Saturday June 30, 2007 links for 2007-06-30
- :: 블로터닷넷 - 1인미디어 공동체가 만드는 데일리 매거진 ::
I was in Korea last week and this press article is the result of one of the interviews - you can see the group of reporters in the second photo. - [SEK 2007]SEK에서 만난 사람-사이먼 핍스 선 오픈소스 최고책임자 - 전자신문 : 전자신문
Another interview article from Korea - note I'm not wearing black :-) - FON WifiAds protest lake...
When you create an open community with a mind of its own, you have to expect that community to intervene in your business when you make poor decisions. It's happening to FON right now. - There They Go Again: It's Time to Just Say No to Microsoft and Ecma
Another abuse of the standards process to have an immature and unproven technology from a single vendor rubber-stamped as a "standard" by ECMA. This has got to stop. - If You Like Music, Or Just NPR, Listen Up
Another sick victory for lobbyists paid by monopolists in the making. I agree totally with Stephen here. - No more dongles
Sin-Yaw elegantly explains why a choice of standards is a choice that serves dominant vendors, not the market or the customer. - Metheny/Mehldau - Quartet (iTunes US)
The first Pat & Brad collaboration (called just Metheny/Mehldau) was stunning, and this quartet collaboration sounds just as wonderful - like a rebirth for PMQ or PMG.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 30 2007, 07:10:07 AM PDT )
Permalink
Comments [1]
Friday June 29, 2007 Welcome to GPLv3
Living as I do in the UK, the gadget news that has the US media all spun-up today is of no interest to me. But a slightly lower-profile story - the release of the GNU General Public License version 3 by the FSF - is a satisfying end to a long journey. When we embarked on the review of Eben and Richard's new license a year and a half ago, I can admit to being a little sceptical. I assumed what we were about to see was a plebiscite, with the appearance of review but little real change. I'm delighted that's not what happened. Instead, we saw a wide, diverse and representative group drawn together to great effect.
Open Process
The actual process has been substantial, inclusive and largely public. It involved an initial conference with presentations and discussions, followed by the formation of a number of "discussion committees" which gathered representatives from all interest groups that were willing to participate (sadly not all were).
Committee B was where we corporate types met, and my colleagues David Marr and Damien Eastwood expended a tremendous amount of effort along with the large assembly of other company representatives discussing the license with Eben Moglen and the FSF. Both Damien and David have remarked in public and private that Eben and Richard Fontana have been consistent in their effort to remain available for discussion and dialogue, even (and especially) when difficult legal issues confronted Committee B.
That's not to say it's ended up framed the way everyone would want. The new license intentionally uses language aimed more at legal professionals, so some community members will find it difficult. And despite the brave words you'll hear from some of the corporate participants today the truth is that GPLv3 will cause plenty of soul-searching. I suggest measuring support by the lines of code licensed under GPLv3 rather than by the kind words spoken...
But the results of this open process are impressive. From an initial document that seemed pretty doctrinaire and exhibited clear problems for many of the businesses whose investment in staff and communities contribute so much to Free software, we have ended up in a much better place. The document is as balanced as a GPL revision can be, especially with the rough edges of the provisions affecting DRM smoothed out. It's especially pleasing to see the agreement between the FSF and the Apache Software Foundation.
The late work attempting to snuff out the sort of shady practice seen between some vendors was an unfortunate disruption, and I'm still waiting to see what the very, very last revisions to the language relating to software patents look like - I understand the text has seen revisions right up to the last minute. In the last draft there was scope for friendly-fire casualties caused by the traps set around software patent licensing; I hope that's been cured.
Sun and GPLv3
So the question I'm expecting to be faced with repeatedly over the next few weeks is, "will Sun use the GPLv3?" I think it's likely we will use it, yes, but I'm not clear yet for which code and when. We'll be carefully analysing the balance of benefits and risks in the released version of the GPLv3 and I'm not expecting to be in a position to bring a recommendation to our executive team for several weeks. I'm keen for us to take a leading position, though, even if some are sceptical of our motives.
Sun is in a position of stewardship of a large number of copyrights for Free software, and it would be a mistake for us to assume that just because on paper we own the copyrights that therefore we are free to do whatever we want. We're not. In communities where Sun is the steward (like OpenJDK and OpenSolaris), contributors are asked to share their rights with the community via Sun in part so that license changes like this are possible. While Sun holds those aggregated rights on trust, it would be a mistake to assume Sun can just change the license without any form of community discussion.
As a consequence, the licence choices for those communities will not be changing yet. If it happens, you can expect to see discussion in the affected community first. Is this a vote against GPLv3? No. It's a mark of respect for the trust placed in Sun by those communities.
