Saturday March 31, 2007 links for 2007-03-31
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"That cavalier attitude could come back to hurt Novell if it sticks by its guns."
Posted by webmink
( Mar 31 2007, 02:23:38 AM PDT )
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Friday March 30, 2007 JavaOne Discount
Word to the wise: If you're coming to JavaOne, registering before next Wednesday will save you money. And if you're coming, remember the blogger beer bash is Wednesday evening at the Thirsty Bear.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 30 2007, 11:52:21 AM PDT )
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links for 2007-03-30
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Double standards as a way of life.
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It's out today. Just downloaded it for my Mac (yes, they have 2.2 for X11 on day 0).
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Probably this could be re-used by BSA/Microsoft and MPAA too.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 30 2007, 02:23:15 AM PDT )
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Thursday March 29, 2007 links for 2007-03-29
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The web site has been updated - try the browser demo.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 29 2007, 02:24:34 AM PDT )
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LiveMink TV: Three Hot Databases
The SDN TV series on open source comes to an end this week with a programme in which I interview three of the people making databases happen at Sun. Josh Berkus is well known in the PostgreSQL community, and also serves on the board of Software in the Public Interest, the non-profit that manages finances for them and for Debian. Sun offers commercial support for PostgreSQL on Solaris.
Rick Hillegas and Francois Orsini are part of the Apache Derby community and work on Sun's database product (yes, we have one), Java DB, which is a distribution of Apache Derby. Go take a look at the programme, which is available both as video and audio (I enclose the audio on SunMink since my LiveMink audience are, I assume, expecting a podcast).
Posted by webmink
( Mar 29 2007, 01:18:11 AM PDT )
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Wednesday March 28, 2007 GPLv3 Third Draft
The third draft of the GPLv3 came out this morning. There's a lot of text there, and obviously I've not had time to read it all yet (especially the long explanatory document). I took a quick look at the 'redline' over breakfast and there are some welcome enhancements, such as the explicit explanation about software-as-a-service:
To “convey” a work means any kind of propagation that enables other parties to make or receive copies, excluding sublicensing. Mere inter- action with a user through a computer network, with no transfer of a copy, is not conveying.
The language concerning DRM has also changed substantially and now sits in section 6 and relates to the use of the code in "User Products", which could really change the implications of that mechanism:
A “User Product” is either (1) a “consumer product”, which means any tangible personal property which is normally used for personal, family, or household purposes, or (2) anything designed or sold for incorporation into a dwelling.
There's been a substantial rework to the stuff about exceptions in section 7. In its previous form, this section provided a basis for various different license to be mixed, but the new version seems to provide less opportunity for that. I wish we could work out mechanisms to allow the various FOSS communities to mix their work more easily.
I'm also not clear on the implications of the new language added to section 11 to affect patents, which is intended to close the loophole Microsoft and Novell used to get round the GPLv2. I need to read it several times before coming to a conclusion.
Over and above the actual license terms, there's a big change to the time-line. I'd been expecting the final draft; this is now an extra interim draft, and we'll not see the final version until the summer. And there are several signs that we'll see more frequent updates to the license - there are indications that the DRM stuff might be extended to different kinds of devices, for example. All very interesting, I know there will be a lot of discussion about this inside Sun over the next few weeks.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 28 2007, 10:32:41 AM PDT )
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links for 2007-03-28
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Not the final version like we were expecting - Novell has put the process back significantly. Looks like we'll have the final version in the summer now.
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"I see people I trust and respect on the board, without question, but I see no one that represents end users directly" - Just like OSDL.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 28 2007, 02:23:39 AM PDT )
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Tuesday March 27, 2007 Ratified and Elected
I'm delighted to see that the OpenSolaris community has ratified the Constitution and elected a new OGB. As I have said before, I regard the Constitution as a starting point, not as tablets of stone, and some of the new OGB has already asserted a need to evolve it. I'm looking forward to the community vote on their improvements. Congratulations to the new OGB, act wisely and inclusively guys (and it's all guys).
Posted by webmink
( Mar 27 2007, 10:03:17 AM PDT )
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LiveMink: Roy Fielding
I was honoured to be asked to give the opening keynote at the first ever OpenSolaris Developer Conference over in Berlin. The other keynote speaker was Roy Fielding, who like me is on the OpenSolaris Governing Board. Roy is scary smart, having written the Apache License, coined the term REST and defined the HTTP 1.1 protocol.
Roy was distracted by his upcoming keynote so we kept the interview really short, but his comments about the Waka protocol he's working on (a successor to HTTP) will be interesting to those without the patience to listen to the full Udell interview. Listen on!
[MP3]—[Ogg]—[iTunes]&mdash(3' 49")
Posted by webmink
( Mar 27 2007, 04:00:00 AM PDT )
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links for 2007-03-27
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"And when we did actually change the licence, IBM was really upset. They wanted a licence that said they could do whatever they damn well pleased ... They wanted us to give them everything and for them to give nothing back."
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Brief but interesting.
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If you're the person who doesn't have an iPod Nano, this one's for you.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 27 2007, 02:24:59 AM PDT )
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Monday March 26, 2007 Past the Quorum
Looks like the OGB election now has enough votes to be binding. Let's hope people have ratified the Constitution, becuase if they have, we are golden.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 26 2007, 05:33:04 PM PDT )
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links for 2007-03-26
- The Peter Principle - for Businesses
"Every company innovates until it finds a cash cow. At that point only innovation that supports the cash cow is promoted. Further, any innovation that threatens or does not support the cash cow languishes or is actively killed." - How To Save Newspapers
Doc suggests they finally climb aboard the Cluetrain before their aversion to the 21st century finally makes them all close down. All the behaviours he fixes here are done in the name of "monetisation" and all destroy their reputation and power. - Bread Is Dangerous
Time the US Congress did something about this. In the UK, I expect the Daily Mail to start a campaign really soon. - The World In Only 7 Pictures
Missing the UK of course. I'll have to look for a suitbale photo. - A Death in Brazil: A Book of Omissions
If you're getting ready to go to FISL or Sun TechDays São Paulo, this book may be the leisure reading you need to get "under the skin" of Brazil's history and politics. - Everybody loves Eric Raymond » Deb-Ian
Just call, guys, just call.
Posted by webmink
( Mar 26 2007, 05:22:59 PM PDT )
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Saturday March 24, 2007 Summer in Europe
Quick note to my friends, colleagues and critics in America: Europe has switched to "Daylight Saving Time" (we call it Summer Time here in the UK, so the abbreviation is "BST" for British Summer Time) so we're back on normal time differences again. Please keep on being sensitive to those 8 or 9 hour differences though!
Posted by webmink
( Mar 24 2007, 06:34:34 PM PDT )
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Friday March 23, 2007 JavaOne Beer: Save-The-Dates
I've been at Sun for seven years this June. My very first day was the opening day of JavaOne in 2000. I have attended every JavaOne; indeed, I was responsible for IBM attending the first one in 1996 when I managed to find a colleague with budget to pay for it (hi, Gabriel!)
So it's with some pleasure that this year I actually have a substantial involvement with the event for the first time since I joined Sun. My team is running some stuff on May 7 that will soon be announced there; we are acting as managers for the open source track which is appearing there for the first time this year; and we are helping connect people for track sessions, demos, informal events and even (we hope) announcements.
I also hope to host a bloggers beer bash again at the Thirsty Bear on the Wednesday evening, so if you have a blog save the date. And if you will be in San Francisco on Monday May 7, save the whole day, something good (and free) is coming!
Posted by webmink
( Mar 23 2007, 07:20:49 PM PDT )
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