Michael Dolan Dot Com

Archive for July, 2008

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

LinkedIn runs on the LAMP stack - and it’s suddenly news?

I couldn’t help but find myself perplexed when I got an email on my iPhone yesterday from a well known figure in the Linux world. He (and subsequently I) were baffled that Sun must be combing through existing LAMP users for new references - LinkedIn uses LAMP. Well call me shocked… don’t 90% of the web companies out there run LAMP? (excluding those Microsoft has bought) I’m guessing the “new news” is that Sun signed up LinkedIn for a MySQL support contract for the first time, but are we going through a second LAMP hype cycle?

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/080728/20080728005247.html?.v=1

Friday, July 25th, 2008

Software patent battle spills into India; Red Hat fights the good cause

It looks like the issues of patenting software are not limited to just the US ;-) Of course we knew this already, but it’s interesting to see that the India-based systems integrators now want to use patents to “protect” their ability to create software product businesses. Of course Red Hat is taking an alternative position. Those favoring the extension of the interpretation are arguing that that software makes the hardware novel - as opposed to the software being novel itself. That’s basically akin to saying if I have a patentable product X and an unpatentable product Y, I can protect Y by gluing it to X - good luck.

Infosys took it a step further: “Infosys, which sent a separate representation, goes even further—it says even the source code should get a patent.”

It would appear the Indian IT leaders have a lot to learn about open innovation and the bottlenecks and friction software patents create. Looking at this short term will lead to many long term issues other markets are still not sure how to handle.

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Infy-TCS-lock-horns-with-Red-Hat-over-IT-patent/340200/0

IT majors like Infosys Technologies Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are opposing the open-source community’s demand that the government drop a clause in the draft patent examination manual as it gives scope for software patenting under the Indian Patent Act of 2003.

The dispute has been sparked by the draft manual that will guide patent examiners in their interpretation of the Indian Patent (Amendment) Act for software. Section 3(K) of the Act clearly says: “A mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms are not patentable.” But the draft examination manual gives scope for patent examiners to grant patents where none is allowed for software under the law. Even the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), representing the software associations and the law firms, arguing that a strong intellectual property regime in India would give the Indian software industry the impetus to evolve into product-related research & development model.

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

iPhone SDK is Mac OS X only

I just went to download the iPhone SDK early this morning and realized they only have a Mac OS X version. No Linux or Windows version - how nice. I guess I should have expected that. Not having a Mac, I’m obviously not going to be test writing any apps.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent uptick in Mac sales.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

SFLC files another GPL enforcement suit on behalf of BusyBox

The SFLC continues to enforce the GPL on behalf of the BusyBox developers, this time against Extreme Networks. As usual, a lawsuit is filed after trying to work with the defendants to remedy the situation first.

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) today announced that it has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Extreme Networks, Inc. on behalf of its clients, two principal developers of BusyBox, alleging violation of the GNU General Public License (GPL).

“We attempted to negotiate with Extreme Networks, but they ultimately ignored us,” said Aaron Williamson, SFLC Counsel. “Like too many other companies we have contacted, they treated GPL compliance as an afterthought. That is not acceptable to us or our clients.”

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

WordPress for iPhone is here

WordPress for iPhone is here. I just tested it and there appears to be some bugs still. When I setup my blog on the iPhone app, it auto inserted a couple of blank posts that did not have anything in them. Hopefully we’ll see an update soon ;-)

One bigger issue is that the iPhone still does not have copy/paste support.

Introducing the first Open Source app that lets you write posts, upload photos, and edit your WordPress blog from your iPhone or iPod Touch. With support for both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress (2.5.1 or higher), users of all experience levels can get going in seconds. Download it now!

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

WordPress 2.6 is here and rumors of an iPhone interface coming?

I still need to update to v2.6, but it’s officially here. There are a host of cool new features including Gears-based acceleration.

I also noticed this link indicating an upcoming iPhone application for easier use of WordPress.

Good news on all WordPress fronts.

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

7 +1 = 8 iPhone Disappointments

I noticed this Forbes article and have to add my 1 big disappointment. Unlike a Blackberry and many other internet-capable devices, you cannot use the iPhone as a modem or in a tethered mode to access the internet from a laptop. I am baffled that this is not a huge selling point. I can only imagine that AT&T doesn’t want the bandwidth, but I find it unacceptable.

Personally I don’t find multimedia messaging to be an issue. I also don’t care about voice dialing. But if I were to add a 9th disappointment to the list it would be iTunes. As I’ve documented in prior posts, I cannot stand iTunes. Add in that I have to pay for a song twice to add any ringtone to my phone, and I hate iTunes twice as much as before.

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Linux Kernel 2.6.26 is out; so is Gentoo 2008.0

I actually haven’t been using Gentoo at all recently. It’s on an older laptop that just doesn’t keep up with all the compiling. However I have a very fast AMD64 desktop at home just waiting to try out the latest Gentoo. I was also waiting for the latest kernel to come out b/c there are some KVM, webcam, and other driver updates I’m interested in taking advantage of. In other news, 2.6.26 adds KVM support for S/390 (IBM Mainframe), PPC (IBM Power) and Itanium processors.

