分类 ‘FOSS’ 归档文章

SCO 的诉讼最终以倒付 Novel 数百万告终

最新的消息:这种事情看起来很可笑,所谓正义最终战胜邪恶。 SCO 当年的“策划”也算美妙了。 这对于那些成天想着用封闭源代码的策略来赚钱的公司而言是个极大的打击,包括微软。 因此,在互联网时代,软件已经完全进入了开放、共享、按服务收费的阶段,而不是按 CPU 数目或者服务器数目收费。

根据环境改变 mindset 是每一家成功的公司必须去做的一件事情。
Final judgment: SCO owes Novell millions (plus interest)

By Ryan Paul | Published: November 24, 2008 – 05:36AM CT

Federal district judge Dale A. Kimball has handed down the final judgment in the SCO case. The decision dismisses SCO’s latest claims, grants declaratory relief to Novell, and sustains the court’s previous judgment that SCO owes Novell over $2.54 million (plus interest) for unjust enrichment.

SCO’s protracted legal shenanigan has been running for roughly five years now. The company originally claimed that it owned the UNIX SVRX copyrights and that incontrovertible evidence had been uncovered that the open source Linux kernel was written using a significant amount of code that was misappropriated from SVRX. In reality, SCO’s own internal audits of Linux source code turned up no evidence of copyright infringement; meanwhile, Novell has turned out to be the rightful owner of the SVRX copyrights.

SCO managed to use its false claims to extract licensing revenue out of companies that were apparently uninterested in contesting its claims. Novell took SCO’s claims to court and eventually triumphed, which pushed SCO off of the precipice and into bankruptcy.

Judge Kimball determined that SCO was subject to a contract with Novell, which it violated by lifting SVRX confidentiality provisions in a licensing agreement with Sun. This move exceeded the authority granted to SCO under the terms of a 1994 asset purchase agreement that enabled SCO to sell limited SVRX licenses to third parties on behalf of Novell. Judge Kimball also determined that SCO breached its fiduciary duty by neglecting to remit the requisite portion of the licensing revenue to Novell.

In addition to the $2,547,817 that SCO was originally ordered to pay to Novell in a previous judgment, SCO will also have to pay $918,122 in prejudgment interest and $489 per day from August 29 until November 20. SCO is in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings and does not presently have the resources to pay the amount in full. A constructive trust has been established with $625,000 of SCO’s remaining resources.

SCO could still theoretically appeal, but it seems unlikely that the dying UNIX vendor can afford to do so. Several of SCO’s attempts to reorganize have failed and a private equity firm that was in negotiations to resurrect SCO has backed away from the deal. SCO’s own management has substantial doubts about the company’s future.

Despite all the legal decisions to the contrary, SCO’s number one man, Darl McBride, has continued to espouse his belief that Linux was built by stealing from UNIX. Regardless of his opinion, SCO’s long battle is finally reaching a very undignified end.

Desktop 1.0

用过 Unix 的 X-Windows 的人都知道,系统默认有四个工作区。 实际上微软收购的 SysInternals 也提供同样的 Solution ,叫做 Desktop 。

可以用鼠标选择切换,也可以用自定义热键切换。

这个东西在上班的时候,开另外一个不太常用的窗口,例如白领需要的股票软件,比较有用。

为什么开源理论符合事实

今天读到 Linux Insider 上的一篇文章,实在是感觉心有戚戚焉。
根据 Gartner 的预测, 开源源码将带来:

  • 三年以内 Java 虚拟机完全开源
  • PHP 成为主流的企业级工具
  • 针对 LAMP 组合更多的商业支持

另外他们还描述了一些错误的观点:
# 开源意味着反对商业 Open source means anti-commercial.
# 开源不适合作为主流技术 Open source is inappropriate for the mainstream.
# 开源是一种会过时的流行 Open source is a passing fad.
# 没有办法控制开源软件的开发 There is no control over open-source development.
# 不能得到开源软件的支持 You can’t get support for open-source products.

