Ministry encourages open source software
16:34' 27/12/2007 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications has
recommended state agencies use four open source software products -
Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox and Unikey.
Dang Duc Mai, Head of the Information Technology Department under the
Ministry of Finance, said the Information and Communication Ministry’s
recommendation is critical but lacks an implementation plan.
“My point of view is that decisions are not enough; we need clear
policies and plans. I think we need at least three years for users to
acclimate themselves with open source software,†Mai added.
Open Office and Unikey seem to be popular among State employees while
Thunderbird and Firefox are unfamiliar.
“It is good to encourage State employees to use open source software.
It is also very good to have a list of recommended software. It is much
better to recommend and educate people about various operating systems
because certain software works best with different ones,†said Dr.
Nguyen Quang A, former chairman of the Vietnam Information Processing
Association.
It is not clear whether the Ministry of Information and Communications
introduced this list of software to cut down on copyright infringement
in Vietnam, or to increase the demand for open-source software, but
regardless, this is a step in the right direction, said Dr. A.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2007/12/761476/
segunda-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2007
Slow File Copy Bug in Vista: An Excellent Case for Open Source
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-24-003-26-OP-MS-SW
foobar: "But let us just ponder for a moment what would happen if Vista
was open source...?"
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-24-003-26-OP-MS-SW
foobar: "But let us just ponder for a moment what would happen if Vista
was open source...?"
Interview with Richard Stallman: Four Essential Freedoms
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-20-015-26-IN-CY-DV
Datamation: "The following Q & A explores the goals of free software,
progress that has been made, and ways to maintain or instill freedom in
software that we use..."
***
Um trecho que destaco (ele podia além disso, ter dito que a
dependência da Adobe é tão grande que só ela decide quando um usuário
de 64 bits poderá ter um plugin 64 bits...):
***
Q: What about Adobe Flash and its equivalent viewers, such as Gnash,
which is Free software?
RMS: Flash illustrates the problems that arise when web sites use
nonstandard proprietary formats. I am glad that Gnash, our free Flash
player, is making progress, but we had to wait years for this.
People who don't value their freedom are likely to lose it. This is
just as true in computing as in other areas of life, and Flash is an
example. Flash is inherently a problem because it requires a non-free
plug-in. But how did the problem grow to a significant size? This
happened because many web users installed the Flash plug-in without
first checking whether it was free software. Their foolish disregard
for their own freedom made them vulnerable.
The development of Gnash means we may be able to put an end to this
particular outbreak of non-freedom. But if people don't learn to stop
installing non-free plug-ins, the web will be vulnerable to other
outbreaks in the future. It is a lot less work to avoid these problems
than to fix them. We need to teach people to refuse to install non-free
plug-ins; we need to teach people to care more about their long-term
interest of freedom than their immediate desire to view a particular
site.
***
Lembro quando o Flash era usado por poucos sites e para um uso
simples como um menu ou algo bobo. Daí começaram a fazer banners e
depois vídeos e aí chegamos onde chegamos... Hoje é impossível acessar
diversos sites sem Flash.
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-20-015-26-IN-CY-DV
Datamation: "The following Q & A explores the goals of free software,
progress that has been made, and ways to maintain or instill freedom in
software that we use..."
***
Um trecho que destaco (ele podia além disso, ter dito que a
dependência da Adobe é tão grande que só ela decide quando um usuário
de 64 bits poderá ter um plugin 64 bits...):
***
Q: What about Adobe Flash and its equivalent viewers, such as Gnash,
which is Free software?
RMS: Flash illustrates the problems that arise when web sites use
nonstandard proprietary formats. I am glad that Gnash, our free Flash
player, is making progress, but we had to wait years for this.
People who don't value their freedom are likely to lose it. This is
just as true in computing as in other areas of life, and Flash is an
example. Flash is inherently a problem because it requires a non-free
plug-in. But how did the problem grow to a significant size? This
happened because many web users installed the Flash plug-in without
first checking whether it was free software. Their foolish disregard
for their own freedom made them vulnerable.
The development of Gnash means we may be able to put an end to this
particular outbreak of non-freedom. But if people don't learn to stop
installing non-free plug-ins, the web will be vulnerable to other
outbreaks in the future. It is a lot less work to avoid these problems
than to fix them. We need to teach people to refuse to install non-free
plug-ins; we need to teach people to care more about their long-term
interest of freedom than their immediate desire to view a particular
site.
***
Lembro quando o Flash era usado por poucos sites e para um uso
simples como um menu ou algo bobo. Daí começaram a fazer banners e
depois vídeos e aí chegamos onde chegamos... Hoje é impossível acessar
diversos sites sem Flash.
Brazil: "The Electronic Voting Machine Will Be Linux-Powered"
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-17-015-26-NW-DP-PB
Newsvine: "According to major newspapers, starting with the municipal
elections of 2008, Brazil's e-voting machines will use the Linux
operating system..."
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-17-015-26-NW-DP-PB
Newsvine: "According to major newspapers, starting with the municipal
elections of 2008, Brazil's e-voting machines will use the Linux
operating system..."
That Which We Call Free
URL: http://kerneltrap.org/OpenBSD/That_Which_We_Call_Free
GNU Project and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman
posted a message on the OpenBSD -misc mailing list titled, "real men
don't attack straw men", suggesting that some comments he had made were
being misrepresented. He noted, "one question particularly relevant for
this list is why I don't recommend OpenBSD. It is not about what the
system allows. (Any general purpose system allows doing anything at
all.) It is about what the system suggests to the user." He went on to
note that though he knew of no non-free software included in the base
OpenBSD system, there was non-free software distributed via the ports
collection, "if a collection of software contains (or suggests
installation of) some non-free program, I do not recommend it."
In the email, RMS added that he was unsure whether or not OpenBSD
includes any non-free firmware blobs. It was pointed out that OpenBSD
is known for being explicity focused on not shipping blobs. As for
binary firmware, Reyk Floeter explained, "there is a major difference
between binary blobs and firmware images; the blobs are loaded as code
into the OS kernel, but the firmware runs directly on the device on
crappy embedded micro CPUs." Reyk is the author of the reverse
engineered ar5k HAL OpenBSD uses to support the Atheros wireless
chipset, which was recently adopted by the Linux-based MadWifi project
in their ath5k driver. Reyk added, "I'm clearly against binary blobs in
the kernel, and in contrast to most of the GNU/Linux dudes I _did_ some
against it by writing ar5k, instead of pointing into the wrong
direction. This open firmware discussion is just a joke to make the
relevant discussion, binary blobs in the OS kernel, irrelevant." Marco
Peereboom added, "OpenBSD is by far the most free OS in the landscape.
Everything that ships with it is free or else it won't be distributed
with it. There is not a single open source OS out there that is more
careful than OpenBSD on licensing, copyrights and frivolous patents."
read more
GNU Project and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman
posted a message on the OpenBSD -misc mailing list titled, "real men
don't attack straw men", suggesting that some comments he had made were
being misrepresented. He noted, "one question particularly relevant for
this list is why I don't recommend OpenBSD. It is not about what the
system allows. (Any general purpose system allows doing anything at
all.) It is about what the system suggests to the user." He went on to
note that though he knew of no non-free software included in the base
OpenBSD system, there was non-free software distributed via the ports
collection, "if a collection of software contains (or suggests
installation of) some non-free program, I do not recommend it."
In the email, RMS added that he was unsure whether or not OpenBSD
includes any non-free firmware blobs. It was pointed out that OpenBSD
is known for being explicity focused on not shipping blobs. As for
binary firmware, Reyk Floeter explained, "there is a major difference
between binary blobs and firmware images; the blobs are loaded as code
into the OS kernel, but the firmware runs directly on the device on
crappy embedded micro CPUs." Reyk is the author of the reverse
engineered ar5k HAL OpenBSD uses to support the Atheros wireless
chipset, which was recently adopted by the Linux-based MadWifi project
in their ath5k driver. Reyk added, "I'm clearly against binary blobs in
the kernel, and in contrast to most of the GNU/Linux dudes I _did_ some
against it by writing ar5k, instead of pointing into the wrong
direction. This open firmware discussion is just a joke to make the
relevant discussion, binary blobs in the OS kernel, irrelevant." Marco
Peereboom added, "OpenBSD is by far the most free OS in the landscape.
