Linux News: Business

With Linspire in Its Belly, Xandros Eyes Expansion

Wednesday - July 2, 2008

Custom Linux provider Xandros announced Wednesday that it has acquired Linspire, developer of the CNR software distribution facility, and the Linspire and Freespire Linux desktop operating systems. Xandros, which also develops Linux desktop and server products along with advanced cross-platform Windows-Linux management tools, will use the combined technologies, expertise and market presence of the two companies to support its goal to becoming a one-stop Linux solutions company. [More...]

Linuxy Declarations of Independence

Monday - June 30, 2008

Well, the Fourth of July is just a few days away, and all good citizens of the nation we call America must naturally be thinking of the birth of this great land. Not content to be just great, our founding fathers wanted independence as well, and that value is still held dear today. [More...]

Packing It In: The Evolution of Online Video and Audio Tech, Part 2

Sunday - June 29, 2008

The choice of particular audio-video compression technology is of vital interest to commercial and not-for-profit organizations involved in producing and delivering digital multimedia products and services. New York-based Paltalk's choice is a case in point. "Our codec choice proved to be wise indeed," Paltalk founder and Chief Technical Officer Perry Scherer told LinuxInsider. [More...]

Will Iona's Open Source Strategy Survive Progress Acquisition?

Wednesday - June 25, 2008

Call it a Route 128 SOA date. Progress Software is buying Iona Technologies for a little more than $100 million in actual value, broadening Progress' service oriented architecture portfolio significantly and catapulting Progress into the open source software infrastructure arena. [More...]

Alfresco CEO John Powell on the Value of Free

Wednesday - June 25, 2008

Is it possible to make money by giving something away for free? John Powell, CEO of Alfresco Software, believes that the open source software market is worth $60 billion. The value doesn't accrue from the revenue that it generates. Rather, that value is rooted in the cost savings for his customers. Looked at from this angle, open source is the largest tech industry, Powell believes. [More...]

Creative Collaboration: The Open Source Filmmaking Experiment

Tuesday - June 24, 2008

Once an expensive, difficult and inaccessible profession to break into, filmmaking has now opened up to the masses. With the digital revolution, anyone with a digital video camera and access to basic editing software can make a film. Along with this accessibility has come a new wave of collaborative, open source filmmaking, where writers, videographers, musicians and producers share their work on a film project. [More...]

FTC Settles Case of $40 'Free' Software

Monday - June 16, 2008

There's no free lunch or, evidently, free open source software. After numerous complaints, North Texas entrepreneur Yuri Mintskovsky has agreed to a $2.1 million settlement that will repay angry Internet consumers. They thought that they were spending just $1.99 or $2.99 for shipping and handling on free software but found credit-card charges of $39.95 or more from his now-defunct Think All Publishing. [More...]

HowToMoodle: OSS Learning Platform Goes Pro

Thursday - June 12, 2008

A Shropshire, UK, company boss who took a gamble and exhibited at a London expo which attracts thousands of HR managers and trainers, says he has been "overwhelmed" by interest in license-free Moodle software. Ray Lawrence is managing director of Telford, UK-based HowToMoodle, which shows people how to take advantage of Moodle open source software. [More...]

Open Source Development Is Smart Business

Thursday - June 12, 2008

It's an interesting question: Why would large, established companies like Adobe and others embrace open source strategies? In some ways, it seems counterproductive. After all, releasing a software application's source code to the community could be viewed as letting an organization's competitive advantage walk out the door. [More...]

Artists Travel Far and Wide to Promote Creative Commons Licensing

Tuesday - June 3, 2008

With pirated DVDs, computer software, books and music readily available at roadside vendors across the Kingdom of Jordan, at first glance it may not seem that the country needs less restrictive copyright licenses. However, UK artists Eileen Simpson and Ben White of the Open Music Archive have been touring the country, advocating for the Kingdom to establish a "creative commons." [More...]

More Rocky Days Ahead for Sun?

Monday - May 26, 2008

Silicon Valley stalwart Sun Microsystems has transformed itself before, from a company known for high-powered workstations to a major supplier of servers during the first Internet boom. More recently, it has embraced a strategy of building up business by giving away software code for free. Sun executives say their brush with red ink in their last quarter doesn't mean they will back away from that strategy. [More...]

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