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Essential Freeware for Businesses: Part I
11 months, 1 week ago
In this day and age free beer is unheard of, but free software is a reality. There are loads of freeware available today, some of which are better than their shareware counterparts. In this first-of-a-three-part series on free software, here is a list of productivity tools that enable you to be more efficient at work and at the same time save money. -
Richard Stallman's FSF Suing Cisco for GPL violations
11 months, 2 weeks ago
Cisco said it was disappointed by the lawsuit, saying it takes its open source software obligations and responsibilities seriously. "We are currently reviewing the issues raised in the suit but believe we are substantially in compliance. We have always worked very closely with the FSF and hope to reach a resolution agreeable to the company and the foundation." Cisco is one of the leading contributors to the Linux kernel. Cisco also is holding a $100,000 contest for Linux developers and uses the open source operating system with its AXP router module as well. -
Push Comes to Shove Comes to Whack-A-Mole: FSF Suit Against Cisco
11 months, 2 weeks ago
Today, the FSF let Cisco Systems know in no uncertain terms that line had been crossed. The complaint centers on the Linksys brand routers, and the firmware used on those products. -
6 Ways to Get Much More Out of GIMP
11 months, 2 weeks ago
The GIMP site has many useful resources for the application, and there are also a lot of other places to visit for turning yourself into a power user of this excellent cross-platform application that always leaves new users bewildered that it is free. Here are six good choices. -
FSFE and GPL-Violations.org on Reporting (and Avoiding) Licensing Issues
11 months, 2 weeks ago
The FSF Europe's Freedom Task Force and GPL-Violations.org have jointly prepared a few guidelines on how to best report (and avoid) license violations. Some of the advice is common sense (suspected violations are best handled in private, reported only to the involved parties, and organizations such as GPL-Violations and the appropriate branch of the Free Software Foundation), but reminders are always useful, especially in the heat of the moment. -
A Tale of Two Forks
12 months ago
While I was writing last Friday's editor's note, "Linux Should Copy Amiga", I kept thinking what a different story it would have been if Amiga had been released under a Free Software license. I'm sure I'm not the only one with that thought. Then I ran across osCommerce is Dead: Long Live the NEW osCommerce Project. While the circumstances are different, this is also a story of a software project in trouble. But it has a different ending, because osCommerce is licensed under the GPL. -
Share This: The Internet is a Right
12 months ago
“They order, said I, this matter better in France.” So wrote Laurence Sterne in his 1768 book A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. Alas, things have changed much since then, at least as far as the Internet is concerned. In the light of recent events, now he would we have to say: they order this matter worse in France. Even more unfortunately, France's bad habits are spreading, and could have serious consequences for free software. -
Independent conformance testing needed for ODF and OOXML implementations
1 year ago
Tineke Egyedi, senior researcher of standardization at the University of Delft, The Netherlands, president of the European Academy for Standardization and vice-chair of the International Cooperation for Education about Standardization, send an open letter (PDF) to software vendors with the title Who pays for interoperability in public IT procurement. In her letter she calls upon vendors to submit their implementation of the OpenDocument standard and the Office Open XML standard in software products for independent conformance testing and to verify the interoperability. She feels this is needed to make sure that governments and it’s citizens do not head into a new vendor-lock and to ensure vendors do not alter the open standards along the way. -
Unemployed? Five reasons to build your resume with FOSS contributions
1 year ago
It looks like we’ve gone from speculating whether we’re headed into recession depression, to speculating just what that depression is going to look like. Yihong Ding, over on the Thinking Space blog,predicts that we’ll have a “Golden Age” of the Web thanks to millions sitting at home with little else to do than putter around on the Web: -
Kdenlive 0.7, for KDE 4
1 year ago
Kdenlive is a non-linear video editing suite for KDE. A new version 0.7, released today, is the first release for KDE 4. -
Copyright on the tracks
1 year ago
The significance of this ruling is that it validates the assumption, inherent in the drafting of free and open source software licenses, that the conditions of use are applicable under copyright law, and that those who choose to do so can ensure that the product of their ideas, imagination and effort can continue to be freely accessible to others in the form that they wish. -
Voting-machine firm sued for GPL violations
1 year ago
Yet another Linux device maker has been sued over alleged GPL violations. Diebold subsidiary PES allegedly used a GPL-licensed copy of the Ghostscript Postscript interpreter in its optical-scan voting machines, without abiding by the license's terms, claims Ghostscript copyright holder Artifex Software. -
GNU gettext for static websites
1 year ago
This article documents how to implement a translation management system for a static website using GNU gettext. There's a working example included, and in the end it's all boiled down to 11 instructions. -
Commercial GNU tools expand debug support
1 year ago
CodeSourcery has updated its commercially supported GNU- and Eclipse-based software development toolkits. Also known as the "Fall release," Sourcery G++ 4.3 builds on the latest GNU compiler and debugger releases, while adding more automated configuration and expanded support for hardware-assisted debugging, the company says. -
Status of FSFE's legal dept: FTF
1 year ago
After two years of operation, FSFE's legal department has formed a network of 145 legal experts and organised Europe's first free software legal issues conference last April. The "FTF" also works on GPL enforcement, training, and publishing documentation. - More News
Linux.com : Free Software
openDesktop.org provides super-portal to free software sites
When users want the latest in free and open source software (FOSS), they are likely to think first of sites like freshmeat, or perhaps Softpedia or GnomeFiles. However, as the FOSS community has divided into specialized communities, sites for new releases have proliferated, to the point where it is difficult to keep track of them all. Since 2007, openDesktop.org has provided a portal for many of these specialized sites. Under the slogan "Let's build the desktop of the future," openDesktop.org provides a quick overview of new software that is independent of desktop or distribution.