Everything that ships with it is free or else it won't be distributed
with it. There is not a single open source OS out there that is more
careful than OpenBSD on licensing, copyrights and frivolous patents."
read more
What if nVidia Had an Open Source Driver?
URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-12-07-003-26-OP-HW
CrazyTB's Blog: "So, let's try to guess what would happen if nVidia
decided to release the graphics drivers as FOSS..."
CrazyTB's Blog: "So, let's try to guess what would happen if nVidia
decided to release the graphics drivers as FOSS..."
Cuba is Preparing to Quit Windows and Avoid Microsoft
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-09-17-024-26-NW-DP-PB
Cuban Daily News: "Cuban authorities are seriously preparing to quit
the Windows operating system and use the GNU/Linux free software
instead, thus avoiding any sanctions for using this computer system by
the Windows' owner, the giant Microsoft Corporation..."
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-09-17-024-26-NW-DP-PB
Cuban Daily News: "Cuban authorities are seriously preparing to quit
the Windows operating system and use the GNU/Linux free software
instead, thus avoiding any sanctions for using this computer system by
the Windows' owner, the giant Microsoft Corporation..."
Stallman: If You Want Freedom Don't Follow Linus Torvalds
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-09-12-017-26-IN-LL-DV
Australian PC World: "The founder of the Free Software Foundation asks
readers whether they will fight for freedom or be too lazy to resist..."
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-09-12-017-26-IN-LL-DV
Australian PC World: "The founder of the Free Software Foundation asks
readers whether they will fight for freedom or be too lazy to resist..."
Norway Opens Free Software Center
URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-08-21-014-26-NW-PB
Technocrat: "Norway opened a national center for competence in Free
Software in Drammen, near Oslo, on Wednesday..."
Technocrat: "Norway opened a national center for competence in Free
Software in Drammen, near Oslo, on Wednesday..."
FSF releases the GNU General Public License, version 3
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Friday, June 29, 2007 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today released version 3 of the GNU General
Public License (GNU GPL), the world's most popular free software
license.
"Since we founded the free software movement, over 23 years ago, the
free software community has developed thousands of useful programs
that respect the user's freedom. The programs are in the GNU/Linux
operating system, as well as personal computers, telephones, Internet
servers, and more. Most of these programs use the GNU GPL to
guarantee every user the freedom to run, study, adapt, improve, and
redistribute the program," said Richard Stallman, founder and
president of the FSF.
Version 3 of the GNU GPL strengthens this guarantee, by ensuring that
users can modify the free software on their personal and household
devices, and granting patent licenses to every user. It also extends
compatibility with other free software licenses and increases
international uniformity.
Jeremy Allison, speaking on behalf of the Samba team, states that they
see the new license as "a great improvement on the older GPL," and
that it is "a necessary update to deal with the new threats to free
software that have emerged since version 2 of the GPL."
The warm embrace of much of the community should come as no surprise,
for the license is the final result of an unprecedented drafting
process that has seen four published drafts in eighteen months. These
were the basis for a discussion that included thousands of comments
from the public. This feedback, along with input from committees
representing the public and private sectors, and legal advice from the
Software Freedom Law Center, was used in writing the text of GPL
version 3.
"By hearing from so many different groups in a public drafting
process, we have been able to write a license that successfully
addresses a broad spectrum of concerns. But even more importantly,
these different groups have had an opportunity to find common ground
on important issues facing the free software community today, such as
patents, tivoization, and Treacherous Computing," said the
Foundation's executive director, Peter Brown.
Tivoization and Treacherous (aka, "Trusted") Computing are schemes to
prevent users from utilizing modified or alternate software. The
former simply blocks modified software from running; the latter
enables web sites to refuse to talk to modified software. Both are
typically used to impose malicious features such as Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM). GPL version 3 does not restrict the
features of a program; in particular, it does not prohibit DRM.
However, it prohibits the use of tivoization and Treacherous Computing
to stop users from changing the software. Thus, they are free to
remove whatever features they may dislike.
Karl Berry, long-time GNU developer and Texinfo maintainer, believes
that "the GPL is the fundamental license that ties the free software
community together, and version 3 does an excellent job of updating
the license to the present-day computing reality." Elated by the new
patent clause, he bemoans software patents as "a scourge on our
cooperative efforts."
Over fifteen GNU programs will be released under the new license
today, and the entire GNU Project will follow suit in the coming
months. The FSF will also encourage adoption of the license through
education and outreach programs. "A lot of time and effort went into
this license. Now free programs must adopt it so as to offer their
users its stronger protection for their freedom," Stallman said.
The final license is published at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.
About the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)
The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license worldwide:
almost three quarters of all free software packages are distributed
under this license. It is not, however, the only free software
license.
Richard Stallman wrote the version 1 and 2 of the GNU GPL with legal
advice from Perkins, Smith & Cohen. Version 1 was released in 1989,
and version 2 in 1991. Since 1991, free software use has increased
tremendously, and computing practices have changed, introducing new
opportunities and new threats. In 2005, Stallman began revising the
GPL for version 3. In January 2006, the FSF began a systematic process
of public review and feedback, with legal advice and organizational
support from the Software Freedom Law Center.
About the GNU Operating System and Linux
Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a
free software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the sake of users'
freedom. See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html.
In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for
one, the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under
the GNU GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux
formed a complete free operating system, which made it possible for
the first time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination
is the GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html.
The GNU components in the GNU system will be released under GPL
version 3, once it is finalized. The licensing of Linux will be
decided by the developers of Linux. If they decide to stay with GPL
version 2, then the GNU/Linux system will contain GNU packages using
GNU GPL version 3, alongside Linux under GNU GPL version 2. Many other
packages with various licenses make up the full GNU/Linux system.
About Free Software and Open Source
The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
The GNU GPL is used by developers with various views, but it was
written to serve the ethical goals of the free software movement. Says
Stallman, "The GNU GPL makes sense in terms of its purpose: freedom
and social solidarity. Trying to understand it in terms of the goals
and values of open source is like trying understand a CD drive's
retractable drawer as a cupholder. You can use it for that, but that
is not what it was designed for."
About The Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software. Its web site,
located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about
GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media contacts:
Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942x18
brett@fsf.org
John Sullivan
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×23
johns@fsf.org
Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×19
jgay@fsf.org
###
_______________________________________________
GNU Announcement mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu
Software Foundation (FSF) today released version 3 of the GNU General
Public License (GNU GPL), the world's most popular free software
license.
"Since we founded the free software movement, over 23 years ago, the
free software community has developed thousands of useful programs
that respect the user's freedom. The programs are in the GNU/Linux
operating system, as well as personal computers, telephones, Internet
servers, and more. Most of these programs use the GNU GPL to
guarantee every user the freedom to run, study, adapt, improve, and
redistribute the program," said Richard Stallman, founder and
president of the FSF.
Version 3 of the GNU GPL strengthens this guarantee, by ensuring that
users can modify the free software on their personal and household
devices, and granting patent licenses to every user. It also extends
compatibility with other free software licenses and increases
international uniformity.
Jeremy Allison, speaking on behalf of the Samba team, states that they
see the new license as "a great improvement on the older GPL," and
that it is "a necessary update to deal with the new threats to free
software that have emerged since version 2 of the GPL."
The warm embrace of much of the community should come as no surprise,
for the license is the final result of an unprecedented drafting
process that has seen four published drafts in eighteen months. These
were the basis for a discussion that included thousands of comments
from the public. This feedback, along with input from committees
representing the public and private sectors, and legal advice from the
Software Freedom Law Center, was used in writing the text of GPL
version 3.
"By hearing from so many different groups in a public drafting
process, we have been able to write a license that successfully
addresses a broad spectrum of concerns. But even more importantly,
these different groups have had an opportunity to find common ground
on important issues facing the free software community today, such as
patents, tivoization, and Treacherous Computing," said the
Foundation's executive director, Peter Brown.