Congratulations!
I regard the GPLv3 as a great achievement by the FSF in particular and by the greater open source community of Free software communities. The discussions were long, professional and detailed. The process was inclusive and respectful while retaining the ability to be driven forward through clear leadership. The result is a strong and market-changing document.
My hearty congratulations to Richard Stallman, Eben Moglen and all of the many, many participants in the process - thank-you for including us. The unity displayed is an example that I hope will be embraced, repeated and improved upon to yield an even more vibrant community of open source communities working on Free software with mutual understanding, respect and unity of purpose.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 29 2007, 09:32:55 AM PDT )
Permalink
Comments [2]
links for 2007-06-29
-
At last! Local Sushi!
-
This is a big deal - more magic from Mr Miller.
-
Wow, this is really freaky.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 29 2007, 01:22:45 AM PDT )
Permalink
Thursday June 28, 2007 links for 2007-06-28
- ODF Alliance posts documents about OOXML/OpenXML/whatever
Useful materials here. - Baby Jesus has returned…
Turns out transubstantiation does happen. Dawkins will be shaken. - mod_atom
Tim's got an Atom Apache module cooking. Fantastic. - Open HA Cluster Agents source released
Sun's cluster code is contributed to the OpenSolaris community (and thus the wider open source community too). Moer of the crown jewels made available to We the People. - Billionaire Thinks in Trillions for His Computer Designs
I'm no expert but to my eyes Constellation looks pretty awesome. The fact that it's made from standard parts rather than being a one-off custome engineering project is especially exciting. - NFS version 4.1 pNFS at OpenSolaris.org
They have some new code up there, looking good both for perfomance and being open source. - BBC web downloads set to launch
The fact the BBC has decided to discriminate against license-fee-payers who use anything but Windows is detestable and deserves condemnation. - Delta Flight 6499, SEVEN HOURS on the tarmac
I'd like to say this is quite amazing, but it's sadly pretty common. Airlines seem to do it so they can leave the gate on time and evade penalties for late departure. Screw the customers, they already paid. - Guy Kawasaki's iPhone Review
"Can I just buy an iPhone to use as a PDA to impress my friends, listen to music, watch video, and access the Internet via Wifi while not having anything to do with AT&T?" - Making Money: Terry Pratchett (Amazon UK)
New Pratchett out in September - just pre-ordered it
Posted by webmink
( Jun 28 2007, 04:10:26 AM PDT )
Permalink
Wednesday June 27, 2007 links for 2007-06-27
- ZFS Test Suite at OpenSolaris.org
The ZFS Test Suite is released (code is at http://dlc.sun.com/osol/test/downloads/current). With ZFS getting more popular by the day this is very timely. - Pen-Sized Fishing Rod
Perfect travel accessory for Mr O'Grady. - Pragmatic Open Source
Interesting discussion from Cote. In common with his colleagues he plays down the marketing dimension of the term though. Maybe that's "pragmatic", or maybe that's permissive of abuse by SaaS companies? - The OSI Needs To Become More Relevant
I've said similar things many times to people. Scary, I'm agreeing with Ian! - Psion: the last computer
Fascinating history novella by Andrew O about Psion. - Defenders of Secrets, Unite!
“This has probably been the most fun that intelligent people can have with their clothes on in the 21st century.” - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) [Adult Edition]
Should I order it from Amazon.co.uk or should I watch out for it on th day? Decisions, decisions.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 27 2007, 04:34:45 AM PDT )
Permalink
Tuesday June 26, 2007 links for 2007-06-26
-
I've seen plenty of people debunking Echinacea - this is the first research I have seen saying it's effective.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 26 2007, 01:23:09 AM PDT )
Permalink
Comments [1]
Monday June 25, 2007 links for 2007-06-25
-
Just received this and it is awesome. Imagine the Bible with no religious jargon and this is as close to it as you'll get. No doubt it will make fundamentalists wet themselves, but I am loving every page.
-
One for Danese and the other knitters in my life.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 25 2007, 01:23:35 AM PDT )
Permalink
Friday June 22, 2007 links for 2007-06-22
-
Relatively sane coverage of the evolution of the FOSS Java space.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 22 2007, 01:21:13 AM PDT )
Permalink
Thursday June 21, 2007 links for 2007-06-21
-
Open source web services stack.
-
The ZFS on FUSE project gets some more coverage.
-
Case settled - good.
