Business

Google's Android Market may be rapidly catching up to Apple's App Store in terms of sheer quantity, but app sales still vary greatly between the two, according to an analysis released on Friday by Distimo. The numbers give Apple a clear advantage in sales of applications. The report found that in Ma...

"Data" -- it's the new buzzword in the open source world, according to Tuesday's keynote speakers at the Open Source Business Conference, being held in San Francisco. "The kind of data we're collecting today is way harder to store and process than it used to be," said Mike Olson, president and CEO o...

In a move designed to protect the free and open source software community, the U.S. Justice Department has intervened in an intellectual property case involving four dominant IT enterprises. The transaction involves software developer Novell and a consortium made up of Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and E...

There are a lot of misconceptions about open source software among legal, procurement and compliance officers. "Open source" is often equated with "loss of control" by the legal compliance or procurement department, and restrictions on its use may be imposed without a real program in place. When th...

Groklaw will stop publishing new articles May 16 -- exactly eight years to the day after it was launched. This is because its reason for existence is gone, according to founder Pamela Jones. "In a simple sentence, the reason is this: The crisis SCO initiated over Linux is over, and Linux won," Jones...

Red Hat has by all measures hit the big time, providing validation of the open source business model that even the harshest critics will have a hard time brushing aside. In its fourth quarter, Red Hat's revenue reached $245 million, up 25 percent from last year. The Linux distribution vendor's fou...

More than 70 percent of mobile applications containing open source code fail to comply with basic open source license requirements, OpenLogic claims. The company scanned compiled binaries and source code where available for the top paid and free Android and iOS apps in the business and consumer sect...

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is compiling information on the capabilities of vendors that can assist it with its Linux-based information system. NGA has asked vendors to provide a description of their capabilities by Feb. 11. In a quick-response "Sources Sought" notice issued Jan. 28,...

CPTN, a consortium set up by Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and EMC to acquire hundreds of Novell patents, appears to have inadvertently faked out the open source community by withdrawing its proposal from the German Federal Cartel Office. News reports on Tuesday noted the event and alluded to possible su...

A flap has arisen between ITG Investment Research and market intelligence blog Asymco over data regarding Verizon, Android and Research In Motion sales figures. Android's strong showing is killing off the RIM BlackBerry, according to an Asymco analysis, based on a report from ITG Investment Research...

The marketing stars appear to be coming into alignment for the vendors of open source offerings who are targeting the U.S. government. Significant barriers to adopting open source technology at the federal level are breaking down, and tight budgets provide an opportunity for vendors to emphasize the...

Local, state, and federal government agencies across the U.S. share the common goal of serving the public. They also share another contemporary fact of life: They are running out of money. As a result, efficiency is becoming a major goal in government at all levels, and information technology appear...

The very same corporations that are making small fortunes with Linux servers give short shrift to Linux Desktop, I argued in a recent article, setting off a spirited discussion. Many of you responded with counterarguments, siding -- surprisingly -- with businesses. Perhaps not surprisingly, I contin...

Belgian open source application vendor OpenERP has set up its first overseas business office in San Jose, Calif. Traditionally, the company has worked with reseller partners in the United States and 54 other countries worldwide. After four years, though, OpenERP has begun an aggressive expansion. It...

At the heart of the case is whether the Android operating system infringes patents on the Java technology Oracle acquired when it bought Sun Microsystems early this year.