Tivoization and Treacherous (aka, "Trusted") Computing are schemes to
prevent users from utilizing modified or alternate software. The
former simply blocks modified software from running; the latter
enables web sites to refuse to talk to modified software. Both are
typically used to impose malicious features such as Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM). GPL version 3 does not restrict the
features of a program; in particular, it does not prohibit DRM.
However, it prohibits the use of tivoization and Treacherous Computing
to stop users from changing the software. Thus, they are free to
remove whatever features they may dislike.
Karl Berry, long-time GNU developer and Texinfo maintainer, believes
that "the GPL is the fundamental license that ties the free software
community together, and version 3 does an excellent job of updating
the license to the present-day computing reality." Elated by the new
patent clause, he bemoans software patents as "a scourge on our
cooperative efforts."
Over fifteen GNU programs will be released under the new license
today, and the entire GNU Project will follow suit in the coming
months. The FSF will also encourage adoption of the license through
education and outreach programs. "A lot of time and effort went into
this license. Now free programs must adopt it so as to offer their
users its stronger protection for their freedom," Stallman said.
The final license is published at http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html.
About the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)
The GNU GPL is the most widely used free software license worldwide:
almost three quarters of all free software packages are distributed
under this license. It is not, however, the only free software
license.
Richard Stallman wrote the version 1 and 2 of the GNU GPL with legal
advice from Perkins, Smith & Cohen. Version 1 was released in 1989,
and version 2 in 1991. Since 1991, free software use has increased
tremendously, and computing practices have changed, introducing new
opportunities and new threats. In 2005, Stallman began revising the
GPL for version 3. In January 2006, the FSF began a systematic process
of public review and feedback, with legal advice and organizational
support from the Software Freedom Law Center.
About the GNU Operating System and Linux
Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a
free software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the sake of users'
freedom. See http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html.
In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for
one, the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under
the GNU GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux
formed a complete free operating system, which made it possible for
the first time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination
is the GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html.
The GNU components in the GNU system will be released under GPL
version 3, once it is finalized. The licensing of Linux will be
decided by the developers of Linux. If they decide to stay with GPL
version 2, then the GNU/Linux system will contain GNU packages using
GNU GPL version 3, alongside Linux under GNU GPL version 2. Many other
packages with various licenses make up the full GNU/Linux system.
About Free Software and Open Source
The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html
The GNU GPL is used by developers with various views, but it was
written to serve the ethical goals of the free software movement. Says
Stallman, "The GNU GPL makes sense in terms of its purpose: freedom
and social solidarity. Trying to understand it in terms of the goals
and values of open source is like trying understand a CD drive's
retractable drawer as a cupholder. You can use it for that, but that
is not what it was designed for."
About The Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software. Its web site,
located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about
GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media contacts:
Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942x18
brett@fsf.org
John Sullivan
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×23
johns@fsf.org
Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×19
jgay@fsf.org
###
_______________________________________________
GNU Announcement mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu
'Play OGG': FSF launches free audio format campaign
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA---Wednesday, May 16, 2007---The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) today launched PlayOGG.org, a campaign to encourage
use of the patent- and license-free standard OGG Vorbis as an
ethically, legally and technically superior audio alternative to the
proprietary MP3 format.
Though the MP3 format has become very common, any time a distributor
sells or gives away music encoded as an MP3, they are responsible for
paying a fee to the owners of the MP3 patents. These patents are also
an issue for developers writing software to work with MP3s. In
contrast, the specification for OGG Vorbis is in the public domain, so
anyone can use the format or write software to use it without being
dependent on a patent holder for permission.
FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "OGG is your safest bet to be
free from patent litigation when using compressed audio. This is
especially true given the recent upswing in patent-based lawsuits. What
is most frightening, and underscores the landmine metaphor often used
to describe software patents, is the recent $1.5B preliminary judgment
against Microsoft. Microsoft thought it had a paid-up nonexclusive
license to practice the patents in MP3. This judgment demonstrates that
there is no good way to protect yourself from these threats. The only
viable solution right now is to switch to OGG, and work for the
abolition of software patents."
With many personal digital music players already providing support for
OGG Vorbis, and with many free software players, encoders and plugins
already available for a variety of operating systems, OGG Vorbis has
the elements needed to surpass MP3 in use. A recent suit filed in Texas
based on the playback of MP3 in personal digital music players should
provide further impetus to the use of OGG Vorbis in these devices.
FSF president and founder Richard Stallman emphasized that the danger
of such patents is not confined to developers or distributors. He
wrote, "[T]he users can get sued too, either as a way of attacking a
developer or just as a way to squeeze money out of them on their own or
to cause mayhem. All software developers and users are vulnerable."
The campaign is aimed at both distributors and listeners. Over the
coming months, it will build on existing OGG promotion efforts by
emphasizing the ethical problems with proprietary formats. Planned
resources include listings of OGG-friendly websites, instructions for
installing and using OGG Vorbis, and a directory of volunteers offering
their technical expertise to sites seeking help in making the switch to
free formats.
The campaign resources and a mailing list to track related events are
available at http://playogg.org. Technical details about the format can
be found at http://xiph.org/vorbis/.
About The Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users’ right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software---particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants---and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Its Web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to
support the FSF’s work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its
headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media Contacts
John Sullivan
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×23
johns@fsf.org
Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×19
jgay@fsf.org
###
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
Foundation (FSF) today launched PlayOGG.org, a campaign to encourage
use of the patent- and license-free standard OGG Vorbis as an
ethically, legally and technically superior audio alternative to the
proprietary MP3 format.
Though the MP3 format has become very common, any time a distributor
sells or gives away music encoded as an MP3, they are responsible for
paying a fee to the owners of the MP3 patents. These patents are also
an issue for developers writing software to work with MP3s. In
contrast, the specification for OGG Vorbis is in the public domain, so
anyone can use the format or write software to use it without being
dependent on a patent holder for permission.
FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "OGG is your safest bet to be
free from patent litigation when using compressed audio. This is
especially true given the recent upswing in patent-based lawsuits. What
is most frightening, and underscores the landmine metaphor often used
to describe software patents, is the recent $1.5B preliminary judgment
against Microsoft. Microsoft thought it had a paid-up nonexclusive
license to practice the patents in MP3. This judgment demonstrates that
there is no good way to protect yourself from these threats. The only
viable solution right now is to switch to OGG, and work for the
abolition of software patents."
With many personal digital music players already providing support for
OGG Vorbis, and with many free software players, encoders and plugins
already available for a variety of operating systems, OGG Vorbis has
the elements needed to surpass MP3 in use. A recent suit filed in Texas
based on the playback of MP3 in personal digital music players should
provide further impetus to the use of OGG Vorbis in these devices.
FSF president and founder Richard Stallman emphasized that the danger
of such patents is not confined to developers or distributors. He
wrote, "[T]he users can get sued too, either as a way of attacking a
developer or just as a way to squeeze money out of them on their own or
to cause mayhem. All software developers and users are vulnerable."
The campaign is aimed at both distributors and listeners. Over the
coming months, it will build on existing OGG promotion efforts by
emphasizing the ethical problems with proprietary formats. Planned
resources include listings of OGG-friendly websites, instructions for
installing and using OGG Vorbis, and a directory of volunteers offering
their technical expertise to sites seeking help in making the switch to
free formats.
The campaign resources and a mailing list to track related events are
available at http://playogg.org. Technical details about the format can
be found at http://xiph.org/vorbis/.
About The Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users’ right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software---particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants---and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Its Web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to
support the FSF’s work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its
headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media Contacts
John Sullivan
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×23
johns@fsf.org
Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×19
jgay@fsf.org
###
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
FSFLA frees Brazilian tax software
Monday May 14, 2007 (05:01 PM GMT)
By: Bruce Byfield
The FSFLA, the Latin American sister organization of the Free Software
Foundation, is claiming a last-minute victory in Brazil in its struggle
to remove the requirement to use non-free software for filing taxes
online. Having reversed-engineered a free command-line program for
filing taxes, the FSFLA is jubilantly announcing that it has "freed the
lion" -- "lion" being a colloquial term in Brazil for taxes.