更多 Gartner 的观点可以查看Open Source Project网站。

FreeLAMP.com 提供 LAMP 架构最新版本的 RSS Feed

由 徐永久 发表于 2005年09月25日 23:00。

RSS 技术目前正在成为下一代数据交换的基础。尽管很多技术类的网站都提供了 RSS Feed 服务于更多的访问者,但是,并不是所有的网站都提供了 RSS 服务。

FreeLAMP.com 一直关注 LAMP 架构的最新版本号。为此,特地通过读取网页的办法,抓出 LAMP 架构中各软件的最新版本,这些软件包括: Apache (包括 1.x 和 2.x ), MySQL (包括 4.0 和 4.1 ),PHP (包括 4.x 和 5.x), Perl, Python , Zope, PostgreSQL, Tomcat 等,用户只要通过 RSS 阅读软件,添加如下 RSS Feed 即可:

http://freelamp.com/html/rss/lamp.xml

由于 Linux 内核已经提供版本更新的 RSS , 因此, 该 RSS Feed 没有添加 Linux 版本。

数据库时代的终结

由 板桥里人 发表于 2005年05月14日 11:13。

经 板桥里人 允许,转载此文。
来自: http://www.jdon.com
2005/04/28
原文连接: http://www.jdon.com/artichect/dbover.htm

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开放知识管理:从开源运动所学到的

由 徐永久 发表于 2004年08月25日 13:32。

在美国信息科学技术学会杂志第11期上,Yukika Awazu 和 Kevin C. Desouza 发表了该论文,网上只有摘要。

人们或许可以说知识工作的未来已经在开源运动的工作方式中得到展示。由德鲁克[1968],达文波特,Thomas , Cantrell[2002] 以及其他人讨论的结果,知识工作的定义是一群通过交换经验和技巧的专家们来开发产品和服务。而这恰恰是开源社区的工作方式。本文通过对开源社区的观察,洞察到了提高组织中的知识管理实践的一些方法。
目的是诱使组织内部的专家把封闭的知识管理议程转换为开源运动的代表。

恐翻译不好,提供原文如下:

“One might argue that the future of knowledge work is manifested in how open-source communities work. Knowledge work, as argued by Drucker ([1968]); Davenport, Thomas, and Cantrell ([2002]); and others, is comprised of specialists who collaborate via exchange of know-how and skills to develop products and services. This is exactly what an open-source community does. To this end, in this brief communication we conduct an examination of open-source communities and generate insights on how to augment current knowledge management practices in organizations. The goal is to entice scholars to transform closed knowledge management agendas that exist in organizations to ones that are representative of the open-source revolution.”

Source: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 55, 11 (2004) pp. 1016-1019

开源软件的10个特点

由 徐永久 发表于 2004年08月10日 11:24。

Organizations are now starting to embrace open source solutions as a cost-effective alternative to these closed source products. Open source solutions differ from closed source in many ways, one of which is cost. Open source solutions are typically free of charge, although some companies such as IBM, Oracle and Hewlett Packard (HP) often sell versions of open source software with related maintenance. The following 10 features distinguish open source:

来源: http://www.report.cpr.ca.gov/cprrpt/issrec/stops/it/so10.htm

  1. Free Redistribution: The software can be given as part of a package with other applications;
  2. Source Code: The code must either be distributed with the software or easily accessible;
  3. Derived Works: The code can be altered and distributed by the new author under the same license conditions as the product on which it is based;
  4. Integrity of the author’s source code: Derived works must not interfere with the original author’s intent or work;
  5. No discrimination against persons or groups;
  6. No discrimination against fields of endeavor: Distributed software cannot be restricted in who can use it based on their intent;
  7. Distribution of license: The rights of the program must apply to all to whom the program is re-distributed without need for an additional license;
  8. License must not be specific to a product; Meaning that an operating system product cannot be restricted to be free only if used with another specific product;
  9. License must not contaminate other software; and License must be technology-neutral.[1]
  10. Open source software is developed with the source code freely available; anyone can use the software, and make changes to it as necessary. Typically changes are then made available back to the open source community using a common methodology for change control. In contrast to open source, most software development companies sell their products at a specific cost, but do not allow the user to see or modify the source code.

