Archive for November, 2006
Thursday, November 30th, 2006
Interesting Challenge: Hack a PS3 running Linux and win it
What will they think of next?
http://ps3.shimpinomori.net/index_en.html
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
SVN: “Novell/Microsoft patent deal doesn’t violate GPL…. yet”
Worth a read:
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS3940699940.html
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
U.S. Supreme Court Evaluating ‘Obvious’ Test for Patents
I couldn’t agree more with the Supremes initial reactions - hopefully they’ll do something about it now that’s ‘proper’ - a lot of patents will be disrupted and there are arguments on both sides. One thing is for sure - once again, nobody really cares about the actual case at hand - just the change in the test that could come as a result :)
When it came time to discuss the legal standard for patents, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia did not mince words.
“This is gobbledygook. It really is, it’s irrational,” he said.
And so went a hearing in which several of the justices attacked the legal standards used to judge patents the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has followed for the past 20 years.
Wednesday, November 29th, 2006
Spencer Katt Covers MSFT-Novell and Oracle News
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2064639,00.asp
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
5 Open Source Predictions for 2007 from Unisys
I found this post over quite interesting. I’d probably be a bit more aggressive and say these 5 things are already being done, but will become more generally accepted and driven as strategies.
The full press release from Unisys is here. I honestly think this may be the first open source predictions press release from a vendor that I’ve ever seen…
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006
MoMA: Mono Migration Analyzer
Wondering if your MS.NET app will migrate over to Mono’s cross-platform .NET? MoMA seems to be a great tool to do so. I haven’t used it yet, but I’m guessing it’s fairly simple based on the screenshots. I think this tool is a great addition to the Mono project - the great majority of .NET code is already written. Thanks to Stephen for pointing this out.
Monday, November 27th, 2006
Batch Image Processing with Gimp
Ran across this again today. When you need to make multiple processing changes to an entire folder of images, nothing beats the DBP Gimp Plugin. Heck, this one should be standard in Gimp by now. Just make sure you have g++ and the gimp dev libraries installed.
Sunday, November 26th, 2006
Ubuntu Courting OpenSUSE Developers?
Even the open source communities are competing! Should be interesting to see if any switch - there’s been quite a flurry of activity on the opensuse.org mailing lists but for the most part seems to be just a few of the more vocal members.
http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/81
Wednesday, November 22nd, 2006
IBM and OIN’s Take on Microsoft-Novell Deal
http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS4468266798.html
Scott Handy and OIN’s Jerry Roesenthal lumped into one story. Some good quotes:
Handy agreed and added, “We aren’t sure what Microsoft’s intentions are [in regards to patents].” However, “We have never seen any need for patent protection for Linux, and we don’t see any need for it now. If legal claims exist, they should be resolved between vendors and not involve end-user customers.”
To many IT buyers, “This is sign of Linux’s unstoppable growth. It’s Linux’s time. The only strategy is how to grow with it. It’s not unlike the introduction of the Internet,” Handy added. “Once people understood that it wasn’t going away, no one fought it any more; instead every one threw their hat in the ring.”
And Jerry Roesenthal threw in some zingers:
Rosenthal continued, “Unfortunately, embedded in Microsoft’s recent endorsement of Linux are claims regarding customers’ needing protection from patent attack. Those claims are baseless. In fact, there have been no patent suits against Linux. While patent disputes are not unheard of between and among software developers and distributors, they are almost always resolved between these commercial entities — not by dragging in end-user customers. Isn’t the real issue the fact that Microsoft is making such a threat against its own customers?”
If you’re unfamiliar with the OIN, let me point you to a FAQ section that may help you understand its purpose (second last FAQ item, my emphasis in red):
Large companies have recently been talking about “patent trolls.” They are typically referring to companies and individuals who develop or acquire patents in order to look for infringers. Is that the purpose of Open Invention Network?
No. In fact, it’s the exact opposite. The term “patent troll” implies something that’s aggressive, punitive and territorial and stops people from collaborating. Open Invention Network’s mission is not to seek revenues by asserting its patents. Rather, its intent is only to assert its patents in a defensive way - against those who attack Linux. Through such actions, OIN helps to facilitate and promote a fertile, positive ecosystem for Linux, which will drive innovation and choice into the marketplace.
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
ComputerWorld: Linux users ask MSFT “what balance sheet liability”
Linux users to Microsoft: What ‘balance sheet liability’?
‘I took great offense to Ballmer’s comments,’ says one CIO
Round and round it goes, where it will end no one knows.
And Microsoft’s assertions might be even backfire. “There were some applications I had been thinking about moving to a Microsoft platform, but this has now totally alienated me from Microsoft,” Strasnick said.
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
El Reg: “Itanium vendors spanked by IBM, Sun, and Dell”
Gotta love Ashlee Vance’s humorous spins on things as boring as server vendor stats from Gartner….
“The curse of the Itanic continued to haunt HP in the third quarter. The server maker suffered through the period as the only Tier 1 unable to post a significant uptick in sales. Most of HP’s woes appear to have resulted from flagging high-end server sales, as some customers side with Itanium, while others move to IBM and Sun Microsystems.”
I’m just wondering though… at what point does the Itanic actually sink?
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
Open Invention Network Issues Press Release on Novell-MSFT Pact
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=187279
Open Invention Network Issues Comments on the Microsoft-Novell Deal
NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — November 21, 2006 — Jerry Rosenthal, chief executive officer of Open Invention Network, issued the following statement today:
“Numerous organizations have sought OIN’s opinion of the recent agreement between Microsoft and Novell. We are referring to the recent announcement regarding Novell and Microsoft’s collaboration; ostensibly to make it easier for Novell’s version of Linux to operate with Windows in corporate data centers.