This partial victory comes after months of campaigning. As previously
reported, FSFLA launched a campaign in October 2006 against the
software -- IRPF2007, as it is called in its current version -- that
the Receita Federal (RF), the Brazilian equivalent of the IRS, provides
for electronic filing of taxes. Both the Windows and the Java version,
which requires proprietary classes, are non-free, and certain
categories of users are required to use one of them. These categories
include anybody with an income over R$100,000 ($47,000), or R$69,840
($32,000) from a rural business, or with profits from sales of goods,
rights, stocks, or futures, or a rural business.
According to the FSFLA, requiring taxpayers to use this software is a
violation of two articles of the Brazilian constitution: Article 37,
which forbids imposing obligations on citizens except via law and
insists upon impartial treatment of individuals and citizens; and
Article 170, which requires free market competition and consumer
protection, and grants citizens "free exercise of any economic
activity, regardless of any government authorization."
Since October, the FSFLA has been circulating petitions and encouraging
a letter-writing campaign. In March, it also began direct negotiations
with the RF in an effort to resolve the issues. Apparently in response
to these negotiations, the RF released some but not all information
about the file formats required by the software.
The RF also mentioned without giving any details an "implicit copyright
license" in IRPF2007. When the FSFLA unarchived the software's zip and
jar files, it failed to find the license, but did find that several
free software libraries were used in violation of their licenses. One
of those libraries, the Freedom Task Force of FSF Europe found, was GNU
libc, which was used in the installer.
Armed with this information, the FSFLA renewed discussions with the RF.
The RF agreed to look into the alleged license violations, but said
that it could not do so before the April 30 deadline for filing taxes.
Nor, it said, could it publish the software license before the
deadline. The RF also refused to make an exception for those who have
moral objections against using non-free software, or to grant a filing
extension so that the objectors might have the time to develop free
software for online filing.
The FSFLA's request that the complete file format specification or the
original source code be published was also turned down, the RF claiming
that they could be used to publish modified versions that would confuse
users and possibly defraud them.
The reverse-engineered solution
Faced with the requirement to use IRPF2007 himself, Alexandre Oliva, an
employee of Red Hat Brazil and an FSFLA board member, decided with the
blessings of the organization to reverse-engineer his own solution
using JODE, a free Java decompiler.
During the course of his work, Oliva discovered a copy of the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) in the root directory of IRPF.jar.
From its position, the FSFLA concluded that it was the implied
copyright license mentioned by the RF, and that reverse-engineering was
therefore legal. He also found a number of other licenses that were
being violated in IRPF2007.
Hoping to produce a free version of the software, Oliva removed all
non-free components, located source code for all the free libraries
required, and fixed all license compliance problems. Unfortunately,
when he completed his work, the compiled version would not run past the
opening screen.
With time running out, Oliva decided to forgo a graphical solution and
use the command line. Since IRPF2007 stores information in XML files,
within a few hours, he had a solution. "Editing the XML file turned out
to be much better than using the click-until-your-hand-hurt GUI
version," Oliva says. "It was possible to reorder entries (such as
goods, debts, dependents, etc.) in however way made sense to you.
Copying and global string replacement worked, and you could make other
changes that the limited GUI wouldn't let you."
Oliva had a bad moment when he submitted his tax declaration at the
bank on April 25, and the file was rejected. However, the only problem
turned out to be a missing receipt number. When he added a call to have
the receipt number generated by IRPF2007, his declaration was accepted
for processing.
The next day, the FSFLA announced its success and in a news release and
posted its command-line hack, along with its source code.
The campaign continues
Despite this strategic victory, problems with the software remains. On
May 2, the RF published a new version of IRPF2007 that fixed some
licensing problems, but not all. It also issued a statement about some
of the software that, according to Oliva, "explicitly permitted any
taxpayer to use the program for the sole purpose of filling in income
tax forms."
These developments address some of the FSFLA's concerns. "Taxpayers now
have permission to run the program IRPF2007, to hire third parties who
are taxpayers themselves to run it for them, and to modify the program
so as to enable them to prepare their tax returns," Oliva says.
"However, the distribution by RF was still illegal since it was not in
compliance with third-party copyright licenses. And still, there's no
corresponding source code anywhere to be seen."
In addition, Oliva notes that the explicit statement can be read as a
limit on the use of the program, which would conflict with the LGPL.
Moreover, the Java class files are now "obfuscated," according to
Oliva, which may make decompilation more difficult.
The FSFLA is working to resolve these problems. The effort continues,
but the organization is buoyed by the success at reverse-engineering,
and by the recent discovery of additional legal justification for the
effort. Recently, the FSFLA has learned that Article 6, IV of the
Brazilian copyright law states that integration of a program into an
application is not copyright violation if it is technically
indispensable and solely for personal use. In addition, the FSFLA has
learned that the regulation that approved the creation of IRPF2007
grants users the right to distribute the program.
"Take these two permissions together, and it doesn't even look like we
needed the LGPL license to be able to publish the CLI tool along with
the source code," Oliva says. Feeling that it is on firm legal ground,
the FSFLA hopes in the near future to follow up on this strategic
success with a decisive, final victory.
Bruce Byfield is a computer journalist who writes regularly for
NewsForge, Linux.com, and IT Manager's Journal.
http://applications.linux.com/applications/07/05/11/1813251.shtml
By: Bruce Byfield
The FSFLA, the Latin American sister organization of the Free Software
Foundation, is claiming a last-minute victory in Brazil in its struggle
to remove the requirement to use non-free software for filing taxes
online. Having reversed-engineered a free command-line program for
filing taxes, the FSFLA is jubilantly announcing that it has "freed the
lion" -- "lion" being a colloquial term in Brazil for taxes.
This partial victory comes after months of campaigning. As previously
reported, FSFLA launched a campaign in October 2006 against the
software -- IRPF2007, as it is called in its current version -- that
the Receita Federal (RF), the Brazilian equivalent of the IRS, provides
for electronic filing of taxes. Both the Windows and the Java version,
which requires proprietary classes, are non-free, and certain
categories of users are required to use one of them. These categories
include anybody with an income over R$100,000 ($47,000), or R$69,840
($32,000) from a rural business, or with profits from sales of goods,
rights, stocks, or futures, or a rural business.
According to the FSFLA, requiring taxpayers to use this software is a
violation of two articles of the Brazilian constitution: Article 37,
which forbids imposing obligations on citizens except via law and
insists upon impartial treatment of individuals and citizens; and
Article 170, which requires free market competition and consumer
protection, and grants citizens "free exercise of any economic
activity, regardless of any government authorization."
Since October, the FSFLA has been circulating petitions and encouraging
a letter-writing campaign. In March, it also began direct negotiations
with the RF in an effort to resolve the issues. Apparently in response
to these negotiations, the RF released some but not all information
about the file formats required by the software.
The RF also mentioned without giving any details an "implicit copyright
license" in IRPF2007. When the FSFLA unarchived the software's zip and
jar files, it failed to find the license, but did find that several
free software libraries were used in violation of their licenses. One
of those libraries, the Freedom Task Force of FSF Europe found, was GNU
libc, which was used in the installer.
Armed with this information, the FSFLA renewed discussions with the RF.
The RF agreed to look into the alleged license violations, but said
that it could not do so before the April 30 deadline for filing taxes.
Nor, it said, could it publish the software license before the
deadline. The RF also refused to make an exception for those who have
moral objections against using non-free software, or to grant a filing
extension so that the objectors might have the time to develop free
software for online filing.
The FSFLA's request that the complete file format specification or the
original source code be published was also turned down, the RF claiming
that they could be used to publish modified versions that would confuse
users and possibly defraud them.
The reverse-engineered solution
Faced with the requirement to use IRPF2007 himself, Alexandre Oliva, an
employee of Red Hat Brazil and an FSFLA board member, decided with the
blessings of the organization to reverse-engineer his own solution
using JODE, a free Java decompiler.
During the course of his work, Oliva discovered a copy of the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) in the root directory of IRPF.jar.
From its position, the FSFLA concluded that it was the implied
copyright license mentioned by the RF, and that reverse-engineering was
therefore legal. He also found a number of other licenses that were
being violated in IRPF2007.
