Archive

In the mid 1990s, when I first began running into open source in my practice, I noticed that open source had a very strange effect on intellectual property lawyers. It was a Chicken Little situation, but instead of crying "the sky is falling" they were crying "the code is infringing." Nearly ten ye...

For open-source software developers, coding is the easy part. Trying to find the right open-source license is where things get painful. It's like standing in line at Starbucks trying to decide whether to buy latte or mocha. Soy milk or regular? Tall or grande? Don't even get me started on ice c...

Linux creator Linus Torvalds unveiled a new Linux control tool to manage his software project on Wednesday. Dubbed Git, the tool will replace a management system called BitKeeper sold by a company called BitMover. Community objections over the use of BitKeeper -- proprietary software -- didn't stop ...

In a move to help customers run heterogeneous networks, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said that Virtual Server 2005 Pack 1 will include support for Linux. The announcement came at the Microsoft Management Summit yesterday. In his keynote address, Ballmer announced increased investments in support ...

Norwegian browser developer Opera Software today released Opera 8.0 for Windows and Linux, which adds anti-phishing measures and voice recognition. The opera.com site has been flooded with attempts to download the new version, causing the company to scramble to find the bandwidth to deal with the re...

A job posting on IBM's Web site seeking programmers to enhance the Firefox Web browser with new features to compliment its On Demand middleware stack is stirring speculation about the open-source browser's chances to grab enterprise market share from rival Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE). Analyst...

In the hopes of getting Linux developers interested in supporting their hardware, VIA Technologies and XGI Technology, both Taiwanese chip makers, have released the source code for some of their drivers. XGI Technology released code for X.Org, XFree86.Org, and Kernel.Org for desktop, notebook, and s...

Nielsen//NetRatings reported today that escalating interest in the Firefox browser garnered a 237 percent spike in unique visitors to the Web site from nine months ago when the site first met Nielsen//NetRatings' minimal reporting levels in June 2004. More than 2.6 million people visited the Firefox...

Netline Internet Service today released Open-Xchange Server 5, a platform-agnostic open-source collaboration system. The software is designed to allow IT administrators to create applications without changing existing infrastructure components. In other words, administrators don't have to switch dat...

Adobe Systems today launched its free Adobe Reader 7.0 for the Linux operating system, allowing users to view and print content published in PDF format. Novell and Red Hat applauded the move, but analysts said not to expect heavy Linux investments from Adobe going forward. Adobe Reader 7.0 joins Ad...

It's good to be the king. Pack leaders get to set the pace, choose which trail to take and be the first in line when everyone arrives. Of course, it is important for pack leaders to constantly pay attention to the pack. Being in front often means being the last one to notice when the pack takes off...

Mandrakesoft, hoping to serve the dual purposes of repositioning itself in the Linux market and throwing the monkey of its back in a trademark infringement battle with Hearst Publishing, announced last week that it has changed its name to Mandriva. "Mandriva, a company name that combines MandrakeSof...

Sun Microsystems is forging ahead with plans to build an open-source community around its Solaris operating system, and those plans have been met with both enthusiasm and skepticism. The latest development in Sun's open-source evolution is the creation of an OpenSolaris Advisory Board. The company a...

The European Parliament and European Commission are in the midst of deciding whether software patents will be permitted in the EU. The Commission recently informed the Parliament that it would not redraft the proposed Computer Implemented Inventions Directive (CIID). The European Parliament must n...

Linux is gaining momentum as a complimentary server presence in Windows networks, according to the "Linux-Windows 2005 TCO Comparison Survey" released by the Yankee Group today. The report states that more than 50 percent of companies surveyed said they plan to install Linux in parallel with, or in ...