Friday February 29, 2008 links for 2008-02-29
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Ernie pointed out that this sometimes controversial pioneer has recently died. I have some of his music in my 5* list.
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Cool toy for those moments when you need some new ASCII art.
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New open source project from Sun provides a way to deliver archival storage.
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I noted a complaint from someone in IBM's Linux team that Sun wasn't transparent becuase old version of the Contributor Agreement aren't available, so we have made sure they are all there on the Sun FOSS web site.
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This is very cool, I need to give it a try myself.
Wednesday February 27, 2008
Tuesday February 26, 2008 MySQL Joins Sun Today
As you have no doubt noticed by now, the Sun acquisition of MySQL completed today and MySQL is now a part of Sun Microsystems - Jonathan has a welcome letter. I actually knew Mårten Mikos, and David Axmark already from our shared activities campaigning against the European patent directive a while back, but over the last two months I have been reacquainted with them as well as meeting a huge number of MySQL staff. They are a great company with a strong engineering and community culture and I think they will be a great fit in Sun.
There's still a whole lot more work to do though. One important task is to introduce everyone at MySQL - staff, community and customers - to everyone at Sun, and a key part of that is the World Tour that's getting started - Kaj Arnö has more. You can also hear Barton George from the Sun Open Source group interviewing Mårten and Zack Urlocker.
Monday February 25, 2008 links for 2008-02-25
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The samplers from all the 2008 SXSW Music showcase artists are now available. This has been the best source of new music for me over the last few years, can't wait for the download to complete.
Wednesday February 20, 2008 Document Freedom Day
The news just went out that March 26 2008 will be the world's first Document Freedom Day, celebrating and championing the cause of true freedom for our data. You may recall that I wrote about this back in 2006 and also gave a speech at the European Commission. I coined the term "Freedom To Leave", referring to the liberty to take your data and go elsewhere uninhibited by DRM, closed interfaces or file formats that require a particular program for faithful reproduction and use.
I believe this to be the new front line in defending the freedoms of computer users. Richard Stallman's four freedoms are now driving the mainstream of software (especially here at Sun), and while software freedom is not yet a given, the next challenge for us is our freedom to own and move our own data anywhere, any time.
Defining Data Freedom
I believe there are multiple dimensions to data freedom.
- There is the personal dimension - being able to take the data I "own" and use it with any software or service that's appropriate.
- There is the historical dimension, ensuring future researchers have access to the electronic information that is driving directions in society today.
- There is the commercial dimension, ensuring that data interfaces remain open, equitable and interoperable so that we have a fair yet competitive marketplace.
links for 2008-02-20
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Excellent article points out there is more to the GNU/ prefix than the vanity some (usually projecting exactly the strong agenda of which the accuse others) suggest.
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Details of what my extended team are doing this weekend.
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"This MacBook and MacBook Pro firmware update addresses an issue where the first key press may be ignored if the computer has been sitting idle." At last.
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Absolutely priceless.
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Dan Farber is one of the best tech journalists I know and thoroughly deserves this promotion. Congratulations, Dan!
Monday February 18, 2008 links for 2008-02-18
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I've still no reason to consider any kind of DVD player at home. It's not image quality that sells to me - it's convenience and price.
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Even the bland USA Today is forthright on this.
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This rule applies here as well.
Saturday February 16, 2008 FOSDEM Approaches
Want to meet up at FOSDEM next weekend in Brussels? I'll be at the Java Libre dinner on Saturday evening, or we can exchange electronic tags to try to meet elsewhere. Leave a message with a valid e-mail (it's not displayed here). Full details of what the Sun team will be up to are on our wiki.
Thursday February 14, 2008 links for 2008-02-14
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Sun sponsors the editor for the ODF 1.2 specification.
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Rob is outraged, and rightly so. Burton Group's "report" is shown as disgraceful and partisan not so much by its content (which is fatally imbalanced but could have been the result of naievity) but by the attempt to brush criticism aside.
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I'm hearing from plenty of people that they are ignoring the partisan politics and trying NetBeans. The result almost universally is they find it's ready to use, easy to learn and highly productive in multiple languages. Including Ruby.
Wednesday February 13, 2008 links for 2008-02-13
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This week's free track is well worth getting - one of the hottest new artists in the UK.
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Interesting how Apple is suppressing this one. I and loads of people I have spoken to at Sun suffer from this problem and I would have hoped it would get fixed rather than its sufferers suppressed.
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Excellent meditation. Read it in conjunction with Dare's posting I linked yesterday and reflect on what the real problems may be in the endless debate on document formats.
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Sun is acquiring the company that makes this Free alternative to Fusion and Parallels, and cursory inspection suggests it is actually rather good.
Sunday February 10, 2008 links for 2008-02-10
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I'm sure you are already subscribed, but just in case you've not found it I heartily recommend Bruce Schneier's blog which is both erudite and controversial.
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Looks like Dubai isn't worth the risk of visiting. Poppy seeds from a roll? Codeine? A cigarette butt stuck t the sole of a shoe?
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So true it's almost not funny.
Saturday February 09, 2008
Tuesday February 05, 2008 links for 2008-02-05
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"The debate isn't security versus privacy. It's liberty versus control." ... "If you set up the false dichotomy, of course people will choose security over privacy -- especially if you scare them first."
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Huge congratulations to Alice and Cory.