Hoping to produce a free version of the software, Oliva removed all
non-free components, located source code for all the free libraries
required, and fixed all license compliance problems. Unfortunately,
when he completed his work, the compiled version would not run past the
opening screen.
With time running out, Oliva decided to forgo a graphical solution and
use the command line. Since IRPF2007 stores information in XML files,
within a few hours, he had a solution. "Editing the XML file turned out
to be much better than using the click-until-your-hand-hurt GUI
version," Oliva says. "It was possible to reorder entries (such as
goods, debts, dependents, etc.) in however way made sense to you.
Copying and global string replacement worked, and you could make other
changes that the limited GUI wouldn't let you."
Oliva had a bad moment when he submitted his tax declaration at the
bank on April 25, and the file was rejected. However, the only problem
turned out to be a missing receipt number. When he added a call to have
the receipt number generated by IRPF2007, his declaration was accepted
for processing.
The next day, the FSFLA announced its success and in a news release and
posted its command-line hack, along with its source code.
The campaign continues
Despite this strategic victory, problems with the software remains. On
May 2, the RF published a new version of IRPF2007 that fixed some
licensing problems, but not all. It also issued a statement about some
of the software that, according to Oliva, "explicitly permitted any
taxpayer to use the program for the sole purpose of filling in income
tax forms."
These developments address some of the FSFLA's concerns. "Taxpayers now
have permission to run the program IRPF2007, to hire third parties who
are taxpayers themselves to run it for them, and to modify the program
so as to enable them to prepare their tax returns," Oliva says.
"However, the distribution by RF was still illegal since it was not in
compliance with third-party copyright licenses. And still, there's no
corresponding source code anywhere to be seen."
In addition, Oliva notes that the explicit statement can be read as a
limit on the use of the program, which would conflict with the LGPL.
Moreover, the Java class files are now "obfuscated," according to
Oliva, which may make decompilation more difficult.
The FSFLA is working to resolve these problems. The effort continues,
but the organization is buoyed by the success at reverse-engineering,
and by the recent discovery of additional legal justification for the
effort. Recently, the FSFLA has learned that Article 6, IV of the
Brazilian copyright law states that integration of a program into an
application is not copyright violation if it is technically
indispensable and solely for personal use. In addition, the FSFLA has
learned that the regulation that approved the creation of IRPF2007
grants users the right to distribute the program.
"Take these two permissions together, and it doesn't even look like we
needed the LGPL license to be able to publish the CLI tool along with
the source code," Oliva says. Feeling that it is on firm legal ground,
the FSFLA hopes in the near future to follow up on this strategic
success with a decisive, final victory.
Bruce Byfield is a computer journalist who writes regularly for
NewsForge, Linux.com, and IT Manager's Journal.
http://applications.linux.com/applications/07/05/11/1813251.shtml
Stallman: Free Software is Matter of Good vs. Evil
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-04-23-020-26-OS-CY-SW
GCN: "Students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County got a
lecture today about morals, ethics and politics from radical software
developer Richard M. Stallman, a founder of the free-software
movement..."
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-04-23-020-26-OS-CY-SW
GCN: "Students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County got a
lecture today about morals, ethics and politics from radical software
developer Richard M. Stallman, a founder of the free-software
movement..."
Open source protestor crashes Bill Gates' speech in China
http://www.engadget.com/2007/04/20/open-source-protestor-crashes-bill-gates-speech-in-china/
ZDNet UK: Cuba to Migrate to Open Source
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-02-20-009-26-NW-DP-PB
The Cuban government is to migrate thousands of its computers to
open-source software, in a move that distances the communist nation
from US-based Microsoft...
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-02-20-009-26-NW-DP-PB
The Cuban government is to migrate thousands of its computers to
open-source software, in a move that distances the communist nation
from US-based Microsoft...
Why does KDE use slaves?
By Jabari Zakiya
KDE will soon be releasing version 4.0 of its desktop environment. But
KDE has a deep, dark secret – it engages in slavery. Actually it's not
a secret, they tell you straight up, they use slaves throughout its
infrastructure. And since February is Black History Month in the U.S.,
I feel compelled to speak out against this injustice. Slavery anywhere
is a threat to freedom everywhere, even in software.
For those of you who don't know KDE uses routines it calls IO-Slaves to
perform various interface tasks. When I first heard (about 3-4 years
ago) that KDE named these routines "slaves" I thought to myself, here
we go again. I went onto some KDE forums to get them to use some other
terminology for these routines. I (and others) obviously couldn't
convince them to change this terminology then, but maybe I can tweak
their consciousness now to reconsider the message they are putting out
behind the use of the slave paradigm.
While writing this piece I didn't have time to search and find some of
the discussions I remember, particularly from the 1970-80s, carried out
in various trade magazines letters to the editors, articles, and usenet
forums, about the need to abolish the master-slave terminology
paradigm, prevalent in electronics and software then. It seems the
developers at KDE need to see these discussions, and understand why,
almost universally now, you no longer see hardware and software
processes and relationships referred to as master-slave, but rather as
parent-child, client-server, and other such more socially acceptable
(and functionally accurate) terminology.
And for those maybe too young (or insensitive) to remember what the big
deal was be about why there was a push to have this terminology excised
from the fields of electronics, software, et al, well it was simple.
During the '70-80s there was a large influx of Black and women students
into colleges then, which caused to be challenged virtually everything
about the status quo paradigms in existence. And a lot of that centered
on attacking language constructs that were demeaning and oppressive to
non-whites. For ultimately, the power to define is the power to control.
As more non-whites entered the sciences and engineering (as I did) we
were confronted with the legacy of offensive terminology which most
whites never stopped to think about as being offensive. The
master-slave paradigm of labeling hardware boards and interactions was
virtually ubiquitous, which was then passed along to the software
world, especially after microprocessors and digital electronics began
to replace analog systems. So the language constructs used with
hardware was mimicked for the new software driven systems.
So it was deja vu to see the reemergence of the term "slaves" to
represent KDE's IO API, which tells you something about the
mono-culture of the people who make up the KDE community. How? Well,
it's hard for me to imagine any self-aware Black person sitting in a
room of people trying to come up with a name to refer to their IO
routines, and someone says, "hey, let's call these routines slaves" and
the Black person wouldn't say, "uh, I think we should come up with a
better name." But you needn't have to be non-white to recognize the
destructive legacy that word conjures up.
For really, what is KDE trying to project by calling these routines
slaves. After all, enslaved people are people who can be arbitrarily
abused, demeaned, and killed, who have no value beside their capacity
to provide uncompensated labor, who are denied all rights of person
hood, and have no protection under the law. At least that's what it
meant to be enslaved in the Americas.
But the KDE io-slaves seem to be a very important and essential core
elements of the KDE infrastructure. They possess highly specialized
functionality, are designed to provide an efficient and ubiquitous set
of tools for application developers to interface to, and thus are
valuable components which enhance the utility of KDE. These qualities
seem to be the antithesis to those of "slaves." Maybe KDE can hold a
contest to choose a better name for these routines, but it should
absolutely act to free its "slaves" now.
Human slavery is still a scourge mankind hasn't been able to eradicate,
as we now enter the 21st century, because it's a concept too many
people still condone. The enslavement of humans will end only when the
concept of slavery ceases to exist. Thus, people who produce "free"
software should not promote its concept to characterize anything about
the nature of their code. While we might not be able to eradicate
slavery in the world of human interaction, we absolutely should be able
to prevent it from manifesting in the world of free software. Tags:
kde, masters, slaves
Copyright information
This blog entry is (C) Copyright, Jabari Zakiya, 2004-2007. Unless a
different license is specified in the entry's body, the following
license applies: "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice
is preserved and appropriate attribution information (author, original
site, original URL) is included".
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/2075
KDE will soon be releasing version 4.0 of its desktop environment. But
KDE has a deep, dark secret – it engages in slavery. Actually it's not
a secret, they tell you straight up, they use slaves throughout its
infrastructure. And since February is Black History Month in the U.S.,
I feel compelled to speak out against this injustice. Slavery anywhere
is a threat to freedom everywhere, even in software.
