Practical Technology

for practical people.

July 22, 2008
by sjvn01
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Open source still the best way to develop software

The open-source way of creating programs is still the best way, just don’t confuse it with being the perfect way — there’s no such thing.

A recent report claims that one of the fundamental benefits of open-source development, the co-called Law of Many Eyes is wrong. The idea behind the law is that since anyone can read the source code and find problems with it, they can then either fix them or report them back to the community. The end result is that you get better software.

The study, by Fortify Software, a company that makes development tools for checking security, found that many popular open source software programs contain significant security holes. I can’t take this study too seriously. After all, what else is Fortify going to say? “Open-source’s Law of Many Eyes works great. You don’t need our products?” I don’t think so.

Here’s what I think. I think the Law of Many Eyes, or as Eric Raymond phrased it in his seminal work on open source, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, “given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow,” does work. All you need do is watch how quickly open-source projects progress and how quickly they fix bugs to know that.

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July 21, 2008
by sjvn01
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SFLC Keeps on the GPL Case: Sues Extreme Networks

You’d think the electronics vendors who keep breaking the GPL by using the BusyBox Unix utilities would finally learn that they can’t get away with it. It doesn’t look like they have though. This time the SFLC (Software Freedom Law Center) is taking on Extreme Networks, a major network hardware provider.

The SFLC announced on July 21st that it had filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Extreme Networks on behalf of its clients, BusyBox’s two principal developers, Erik Andersen and Rob Landley, on the grounds that Extreme had illegally included the GPL-protected BusyBox code in its products.

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July 21, 2008
by sjvn01
1 Comment

PC vendors want to sell you desktop Linux

It used to be that finding a PC with pre-installed Linux was harder than finding a needle in a haystack. Now, though, all the major PC vendors are offering Linux-powered PCs.

Last week, for example, Dell announced that it was selling PCs with the latest version of Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu 8.04 installed. What they didn’t point out was that Dell will soon be offering Ubuntu Linux on six different systems, including its forthcoming UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) Dell E line. In the past, Dell usually offered Ubuntu on no more than three systems.

Dell is not a charity. If people weren’t buying desktop Linux, they wouldn’t be selling it. And, if more people weren’t asking for it, they wouldn’t be offering it on more systems.

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July 19, 2008
by sjvn01
6 Comments

Dell adds Ubuntu 8.04 to expanded Linux desktop line-up

As promised, Dell is bringing the latest Ubuntu Linux, Ubuntu 8.04, to its line-up of Linux-powered consumer desktops and laptops.

Starting on Friday, July 18th, 2008, Dell started offering Ubuntu 8.04 on its XPS M1330N and Inspiron 1525N laptops and its Inspiron 530N desktop.

That’s just the beginning though. Dell will also shortly be offering Ubuntu on its forthcoming UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC) line, the Dell E series. According to a blog posting by Daniel Judd, Dell product group manager, Dell will also be offering its XPS M1530n and Studio 15n with Linux in early August.

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July 18, 2008
by sjvn01
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VMware exec says Windows days are numbered

Seriously.

In an ITWire tale, Paul Harapin, VMware’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand said Windows is already being replaced by virtual appliances running on Linux. In ten-years, there will be no more Windows.

OK. I know people at Red Hat who would say that that’s exactly what will happen. That’s right out of the new Red Hat KVM-based virtualization playbook. But, someone from VMware saying this? Wow.

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July 18, 2008
by sjvn01
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Is SCO finally dead?

Even though SCO has suffered another legal defeat, the company looks like it has enough willpower, if not sense, to keep its legal losing streak going.

On July 16th, Judge Dale Kimball ruled in favor of Novell in SCO vs. Novell and said that the maverick Unix company owed Novell $2.5-million for its Unix deals, and, oh, by the way, Novell, not SCO, really owns Unix. With no IP rights to Unix, it would appear that SCO’s lawsuits against IBM, Novell, and Linux were done. Alas, the experts say “no.”

Eric S. Raymond, co-founder of the Open Source Initiative says, “Sad to say, it ain’t over. SCO is already saying it’s going to appeal on a theory that it was entitled to a jury trial. Clearly, they think trying to get Judge Kimball reversed is an option.”

So far, SCO hasn’t officially appealed, but a SCO press release stated, “We are reviewing today’s ruling by Judge Dale Kimball with our counsel and will be assessing the next steps over the coming days and weeks. This ruling is an important step in our ability to pursue the appeals to try to get all of our claims heard by a jury as soon as possible.”

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