open source

As an organization or even individual there always seem to be questions when considering whether or not to make your project or code snippet open source. Many times, it starts with trying to figure out which license to use. But there are many other things to consider. We derived a list for you the next time you ask yourself: Should I open source my code? » Read more

Last week Open Source, Open Standards 2013 took place in London, an event focused on the public sector. Naturally these being two topics we’re very keen on here at OSS Watch I went along too.

Overall the key message to take away from the event was just how central to public sector IT strategy these two themes have become, and also how policy is being rapidly turned into practice, everywhere from the NHS to local government.

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Copyright, copyleft, or copy none?

The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is concerned that some open source software developers are not choosing a license for their work, so they want to educate software developers and anyone else working on open source projects that simply not choosing a license is not enough. » Read more

It takes 20 years to become an overnight success.

—Eddie Cantor

This week we release the Express and Community Editions of eXo Platform 4.0: The Open Source Enterprise Social Platform.

For me, the eXo adventure started almost 10 years ago when I coded the first JSR 168-compatible Portlet Container (here's hoping 10 years works the same way Eddie Cantor had in mind). At the time, our first customer, the US Joint Forces Command (part of the Department of Defense) pushed us to create a company to help them build their content collaboration system during the Iraq war.

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A shift is happening in the way innovation is occurring.

Businesses are moving from closed systems to open, collaborative innovation. Red Hat CEO, Jim Whitehurst, focused on the three major components influencing this shift in his keynote, Open or die?, at the Open Business Conference held in San Francisco this week (April 29-30, 2013). » Read more

Chemistry is not the most open field of scientific endeavor; in fact, as I began working more in the area (coming from a background in physics), I was surprised with the norms in the field. As a PhD student way back in 2003, I simply wanted to draw a 3D molecular structure on my operating system of choice (Linux), and be able to save an image for a paper/poster discussing my research.

This proved to be nearly impossible, and in 2005 a group of like-minded researchers got together at a meeting of the American Chemical Society and formed an unorganization: The Blue Obelisk (named after their meeting place in San Diego).

Nothing is more powerful than people coming together for a common cause. This happens every day in open source. We write code, make commits, update Bugzilla’s, add new features, design new interfaces, add documentation, promote our projects, and strengthen the open source community with each keystroke.

But what happens in a time of crisis? What is it about our communities, both open source and local, that makes us stronger? Brings us together?

I’m a runner. It took me a while to admit it, but I love lacing up my running shoes and going out for a couple of miles. It’s my freedom from Twitter, email, and other digital connections. I think a lot when I run. About all sorts of stuff. And lately, I’ve been thinking about Boston. » Read more

While startups, developers, and small businesses flock to behemoth public clouds like Amazon Web Services and Google Compute Engine that give them a profoundly efficient bang for their buck, bigger enterprises largely stick to paying the high cost for private clouds. They are wary of potential availability and security issues that, rightfully, could hamper (or cripple) their business. The perceived risk-reward of saving money by turning IT operations over to a public cloud hasn't yet permeated through to big businesses. » Read more

3D printing is changing the game. The way we strategize, plan, create, and do business is different now that objects can be materialized by adding layer upon layer. » Read more

Few women have been historically applying for Google Summer of Code, a program in which Google provides stipends for students to work for three months on FOSS projects. Last year, after many efforts by both the Google team and the community to increase the diversity in the program, about 100 of 1200 participants or 8.3% were women, which was a highest level of participation by women yet. » Read more