October 2010 Newsletter
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Issue 15/2010 http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/newsletters/october2010.pdf October Supporting open source in education and research http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk elcometotheOctoberissueoftheOSSWatchnewsletter.Inthisissue, Waswellasbringingyouallthelatestnewsfromtheopensource In thIs Issue: community,wealsobringyouaconferencereportontheTransferSummit writtenbySamJordison,aguestauthor.Ifyoucouldn’tmakeittothe • TransferSummit conference, TransferSummitthisisagreatwaytocatchuponwhathappened. Oxford, 24-25 June 2010 Followingonfromthereportandthethemeoftheconferenceitself, • Contribute to the OSS Watch SandervanderWaalblogsaboutopeninnovationtacticsandincentives appliedtosoftware. National Survey 2010 • Open innovation tactics and WefinishwithanotherblogpostfromSanderinvitingeverybodyactivein incentives applied to software HigherorFurtherEducationintheUKtotakepartinourNationalSoftware Surveyfor2010.Pleasecontributetooursurvey,allresponsesarewelcome • FAQs andwillbeinvaluable.Ifyouhaveanyqueriesaboutthesurveythenpleasedoget [email protected]. ElenaBlanco,ContentEditor,[email protected] stay up-to-date Onlinenewsletteravailableat OSSWatchnewsfeed http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/ News from OSS Watch http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/rss/osswatchnews.rss newsletters/october2010.pdf OpenOffice.orgcommunityannouncesDocument 2011atSenateHouseinLondonandpre-registrationis Foundation nowopentoensurethatyouarethefirsttohearabout ticketsandMoodleMootnews.Theconferencewebsite Thecommunityofvolunteersthatdevelopsandpromotes andcallforpapersisexpectedinOctober. OpenOffice.org,theleadingfreeofficesoftware,has announcedamajorchangeintheproject’sstructure. http://bit.ly/MOOTPreReg After10years’successfulgrowthwithSunMicrosystems asfoundingandprincipalsponsor,theprojecthas GoogleCodenowacceptingallOSI-approvedlicences launchedanindependentfoundationcalledtheDocument GooglehasannouncedthatitsopensourceGoogleCode Foundation,tofulfilthepromiseofindependencewritten project-hostingservicenowsupportsanyOpenSource intheoriginalcharter. Initiative(OSI)approvedlicence.Tosupportthischange, http://www.documentfoundation.org/contact/tdf_release.html theGoogleCodeteamhasaddedanoptiontothelicence CodePlexFoundationrenamedOutercurveFoundation selector;projectdeveloperscannowselect‘otheropen source’andindicatewhatlicencetheyareusing. TheCodePlexFoundation,theopensourcefoundation http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Google-Code-now-accepting- launchedwithsupportfromMicrosoftin2009,has all-OSI-approved-licences-1077813.html announcedthatithasrebrandedandadoptedanew name:theOutercurveFoundation.Therebrandinghas EUreleasesopensourcesoftwaretoolstoaccess beenundertakentoreduceconfusionanddifferentiatethe digitallystoreddata not-for-profitfoundationfromtheMicrosoft-ownedand operatedforgeCodePlex.com. TheEUhasreleasedtheopensourceCASPAR(Cultural, http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-codeplex-foundation- ArtisticandScientificknowledgeforPreservation,Access rebrands-renamed-outercurve-foundation-103911878.html andRetrieval)projecttosortandmakeaccessiblethe moundsofdatastoredinEUarchives.Fundedbya£7.3m OSSWatchonline GartnerpredictsFOSSwilldominatemobiledevices grantfromtheEC’sSixthFrameworkProgramme,the by2014 £12.5mCASPARsoftwarewillseeformerlyinaccessible OSSWatchblog OpensourcemobileoperatingsystemsAndroidand olddataindifferentformatsbeingrescued,viewedand Symbianwillbeinstalledon60%ofmobiledevicesin usedbythestateandprivatesectors.CASPARwillalsobe ContactOSSWatch useby2014,industryanalystshavepredicted.Market usedtopreservetheEU’sdigitaldataforposterity. shareforcompetingclosedsourceoperatingsystemsby http://www.v3.co.uk/computing/news/2269371/eu-makes-digital-access- ResearchInMotionandApplewillstallattheircurrent open OSSWatchtwitter levelsofapproximately30%combined,thereportfrom Gartneradded. UKgovernmentITchiefbacksopensource,small OSSWatchisfundedbythe http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/09/13/cnet.symbian.android/ business index.html JointInformation TheUKgovernment’sdeputychiefinformationofficerhas SystemsCommittee Pre-registrationforMoodleMoot2011nowopen outlinedplanstohandoverpublicsectorITcontractsto It’snevertooearlytopencilinaneventaspopularas smallbusinessesandsuppliersofopen-sourceandcloud- theannualMoodleMootandsoMoodleuserswillbe basedsolutionsinanattempttobalancethebooks. interestedtoknowthatULCChasannouncedthedate http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/22/uk-gov-it-chief-backs-open-source- ofnextyear’sMoodleMoot.Itwilltakeplace19-20April small-business/ OSSWatchonline OSSWatchblog ContactOSSWatch OSSWatchtwitter http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk http://osswatch.jiscinvolve.org [email protected] http://twitter.com/osswatch OSSWatch,ResearchTechnologiesService,OxfordUniversityComputingServices,13BanburyRoad,OxfordOX26NN,[email protected] ©2007-2010UniversityofOxford.CreativeCommonsAttribution-ShareAlike2.0England&Waleslicence TransferSummit conference, Oxford, 24-25 June 2010 Fullarticlecanbefoundathttp://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/TransferSummitReport.xml A report from the OSS Watch TransferSummit, was DECUS where you got a tape packed with software held at Keble College, Oxford, 24-25 June 2010, that everyone was able to share,’hesaid.