Computerworld UK "Open Enterprise"

A Class Act from the European Parliament

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:06:00 GMT

One of the most dispiriting aspects of the ACTA saga is that practically everything has been conducted behind closed doors. What we know is largely from leaks and a few, costive hints from officials when they deign to let us little people peak behind the curtain for a millisecond or two.

Is Microsoft Afraid to Say the "L"-word?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:40:00 GMT

It seems that, having lost its position as monarch of the world of computing, Microsoft has decided to become the industry jester. Last week I wrote about its amusing suggestion that we should all be taxed to clean up the mess its software has caused. Now we have this witty post on Microsoft's Port 25 site, which involves writing about open source software applications and the platforms they run on without mentioning “Linux” once.

There's Nothing New Under the Sun

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:53:00 GMT

One of the many sad aspects of Sun's disappearance into the maw of Oracle is that many will see this as “proof” that its strategy of building on open source was a failure. But as Simon Phipps, Sun's former Chief Open Source Officer, rightly says in his valedictory blog post:

Open Source Saves the Day (and Lots of Dosh)

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:00 GMT

It seems every day we hear about hideous cost overruns on public sector projects in the UK. What makes it even more frustrating is that open source, a real no-brainer for many applications, is rarely given the chance to prove itself here. Which means, of course, that there are no case studies to refer to, so no one gives open source a chance etc. etc.

Open Source and Security: Are there Limits?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:14:00 GMT

You might think that's a pretty ridiculous question to ask, since the canard about open source being less secure than closed source has been debunked many times. But it seems that some people didn't get the memo:

A Healthy Move for Open Source

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:06:00 GMT

Although free software has had huge success at the infrastructural level – it runs most of the Internet, most cloud computing services, and vast swathes of corporate computing – its roll-out to more specialised areas has been slower.

Urgent: Please Help Head Off Website Blocking in UK

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:28:00 GMT

We have only a few hours to stop something bad happening in the House of Lords *this afternoon*:

Microsoft's Laugh-a-Minute Show Continues

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:21:00 GMT

On Monday I was writing about the knots into which Microsoft managed to tie itself trying to claim simultaneously that Google was anti-competitive but that it couldn't use the same arguments Microsoft had employed a decade ago when it was similarly accused.

Act on ACTA: Write to Your MEPs

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:02:00 GMT

As long-suffering readers will know, I've been banging on about the dangers to free software – and much else – of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) for a long time. The bad news is that ACTA hasn't gone away or got better in that time; the good news is that more and more people are becoming aware of just how awful it is, and why the secrecy surrounding its negotiations is just plain wrong.

Microsoft Hoist by its Own Anti-Anti-Competitive Petard

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:43:00 GMT

One of the decisive moments in computing history was when Microsoft was investigated for and found guilty of breaching US rules on anti-competitive behaviour.

The Continuing Scandal of Vendor Lock-in

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:03:00 GMT

As I've noted many times, one of the big benefits of deploying open source is freedom from lock-in: using open formats that anyone can implement means that it is relatively easy to change supplier. That's not the case with Microsoft's code and formats, as the following sad saga underlines:

Many Happy Returns, Apache

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:16:00 GMT

We tend to think of free software as (mostly) new, so the fact that Apache celebrated its 15th birthday yesterday seems pretty extraordinary. We also typically think of free software as being the perennial plucky underdog, but as this post on the Apache Software Foundation Blog reminds us, Apache has been the leading Web server for almost its entire existence:

A Tale of Two Ballot Screens

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:47:00 GMT

Remember the browser ballot screen that Microsoft agreed to add as part of its settlement with the EU over competition issues? It's happening now:

Let My Codecs Go: Will Google Free VP8?

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:55:00 GMT

I've written about the growing interest in HTML 5 a couple of times, and there is a parallel discussion around the role, if any, of Flash and its proprietary codecs in an Open Web. And now, hidden away in this dull press release from Google, we have another ingredient added to the bubbling cauldron:

Herding the Meta-Cats

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:08:00 GMT

In the famous online argument between Linus and Minix creator Andrew Tanenbaum during the very early days of Linux, one of the more memorable statements from the latter was the following:

All A-Twitter about Open Source

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:21:00 GMT

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Facebook's broad-based embrace of open source, and how this represented yet another demonstration of the latter's power. Well, here's one more for the collection – not quite on the same scale as Facebook (not much is), but pretty significant, for obvious reasons:

Something Happened: Where's Microsoft?

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:49:00 GMT

As you may have heard, last week there was a bit of kerfuffle over Google's Buzz and its implications for privacy. And Google has responded:

SAP Slouches Towards Bethlehem

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 16:09:00 GMT

Readers with a taste for high comedy may remember my post “Why SAP is Such a Sap over Software Patents”, which rather took to task a certain large German software company over its stance on software patents. Now, to be fair, SAP has done some good things for free software – not many, but some – and Matthew Aslett has produced an excellent summary of these on his 451 CAOS Theory blog, which I urge you to read.

British Library Helps Lock Down More Knowledge

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 10:39:00 GMT

It has been a sad spectacle to see the British Library – without doubt once the greatest library in the world, and hence a powerful force for disseminating knowledge as widely as possible - become more and more enmeshed in locking down research in proprietary formats.

Quick: Time to Stop the SWIFT Agreement

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:19:00 GMT

The so-called SWIFT Agreement, where SWIFT refers to the “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication”, has close parallels with ACTA, about which I have written several times - not least the way it has gradually emerged from the shadows to be met by growing outrage from people who were kept in the dark about it.

Has the Irresistible Rise of OpenOffice.org Begun?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 15:43:00 GMT

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm a big fan of OpenOffice.org, and that I think it has the potential to break through into the mainstream. Maybe it's already begun, judging by these figures from webmasterpro.de:

Crowdsourcing + Open Source: the Perfect Combination for Startups?

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:19:00 GMT

Crowdsourcing represents an interesting attempt to generalise the open source methodology to non-technical areas. The basic idea is to tap into the the vast store of knowledge and wisdom among the general population by providing a mechanism to funnel the best ideas to those who can build on them.

Oh, What a Lovely Standards War

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:56:00 GMT

You know something big must be afoot when people start to get worked up over video compression standards. Basically, the issue is whether the current de facto standard, H.264, will continue to dominate this field, and if not, what might take over.

From Open Source to Open Government

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:09:00 GMT

Yesterday I had an interesting chat with Paul Clarke, an advisor to government departments on digital strategy, and a man with fingers in many interesting pies, about open government. The central issue we were ruminating upon was how to help those within government who want to open up, given the huge inertial forces operating against them.

The New Face of Open Source: Facebook

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:07:00 GMT

Without doubt, one of the most extraordinary developments in recent years has been the rise of Facebook - not just as the most popular social network, but increasingly as a force to reckoned with in the world of computing, perhaps soon on the scale of Microsoft and Google. This makes its relationship to free software something of more than passing interest.