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HP announced this week that it has signed a new open-source bundling license agreement with Novell to offer customers what it hopes will be simple, cost-effective Linux solutions on HP servers. The offering includes integrated open-source solutions, technical software and proactive service options t...

In the latest chapter of the Linux-versus-Microsoft total cost of ownership debate, Open Source Development Labs and Levanta this week released a new report to bolster the pro-Linux argument. A 17-page report based on an Enterprise Management Associates study called "Get the Truth on Linux Managemen...

Access subsidiary PalmSource on Tuesday announced its much-anticipated Linux-based operating system for handheld devices. The Access Linux Platform will bring full compatibility to devices with a Linux core. The ALP Software Developer Kit is scheduled for release to licensees by the end of 2006. The...

Open-source license compliance is a sensitive topic. Lawyers and technicians have devoted endless hours, lengthy blog postings and much mental energy to questions like, "What is a derivative work?" and "What is distribution?" Very interesting stuff indeed, and grist for meaty discussions. However,...

Open-source database deployments rose dramatically in the last half of 2005, and as one might expect, as more IT pros get acquainted with these non-proprietary systems, security is a chief concern. Open-source database makers like MySQL and PostgreSQL simply must answer some of the most prevalent se...

HP on Tuesday announced it has extended its agreement with JBoss to offer an expanded portfolio of open-source solutions and services customers can deploy within their existing data centers. HP will now provide worldwide support services for the entire JBoss Enterprise Middleware Suite (JEMS) of pro...

The Free Software Foundation is releasing the long-awaited first draft of GNU General Public License Version 3 today at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Legal experts are already wrangling over the possible revisions to the most popular open-source license in the world.

The widespread adoption of open-source software by corporations and governments has raised some security concerns in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the agency is responding. It has funded a three-year grant reportedly worth US$1.24 million to -- among other things -- set up a daily au...

In a move to reform the U.S. patent system, IBM is partnering with Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on an initiative to improve patent quality and accelerate innovation. The initiative has three elements: the Open Patent Review, Open-Source Softwar...

As revelers wish each other happy New Year this weekend, members of the open-source community will be reveling in events from the past year -- a year that saw their movement make significant strides in strengthening its position on the technology landscape. "This year we saw a lot of CIOs and a lot ...

Nessus, maker of one of the most popular open-source vulnerability scanner programs available, changed its licensing agreement with the release of version 3.0.0 on December 12, causing a bit of a stir among security industry players that rely on the code as a component of their commercial solutions....

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) this week released a document specifying the process and guidelines for revising the GNU General Public License (GPL). The FSF will release the first discussion draft of the GNU General Public License (GPL) revision in January 2006. The GNU GPL is the most widely u...

Sun Microsystems this week delivered what it believes is a one-two punch in the battle to create the software platform of choice for the next-generation of the Internet. Analysts, however, are not sure the experiment will do anything beyond reducing pricing power in the field. Based on what Sun call...

Several recent software and service offerings indicate there is a market for users of open-source software worried about the intellectual property and related legal repercussions of that use, but how big of an issue, and how big of of a market, is it? Legal observers and those who provide the servic...

Mozilla is doing something that no open-source Web browsing project has ever done before -- using independent filmmakers to spread the word about its next release. Call it open-source marketing. Mozilla is reportedly preparing to tap into the large community of amateur filmmakers to produce 30-secon...

The Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) today launched an online patent commons reference library, the foundation of its Patent Commons Project. The Project's goal is to provide greater confidence for developers and customers of open-source software. PatentCommons.org hosts searchable databases cont...

Commercial and open-source titans are banding together to promote Linux and spur global innovation through access to key patents. The Open Invention Network (OIN) launched yesterday with financial support from IBM, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony. The company, believed to be the first of its kind,...

Nokia yesterday announced that it has started selling the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. The pocket-sized device is Nokia's first Linux-based terminal product and is dedicated to Internet browsing and e-mail communications over WiFi. "We are very excited to start shipments of our first Nokia Internet Ta...

Red Hat sees virtualization, stateless Linux, and developer enablement as the key drivers to reduce costs by increasing organizational efficiency and agility. So stated the Linux provider in its just-released technology plans for 2006 through 2007. "Technologies are now emerging that will make the ...

It won't help in the aftermath of hurricanes, but it could help in technology storms. Insurance underwriter Kiln plc, a Lloyd's of London underwriter and Miller Insurance Services Limited, a Lloyd's broker, said yesterday that they will offer a new product called Open Source Compliance Insurance. Op...