-
eWeek's reviewer loves the new release of OpenOffice.org
Posted by webmink
( Jun 21 2007, 01:27:28 AM PDT )
Permalink
Wednesday June 20, 2007 Got to China
I've reached Guangzhou in China ready for the China Open Source World conference tomorrow where the organisers have arranged a stunny line-up of speakers. The journey here was pretty ugly - Lufthansa cancelled my flight, put me on Air France via Paris and then the connection was delayed too, making it touch-and-go right up to midnight. I'll be pretty busy here and in Seoul on Friday for LinuxWorld Korea so my apologies if I'm not very responsive in the busy thread here and on OSNews.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 20 2007, 11:59:37 AM PDT )
Permalink
Tuesday June 19, 2007 links for 2007-06-19
-
"The Scientific Advisory Board and the executive board of the SATW support this standard [ODF] and its introduction to wide circles in the Swiss private and public sector as well as in education."
-
We had a wonderful meal here on Saturday evening, recommended.
-
Congratulations to the top analysts listed, especially my friends at Redmonk.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 19 2007, 01:22:53 AM PDT )
Permalink
Monday June 18, 2007 Hardware Archaeology
One of the running themes of Free/open source software has been how easily drivers for chipsets in old (and often not-so-old) hardware can be created. Some semiconductor vendors keep a tight hold on the details of their chips, and discourage F/OSS developers strongly. The recent news that Open Sound is available as Free software under both GPLv2 and CDDL is a great step forward, and the availability of drivers for R500-family AMD video cards is also fantastic.
As a long-term manufacturer of fantastic hardware, Sun is frequently approached by groups of developers looking for documentation for the chips used in its products. These days, Sun's newest chips are open source already, and there's a good web-site for documentation for current chips. This has already resulted in great things.
More of an issue, though, are the older systems. In plenty of cases, rather than using I/O chips sold on the open market by companies like Broadcom, nVidia, and ATI, Sun's engineers have actually designed chips specifically for the work at hand. Unlike those companies which sell I/O chips for a living, and thus have a moral duty to provide complete, externally presentable documentation for their chips, Sun's engineers often had no business need to document the chip design for public consumption (or, in quite a few older cases, at all!) Even worse, in some cases the chips Sun has made use designs and ideas acquired from third parties as a 'trade secret'. In those cases, public documentation just can't be made available.
So what happens when people ask for documentation? Well, there are at least five cases:
- The product in question may be past it's end-of-life date and there's actually no team anywhere in Sun that can answer the question.
- The documentation may not exist. Writing it would require costly reverse engineering (even if people with the skills to do so are still at Sun).
- It may exist for internal use, but releasing it outside Sun would need legal review to check for 'trade secrets' belonging to others. That legal review is time consuming and costs real money. And the answer may turn out to be "can't release, can't name the company that's obstructing us".
- It may exist and it may be possible to release it. Doing that, though, is actually a non-zero cost since usually the documentation is in an old format of some kind.
- It may actually exist in an online-ready form.
The question has once again been raised (over on Jonathan's blog) of whether Sun is acting in bad faith over interface documentation for older systems. I've done a cursory check and I believe answers of "no, we can't help" fall almost exclusively in the first four classes above and mostly in the first two. But I do understand why passions are raised and scepticism is rife.
Jonathan asked me to look into this, to ensure we're pursuing an open path across all of Sun, not simply the software group. We take all input seriously, and we can't solve all problems for all parties, but we're committed to doing our best to faithfully engage with all the communities we serve, in the same spirit as the existing Open Source Ombudsman Scheme. With the support of my team and others in the community I'll try to build a new scheme that is fair and transparent. Watch this space!
Update Aug 27: The new FOSS Open Hardware Documentation wiki is now open for business.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 18 2007, 06:30:52 PM PDT )
Permalink
Comments [32]
links for 2007-06-18
-
Good to hear at least one distro isn't going to cave.
-
In Texas.
Posted by webmink
( Jun 18 2007, 01:20:58 AM PDT )
Permalink
Comments [1]
Friday June 15, 2007 links for 2007-06-15
-
Jim has done a great job cataloging the growth of the community, take a look.
-
"Open Sound System is a cross platform audio architecture that provides drivers for most consumer and professional audio devices and comes with an API that allows applications to be simply recompiled on any of the supported operating systems."
-
Putting authority in the hands of inflexible, sociopathic bullies is a recipe for creating a real crisis one day. It's not just the USA; Heathrow employs a bunch of bullies in orange jackets specifically to humilate and annoy travellers.
-
The first project proposed from outside Sun.
-
Another appliance. I detect a pattern...
Posted by webmink
( Jun 15 2007, 01:29:24 AM PDT )
Permalink