For those of you who don't know KDE uses routines it calls IO-Slaves to
perform various interface tasks. When I first heard (about 3-4 years
ago) that KDE named these routines "slaves" I thought to myself, here
we go again. I went onto some KDE forums to get them to use some other
terminology for these routines. I (and others) obviously couldn't
convince them to change this terminology then, but maybe I can tweak
their consciousness now to reconsider the message they are putting out
behind the use of the slave paradigm.
While writing this piece I didn't have time to search and find some of
the discussions I remember, particularly from the 1970-80s, carried out
in various trade magazines letters to the editors, articles, and usenet
forums, about the need to abolish the master-slave terminology
paradigm, prevalent in electronics and software then. It seems the
developers at KDE need to see these discussions, and understand why,
almost universally now, you no longer see hardware and software
processes and relationships referred to as master-slave, but rather as
parent-child, client-server, and other such more socially acceptable
(and functionally accurate) terminology.
And for those maybe too young (or insensitive) to remember what the big
deal was be about why there was a push to have this terminology excised
from the fields of electronics, software, et al, well it was simple.
During the '70-80s there was a large influx of Black and women students
into colleges then, which caused to be challenged virtually everything
about the status quo paradigms in existence. And a lot of that centered
on attacking language constructs that were demeaning and oppressive to
non-whites. For ultimately, the power to define is the power to control.
As more non-whites entered the sciences and engineering (as I did) we
were confronted with the legacy of offensive terminology which most
whites never stopped to think about as being offensive. The
master-slave paradigm of labeling hardware boards and interactions was
virtually ubiquitous, which was then passed along to the software
world, especially after microprocessors and digital electronics began
to replace analog systems. So the language constructs used with
hardware was mimicked for the new software driven systems.
So it was deja vu to see the reemergence of the term "slaves" to
represent KDE's IO API, which tells you something about the
mono-culture of the people who make up the KDE community. How? Well,
it's hard for me to imagine any self-aware Black person sitting in a
room of people trying to come up with a name to refer to their IO
routines, and someone says, "hey, let's call these routines slaves" and
the Black person wouldn't say, "uh, I think we should come up with a
better name." But you needn't have to be non-white to recognize the
destructive legacy that word conjures up.
For really, what is KDE trying to project by calling these routines
slaves. After all, enslaved people are people who can be arbitrarily
abused, demeaned, and killed, who have no value beside their capacity
to provide uncompensated labor, who are denied all rights of person
hood, and have no protection under the law. At least that's what it
meant to be enslaved in the Americas.
But the KDE io-slaves seem to be a very important and essential core
elements of the KDE infrastructure. They possess highly specialized
functionality, are designed to provide an efficient and ubiquitous set
of tools for application developers to interface to, and thus are
valuable components which enhance the utility of KDE. These qualities
seem to be the antithesis to those of "slaves." Maybe KDE can hold a
contest to choose a better name for these routines, but it should
absolutely act to free its "slaves" now.
Human slavery is still a scourge mankind hasn't been able to eradicate,
as we now enter the 21st century, because it's a concept too many
people still condone. The enslavement of humans will end only when the
concept of slavery ceases to exist. Thus, people who produce "free"
software should not promote its concept to characterize anything about
the nature of their code. While we might not be able to eradicate
slavery in the world of human interaction, we absolutely should be able
to prevent it from manifesting in the world of free software. Tags:
kde, masters, slaves
Copyright information
This blog entry is (C) Copyright, Jabari Zakiya, 2004-2007. Unless a
different license is specified in the entry's body, the following
license applies: "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice
is preserved and appropriate attribution information (author, original
site, original URL) is included".
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/2075
John Dvorak e o Linux (bostejamento do ano!)
Da coluna Zap! de John Dvorak, revista Info Exame, nº 251,
fevereiro/2007, pág. 25:
"(...) Um dos defeitos da comunidade Linux é que especialistas em
software livre acreditam que todo programa deveria ser gratuito. Para
eles, qualquer tentativa de ganhar um tostão vendendo software é uma
afronta aos seus princípios. O líder desses corvos é Richard Stallman,
que está desenvolvendo um novo acordo de licenciamento para usuários de
código-fonte aberto. A idéia é que, futuramente, se você estiver usando
Linux, todas as aplicações envolvidas terão que ser de domínio público.
Qualquer coisa vendida para rodar em Linux se tornaria aberta e
gratuita para sempre. É desnecessário falar sobre a confusão que isso
criaria entre os desenvolvedores. Quando há dúvida ou confusão você
simplesmente evita a coisa toda. A Adobe nunca iria levar o Photoshop
para o Linux se, de repente, perdesse todos os direitos sobre seu
produto.(...)"
***
Não sabia que Dvorak era tão mal informado assim... e ainda tem
espaço na mídia... quanto será que recebe para escrever tanta %#4@#$@?
fevereiro/2007, pág. 25:
"(...) Um dos defeitos da comunidade Linux é que especialistas em
software livre acreditam que todo programa deveria ser gratuito. Para
eles, qualquer tentativa de ganhar um tostão vendendo software é uma
afronta aos seus princípios. O líder desses corvos é Richard Stallman,
que está desenvolvendo um novo acordo de licenciamento para usuários de
código-fonte aberto. A idéia é que, futuramente, se você estiver usando
Linux, todas as aplicações envolvidas terão que ser de domínio público.
Qualquer coisa vendida para rodar em Linux se tornaria aberta e
gratuita para sempre. É desnecessário falar sobre a confusão que isso
criaria entre os desenvolvedores. Quando há dúvida ou confusão você
simplesmente evita a coisa toda. A Adobe nunca iria levar o Photoshop
para o Linux se, de repente, perdesse todos os direitos sobre seu
produto.(...)"
***
Não sabia que Dvorak era tão mal informado assim... e ainda tem
espaço na mídia... quanto será que recebe para escrever tanta %#4@#$@?
allAfrica: 'Microsoft is Imperialistic' Says Open Source Advocates
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-01-24-021-26-NW-DP-EV
Microsoft Corporation's products have been locked out of the on-going
World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi Kenya...
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2007-01-24-021-26-NW-DP-EV
Microsoft Corporation's products have been locked out of the on-going
World Social Forum (WSF) in Nairobi Kenya...
Phoronix: Nouveau: A First Look
URL:
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-12-26-002-35-NW-DT-RL
Nouveau is a community project that is working on producing open-source
3D display drivers for NVIDIA's graphics cards. Nouveau is not
affiliated with NVIDIA Corporation and is an X.Org Foundation project.
While this project is still far from being completed, for this holiday
special we are sharing some of our first thoughts on this project from
our experience thus far.
http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-12-26-002-35-NW-DT-RL
Nouveau is a community project that is working on producing open-source
3D display drivers for NVIDIA's graphics cards. Nouveau is not
affiliated with NVIDIA Corporation and is an X.Org Foundation project.
While this project is still far from being completed, for this holiday
special we are sharing some of our first thoughts on this project from
our experience thus far.
Sun Releases First GPLed Java Source
URL: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/65071829/article.pl
An anonymous reader writes "You can now get GPLed JVM sources from Sun.
Everyone seemed to be expecting the desktop version (J2SE) but J2ME has
been released first. It looks to be buildable for Linux x86, MIPS, and
ARM platforms. Sun now calls it 'phoneME.' Enjoy."
An anonymous reader writes "You can now get GPLed JVM sources from Sun.
Everyone seemed to be expecting the desktop version (J2SE) but J2ME has
been released first. It looks to be buildable for Linux x86, MIPS, and
ARM platforms. Sun now calls it 'phoneME.' Enjoy."
Brazilian state struggles to write free software license
Thursday December 21, 2006 (09:00 AM GMT)
By: Bruce Byfield
One of the aims in the drafting of the third version of the GNU General
Public License (GPL) is to internationalize the language to make it
easier to translate. Those who doubt the need for this effort only need
to look at the efforts to write an alternative free license in the
Brazilian state of Paraná to change their minds. Despite the good
intentions of its creators, the alternative license has been labeled as
non-free by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and its Latin American
counterpart, the FSFLA, and is currently being re-written under some
protest -- all of which might have been avoided or minimized had an
internationalized version of the GPL been available.
