sales. Varien is located in Los Angeles, CA. For more information call (866) 4.Varien or visit www.varien.com

For more information contact:
Chris Marshall
Varien
(310) 280-3908

Open Source Telephony Becoming More Compelling

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:19:00 +0000

Open Source Telephony Becoming More Compelling

By Greg Royal, 04/09/2007

One of the most interesting transformations in the telecommunications industry is the transformation of business models, specifically in this case, the Asterisk PBX. The fascination is in applying the Linux Open Source Model, give away the product and sell the services, to your telephone system.

Read more from this post on the pros and cons of open source telephony / networking, and hints on where the market could be headed - Network World

CosmosCode Brings Open Source to NASA

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:15:00 +0000

CosmosCode Brings Open Source to NASA

Posted by Lora Bentley on April 9, 2007

NASA is embracing open source this month with the launch of CosmosCode. Taking public the project, designed by Jessy Cowan-Sharp and Robert Schingler at NASA’s Mountain View, Calif.-based Ames Research Center, will enable the agency to recruit software engineers to develop code for live space missions, the story says

Read the full blog post from here @ IT Business Edge

Application Testing Vendor RadView Moving to Open Source Model

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 14:07:00 +0000

RadView Moving to Open Source Model

By Sean Michael Kerner, April 6, 2007

Internet application testing vendor RadView plans to migrate its flagship product to an open source model using the General Public License (GPL), internetnews.com has learned. The announcement is expected to be made on Wednesday April 11.

The move to open source its products could have implications for commercial vendors in the sector, such as Hewlett-Packard's Mercury Interactive and IBM's Rational Software division.

Read the full news report from here @ Internet News

Open Source Market: OpenLogic’s CEO unveils new trends

noreply@blogger.com (Ecacofonix) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:15:00 +0000

Open Source Market: OpenLogic’s CEO unveils new trends

by Roberto Galoppini, April 5, 2007

Steven L. Grandchamp, OpenLogic’s CEO, has written an insightful article entitled “The Evolution of Open Source”, explaining that there are many sourcing and selection issues and how this market is evolving.

Roberto discusses Steven's article in this blog post and also provides his perspectives on the trends.

One quote that I'd like to carry from this post, "The real opportunity for growth is in demystifying the use of open source. Those third-party, open source firms that focus on helping enterprises develop policies, pick projects, and manage deployments are the ones most likely to succeed and excel." Similar to what Roberto says, I'm not sure if these horizontal business models are more likely to succeed (I hope this indeed is what Roberto has meant by his term "horizontal" business models!), but I can see a distinct value addition and a distinct avenue of making serious money as well in this model!

See the full post here