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Manou Chen of Open.Amsterdam (video interview)

roblimo

September 25, 2008 9:00:00 PM

Open.Amsterdam (in Dutch; English PDF download available here) is working to convert most of the city of Amsterdam's computers to GNU/Linux and open source software, and to make sure that any remaining proprietary-OS computers owned by the city use open file formats instead of closed, proprietary ones. In this interview, project director Manuo Chen tells us how the project is going and a little about its goals -- and a little about some of the pitfalls it has encountered, too.

Coverity's open source code audit efforts are funded by the US government (video)

roblimo

August 09, 2008 2:00:00 PM

Coverity famously helps open source projects audit their code and eliminate security holes and other bugs, and earns its corporate income by selling software that does the same thing to proprietary software companies. Few seem to realize, though, that Coverity started doing free open source code audits because it got a grant from the US Department of Homeland Security. Coverity's David Maxwell explains.

GovTrack opens up information on US legislature

Lee Schlesinger

July 24, 2008 9:00:00 PM

Since 2004, GovTrack.us has housed information about the United States Congress, including 10 years of bills, voting records, and contact information for individual members of Congress. Visitors can also find out who represents them and search the database for committee assignments, legislative statistics, and the Congressional Record, which is the official record of daily proceedings in Congress. All the code that makes GovTrack run is open source, and all the information stored there is freely available to everyone.

Canadian open source community upset over proposed copyright law

Lee Schlesinger

July 10, 2008 9:00:00 PM

The Government of Canada has angered those who believe that a proposed copyright law threatens the country's open source business model.

Microsoft influencing partner NGOs to support OOXML in India

Lee Schlesinger

March 04, 2008 9:00:00 PM

Microsoft is encouraging its business partners to promote its Office Open XML specification (OOXML) to the Indian Bureau of Standards (BIS) and Ministry of IT. This move has incensed supporters of the rival OpenDocument Format (ODF) who fear that the "soft" Indian state may not be able to stand up to Microsoft pressure tactics.

Canadian Greens add FOSS to election platform

Lee Schlesinger

November 02, 2007 8:00:00 PM

Thanks to a founding member of Free Geek Vancouver, the Green Party of Canada has quietly become the first major political party in Canada to make support for free and open source software (FOSS) part of its election platform. Like officials in the Green Party of England and Wales, deputy leader Adriane Carr sees the move as compatible with basic Green ideas, but IT consultant Neil Adair also points out the move serves the practical purpose of helping the party match the technical resources of more established parties.

Talking FOSS at the UN

Lee Schlesinger

October 08, 2007 9:02:00 PM

When Nathan Eckenrode goes to the United Nations in New York City next week to help demonstrate the technology behind open source software, he doesn't really expect to discover the answer to world peace. If he gets a little closer, though, he's all right with that.

Peer-to-Patent pilot steers toward change

Lee Schlesinger

August 14, 2007 9:00:00 PM

On June 15, the New York Law School's Institute for Information Law and Policy, in cooperation with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), launched the Peer-to-Patent community patent review pilot program. While some sections of the free and open source community show little interest in the program, program leader Beth Noveck of the NYLS is upbeat, thanks to the interest shown by federal agencies including the Department of Commerce and software companies like Red Hat and Microsoft, and the prospect of replicating the program in other countries.

Blackhat Training instructor denied entry into US

Lee Schlesinger

July 30, 2007 8:15:00 PM

Halvar Flake was scheduled to teach a class on computer security entitled Analyzing Software for Security Vulnerabilities today and tomorrow at Blackhat Training in Las Vegas. Instead, US customs officials cross-examined him for nearly five hours, then decided not to allow him into the country and put him on a plane back to Germany.

UK Greens connect to free software

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier

July 17, 2007 9:00:00 PM

For average hackers in their cubicles, the relation between environmental and free software issues may seem remote but the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) is working to connect the dots. Since adopting a motion in favor of free and open source software (FOSS) in 2005, party members have not only spoken frequently in favor of FOSS, but also on related issues, such as software patents and lockdown technologies in Vista.

Open source activists aim to produce transparent federal budget information

Dean Henrichsmeyer

July 06, 2007 10:00:00 PM

Earlier this year, former US senator and presidential candidate Bill Bradley published The New American Story, a book about reforming the American agenda. As part of that process and as a public citizen, he has joined open source activists to produce a Web-based window into the US federal budget.

Good enough for government work? Red Hat Linux receives top-notch security rating

Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier

June 19, 2007 9:10:00 PM

IBM anticipates that the enhanced EAL4 security certification earned by Red Hat Enterprise Linux Version 5 earlier this month will further its adoption by businesses and government entities worldwide.

Ten big Dutch cities demand open standards

Lee Schlesinger

January 16, 2007 8:00:00 AM

In the beginning of 2003, the Dutch government started a program called Open Standards and Open Source Software (OSSOS) to stimulate Dutch government agencies to use open standards in their software and to inform them about open source software. Last month, 10 big Dutch cities signed a Manifesto of the Open Cities, signaling that the OSOSS program is working.

Brazilian government faces challenge over proprietary tax software

Lee Schlesinger

October 27, 2006 8:00:00 AM

The Free Software Foundation - Latin America (FSFLA) is campaigning against the Brazilian government's regulations that some citizens must use non-free software for paying taxes. Referring to the software as "Softwares Impostos," a term that puns in Portuguese on "taxes" and "imposed," FSFLA has launched a letter-writing campaign against the requirement, arguing that it is both contrary to current social policies and a violation of the Brazilian constitution.

Belgian government chooses OpenDocument

Lee Schlesinger

July 05, 2006 8:00:00 AM

Belgium's Council of Ministers last month approved a proposal that requires federal government departments to use open file formats for exchanging documents. As it stands now, the only accepted standard is the Open Document Format (ODF). This increases the pressure on Microsoft to come up with support for open standards.

Canadian anti-DRM coalition makes timely debut

Lee Schlesinger

June 26, 2006 8:00:00 AM

A coalition of public interest groups and academic privacy experts has released a public letter and background paper to the Canadian government stating their concerns about digital rights management (DRM) technologies and their legal status. The coalition has also started a Web site, IntellectualPrivacy.ca, to coordinate its efforts.

US military is blocking Slashdot and SourceForge.net

Lee Schlesinger

May 18, 2006 8:00:00 AM

I was told recently that Air Force bases in the San Antonio, Texas, area are blocking one or more of our sister OSTG sites, like SourceForge.net, Slashdot.org, or Freshmeat.net. After finding reports via Google of commercial mail services and liberal news sites being blocked by various components of the Department of Defense, I decided to go straight to the horse's mouth for the story. Here's what I learned.

Canada census developers add Linux support

Lee Schlesinger

May 15, 2006 8:00:00 AM

Statistics Canada has responded to concerned free software users by adding GNU/Linux support to the online census. While other free operating systems remain unsupported and issues about security and policy remain, this response is an important first step in ensuring open access to Canadian government online services.

Canadian Census controversy continues

Lee Schlesinger

May 12, 2006 8:00:00 AM

Linux User Groups (LUG) and Canadian elected officials are responding to the news that the Canadian online census forms block free software users from participating. Last week's story helped uncover the fact that the software used for the online census seems to violate several government policies and treaties.

Canadian online census discriminates against FOSS

roblimo

May 04, 2006 8:00:00 AM

In 2006, Canadians can fill out their census forms online for the first time -- but not if they use GNU/Linux, or are free software advocates who prefer not to install a proprietary version of Java.

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