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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 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...

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...

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...

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...

Sun Microsystems today announced the names of the five individuals selected to participate in the OpenSolaris Community Advisory Board (CAB). The board was created to steward the evolution of the OpenSolaris community towards self-governance. "The formation of the CAB is another major step forward i...

The Open Source Initiative on Friday announced a new interim president and plans to focus on evaluating the OSD licensing process with its recently added international board members. OSI is the non-profit corporation responsible for the management and promotion of the Open Source Definition, which ...

GroundWork Open Source Solutions today said it has it has secured US$8.5 million in its second round of venture capital financing. The Series B financing, led by Mayfield, includes Series A lead investor Canaan Partners. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company develops open-source products for the ente...

The press reported a few weeks ago that SCO, the UnixWare purveyor famous for bringing Linux-related lawsuits against IBM and others, was in danger of being delisted from the NASDAQ. This announcement was surprising because most public companies don't risk delisting for not filing their 10-Ks. But ...

High-tech heavy hitters such as IBM, Novell and Oracle are among those showing support for the Linux Standard Base (LSB), a set of standards designed to improve compatibility between Linux distributions. The Free Standards Group (FSG) yesterday announced a long list of Independent Software Vendors (...

In the face of a European Union threat to levy US$5 million in daily fines for allegedly failing to license selected software code, Microsoft today announced the expansion of its Shared Source Initiative to cover seven additional countries in the European Union. Launched in May 2001 and now encompas...

Sun said yesterday it would modify its licenses to make Java source code access more open, but analysts said it's still miles away from the open-source status that the developer community is calling for. Sun is introducing two licenses for using the Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE), the software for b...

Novell is on the move with its Linux enterprise strategy with a series of announcements that began last week with the release of its Open Enterprise Server (OES) product. The company has since released details about its ZENworks 7 Linux management line, and several other vendors are launching softwa...

The debate over software patents is getting dramatic. For some, more than just lines of code are at stake. Rather, it is nothing less than freedom itself. As in the apocalyptic "Lord of the Rings trilogy," the armies prepare for war. The battle cry from Free Software Foundation Europe sounds: "Join...

Novell announced yesterday the availability of its latest offering targeting experienced Linux home computing users. SuSE Linux Professional 9.3 boasts a complete Linux operating system, over 3,000 open-source packages, and hundreds of open-source applications, productivity software and home network...

At this stage, very few people question the power of open source to transform the dynamics of a technology market. Just look at Apache's rapid rise to dominance in Web servers. What's less clear, however, is what's next. Which sectors of the IT industry represent the next wave for open source? Whic...

The open-source movement has been expanding beyond the world of software development recently into the biotechnology research arena. U.S. BioDefense Inc, based in City of Industry, Calif., is trying to capitalize on this evolving trend by developing an open-source stem cell research platform. The sm...

JBoss' inaugural user conference and exhibition kicked off yesterday in Atlanta with two key announcements that analysts said signify a maturation of both JBoss and of open source. The company launched the JBoss Open Source Federation to offer value-added services, technology infrastructure and mark...