Sunday May 20, 2007 links for 2007-05-20
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That's Red Hat's plans to include it in Fedora. Looking forward to working with you all on this, team.
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Note the incredible restrictions on ownership which even prevent Americans running the company if they were foreign approved. Then remember them next time the US bleats about restraint of trade in some country.
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Excellent news - this is what it will take to ensure that the Java platform gets used in all the (rapidly growing) places it could prove useful.
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I left it alone for a while but I am now updating these pages with the music I'm loving.
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Just got my copy of this, I hope to find the time to read it while I'm home over the next few weeks.
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Those pro-Bush will say it's just badly worded, and those against will say it's another covert power-grab, but either way it looks like it needs publicising so it gets fixed.
Posted by webmink
( May 20 2007, 02:23:19 AM PDT )
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Saturday May 19, 2007 links for 2007-05-19
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Setting the record straight.
Posted by webmink
( May 19 2007, 02:20:33 AM PDT )
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Friday May 18, 2007 Message to Denmark: Dual Format Standards Are Bad
I gave an interview at JavaOne which seems to be causing a stir because of the way it's being spun in translation in Denmark. The spin seems to be suggesting that I think it's OK to have a dual standard in a country for document formats, both ODF (the open format used by multiple applications including Microsoft Office1) and OOXML (Microsoft's Office 12 file format).
To be clear, I do not believe that. It's clearly Microsoft's strategy to socialise that idea but it's not an ideal outcome. Having a single, baseline standard for document files is clearly preferable, and because of its complexity and the way it unfairly advantages Microsoft's existing products, OOXML is clearly a very poor choice for a national standard. Thus I would always advocate having a single standard and making that standard ODF. It's good for Norway and others, so why not for Denmark too?
Will that happen in Denmark? Well, the amount of pressure Microsoft is bringing to bear on the Danish government by funding lobbying, media activity, astroturfing and more, I am worried that the legislators will cave and have a dual standard. That may sound pragmatic but in practice that's a disaster for Denmark. Because of the existing market power of the monopolist2, Denmark's history, culture and due process will end up in a format that can only be faithfully rendered with Microsoft products3.
My comments were meant to indicate that fear, and any version of them stating I support a dual standard in Denmark or any other place is incorrect. The best future for computer-maintained documents is ODF4 and I recommend Denmark follow the trend and standardise on it.
- Via Sun's free ODF plug-in, although it ought to be a built-in feature of Office if Microsoft are serious about interoperability.
- The Rambøll report already indicates the scale of the lock-in the country faces - it's assumptions of continued use of MS products are what pushed the cost up for alternatives. It seems to me that suggesting writing this monopoly into the law makes the situation worse, not better.
- We can already see how impossibly hard OOXML is to implement, from the poor quality of the (partial) translators that people have built and the repeated delays of Microsoft's own Mac implementation. I said more in the audio interview on this subject.
- Probably with an allowance for added-feature namespaces layered over it to allow products like MS Office to have proprietary features. Having ODF as a baseline does not preclude inclusion of either backward-compatibility capabilities or added-feature support, it just sets an interoperability baseline that does not assume the perpetuation of Microsoft's monopoly.
Posted by webmink
( May 18 2007, 11:30:55 AM PDT )
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links for 2007-05-18
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Now these are pirates. Using the term frivolously the way the software and media industries do is abusive and it's time it stopped.
Posted by webmink
( May 18 2007, 02:21:09 AM PDT )
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Thursday May 17, 2007 links for 2007-05-17
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Seems OOXML is a pig to implement, even for its authors. I do hope people are paying attention.
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An interview I gave while I was in Australia before JavaOne.
Posted by webmink
( May 17 2007, 02:21:43 AM PDT )
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Wednesday May 16, 2007 links for 2007-05-16
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Jonathan delivers a great retort to the Microsoft bully-boy behaviour regarding software patents.
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Tim calls FUD
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Dalibor demonstrates why he is such a great choice for the OpenJDK Interim Governance Board.
Posted by webmink
( May 16 2007, 02:23:10 AM PDT )
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Tuesday May 15, 2007 links for 2007-05-15
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Report of the Java Libre panel at JavaOne
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Yes, you can indeed work on ODF files on a USB memory key while in-flight on Singapore Airlines. ODF is spreading far faster than Microsoft would like, no wonder they are working so hard to scare people.
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Really excellent blog by Sun's General Counsel explaining why software patents are a tax on innovation, and not a protection for it.
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A timely cartoon from Speed Bump last week...
Posted by webmink
( May 15 2007, 02:22:38 AM PDT )
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Monday May 14, 2007 links for 2007-05-14
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Very sad that they can't work with the emerging paradigm like the rest of us instead of fighting it. No wonder so many developers hate them.
Posted by webmink
( May 14 2007, 02:24:23 AM PDT )
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Friday May 11, 2007 links for 2007-05-11
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The new version of the SCA has several improvements, including compatibility with the FSF's contributor agreement and a commitment by Sun to keep contributions as Free software.
Posted by webmink
( May 11 2007, 02:22:28 AM PDT )
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Wednesday May 09, 2007 links for 2007-05-09
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It's live! Yup, the source code to the Java platform is now Free software in an open source community.
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The Java Platform has a new, interim governing Board whose job is to create a consititution for the OpenJDK community.
Posted by webmink
( May 09 2007, 02:22:08 AM PDT )
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Tuesday May 08, 2007 Java Liberated
Today is the day I have been working towards for the last seven years, and I am delighted. Sun just made the source code to Java SE Free software in the OpenJDK open source community. There is a fully buildable JDK available, complete with a set of projects for NetBeans to allow an easy start with the code. I am also delighted to have been asked to join the interim OpenJDK Governance Board and I'm humbled by the challenge that faces us to create an inclusive and effective governance for OpenJDK.
Posted by webmink
( May 08 2007, 09:32:47 AM PDT )
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links for 2007-05-08
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Pretty comprehensive discussion of my philosophical outlook on open source with Glyn Moody.
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Sun does OpenID.
Posted by webmink
( May 08 2007, 02:20:05 AM PDT )
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Monday May 07, 2007 In SF for J1, C1, and more
Finally made it to San Francisco ready for CommunityOne today (I'll be at RedMonkOne as much as I can) and then JavaOne the rest of the week. Hope I'll see you here, not least at the Thirsty Bear on Wednesday evening.
Posted by webmink
( May 07 2007, 03:14:27 AM PDT )
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Sunday May 06, 2007 links for 2007-05-06
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Now with Ruby/JRuby/Ruby on Rails support as well as a slew of other features (including mobile app development).
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Interesting views on the future of distros.
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For those of you spent dry by the San Francisco hotel prices, we've free food and drink on both Tuesday and Wednesday night...
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IBM has 500+ people in Kirkland devoted to Microsoft's success. Now they can get a job with Google...
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I've been hearing stories of extreme fiscal control at IBM for some time, so I can't say this unwelcome news is a surprise.
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The Novell-Microsoft arrangement seems to have claimed another head.
Posted by webmink
( May 06 2007, 02:20:19 AM PDT )
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