There is quite a bit of talk about the Microsoft-Novell deal, Oracle's support for RedHat Linux, Sun's release of Java as FLOSS using the GNU GPL, and many other Linux and Open Source stories. They got me to thinking: We don't know which strategies being carried out by various companies are likely to succeed in the marketplace, but we do know that whoever wins they can't help but be part of the Linux/FLOSS ecosystem.

According to This story, a confidential study for the Australian government has concluded that industry statistics concerning financial loss due to piracy are "unverified and epistemologically unreliable." The study by the Australian Institute of Criminology and leaked to the The Australian, a national newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, was said to be in an "early draft" stage.

This October 30th, 2006 issue of the Hill Times includes 3 letters to the editor in response to Canadian Recording Industry Association lobbyist Barry Sookman's opinion piece titled "Copyright reform: let the light shine in". The last of these letters is from me, and ends by noting that "The letter-writer is policy coordinator for Canada's Association for Open Source".

CLUE supporters might ask what Telecommunications Policy has to do with Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS), and why I would be at the Alternative Telecommunications Policy Forum. My interest in FLOSS came out of my interest in community networking where networks and the software that controls them are decentrally controlled. It turns out that many of the recent and most controversial "copyright" related policies that threaten FLOSS, such as anti-circumvention policy (legal protection for DRM, DMCA, 1996 WIPO treaties), is also a derivative of telecommunications policy discussions, but with the opposite vision of these networks.

On October 12, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada released a decision in a case first launched in 1996 by Heather Robertson, a freelance journalist, and Thompson Corporation, the then-owner of the Globe and Mail. (Citation: Robertson v. Thomson Corp., 2006 SCC 43)

There is an article in ITBusiness.ca by Grant Buckler talking about Open Source telephony software such as Asterisk and SIPx. It includes discussion of an industry panel that had unsurprising mixed reviews. As vendors of telephony systems, some of what Open Source offers can come in direct competition with what they offer.

Today I received two pieces of information. One was my copy of Computerworld in which there was an article about how Michigan aims to emulate Canadaś e-gov. The second piece of information was in a note from Russell McOrmond about the slow response to petitioning against Bill C-60.

An ITBusines.ca article by Sarah Lysecki includes:

A B.C. post-secondary institution said it intends to grow the number of Linux machines in its data centre as it replaces older hardware infrastructure with blade servers.

Vancouver Community College made the switch to Linux from a mixed environment of NetWare and Windows operating systems one year ago when it purchased IBM blade servers, which came with Linux pre-installed, to replace its aging infrastructure.
...
Because the new system uses browser versus Windows-based forms, Dougan said it will help to make it easier to move towards a Linux desktop environment.

An ITBusiness.ca article by Shane Schick includes:

The Canadian government is planning to use GForge as the starting point for asset management. A Treasury Board director walks us through the process and identifies the applications that will be tackled first.

If you live in Ottawa and want to find out more about this project, you may want to attend a GOSLING Gaggle.