The advent and acceptance of open source software represents a significant shift in the software development and procurement cycle. It is sometimes difficult to think of downloading a free version of software from the Internet and then using it in a mission-critical environment rather than buying software from a major software vendor. There are arguments to be made that open source can be a better choice for some mission-critical implementations than closed source. The following are some potential reasons for choosing open source:

More secure due to the extreme scrutiny of the source code before being deployed;
Can be run in multiple environments (i.e. Unix, Linux and Microsoft);
May be less expensive to manage (no maintenance contracts or upgrade costs); and Often less vulnerable to viruses.[2]

Endnotes
[1] Bruce Perens, “The Open Source Definition,” http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php (last visited March 8, 2004).
[2] David A. Wheeler, “Secure Programming for Linux and UNIX HOWTO,” Chapter 2.4 “Is Open Source Good for Security?” http://www.dwheeler.com/secure-programs/Secure-Programs-HOWTO.html (last visited June 2, 2004).
[3] C/Net, “How Linux Saved Amazon Millions,” http://news.com.com/2100-1001-275155.html?legacy=cnet (last visited June 14, 2004).
[4] David A. Wheeler, “Why Open Source Software/Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!” (June 8, 2004), http://www.dwheeler.com/oss_fs_why.html (last visited June 14, 2004).
[5] Bill Welty, chief information officer, California Air Resources Board, “Air Resources Board Open Source Software Initiatives,” http://www.arb.ca.gov/oss/oss.htm (last visited June 14, 2004).
[6] Interview with Allen Lung, systems architect, California Franchise Tax Board, Sacramento, California (May 3, 2004).
[7] Interview with Troy Kallas, account executive, Novell Corporation, Sacramento, California (June 15, 2004).
[8] Oracle Corporation, “Oracle on Linux,” http://www.oracle.com/technologies/linux/ (last visited June 2, 2004); and IBM, “Linux at IBM,” http://www-1.ibm.com/linux/ (last visited June 14, 2004).
[9] David A. Wheeler, “Why Open Source Software /Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!”

泛系、自由与“一、百、万”工程

由 洪峰 发表于 2002年04月26日 12:33。

徐永久注:洪峰先生是我国自由软件界的先锋人物,今年开始独立发行 Free Software 杂志。本文以回忆录的形式,叙述了他自己从大学毕业以来,走向事业成功所经历的酸甜苦辣。本文是征得他同意后,发表在本网站的。
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为 MyDowns 的图书所作的序

由 徐永久 发表于 2002年04月09日 11:13。

认识 MyDowns.com 的站长何国忠先生还是 2000 年我在奥索网作系统维护的时候,那个时候的奥索网撑起开放源码的大旗,美其名曰:“Open Source Online”,抓住了火爆的 PHP 流行热潮,免费提供 PHP+MySQL 的个人主页空间,并提供类似 yourname.oso.com.cn 的三级域名的解析。那个时候何国忠先生就是注册在奥索网上的用户 MyDowns,后来成为奥索网积分第三名的用户,下面他的帖子或许能说明一些他当时的心情:

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开源,标准,Windows

原文出处:http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2840266-92,00.html
本文并不忠实于原文翻译,我不喜欢这样的忠实。
原文作者:Larry,如果在 Windows 平台上开发开源产品有什么建议的话,您可以和他交流。 当然,我也乐意和您交流。因为我认为,作为一个 Web 开发人员,在 Windows 平台上搭建一个 WAMP(Windows+Apache+MySQL+PHP/Perl/Python)应用作为自己测试和学习,并不是什么可耻的事情。 (more…)