CLUE - FOSS in the News

How to avoid the benefits of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS)

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:07:36 -0400

FLOSS offers many benefits over software that has a sole proprietor and is funded by royalties. Examples of sole proprietor software are packages such as Microsoft Office where there is a single entity which either owns or is relicensing the exclusive rights on the software, and thus is the sole entity which can provide many levels of software support.

While I recommend against this, it is possible to use FLOSS and yet receive none of the benefits beyond lower ($0) royalty payments. Government departments seem to do this all the time, not wanting to accept the advantages of FLOSS (misinterpreting software acquisition policy? Ideologically predisposed to sole proprietor software? Offer your thoughts in the comments...).

The two most common ways to avoid the benefits of FLOSS can be summarized by two acronyms: COTS and DIY.

>> Read full article on IT World Canada's blog

An open door for open source?

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:42:56 -0500

CBC news reporter Emily Chung interviewed a number of people in the community on the Canadian Government RFI on what they called "No Charge Licensed Software (NCLS)".

Free Software and the Canadian Federal Election 2008

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:52:45 -0400

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a donor supported charity founded in 1985 and based in Boston, MA, USA. The FSF has a worldwide mission to promote computer user freedom and to defend the rights of all free software users. They have sister organizations in Europe, India and Latin America.

Since any inclusion of legal protection for "technological measures" in the law regulates what software citizens are allowed to run on their own computer, they have an interest in this issue. Canadians who are part of the Free Software Community really need to get involved in this election to ensure that the rights of Canadian Free Software users are protected. Richard Stallman, founder and president of the FSF, requested that I write this article to give our community some ideas of what to do.

Read the rest of this entry on IT World Canada's blog »

Evan Prodromou is a TWiT.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:09:17 -0400

Congrats to Montreal-based Evan Prodromou who seems to have enlisted #3 Twitterholic Leo Laporte in Evan's attempt to open up Twitter with Identi.ca. To learn more about Evan's awesome project, check out FLOSS Weekly 37: Laconica. See also: Army.TWiT.tv.

FOSS Jumps Over the Great Firewall of China

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:42:00 -0400

My longtime colleague Brian Osborn, publisher of Linux Magazine (which is what it's callled everywhere in the world except for the US and Canada where it's "Linux Pro Magazine") has been calling special attention to a recent article they've published, regarding the use of open source software to circumvent China's Internet censorship mechanisms. The article describes the mechaisms, as well as the software used to get around it all. Interesting reading, especially timely considering the Olympics.

Does Windows have a skeleton key?

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:46:22 -0400

The Seatlle Times reports that Microsoft has been making available a tool for law enforcement that, amongst other things, decrypts protected files on Windows systems.

December issue of the Open Source Business Resource

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:46:05 -0500

The December issue of the Open Source Business Resource is now out (PDF)

This issue includes (pp 29-33 in the PDF) my article titled "Protecting Information Technology Property rights". This article, and a letter to the editor, also promote The Canadian Software Innovation Alliance, which has launched a new website.

CDN Desktop Virtualization saves schoolboards money

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:18:56 -0400

A desktop virtualization software product developed by an Calgary-based company is teaching students at an Illinois middle school some pretty impressive multiplication lessons.

Several students at Danville School District 118 (up to eight) are able to gain simultaneous computer access to a single Linux PC using the Desktop Multiplier for SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 (SLED 10), developed by software firm Userful Corp. and distributed by Omni Technology Solutions Inc., or Edmonton.

Aussie Study: Copyright Owners Inflate the Cost of Piracy

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:26:16 -0500

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.

Telecom industry dials into open source potential

Mon, 16 Oct 2006 20:02:28 -0400

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.

Vancouver Community College phases in more Linux

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 12:20:11 -0400

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.

Feds put open source into active service

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 09:40:55 -0400

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.

State in India moves 1.5M students to Linux

Wed, 06 Sep 2006 08:43:45 -0400

Given the accounts on this site about the approach of Canadian politicians educational officials towards open source in the classroom, it's interesting to see what's happening elsewhere. A recent announcement indicates that the Indian state of Kerala is expediting a move to completely replace MS-Windows with Linux in its 12,500 high schools, serving about 1.5 million students.

BSD, The Best Software Program Ever Written: InformationWeek

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 10:36:47 -0400

While the InformationWeek article does talk about Unix/Linux in general as the top entry of its 12 greatest software programs of all time, it singles out BSD4.3 as the heart of the system's greatness and global significance.

Torvalds' comments on GPLv3 committees refuted: Looking for feedback.

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 11:47:19 -0400

A NewsForge article by Bruce Byfield includes:

Torvalds' comments should probably be read in the context of his statement that his particular concerns, notably the mention of DRM, have not been addressed. Yet, in fact, they have been. In an interview with NewsForge, Eben Moglen, who heads the revision process, specifically mentioned that some changes in the second draft were specifically made in response to Torvalds' concerns. Apparently, the changes were not enough to satisfy Torvalds, who has ideological differences with the FSF, but that is no reason to condemn the process itself as hypocritical.