Tag Archives: open source

Hope in Federations

Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp gains them almost half a billion users worth of telephone data. We can fully expect them to share their user information once joined, adding a wealth of phone data to Facebook and fleshing out WhatsApp with both Facebook’s data and the results of Facebook’s powerful semantic search. This sort of centralisation avoids giving users control of their own data.

To create a more positive environment in which users retain control of their data, what’s needed are more federated projects. Projects which offer the ability for suitably capable users to run their own service that can federate as a full peer, extending the service without surrendering full control. Diaspora and WordPress are two high profile examples of what federated services can look like, but there are many more available. All are open to user control in addition to service provider hosting.

If we are to maintain control of our own data in the future, federated services offer us much more hope than the route Facebook and WhatsApp are going down. Read more in this weeks InfoWorld article.

Making the most with Open Source

What opportunities does Open Source provide if you’re really looking to go big? Aiming to become “the next Red Hat” is an idea flawed from the start, as former XenSource CEO Peter Levine explains in his recent TechCrunch article. So what’s left if business models focussing on selling support and services all have a relatively low limit to their growth?

Those who are making the most money out of Open Source today are in fact not those who try to monetize a specific Open Source project, but those who innovate and build businesses that sit on top of a backbone of Open Source projects. Twitter, Square, Google and Facebook could all be given as examples of this sort of innovation. Importantly, the Open Source communities these companies engage with are likely to stay active and healthy as other community members also execute on their business model, gaining benefit from the project as well as making their own contributions (if they are smart).

For more, take a look at Simon’s InfoWorld article.

Open Core – not just a religious issue

Having a business model in which you sell a proprietary version of an otherwise Open Source project is a slippery slope that erodes user freedom. Nginx’s decision to release a paid only version of their popular server software might seem like good business sense, given the widespread adoption of their product, but in fact it has potential to decrease their value. Continue reading →

Download Services Best Practice

Some open source software has turned to software installers as a potential monetisation point. Famously Oracles Java, which attempts to install a toolbar with every download, but they’re not alone. Potentially, taking money for the promotion of other, proprietary software at the point of download could be an acceptable way to monetise projects. This will only be true though in cases which carefully follow some best practice guidelines. Continue reading →

GitHub and Open Source Licenses

As Simon wrote last November, although GitHub is self-described as the “world’s largest open source community,” a significant number of the projects hosted there come with no rights whatsoever for you to use their code in an open source project. That’s because so many don’t include an OSI-approved open source license.  It seems as though someone at GitHub agrees with the view he put forward; yesterday they made a number of moves to rectify the situation. Continue reading →

Open Source Track at TDC 2013: São Paulo

“The Developer’s Conference” is a 5 day event for all things software development, which opens its doors in São Paulo this week on Wednesday 10th. Simon will be there running an Open Source Track along with fellow OSI director Bruno Souza. The track runs on the Wednesday, with presentations and seminars from a range of speakers, covering topics from “decentralising the web” to “contributing to open source projects” and “A developer response to software patents”. If you’re attending TDC or are in São Paulo for any other reason, get along to the open source track!

Open World Forum Extend Call for Papers

Open World Forum has been bringing together European decision makers to explore the impact and potential future impact of free and open source software since 2008. This year it’s grown again, is moving to a larger venue and will be taking place on October the 3rd, 4th and 5th in Paris, France.

Describing the overarching theme of the event as “demystifying practical innovation”, organisers are extending their call for participation. There’s a wide scope within that general theme for discussion on everything from massive open online courses to whether use of cloud technologies should be seen as a lock in or an opportunity. In the CODE section of the event topics range from big data to web accessibility to mobile technologies.

There are plenty more topics on their list, so take a look for yourself and if something catches your eye, run with it and get a proposal in now! We hope to run a track there on the subject of “Freedom To Innovate” and we’ll watch for submissions on this theme. Not only is it a great event, it’s also an opportunity for members of the open source community to get their voice heard by a large number of European decision makers.

No EULA required

Open source software should not force acceptance of an End User License Agreement (EULA). In every context where an “EULA” is appropriately used, it’s describing the rights that an end-user and not a distributor is surrendering in return for the freedom to perform an act that would otherwise breach the copyright. The freedoms you need to use the software under open source licenses are granted unconditionally, and the freedoms you need to distribute and modify the software are conditioned on acts other than signalling acceptance of the license with a signature or a click-through.

I thus continue to assert that it is always unnecessary for open source software to present users with the license and demand an act of submission before proceeding. Demanding such an act is to be discouraged; it conditions users to believe that use of the software is subject to compliance actions.

There’s never a need for compliance or enforcement action on mere use (as opposed to distribution or modification). As has been written elsewhere, the freedom to use without seeking permission or proof of compliance is actually the key benefit of open source software and slavish recital of redundant EULA behaviour distracts users from this truth.

Open Source Accounting Solution for Non-Profits

Non-profit organisations are faced with an unappetising choice when deciding on a software solution for their accounting needs. They can either develop and maintain a complicated system of their own or they can use propriety software which undermines their charitable, equality focussed basis. This conflict between ideological desire and practical needs is likely to be particularly heartfelt for open source and free software non-profits.
 
Software Freedom Conservancy has a solution to propose. They plan to first survey existing solutions developed for for-profit accounting needs and then develop from the best available system an open source solution focussed specifically on the needs of non-profit organisations. When completed this software should save the sector millions each year as well as increasing its collaborative potential.
 
The Conservancy is itself a charity and is looking for financial help to fund the development of this software. Today they announced the start of a campaign to raise the necessary funds to dedicate a year of developer time to turning the concept into a reality. The project already has a range of endorsements and statements of support but is still seeking donors. This is your chance to contribute to the ongoing success of a range of non-profit charities all in one go.

International Free and Open Source Software Law Review

Are you aware that among the large body of international law research there’s some dedicated solely to the legal issues surrounding free and open source software? International Free and Open Source Software Law Review covers topics ranging from licence interpretation to open standards to statuary changes and relevant case law.

Recently it published its seventh issue, aiming to inform the legal community about FOSS issues. This leading, peer reviewed, academic treatment of legal issues in this field follows the principles it analyses and debates, making the review freely reproducible for commercial or non-commercial use.