Archive

A network of companies collecting patents and pledging them to defend the Linux operating system and environment recently acquired more patents, but doubts linger as to the effectiveness of the effort and corporate support for it. The Open Invention Network, an entity formed last year with support f...

Sun Microsystems announced this week the availability of four new plug-in modules for the open source NetBeans integrated development environment. The new plug-in modules include Jackpot, Real Time Java technology, Web Services Interoperability Technology and Grid Compute Server for NetBeans. The ne...

In his opening keynote speech at the 11th annual JavaOne developer conference, Sun Microsystems President and CEO Jonathan Schwartz outlined new Java solutions and open source plans in front of thousands of international attendees. "It's not a question of whether, but a question of how," Schwartz to...

Open source development has always been an international phenomenon. After all, the killer app of the movement -- Linux -- was born in Finland, and the quintessential dual licensing business was started in Sweden with mySQL. Companies like Red Flag have stepped up in Asia to take Linux into double...

Xandros, a provider of easy-to-use Linux-based software applications, and Scalix, a provider of e-mail and calendaring for Linux and open source systems, have announced that Scalix messaging and collaboration capability will be added to the forthcoming Xandros Server. The integration of Scalix withi...

Sun Microsystems on Thursday announced that the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5 specification has been approved by the Java Community Process Java EE/SE Executive Committee. Java EE is a platform for Java and Web services deployment. It has 30 licensees and includes innovations provided by more ...

The International Standards Organization on Wednesday approved the OpenDocument Format as an international standard. The approval could be a boon for companies that compete with Microsoft's proprietary Office software -- like Sun with its StarOffice. The ODF emerged from the open source OpenOffice.o...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's open source security audit program has identified the biggest X Window System security vulnerability in the last six years. The X Window System is used in Unix and Linux operating systems. It also ships as an optional GUI with Apple's Macintosh computers. C...

Open source is becoming a basic part of the services portfolios of IBM Global Services, HP Services, Unisys and Novell, reports IDC in a recent study, "Worldwide Open Source Services 2006 Vendor Analysis: The Open Source Services Opportunity." Companies worldwide are showing increasing interest in i...

Richard Stallman is a free software pioneer. As president of the Free Software Foundation and founder of the GNU Project, he is also an evangelist of a free society in which people have inaliable rights to run, study, copy and distribute software. As such, Stallman is often grieved when he reads new...

Mozilla named the winners of its Firefox Flicks video contest at the San Francisco International Film Festival last week. Nearly 300 Firefox fans submitted entries in the competition to promote the open source browser through short film. The grand prize went to "Daredevil," which will be short-liste...

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cut its datacenter operating and upgrading costs to the tune of US$15 million by migrating to Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the open source software provider has announced. The FAA executed a major systems migration to Red Hat Enterprise Linux in one-third of...

Open source database developer MySQL has introduced MySQL Forge, a Web site and community directory designed to encourage MySQL users and developers to communicate, collaborate, and share MySQL code and applications. MySQL also announced new support for Ubuntu, a version of the Linux operating syste...

X-Win32 is the first PC X server to support Apple Computer's Boot Camp software, claims StarNet Communications, a publisher of Windows-to-Unix/Linux connectivity software. Boot Camp lets users install Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and Windows-based applications on the latest Macintosh comp...

Linspire on Monday announced plans to offer a no-cost version of the firm's operating system called Freespire. Kevin Carmony, Linspire's President and CEO, unveiled the Freespire project in his keynote address at the 4th Annual Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego. In his remarks, Carmony explained how...