Paraná is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards
of living in the country. Its government has a history of promoting
education and health, and in the past has introduced such initiatives
as the banning of genetically modified foods. Like a number of other
states in Brazil, Paraná has also shown a strong interest in promoting
the use of free software. Its Licença Pública Geral para Computadores
da Administração Pública (General Public License for Public
Administration Computers, or LPG-AP) is intended as the license for
state-developed free software. The license was developed within
CELEPAR, a state computer company that works with both free and
proprietary software.
Omar Kaminski, one of the drafters of the LPG-AP and a representative
of Brazil in the drafting of GPLv3, says, "We decided to make a license
because there isn't an official translation of the GPL for Brazilian
Portugese, and there are some few incompatibilities with Brazilian
legislation. The license was created for [use by] the public
administration of a Brazilian state, not for end users to use in
personal projects. So, instead of adopting the GPL and risk facing a
legal problem, we [decided to develop] a FLOSS license."
Perspectives on the license
However, Alexandre Oliva, secretary of FSFLA, says, "Both FSFLA and the
original FSF have pointed out incompatibilities with the free software
definition, which makes the license a proprietary license, contrary to
the stated intentions."
Specifically, Oliva suggests that the LPG-AP:
* Applies only to "all interested persons" and using the program
"under normal conditions," rather than applying to everyone in all
circumstances.
* Does not allow distribution of source code without binaries.
* Allows its permissions to lapse after 50 years, which is the
current period for copyright in Brazil, but not necessarily in other
countries, nor in the future.
In fact, according to Oliva, the LPG-AP Is incompatible with copyright
law, since copyright lapses 50 years after the January 1 after
publication, not 50 years beginning immediately upon publication. This
discrepancy, he says, "creates a window that lasts from one to 364 days
in which, just before the software enters the public domain, it can't
be used." In addition, Oliva suggests that section 6 of the initial
statement of principles, which states that the license does not allow
programs to be distributed for payment or in proprietary systems,
conflicts with section 3.2 of the license, which states that the
license "does not preclude charges for other services or costs."
In reply, Kaminski objects strongly to the description of the LPG-AP as
"proprietary." "Just because it isn't compatible with free software
doesn't make it proprietary, like a EULA," he says. He does not respond
to most of Oliva's comments, although he does suggest that objecting to
the 50-year term of the LPG-AP is a "weak argument." According to
Kaminski, the "GPL is incompatible with Brazilian legislation," which
is why the LPG-AP is necessary in the first place.
Kaminski also suggests that "perhaps free software in Brazil is moving
in a different direction than in the USA, where free software is an end
in itself." In other words, while free software in the United States is
a reaction to the restrictions of proprietary licenses, Kaminski
suggests that, in Brazil, perhaps those restrictions are irrelevant
because free software is being promoted by the federal and the state
governments.
Recent developments
Despite his objections, Kaminski says, "We are debugging the license,
and studying a new version to make it more compatible, although it's
not formally necessary and there's no obligation to do so, because we
should obey the administrative and constitutional laws and principles."
Since the first version of the LPG-AP was released, the federal
government of Brazil has settled on the Creative Commons GNU GPL
license as the officially Brazilian Portugese translation of the GPL.
However, as Kaminski points out, using this translation would not have
avoided the need for the LPG-AP. As well as any incompatibilities
between the GPL and Brazil legislation, Kaminski suggests, "It's not
the right time to adopt an unofficial translation -- I mean, one not
recognized or trusted by the FSF. I don't think it's a good move,
especially for a state government that needs to obey several
administrative law principles and the federal constitution."
Speaking at the second international conference on GPL3 in Europe in
April 2006, Richard Stallman said that, because of the difficulties of
translation and the need to understand different bodies of law,
"Producing a translation of the GPL in any other language would be much
harder than what we've already done and I can't trust this. I don't
know who I can trust this to do. I know lawyers in various country who
strongly support the Free Software movement, but to entrust this to
them is a so much [sic] ... especially when a mistake can destroy
things world wide." Instead, in the GPLv3 drafts to date, the FSF has
opted for language as neutral as possible in the hopes of ensuring that
translators are not mislead by terms that could vary in meaning in
different legal jurisdictions.
This effort might not completely prevent debates such as the ones over
the LPG-AP. However, it promises to simplify them by allowing everyone
to agree on a common set of facts with less effort. Without such
agreement, determining whether the GPL conflicts with local policies or
laws is difficult -- let alone finding a way around such difficulties.
The situation in Paraná seems likely to be settled with nothing worse
than a bit of irascibility, but it is a small taste of the kinds of
problems that could easily arise elsewhere.
Bruce Byfield is a computer journalist who writes regularly for
NewsForge, Linux.com, and IT Manager's Journal.
http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/06/11/27/1756206.shtml
By: Bruce Byfield
One of the aims in the drafting of the third version of the GNU General
Public License (GPL) is to internationalize the language to make it
easier to translate. Those who doubt the need for this effort only need
to look at the efforts to write an alternative free license in the
Brazilian state of Paraná to change their minds. Despite the good
intentions of its creators, the alternative license has been labeled as
non-free by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and its Latin American
counterpart, the FSFLA, and is currently being re-written under some
protest -- all of which might have been avoided or minimized had an
internationalized version of the GPL been available.
Paraná is a state in southern Brazil with one of the highest standards
of living in the country. Its government has a history of promoting
education and health, and in the past has introduced such initiatives
as the banning of genetically modified foods. Like a number of other
states in Brazil, Paraná has also shown a strong interest in promoting
the use of free software. Its Licença Pública Geral para Computadores
da Administração Pública (General Public License for Public
Administration Computers, or LPG-AP) is intended as the license for
state-developed free software. The license was developed within
CELEPAR, a state computer company that works with both free and
proprietary software.
Omar Kaminski, one of the drafters of the LPG-AP and a representative
of Brazil in the drafting of GPLv3, says, "We decided to make a license
because there isn't an official translation of the GPL for Brazilian
Portugese, and there are some few incompatibilities with Brazilian
legislation. The license was created for [use by] the public
administration of a Brazilian state, not for end users to use in
personal projects. So, instead of adopting the GPL and risk facing a
legal problem, we [decided to develop] a FLOSS license."
Perspectives on the license
However, Alexandre Oliva, secretary of FSFLA, says, "Both FSFLA and the
original FSF have pointed out incompatibilities with the free software
definition, which makes the license a proprietary license, contrary to
the stated intentions."
Specifically, Oliva suggests that the LPG-AP:
* Applies only to "all interested persons" and using the program
"under normal conditions," rather than applying to everyone in all
circumstances.
* Does not allow distribution of source code without binaries.
* Allows its permissions to lapse after 50 years, which is the
current period for copyright in Brazil, but not necessarily in other
countries, nor in the future.
In fact, according to Oliva, the LPG-AP Is incompatible with copyright
law, since copyright lapses 50 years after the January 1 after
publication, not 50 years beginning immediately upon publication. This
discrepancy, he says, "creates a window that lasts from one to 364 days
in which, just before the software enters the public domain, it can't
be used." In addition, Oliva suggests that section 6 of the initial
statement of principles, which states that the license does not allow
programs to be distributed for payment or in proprietary systems,
conflicts with section 3.2 of the license, which states that the
license "does not preclude charges for other services or costs."
In reply, Kaminski objects strongly to the description of the LPG-AP as
"proprietary." "Just because it isn't compatible with free software
doesn't make it proprietary, like a EULA," he says. He does not respond
to most of Oliva's comments, although he does suggest that objecting to
the 50-year term of the LPG-AP is a "weak argument." According to
Kaminski, the "GPL is incompatible with Brazilian legislation," which
is why the LPG-AP is necessary in the first place.
Kaminski also suggests that "perhaps free software in Brazil is moving
in a different direction than in the USA, where free software is an end
in itself." In other words, while free software in the United States is
a reaction to the restrictions of proprietary licenses, Kaminski
suggests that, in Brazil, perhaps those restrictions are irrelevant
because free software is being promoted by the federal and the state
governments.