“We at OIN believe that the openness and collaborative culture of the Linux community is an engine for innovation. It is clear that there is significant value in Linux community members’ intellectual property and patents.
“Hearing Microsoft agree that Linux is a major force in the information technology industry is welcome news. Many IT customers and software programmers have recognized that Linux is a first-rate computer operating system with performance, stability and cost-of-ownership that compares well with all its competitors, including Microsoft’s own offerings.
“Customers can only benefit from greater interoperability between Linux and Microsoft products. In fact, interoperability has long been a known requirement, and is a key driver behind Linux.
“Unfortunately, embedded in Microsoft’s recent endorsement of Linux are claims regarding customers’ needing protection from patent attack. Those claims are baseless. In fact, there have been no patent suits against Linux. While patent disputes are not unheard of between and among software developers and distributors, they are almost always resolved between these commercial entities — not by dragging in end-user customers. Isn’t the real issue the fact that Microsoft is making such a threat against its own customers?
“OIN continues to support the Linux community’s ability to collaborate and innovate. Through the accumulation of patents that may be used to shield the Linux environment, including users of Linux software, OIN has obviated the need for offers of protection from others.
“In less than a year, OIN has accumulated more than 100 strategic, worldwide patents and patent applications that span Web / Internet, e-commerce, mobile and communications technologies. These patents are available to all as part of the patent commons that OIN is creating around, and in support of Linux. We stand ready to leverage our IP portfolio to maintain the open patent environment OIN has helped create.”
About Open Invention Network
Open Invention Network is an intellectual property company formed to further the Linux environment by acquiring patents and ensuring their availability. It promotes a positive, fertile ecosystem for Linux, which in turn drives innovation and choice in the global marketplace. Open Invention Network has considerable industry backing. It was launched in 2005, and has received investments from IBM, NEC, Novell, Philips, Red Hat and Sony. For more information go to www.openinventionnetwork.com.
Media-Only Contact: Ed Schauweker ed.schauweker@ketchum.com 703-963-5238
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
California Supreme Court: No liability on website owners for 3rd party posts
Phew, now you can all post slanderous comments here and I won’t be liable.
Of course El Reg has a humorous take on this:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/21/he_said_she_said_ok_online/
And Reuters has a more ‘refined’ view of the outcome
Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
Novell Wakes Up that MSFT Really Doesn’t Like Linux and Says No, Ballmer’s Full of _it_
And the drama continues. I’m curious if anyone has standing to sue Microsoft for Ballmer’s recent outbursts… let’s put it this way: if Microsoft stood up in front of the press and said ABC company has infringed Microsoft’s patents and all of its customers have a balance sheet liability…. would that not be defamation?
http://www.novell.com/linux/microsoft/community_open_letter.html
“Since our announcement, some parties have spoken about this patent agreement in a damaging way, and with a perspective that we do not share. We strongly challenge those statements here.
We disagree with the recent statements made by Microsoft on the topic of Linux and patents. Importantly, our agreement with Microsoft is in no way an acknowledgment that Linux infringes upon any Microsoft intellectual property. When we entered the patent cooperation agreement with Microsoft, Novell did not agree or admit that Linux or any other Novell offering violates Microsoft patents.”
Monday, November 20th, 2006
Moglen: GPL3 as a Microsoft deal killer
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/20/eben_moglen_on_microsoft_novell/
“Our strategy is to use GPL 3 against the deal - we’re not going to vary that strategy,” he told us.
“We’re going to make the deal not tenable and we urge Microsoft to back away as gracefully and as quickly as possible from a deal that won’t work.”
….
“Suppose GPL3 says something like, ‘if you distribute (or procure the distribution), of a program (or parts of a program) - and if you make patent promises partially to some subset of the distributees of the program - then under this license you have given the same promise or license at no cost in royalties or other obligations to all persons to whom the program is distributed’.”
Monday, November 20th, 2006
YouTube Video: Fedora Core 5 on PS3
The YouTube Linux on PS3 race has begun. First entry I’ve seen is FC5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZXcuhJkwx4
I don’t have a PS3 (yet) but it appears from the menu with the boot to “Other OS” option, Sony may be helping the use of Linux on the PS3 instead of making it for hackers only.
Friday, November 17th, 2006
PlayStation 3 Launches: Cell and Linux are here
IBM has a $20K QS20 Cell BE blade… or you can pick up a PS3.
This is a cool video about the Cell BE in the PS3… I need to get one of these. I can’t wait for a Gentoo support on this. (although… I guess I just assume someone in Gentoo is going to do it… they’re all crafty like that) If not there’s always Yellow Dog’s PS3 release.
http://www.us.playstation.com/Media/default.aspx?id=15500
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
CAL-Free Windows? Is that like a diet version - or ’starter edition’?
http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=194400606
See… with Linux, you get the entire stack for the low low price. Why buy a dumbed down, limited version for the low price?
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
Milton Friedman Passes Away
A huge loss for the economies of the world.
Thursday, November 16th, 2006
MS May Indemnify RH Users? I call BS on That.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2059675,00.asp
This is the most absurd thing I’ve heard of (McNealy on stage in a Penguin suit is probably #2). First, it doesn’t even make sense - indemnify users from what? Second, there is no Microsoft indemnification of Suse users - so how is this even related to the Novell deal? I think the world needs an IP 101 course on the web so they can learn what nonsense this really is.
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