I also noticed KGDB (kernel debugger) supports x86 and SPARC right now - SPARC? Hmm…

You can read more about the new kernel features here: http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_26

And you can get the latest Gentoo LiveCD over here: http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/where.xml

Monday, July 14th, 2008

IBMers: Get a substantial discount off your AT&T Wireless Plan (including iPhone plans)

IBMers can get a significant discount off their AT&T wireless plans. I just got an iPhone and switched to AT&T wireless from Verizon. It’s worth the effort to sign up.

http://wireless.att.com/discounts

Monday, July 14th, 2008

iPhone 3G Tips and Tricks

I found this website particularly helpful figuring out some of the hidden tricks to the new iPhone.

http://www.apple.com/iphone/tips/

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Sunset? A failed open source strategy?

Has mismanagement finally done Sun in? Unfortunately I have to wonder if Jonathan has done irreparable damage. I think a lack of a real strategy to embrace Linux has led to this problem… Schwartz tried to turn Sun into an “open source company” but what does that really mean? How many companies have taken a similar approach and generated shareholder value? The best “open source companies” know better, they know how to manage and really use open source effectively to support their strategy - they don’t make it the strategy.

I just shake my head when Jonathan compares Sun to Google - it’s not true, not even within a mile. Google has a proprietary product in its search business - it’s built on open source, yes. But open source supports their strategy - to sell ads. If Sun “opened” Solaris correctly and at the right time, perhaps it could have done well. But you have to look for a strategy that works today, not a few years ago.

A strategy starts with what will customers buy from you. Refusing to accept that customers want fast, efficient servers running business solutions on Linux and Windows (note, not “open source”) could be cited as a cause of the downfall, or sunset if you allow me a pun.

I feel for the employees at Sun that will lose out first, before management. There are a lot of great people with great talent there and I can only hope the upper management is replaced and Sun as a company gets set straight by a professional with actual business execution ability. I would like to continue seeing Sun in the tech industry, perhaps not as the vendor we know it today. Maybe I’m just nostalgic, but too many great technologies have come from Sun employees in an innovative environment to just go the way of DEC or SGI.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/10/sun_under_gun/

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2008/07/09/sun-micro-could-ceo-schwartz-be-on-his-way-out/

Thoughts? Am I all alone on this?

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

iPhone 3G demand: HIGH

I’m honestly a bit surprised at how much demand there seems to be for the 3G iPhone. I can’t tell if it’s just nonsense that people are already lining up at the Apple flagship store in NYC or if there really will be such high demand in the US. Everyone I know that I’d consider an “early adopter” (except myself) already has an iPhone. If it were not for my Verizon contract, you could put me in that group. Is there really that much demand to upgrade to 3G? I consider lining up at a store days before the launch a publicity stunt more than an indicator of demand.

Now abroad I can understand. This will be the first time many markets get to use the iPhone at home so I can imagine the strong demand. O2 in the UK seems to be experience an iPhone customer craze. Below is a quote regarding the preorder launch… 13,000 iPhones per second…

“Demand was at 13,000 orders per second,” said Shurrock. “Frankly, we have to admit we just weren’t prepared for this unprecedented level of demand. No website is.”

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/07/08/apple_iphone_o2_email/

I will get an iPhone 3G - it’s impossible to avoid now that my contract expires in 30 days. I just wonder how long I’ll have to wait for stock to show up. I wonder how many new customers AT&T will land from its exclusive arrangement with Apple. Once the momemtum picks up with the lower price point, this could be the iPod 2.0 craze - all to AT&T’s benefit.

Thursday, July 3rd, 2008

YouTube vs Viacom… everything that is wrong in the movie/music biz

The privacy issues underlying this discovery request are troubling. What’s next? Will Viacom now send every ISP a discovery request for the people whose DSL/cable IP address shows in the log? Will Viacom then take a page out of the RIAA’s book and start suing home owners? Will the RIAA suddenly see this as a great way to collect royalties on music embedded in videos?

I may have to stop watching YouTube video… but Viacom… well unfortunately they own Comedy Central and I won’t give that up.

I can’t believe that the great minds in this country working in the entertainment industry cannot sit down and come up with a better solution for IP protection. If not, I fear that IP protection will become a negative to the mass public.

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

Bob Sutor goes 100% Linux on the desktop; Mac surges; where’s Windows?

Nice to see Bob Sutor has made the complete switch to Linux for laptop use at work. I remember the day I wiped out my Windows partition on my laptop - it was memorable. I then went an entire year booting Windows in VMWare only about 3-5 times.

It’s great to see the transition starting to happen everywhere. Even if some of the transitions are to Mac, it’s greater choice.

This is all going to be even easier as technologies like Firefox, OpenOffice/ODF and open standards start to permeate the set of options available to users.

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

The Register Open Season Podcast

This was another interesting podcast. I’m obviously a fan of Mr. Vance (has anyone ever called him “Mr.”?) - maybe I’m the first. I also need to meet Matt Asay at some point… have much to discuss.