01.02.14

OpenStack Follows the Trajectory of GNU/Linux, Joined Into Linux Protection Programme

Posted in GNU/Linux, IBM, OIN, Patents at 12:29 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: OpenStack grows mature enough to be bundled into the OIN’s ‘portfolio’ of protected (from patent litigation) projects

IT IS ALWAYS encouraging and very much rewarding to see the impact of Free software expanding to the higher layers/levels in the stack. OpenStack, an Apache-licensed project which may as well be called FreedomStack (but not “OpenCloud”), has just been added to OIN’s coverage, protecting it from the likes of SCO now that new trolls (Microsoft- and Apple-backed) arrive at the scene [1].

OIN has roots at IBM, which still promotes mainframes [2] and puts GNU/Linux in them [3], essentially to be managed by a proprietary hypervisor/platform (proprietary like UNIX/AIX [4]).

IBM is a big backer of OpenStack [5], but it’s not alone; almost all the large OEMs are embracing OpenStack (very recent examples in [6-15]), even Oracle [16-18]. Foes of OpenStack are Microsoft-funded groups like Gartner, who keep saying about OpenStack [19] what they used to say about GNU/Linux (Gartner was proven wrong, as usual). █

Related/contextual items from the news:

Is Rockstar Android’s SCO?

Am I the only one who’s been having a bit of SCO déjà vu when it comes to Rockstar’s suit against Google and a bevy of Android handset makers?

You remember SCO, don’t you? They’re the company, once a major Linux player with the Caldera distro, that bought the rights to Unix then turned around and sued IBM for $1 billion, claiming that Big Blue had been copying Unix code into Linux. They’re also the company that sued two of their former clients, AutoZone and Daimler Chrysler, for moving to Linux. Trouble was, they had nothing, not even the copyrights to the code they claimed had been infringed.
The Big Iron Crunch
GM of CA Technologies: 3 mainframes replaced 100′s of Linux blades
eWEEK 30: Unix Proves Staying Power as Enterprise Computing Platform

eWEEK 30: Unix remains a major server platform in enterprises and on the Internet three decades after PC Week started covering the computer industry.
IBM, Mirantis Launch OpenStack Benchmarking Tool
What’s Next for OpenStack Open Source Cloud Computing
OpenStack implementation issues could be a business opportunity
Dreamhost Aims to Accelerate OpenStack Cloud Adoption
Red Hat snuggles up to Dell with ‘enterprise grade’ OpenStack offer
Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 4.0 is here

Red Hat claims that its “enterprise-ready solution combines the stability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) with the innovation inherent in Red Hat OpenStack technologies to deliver a scalable and secure foundation for building an open private or public cloud.”
Dreamhost Aims to Accelerate OpenStack Cloud Adoption

Dreamhost has emerged in recent years to become one of the world’s most popular shared hosting providers. The company is now expanding its lineup with new cloud compute and storage services, leveraging the open-source OpenStack platform serving as the foundation. Helping to fuel Dreamhost’s expansion is a new $30 million round of financing.
Internap Enters Beta with OpenStack-based Cloud Platform
How OpenStack differs from Amazon and must rise to the occasion

The difference between these two cloud giants is that everything OpenStack does, it does in the open. All of our successes and failures are in the open. So, we must beware to believe the OpenStack processes cannot support growth beyond the core IaaS feature set. If we do, we fail to grow OpenStack’s own portfolio of features, and we risk quickly becoming irrelevant as Amazon continues its proprietary quest for cloud market domination and saturation. In order to have a competitive open source offering for building clouds, both public and private—we need to add new services and features to the OpenStack portfolio to mature and stabilize the ‘core’ projects.
OpenStack Cloud Aiming to Improve Coding Consistency

VIDEO: HP Distinguished Engineer Monty Taylor explains how the open-source OpenStack cloud platform is moving forward.

There are many hundreds of developers who contribute code to the open-source OpenStack cloud platform. For the recent OpenStack Havana release, the top developer as measured by the volume of code commits was Monty Taylor, distinguished engineer at Hewlett-Packard.

In a video interview with eWEEK, Taylor explains what he actually does at HP and how his team is contributing to making OpenStack the best it can be.
Internap Launches OpenStack Public Cloud Platform

Internap Network Services unveiled the beta version of its new OpenStack-driven public cloud, AgileCLOUD. The company claims it’s the first cloud platform that “will fully expose both virtualized and bare-metal compute instances over a native OpenStack API and delivers significant performance, interoperability and flexibility benefits.”
Oracle showers gold on OpenStack, dreams of open-source splashback

Oracle has started sponsoring an open-source cloud tech that it already uses within its commercial offerings, as the company tentatively embraces a market it once reckoned inconsequential.

The company announced on Tuesday that it had become a “Corporate Sponsor” of the OpenStack Foundation, following El Reg reporting in September that the company’s new public cloud was partly based on the software.
Oracle finally embraces OpenStack, but questions linger

Of course, Oracle has spilled a bit of open source bad blood in recent years so when it says it embraces an open source standard, it’s not as though the open source community jumps up and down with glee about it. It’s more likely that the OpenStack community is more than pleased to see Oracle join the party, but they may wonder if the hardware giant has some ulterior motives, rightly or not.
Strange Bedfellows: Oracle Integrates OpenStack
Not Everyone Believes That OpenStack Has Succeeded

Debate continues to swirl over whether OpenStack has emerged as a successful cloud computing platform in terms of actual deployments, or whether it is overhyped and immature. Earlier this month, we reported on survey results from The OpenStack Foundation that showed that many enterprises are deploying or plan to deploy the platform.

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