Is Google Losing it?

Google matters for open source. First and foremost, it is an example of a multi-billion dollar global company that simply would not be possible without an underpinning of free software. Open source's customisability means that its engineers have been able to fine-tune Linux and other code to meet Google's very specific needs. That, and the fact that there is no licensing fee, has allowed the company to scale its operations to unprecedented levels – rumoured to be over a million servers.

On The H Open.

The Real Reason for Microsoft's TomTom Lawsuit

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Microsoft's suit against TomTom, which alleged infringement of eight of its patents - including three that relate to TomTom's implementation of the Linux kernel. I wrote there that this seemed part of a larger attack on Linux, and not just one on TomTom, as Microsoft nonetheless insisted.

This called forth a fair amount of disagreement, so I was glad to come across this post on Harald Welte's blog....

On Open Enterprise blog.

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Samba's Latest Moves

On Open Enterprise blog.

A Good Foundation to Build On

On Open Enterprise blog.

Google's Secret Weapon

In Redmond Magazine (no, really.)

Samba's Big Step

On Open Enterprise blog.

Allison Does the Noble Samba

Top Samba man Jeremy Allison, whom I had the pleasure of interviewing many moons ago, has done the decent thing, and cut his ties with (ex-)employer Novell:

I have decided to leave Novell.

This has been a very difficult decision, but one I feel I have no choice but to make.

As many of you will guess, this is due to the Microsoft/Novell patent agreement, which I believe is a mistake and will be damaging to Novell's success in the future. But my main issue with this deal is I believe that even if it does not violate the letter of the licence it violates the intent of the GPL licence the Samba code is released under, which is to treat all recipients of the code equally.

Sad day for Novell. Luckily, Jeremy will soon be snapped up elsewhere. Bravo for taking a stand.

Update: And the lucky winner is...Google - again.