News (59)

Torvalds: No GPL 3 for Linux

Linus Torvalds said Wednesday that he won't convert Linux to version 3 of the General Public License, as he objects to digital rights management provisions in the proposed update. Read more »

New Linux licence takes aim at DRM and Hollywood

New licensing terms for Linux and other open-source products take a "highly aggressive" stance against the digital rights management software that's widely favoured in the entertainment industry, said Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free Software Foundation. Read more »

DRM, GPLv3 just 'hot air': Linus Torvalds

Digital rights management (DRM) and the General Public License (GPL) cause a lot of 'hot air' to be exchanged but they are not a 'big deal', according to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. Read more »

'Too early' to debate Linux GPL 3 support

Alan Cox is trying to nip premature debate on GPL 3 support in the bud. Read more »

Torvalds says DRM isn't necessarily bad

Provisions against digital rights management in a draft update to the GPL could undermine computer security, Linus Torvalds said this week in e-mails reflecting the Linux leader's pragmatic philosophy. Read more »

GPL3 could block Novell/Microsoft plans

The next version of the GNU General Public License (GPL) may contain provisions aimed at curbing a controversial deal recently signed by Linux vendor Novell with arch-rival Microsoft. Read more »

Eben Moglen predicts broad embrace of GPL 3

The open-source legal expert is bullish about the prospects for the upcoming new version of the General Public License. Read more »

GPL 3 release could slip past March

The Free Software Foundation is no longer committing to the planned March deadline for a new version of the General Public License, but a third draft of the seminal open-source license is due soon. Read more »

Microsoft teams with Linux distributor Xandros

Microsoft and Linux distributor Xandros announced on Monday a technical and legal collaboration, the latest step in the software giant's ongoing program to partner with open-source companies. Read more »

New GPL draft has olive branches, thorns

The latest draft of revisions to the dominant open-source license offers an accommodating approach to some significant objections, but it could throw a wrench into the works of a major open-source company, Novell. Read more »

Features (7)

The open-source techie who means business

Alan Cox, one of the most respected figures in the open-source community, talks about GPL 3, software patents, the kernel development process and Linux on the desktop. Read more »

Microsoft not yet open for business

The most impressive aspect of Microsoft's statement on Thursday in favour of caring and sharing wasn't in anything the company said. It was the speed at which the world, or that part of it not in a commercial relationship with Microsoft, digested the information and replied: Heard it before. Not good enough. Read more »

It's a Matrix moment for Linux

We are finding out that the brains of Linux programmers have been floating in tanks, feeding the parasitic robots (lawyers) who are calling the shots at financially strapped SCO. Now it's time to harvest those brains. Read more »

Tech tips: Administering Windows from Linux

Terminal Services provides handy remote administration capabilities--and now, it's not limited to Windows. See how rdesktop allows Linux systems to connect to Terminal Services and administer Windows systems. Read more »

In defence of freedom

The principles are the same, but technology has moved on significantly in the 15 years since the release of GPL 2. Read more »

JavaFX sends Sun back to the future?

Sun's chief technology officer for software discusses the issues facing Sun with JavaFX and whether it will be enough to put Java back on the desktop. Read more »

Sprucing up open source's GPL foundation

Modernisation is coming to the General Public License, a legal framework that supports a large part of the free and open-source software movements and that has received sharp criticism from Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. Read more »

Blog (3)

GPL 3 -- a bridge too far?

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- Now it's time to create a new phrase: "free as in free software," meaning the freedom to make adversaries of potential partners -- the kind of freedom one has when one's work must be carefully excluded from other people's projects. Read more »

Samba gets an inside look at Microsoft documentation

Staff [blogs:syslog] -- A complicated third-party arrangement means that the open-source Samba project will be able to make use of proprietary documents describing Microsoft file-sharing software. Read more »

GPLv3 would prevent MS/Novell

Chris Duckett [blogs:betaliving] -- According to the Free Software Foundation's general counsel, Eben Moglen, GPL version 3 would prevent the type of deal made by Microsoft and Novell from happening. Read more »

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  • Staff Crying, mooning and leaving

    In this week's roundup we see that continuous whining can get results, Linux users get 64-bit Flash and Moonlight previews, the latest in the Yahoo/Microsoft relationship and Senator Conroy ducks and weave in Senate Question Time. Read more »

    -- posted by Staff

  • Brendon Chase Sun eye Web developers with Netbeans 6.5

    Despite the recent employment axe hitting Sun the company has pushed out a new release of its Netbeans open source IDE with an eye to appeal more to Web developers. Read more »

    -- posted by Brendon Chase

  • Renai LeMay BarCamp buzz: Let the hacking continue

    Attending last weekend's BarCamp in Sydney, it was hard to escape the conclusion that a certain "dot-com bust" flavour had seeped into the kool aid previously being drunk by Australia's web 2.0 and early stage start-up sector. Read more »

    -- posted by Renai LeMay

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