‘Even in the by Sam Jordison. 1950s (and running up to the 1980s) there were IBM SHARE conferences. In the 1940s there was the Institute pensourcesoftware(OSS)hascomealongway for Advanced Study at Princeton University.’Healsonoted Oinrecentyears.Eventhemostsecretiveand thatatIAS,theworld’sfirststored-programcomputerwas commerciallysensitiveorganisationslikemobilephone running24hoursadayandallsortsofpeoplewereable companiesandNASAhavestartedtounderstandits touseitandsharedsoftware.‘The bottom line is that we benefits.Itisnowwidelyusedinthecommercialand have shared software since we have written software,’ highereducationsectorandittouchesthelivesofmillions hesaid. ifnotbillionsaroundtheworld.Asanumberofdelegates pointedoutduringtheconference,theoldclichethat‘you 1. Theeconomicbenefitsofopeninnovation: useLinux10or15timesadayanddon’trealiseit’could valueformoney justaseasilybetransposedtoawidenumberofOSS projects. Giventheeconomicclimateandbudgetcutsfacedby projectsacrosstheeducation,publicandcommercial AtTransferSummit,thisgrowingacceptanceofOSS–and sectors,itwasnaturalthatagreatdealofthought theprincipleofopen shouldbegiventothe innovation–wasmost costbenefitsofopen clearlydemonstrated innovationandhow byanabsence.There togenerategrowth washardlyanydebate The most clear economic benefit andsavemoney aboutwhetherOSSis of open innovation to emerge over acrosstheboard.The agoodwayforward. the course of the conference was mostcleareconomic Thatwasprettymuch benefitofopen takenasunderstood. the simple fact that it works. innovationtoemerge Yes,therewere It delivers results - and does so overthecourseof involveddiscussions in a cost-effective way. theconferencewas aboutitsbenefitsand thesimplefactthat howbesttomake itworks.Itdelivers itwork.Yes,most results-anddoesso OCTOBER speakersanddelegates inacost-effectiveway. werekeentoexplainhowandwhyithashelpedthem. Yes,therewasalsoinformeddebateaboutthelimitsof Oneofthepointsthatwasoftenmadeduringthetwo openinnovationandacknowledgementthatitmightnot dayswasthatalthoughopensourcedoesn’tnecessarily bethebestfitforallpeopleinallcircumstances.Butthis mean‘free’,itdoesgenerallymeancheaper,andoften debatewasmainlyabouthowtomakeitworkbest,not moreeffective.Itenablesaccesstoreservoirsoftalent whetheritshouldbeusedatall. thatcouldn’totherwisebetappedandallowsakindof economyofscaletobuildup.StevenPembertongave That’snottosaythattherearen’tstillargumentstobe thefamousexampleofthefree-at-sourceWikipedia hadandpeopletobeconvinced.It’salsoprobablytrue comparedtotheoldEncyclopaedia Britannica,andhow thattherewouldbelittlepointingoingintotoomuch ‘littlethings’canjointogether‘tomakeabigthingbetter basicdetailataconferencewithsuchawell-informed andbetter’. setofdelegates.Butthefactthatsomanyhigh-achieving OSSWatchonline business-people,developersandacademicfacilitatorsare MarkTaylor(CEOoftheSiriusCorporation),speaking onroughlythesamepagewhenitcomestothebenefits aboutFOSSbusinessmodels,emphasisedthatOSS OSSWatchblog ofOSS,couldperhapsbetakenasademonstration bringscostsdown.Henotedthatjustasthecostof ofhowfarOSShascomeinrecentyears.AsSteven hardwarelikePCsandlaptopshasplummeted,been ContactOSSWatch Pembertonsaidinhiskeynotespeech,‘we are through commodotisedandbecomeamarginalexpensein the first stage’ingettingopeninnovationtechnology production,soopensourceismakingsoftwareever acceptedandnowthemaintaskistomakeitbetter. cheaper.‘It brings the cost towards zero,’hesaid.Ina OSSWatchtwitter talkwheretherewasmuchto-and-frobetweenthefloor Thatsaid,oneofthemanynuggetsofbackgroundpassed andactiveengagementaboutOSSbusinessmodels,Mark OSSWatchisfundedbythe onaboutopeninnovationduringthecourseofthetwo wasalsoaskedabouthowOSSbusinessmodelscompare daysisthatitisn’treallysucharecentconcept.Inhistalk JointInformation totheCloud.Hisreplywasinteresting:‘I personally think, abouttheCodeplexFoundation(nottobeconfusedwith SystemsCommittee long term, very little. Economics will inexorably push all codeplex.com),StephenWalliprovidedausefulreminder Cloud providers to base their offerings entirely upon open ofhowthiskindofopeninnovationhasworkedinthe source. That’s to say, the Cloud will be driven by open past.‘I remember that in the late 70s and early 80s there source technologies.’ Fullarticlecontinuesathttp://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/resources/TransferSummitReport.xml OSSWatchonline OSSWatchblog ContactOSSWatch