Links: Apache Software Foundation Board Members, Mozilla Bug Bounty, Governments Approach Free Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2010-07-21 23:03:54 UTC
- Modified: 2010-07-21 23:03:54 UTC
Summary: Gathering of some Free software and Open Source news
We run down the 10 best open source alternatives to the business software we use every day.
Running a business can be costly at the best of times, so we’ve delved into the open source world and plucked out some great alternatives to those heavyweight proprietary applications that we all know and need.
These applications could prove viable solutions to real business needs and could save you and your organisation money in the process. What’s more, if you’re just starting out these pieces of software could have your business up and running (and earning) a site quicker, not to mention keeping you in the black for longer, which is no mean feat in 2010.
The 2010 New Zealand Open Source Awards are now open for nominations at http://www.nzosa.org.nz/.
This year's Awards will focus particularly on achievements from over the past two years.
"There were so many strong nominations for the 2008 event," said panel chair Don Christie, "that we are keen to hear back from projects that have moved forward in the last years, as well as new initiatives using free and open source solutions."
In the field of graphic arts, vector clip art is associated with pre-made images used to represent whatever medium. It is comprised completely of illustrations made using computer software, and it does not contain stock photography.
The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is pleased to announce that Shane Curcuru, Doug Cutting, Bertrand Delacretaz, Roy T. Fielding, Jim Jagielski, Sam Ruby, Noirin Shirley, Greg Stein, and Henri Yandell have been elected to serve on the ASF Board of Directors.
-
Mozilla
OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE HOUSE Mozilla has upped the bounty it offers to anyone that discovers a bug in its software.
In a blog post Mozilla said that the evolving threat landscape had lead it to raise its reward to $3,000 in order to "better support constructive security research".
-
Education
For K-12 IT directors, the major appeal of open source software (OSS) generally focuses on savings in licensing fees and access to software that would not otherwise be affordable. Many also are finding that OSS simply is the best solution for their school districts--even compared to commercial versions.
IT directors with OSS experience largely have been opportunistic about how they got started. In a series of interviews conducted for THE Journal, three IT directors shared their experiences--the hows and the whys--launching OSS in their districts.
They have very different stories, but have all learned that the transition to an open source "shop" takes time.
-
BSD
The FreeBSD Security Team have identified a little bug in FreeBSD where a lost mbuf flag can result in data loss.
-
Government
The government's decision not to renew an agreement with Microsoft for up to 800,000 NHS desktops could be an opportunity for open source suppliers to prove their worth.
According to an article on IT channel website Microscope.co.uk, the government did not feel the deal, known as an enterprise agreement, which aims to give lower prices in return for group buying was not value for money. It prefers individual NHS Trusts to buy what they want, rather than being forced to be part of an enterprise wide deal.
The European Commission is planning to spend 3.344 million Euro until 2016 to continue the services provided by its projects - such as OSOR.eu and SEMIC.eu - on open source and on electronic data exchange.
The EC published the budget details last week Thursday for its e-Government project. Apart from the 3.344 million Euro planned for the new platform to provide collaborative services for current Semic.eu and OSOR.eu users, another 8.8 million Euro are foreseen to provide support for existing and future communities around eGovernment in general, including the growing Open Source community on OSOR.eu and the community around interoperablity assets on Semic.eu.
-
Openness/Sharing
Why should the free and open source software community regard their work as a commons? For people focused on building a specific piece of software, the need to label it a “commons” may seem gratuitous. What’s the value? But there are some good reasons for understanding free/open source software as a commons, as I explain in a recent essay published by the FLOSS Roadmap project.
It's hard to predict how an open source hardware revolution could change consumer electronics. There are very few ideas that stem from complete air -- nearly every great new thing has come from modifying something that came before.
-
Programming
Adobe has announced that its partnering with Sourceforge to expand its open-source offerings and have more flexibility with the related programs. Basically, all of Adobe’s open-source and standards efforts will be hosted and managed on Sourceforge through the site’s new developer platform. Adobe is actually the first customer of the newly launched platform.
The US State Department has thrown its weight behind an initiative to promote software development for the good of East African residents.