Ace Suares: A big Linux advocate on a small island (video)
The word "big" has two meanings here. Ace Suares is not only a big-time GNU/Linux and FOSS advocate, but he is close to 2.5 meters tall and built like a football lineman. He lives on the island of Curacao in the Netherland Antilles, where he and his wife run a small Web design and hosting firm that (of course) runs Linux servers. But trying to convert other IT people on Curacao to the FOSS cause has not been easy, and has caused Ace plenty of frustration over the years. Somehow, he keeps going; arranging conferences, holding LPI Certification classes, and generally talking up Linux to his clients, friends, and even to strangers whose businesses or government agencies might be made more efficient by using FOSS instead of proprietary software. Now we'll get out of the way and let Ace tell his story directly to you in the following video. (It's about 13:20 long.)
Alleged Israeli GPL violation settled out of court
After two years of litigation, the parties involved in an Israeli law suit that centered on the validity of the GNU General Public License (GPL) have settled out of court. The result leaves the legal status of the GPL in Israel unresolved.
Indian political party turns to FOSS
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is India's largest political party, with around 20 million Ordinary Members and about 4 million Active Members. In June, BJP announced its goal to become one of the most high-tech political parties in the next two years, and free and open source software (FOSS) will play an essential role in this project.
FSF high priority list becomes a campaign, seeks donations
After marking the GNU Project's 25th anniversary with an endorsement by Stephen Fry and the relicensing of OpenGL, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is concluding the month-long celebration by relaunching its high priority list, which enumerates as-yet unwritten or incomplete software needed to run a completely free computer system. Instead of being simply a page on the FSF's Web site, the list will become a campaign, and be actively promoted and discussed, and given a new emphasis in the Foundation's activities.
Richard Stallman looks back at 25 years of the GNU project
On September 27, 1983, Richard M. Stallman announced his intention to found the GNU project in order to build a free operating system. Now, 25 years later, the Free Software Foundation is marking the anniversary of the announcement with a month-long celebration. Looking back at the last quarter century, Stallman expresses some guarded satisfaction with the growth of the free software movement, but also some bemusement about how it has grown more complex as it has faced new challenges from within and without, and an awareness of how far it still has to go to reach its goals.
SGI relicenses OpenGL: "A huge gift to the free software community"
After nine months, an open secret can finally be acknowledged: The OpenGL code that is responsible for 3-D acceleration on GNU/Linux, which was released by SGI in 1999, has been running on licenses that were accepted by neither the Free Software Foundation (FSF) nor the Open Source Initiative. Today, however, the FSF has announced that the licenses in question, the SGI Free License B and the GLX Public License, have been rewritten after months of negotiation between the FSF and SGI. The problem is now resolved, and the result is a code contribution that the FSF ranks as one of the greatest given to the community by a proprietary company.
Community service for free software users
In recent years, Linux distributions have successfully made the transition from being the exclusive domain of technical users to being suitable for even brand new computer users. However, unlike with proprietary software and operating systems, GNU/Linux is built mainly on the efforts of users who volunteer their time and expertise to write programs. The result is that the success of free and open source software (FOSS) depends on feedback and contributions from its users. New users, or users without programming skills, may not understand how to contribute, or even see the need for contributions. But non-programmers can contribute a great deal to FOSS projects, benefiting not only other users but also themselves in the process. Even you can help.
