August 2008

Open Source Initiative

• The OSI Categorically Rejects IIPA's special pleadings against Open Source
  Introduction Moore's Law, Disk Law, and Fiber Law have created an economic engine for growth, promising exponentially improving computing, storage, and networking performance for the foreseeable future. And yet according to a 2003 UNCTAD report, "there has been no Moore's Law for software," and indeed it is because of software t […]
• Time To Rebut The IIPA's FUD Against Open Source
  A recent blog posting at The Guardian about the US "Special 301" rules has generated deep concern around the global open source community.read more
• I signed the Public Domain Manifesto
  You can read about it here and then decide for yourself whether to sign it as well.
• Exporting Open Source from the US
  If you distribute Open Source software containing encryption from the United States, you are subject to US export controls, yes. But are there any real restrictions? The only thing that the law requires you to do (for Open Source) is send an email to crypt@bxa.doc.gov with the URL. So why do SourceForge and Google impose greater restrictions than the law req […]
• WordPress Foundation
  Yesterday Matt Mullenweg announced the establishment of the WordPress Foundation. It's goals, among others, are "to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software". He further elaborates: The point of the foundation is to ensure free access, in perpetu […]
• Magic Lantern firmware makes Canon EOS 5D Mark II the camera Canon should have released
  I love stories of user-driven innovation. Here's one I just discovered: the Magic Lantern firmware upgrade for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera. Trammel Hudson tells the story of his elegant and vital hacks: Magic Lantern introduction from Trammell Hudson on Vimeo. read more
• Open Street Map helps Haiti relief projects
  This afternoon I heard this story on NPR. It's not the first time OpenStreetMap was mentioned as an asset in the relief effort. It was also mentioned three days ago in a story sourced from the Associated Press.read more
• Sahana 2010 Haiti Disaster Relief Portal
  On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti 15 miles from its capital, Port-au-Prince. On January 14th, the Sahana team, based largely in Sri Lanka, launched its Haiti 2010 Disaster Relief Portal, including a Situation Map, an Organizations Registry, and an Activities Report. read more
• Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.
  "There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution." - from the Commencement Address for Oberlin College given by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., June 1965, Oberlin Ohio
• Gource: Open Source visualization of Open Source
  Thanks to Greg DeKoenigsberg, I now know about Gource. You should, too. Watch this movie, which speaks for itself: read more