open source - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Google to enhance Search Appliance with open source framework

  Google is developing an open source architecture to improve its Search Appliance's ability to index data in content and document management systems and collaboration platforms.

• Taking a cynical view of open source

  I chaired an interesting meeting the other day. It was me against senior executives at Cisco, Agilent Technologies and Novell.

• Software piracy hits US$40B worldwide, says study

  Efforts to curb software piracy in China are bearing fruit although the piracy rate remains high, costing vendors billions of dollars in lost revenue, according to a survey paid for by large vendors, including Apple and Microsoft.

• Open source more than hot air for gift e-tailer

  Gift retailer RedBalloon Days prides itself on delivering experiences for people. And, since is formation in 2001, the company’s rapid rise can be attributed to building its applications on top of open source software, says its founder.

• Microsoft's saber-rattling against open source

  Microsoft rattled its saber this weekend, using Fortune magazine to claim that open-source software collectively violates more than 200 of its patents.

• Niue adopts Microsoft over poorly supported open source

  A Christchurch software developer is taking the Niue government down a Microsoft path after the island nation experienced ongoing service and support issues with open source systems.

• Polytechnics to develop open source gateway

  The Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand (ITPNZ) is embarking on a project to develop an open source gateway to Ministry of Education’s e-learning resources.

• Microsoft to open source some of Silverlight

  Microsoft is expected to show a new friendliness to the open-source community by unveiling plans to release the source code to a part of its Silverlight technology at MIX 07 this week, according to sources familiar with the company's plans.

• Weekly dispatch a victim of open source’s success

  Editor’s note: Following the closure of the print edition of US tech magazine InfoWorld, Neil McAllister has opted to stop writing his weekly “Open Enterprise” column. He will continue to contribute to the now online-only InfoWorld, but this is his last column. Expect to see more of McAllister’s incisive commentary on open source in Computerworld, but under a different banner.

• US open source-based company takes on Oracle

  US-based EnterpriseDB will open an office in Sydney partly to service the New Zealand market and its one local reference site, the Inland Revenue Department.

• TVNZ opts for hybrid model to power on-demand service

  The launch of TVNZ’s online streaming and download service last week is just the first phase of an ambitious plan to deliver multiple content types across multiple channels and build a closer relationship with viewer communities.

• Kiwi developer releases open source payroll app

  A small New Zealand IT consultancy is working on an open source accounting and payroll application that can be customised to suit the requirements of the country it is being used in.

• Open source has both its users and its joiners

  In my previous column, I touched on the issue of what constitutes an open source vendor. Ask Andy Astor that question, and his answer is a shrug. “Honestly,” he says, “who cares?” To Astor, there are really two broad categories of companies with respect to their relationship to open source code: users and joiners.

• Dollars and sense: how to succeed in open-source development

  When New Zealand consultancy Catalyst IT started operations in 1997, its vision was to make open source software the preferred option for local businesses, and it was that vision that eventually led to the company’s success.

• Software development benefits from open source

  Increasingly, open source tools and development methodologies are fundamental to software initiatives. Gains in flexibility, availability of coding tools and the principles of collaborative development are among the many benefits of using open source tools and solutions.