Actor/author Stephen Fry endorses free software
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has kicked off a month-long celebration of the GNU Project's 25th anniversary with a video in which British actor and comedian Stephen Fry expresses his support for free software.
Behind the doors of the Free Software Foundation
The purpose of the Free Software Foundation (FSF) is probably obvious from its name -- but what does promoting free software mean in terms of everyday activity? Examining the roles of the organization shows how complex the FSF's advocacy role has become. It also reveals the range of services available to the free software community, and helps to explain how such a small group has had such a major influence on computer technology.
Inside the SFLC's "Practical Guide to GPL Compliance"
One of the goals of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) is to become a center for education in free and open source software (FOSS) legal issues. As part of this effort, the SFLC has already published "A Legal Issues Primer for Open Source and Free Software Projects." Its latest effort in public education, released last week, is "A Practical Guide to GPL Compliance," a 15-page guide for FOSS projects on how to avoid violations of the GNU General Public License (GPL) and Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The guide is a practical summary of its subject, but its wording is unnecessarily legalistic, and its structure and omissions sometimes fall short of the goal of being a standalone reference.
Nepomuk and KDE to introduce the semantic desktop
If you follow technology trends, you have probably heard of the semantic desktop -- a data layer for annotating and sharing the information in your computer. But what you may not be aware of is that the semantic desktop is not a distant goal, but scheduled to arrive at the end of 2008. And, when it does, the idea will probably be implemented through the work done by the Nepomuk project, and, most likely, by KDE first.
South American FOSS show is a big deal
Last week's 8th Jornadas Regionales de Software Libre (Free Software Regional Sessions) at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was an opportunity for around 1,300 FOSS enthusiasts to share experiences, learn more, and have fun together.
Bradley Kuhn discusses software innovation, freedom, and the law (video)
Bradley Kuhn is not a lawyer, but he works at the Software Freedom Law Center and heads the Software Freedom Conservancy. He is fun to watch and listen to because he walks the tightrope between creative, carefree developers and cautious, legally-minded lawyers. Linux.com talked with Kuhn a few months ago, but he says lots more in this 30-minute video than in that interview -- including plenty of thoughts on how businesses based on free software can (and often do) turn a profit, plus some comments on how and why open source is helping the next generation of programmers develop and improve their skills.
Help your favorite "public interest" free software project win $10,000
Nominations are now open for the Antonio Pizzigati Prize for Software in the Public Interest. The winner could be someone you know, or someone whose work you admire, but don't mull over your recommendation too long -- entries must be submitted by September 30.
autonom.us aims to be think-tank on network service software licensing issues
Network services are one of the fastest growing areas in modern software. However, while network services have much of the convenience of free software, only a minority are available under a free license. In fact, it was only last November that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) released the GNU Affero General Public License for network services. Under these conditions, last week's announcement of the formation of autonom.us, a new activist group "to focus on issues of software freedom in network services," seems overdue. The group's immediate plans are still evolving, but currently, its main goal -- so far as it has one yet -- seems to be as a policy discussion and advocacy group.
Linux-libre project meets rocky reception
This year has already seen the second release of gNewSense, the completely free distribution endorsed by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), and the announcement that Ubuntu will have a free software option as part of its installation program. Now, if Alexandre Oliva, a Red Hat employee best-known as a board member of the Free Software Foundation Latin America (FSFLA), has his way, building a 100% free distribution will become easier thanks to his linux-libre project. Unfortunately, the path to freedom, he's finding, is often blocked by politics and a preference for convenience over ideals.
FSF organizes against Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Nobody knows yet what the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) will consist of, but the few available indications are so ominous that the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has started a campaign to raise public awareness of the possibilities. According to Matt Lee, an FSF campaign manager, ACTA threatens to "create a culture of fear and suspicion," and, in the worst-case scenario, undermine and demonize free software.
Web apps: the next battleground for FOSS?
Concerned about the increasing popularity of Web applications, Marco Barulli of the Clipperz project has written one of the first detailed suggestions about how free and open source software (FOSS) should respond to the trend. Although neither Barulli nor Clipperz is well-known, his ideas are being listened to by such figures as Richard M. Stallman of the Free Software Foundation and Fabrizio Capobianco, the CEO of Funambol and a long-time advocate of FOSS in Web applications.
How to risk your project and your livelihood with sloppy licensing
Recently the makers of the free-as-in-cost iPhone jailbreaking utility PwnageTool discovered that someone was reselling their creation -- without permission, under a new name, and for profit. That's a situation no software developer wants to be in, but the PwnageTool team was in an even tougher position because of the license under which it released its code. It didn't have one.