The Apps 4 Africa contest was launched earlier this month and aims to encourage developers to produce software that will improve the quality of life for residents of this region.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Red Hat's Owner is Called "America's Worst Tech Company" (IBM) and Microsoft's Liabilities Grow
- Microsoft has about a quarter of a trillion (yes, trillion with a "T") in liabilities
- How the SLAPPs From Microsoft Staff Are Connected to the Corrupt OSI, Whose Majority of Money Comes From Microsoft for Openwashing, LLM Hype, and Whitewashing GPL Violations During Class Action Trial
- Let's explain how some of these things are connected
-
- What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: Missed Deadline
- they helped expose a number of other scandals
- Links 12/05/2025: Measles Rising and Taliban Outlaws Chess in Afghanistan
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 12/05/2025: Advice, Iorist Ethics, and Touchscreens
- Links for the day
- The Finances of GAFAM Aren't as They Seem
- MICROSOFT FINANCIAL PYRAMID revisited
- Links 12/05/2025: US Brain Drain and Reminder That "Microsoft's Lobbying Efforts Eclipsed Enron" (Fraud Coverup)
- Links for the day
- The Enshittification of Royal Mail (Post Office/Postal Services) Continues
- Enshittification is a thing, not only in the digital realm
- If the Gossip is True, Today Microsoft Has "Large M1 Meetings" to Discuss Almost 30,000 More Microsoft Layoffs in 2025
- the claim is that Microsoft is preparing to lay off 10% of its staff
- Microsoft Has a Long and Proven History of Funding Meritless Lawsuits Against Rivals and Critics (It Always Backfires)
- It also looks like the solicitor used by two Microsofters to SLAPP us is being urgently replaced
- Links 12/05/2025: Gardens and Kitchens
- Links for the day
- Links 12/05/2025: Media Being Attacked (New Forms of Attack on the Press), Many Data Breaches
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 11, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, May 11, 2025
- Links 11/05/2025: Pyotr Wrangel and Kubernetes With FreeBSD
- Links for the day
- What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: A Moment of Silence and Revisionism Amid US Government Investigation and Community Uproar
- Not a word this month
- Microsoft Florian Becomes Patent Troll, Arranges to Sue Companies (Extorting Money Out of Them)
- From campaigner against software patents to paid Microsoft shill to "FOSS patents" (actually attacking FOSS) to revisionism as "books" (for Microsoft)... and now this
- Links 11/05/2025: China's Fentanylware (TikTok) Tells Kids to Vandalise Schools' Chromebooks and Increased Censorship in India
- Links for the day
- You Need Not Be a Big Company to Defeat Microsoft If You Can Successfully Challenge Its Core "Ideas"
- Maybe that's just a sign that the ideas of RMS have become too effective and thus "dangerous"
- Gemini Links 11/05/2025: Yeeting Oligarch Tech, Offline Browsing
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 10, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, May 10, 2025
- One is Simply Doomed to Fail When Working for Violent Men From Microsoft and Attacking Women as Well as People Who Merely Expose Crimes or Report Real Crimes
- Imagine saying to people that you "practice law" or "exercise law"
- The Tariffs Are Accelerating Microsoft's Decline in China
- Judging by the way things are going, there will be considerable adoption of GNU/Linux in years to come, China being one major contributing factor.
- Control Your Systems, Control All Your Data
- what does it take for us to control our own systems and data?
- Misplacing Blame for Security Problems, Sometimes With LLM Slop That Blames "Linux" for Microsoft's Failures
- Broken telephones and stochastic parrots beget plenty of Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD)
- Links 10/05/2025: WW2 Revisionism, Further Tit-for-tat in India-Pakistan Conflict
- Links for the day
- Links 10/05/2025: Germany Considers Smartphone Ban in Schools, Right to Repair Bills
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 10/05/2025: Git Server and Great LLM DDoS of 2025
- Links for the day
- Blizzard/Microsoft Unions Grow Ahead of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft, Apparently Starting Next Week (as Many as 30,000 Workers Laid Off by Year's End)
- Microsoft already fired about 5,000-6,000 workers this year by our estimates; that's not counting resignations compelled through pressure (i.e. pushed, did not jump) and contractors
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 09, 2025
- IRC logs for Friday, May 09, 2025