open source - Page number 56

Eben Moglen's keynote address at LinuxCon last week, "Doing What it Takes: Current Legal Issues in Defending FOSS," called for a strategic shift in the free software movement. Moglen, the founding director of the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) and one of the principal drafters of the GPLv3, said the economy of sharing and the economy of ownership are not mutually hostile, but mutually reinforcing, then outlined three steps for ensuring the continued coexistence between the free software and business communities. » Read more

In early 2009, as the stories of many websites begin, a few college friends were considering what kind of project they might start together. In this particular case, the result was OpenHatch.

OpenHatch is a place for developers who want to be involved in open source but don't know where to start. You can go to the site and search for a way to contribute based on a language you know or a project you like. You can even search for "bite-size bugs," the bugs that have been tagged by a project as being specifically good for new contributors. » Read more

When the open source way starts finding its way to the likes of the pharmaceutical industry, it turns a few heads. A combination of free access and open data has started changing the medical research model, beginning with drug companies collaborating on research for Alzheimer's disease.

Dana Blankenhorn from ZDNet was dead on when he said » Read more

The idea of creating a free (as in free speech) and open cinema camera based on an Elphel 333 started in spring 2006 in the mind of a member of the DVinfo forum, who in March 2006 started a new thread called "High Definition with Elphel model 333 camera." A lot of people got involved, and the project grew and developed. » Read more

We asked opensource.com contributors for their recommendations for some can't-miss summer reading. Some books are new. Some are recent favorites. All offer examples of how the open source way is being employed in areas beyond technology. From coaching individuals to unite as a team, exploring the future of management, to delving deeper into the design process, these books can offer incredible insight and a great end to the summer. Enjoy.

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In LinuxCon's education mini-summit, Bryant Patten of the National Center for Open Source and Education gave a presentation titled "Can open source save the world?" He noted a quote from Mary Lange, Educational Technology Resource Teacher at San Diego Unified School District. She says that we often assume students know how to use computers and that they are really good at it. But the truth is, they know how to use technology for personal reasons but not necessarily for education. They will say "I know how to do that," but when it comes to reality, they don't. » Read more

By Harvey Anderson

Trademarks used for open source projects–like for the Mozilla Firefox browser–will often be misused. It can take the form of a website selling open source software that is normally distributed for free, using the trademark to promote other products and services, or using modified versions of the trademark. The problem is that these activities are deceptive, harm users, cause consumer confusion, and jeopardize the identity and meaning of the brand–not to mention being illegal. » Read more

In 2000 the punk rock band NOFX released an album called Pump Up The Valuum. When I first heard the CD, I immediately took to the song "Dinosaurs Will Die." (Warning--contains explicit lyrics) Shortly thereafter I got into the open source movement, and I cannot count how many times the lyrics from that song have stuck out in my head. » Read more

Even as the U.S. economy recovers from a financial meltdown led by a number of white-collar Wall Street swindlers, critics of the public education system push for more “business” in the classroom: specifically the implementation of incentives and the hiring of CEOs for superintendents.

There's just one little problem. According to 40 plus years of academic research, incentives—and disincentives—don't normally work. And when they do, they often don't make people behave quite like their proponents anticipate. » Read more

When I hear people talk about how awesome their organizational culture is, I often find myself wondering what sort of “great” culture it is.

For me, great cultures fall into two categories: entitlement and mission-driven. Those “best places to work” lists don't usually make a distinction, but I do. Here is the difference:

Entitlement cultures

The surest sign of an entitlement culture? When someone tells you why they like their work, they give you an example of a benefit not related to the work itself. Some examples:
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