Recent developments
Despite his objections, Kaminski says, "We are debugging the license,
and studying a new version to make it more compatible, although it's
not formally necessary and there's no obligation to do so, because we
should obey the administrative and constitutional laws and principles."
Since the first version of the LPG-AP was released, the federal
government of Brazil has settled on the Creative Commons GNU GPL
license as the officially Brazilian Portugese translation of the GPL.
However, as Kaminski points out, using this translation would not have
avoided the need for the LPG-AP. As well as any incompatibilities
between the GPL and Brazil legislation, Kaminski suggests, "It's not
the right time to adopt an unofficial translation -- I mean, one not
recognized or trusted by the FSF. I don't think it's a good move,
especially for a state government that needs to obey several
administrative law principles and the federal constitution."
Speaking at the second international conference on GPL3 in Europe in
April 2006, Richard Stallman said that, because of the difficulties of
translation and the need to understand different bodies of law,
"Producing a translation of the GPL in any other language would be much
harder than what we've already done and I can't trust this. I don't
know who I can trust this to do. I know lawyers in various country who
strongly support the Free Software movement, but to entrust this to
them is a so much [sic] ... especially when a mistake can destroy
things world wide." Instead, in the GPLv3 drafts to date, the FSF has
opted for language as neutral as possible in the hopes of ensuring that
translators are not mislead by terms that could vary in meaning in
different legal jurisdictions.
This effort might not completely prevent debates such as the ones over
the LPG-AP. However, it promises to simplify them by allowing everyone
to agree on a common set of facts with less effort. Without such
agreement, determining whether the GPL conflicts with local policies or
laws is difficult -- let alone finding a way around such difficulties.
The situation in Paraná seems likely to be settled with nothing worse
than a bit of irascibility, but it is a small taste of the kinds of
problems that could easily arise elsewhere.
Bruce Byfield is a computer journalist who writes regularly for
NewsForge, Linux.com, and IT Manager's Journal.
http://trends.newsforge.com/trends/06/11/27/1756206.shtml
"BadVista.org": FSF launches campaign against Microsoft Vista
Boston, MA -- December 15, 2006 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF)
today launched BadVista.org, a campaign with a twofold mission of
exposing the harms inflicted on computer users by the new Microsoft
Windows Vista and promoting free software alternatives that respect
users' security and privacy rights.
"Vista is an upsell masquerading as an upgrade. It is an overall
regression when you look at the most important aspect of owning and
using a computer: your control over what it does. Obviously MS Windows
is already proprietary and very restrictive, and well worth rejecting.
But the new 'features' in Vista are a Trojan Horse to smuggle in even
more restrictions. We'll be focusing attention on detailing how they
work, how to resist them, and why people should care", said FSF program
administrator John Sullivan.
The campaign will organize supporters into effective and unusual actions
drawing attention to this daylight theft of computer users' rights,
aggregate news stories cutting through the Vista marketing propaganda,
and provide a user-friendly gateway to the adoption of free software
operating systems like gNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org).
Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF said, "Whilst Microsoft
embarks upon its largest ever product launch, its marketing dollars
will be spent in an effort to fool the media and user community about
the goals of Vista. Our campaign will ask the important questions. Can
you set yourself or your company free? Can you ever be free from
Microsoft? As with our campaign against Digital Restrictions
Management, we aim to demonstrate that technologists can be social
activists, because we know the harm that Vista will cause".
Among other harms, BadVista.org will focus on the danger posed by
Treacherous Computing in Vista. Commonly called Trusted Computing in
the industry, it is an attempt to turn computers from machines
controlled by their user into machines that monitor their user and
refuse to operate in ways that manufacturers don't authorize.
Supporters can sign up to receive more information and participate in
the campaign at http://badvista.org.
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Their Web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to
support their work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. They are
headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
Press Contact: For more information about this announcement or to
schedule an interview, please contact Peter Brown or John Sullivan at
+1-617-542-5942 or pr@fsf.org.
--
John Sullivan
Program Administrator | Phone: (617)542-5942
51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. | Fax: (617)542-2652
Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA | GPG: AE8600B6
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
today launched BadVista.org, a campaign with a twofold mission of
exposing the harms inflicted on computer users by the new Microsoft
Windows Vista and promoting free software alternatives that respect
users' security and privacy rights.
"Vista is an upsell masquerading as an upgrade. It is an overall
regression when you look at the most important aspect of owning and
using a computer: your control over what it does. Obviously MS Windows
is already proprietary and very restrictive, and well worth rejecting.
But the new 'features' in Vista are a Trojan Horse to smuggle in even
more restrictions. We'll be focusing attention on detailing how they
work, how to resist them, and why people should care", said FSF program
administrator John Sullivan.
The campaign will organize supporters into effective and unusual actions
drawing attention to this daylight theft of computer users' rights,
aggregate news stories cutting through the Vista marketing propaganda,
and provide a user-friendly gateway to the adoption of free software
operating systems like gNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org).
Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF said, "Whilst Microsoft
embarks upon its largest ever product launch, its marketing dollars
will be spent in an effort to fool the media and user community about
the goals of Vista. Our campaign will ask the important questions. Can
you set yourself or your company free? Can you ever be free from
Microsoft? As with our campaign against Digital Restrictions
Management, we aim to demonstrate that technologists can be social
activists, because we know the harm that Vista will cause".
Among other harms, BadVista.org will focus on the danger posed by
Treacherous Computing in Vista. Commonly called Trusted Computing in
the industry, it is an attempt to turn computers from machines
controlled by their user into machines that monitor their user and
refuse to operate in ways that manufacturers don't authorize.
Supporters can sign up to receive more information and participate in
the campaign at http://badvista.org.
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Their Web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to
support their work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. They are
headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
Press Contact: For more information about this announcement or to
schedule an interview, please contact Peter Brown or John Sullivan at
+1-617-542-5942 or pr@fsf.org.
--
John Sullivan
Program Administrator | Phone: (617)542-5942
51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. | Fax: (617)542-2652
Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA | GPG: AE8600B6
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
Kernel Developers: GPL-Only Modules in 2008 (Torvalds revoltado!)
By Brian Proffitt
Managing Editor
Several Linux kernel developers have suggested that the time has come to set a definitive boundary for what kind of modules should be allowed within the Linux kernel. By January 2008, they maintain, all non-GPL kernel modules will not be allowed.
The move would ban all binary modules in the kernel, a long sticking point for many in the Linux community. The discussion has not clarified whether open source modules that might exist under other licenses would also be banned, but based on the wording thus far, it appears that the GPL is the criteria, not a module's binary status.
The discussion, which sprang up in a thread on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) that originally debated driver core patches for Linux 2.6.19, led to a statement from Linux kernel developer Martin Bligh, who wrote: "So let's come out and ban binary modules, rather than pussyfooting around, if that's what we actually want to do."
The response from Linux kernel maintainer Andrew Morton was supportive and outlined the framework for the plan.
"Give people 12 months warning (time to work out what they're going to do, talk with the legal dept, etc) then make the kernel load only GPL-tagged modules," Morton wrote.
Developer Greg Kroah-Hartman then chimed in, indicating that he would be willing to build a patch that would warn developers and users of modules not licensed under the GNU General Public License that such modules would be banned beginning in January 2008. The reasoning for this suggestion was summed up by Kroah-Hartman in the thread.
"Numerous kernel developers feel that loading non-GPL drivers into the kernel violates the license of the kernel and their copyright," he wrote.
The eventual response from kernel founder Linus Torvalds, however, was decidedly not in favor of the plan.
"Btw, I really think this is shortsighted," Torvalds wrote. "It will only result in exactly the crap we were just trying to avoid, namely stupid 'shell game' drivers that don't actually help anything at all, and move code into user space instead."
Torvalds contends that such a move on the Linux kernel would be comparable to what the RIAA is doing in the music industry.
"The silly thing is, the people who tend to push most for this are the exact same people who say that the RIAA etc should not be able to tell people what to do with the music copyrights that they own, and that the DMCA is bad because it puts technical limits over the rights expressly granted by copyright law," Torvalds wrote in his lengthy initial reply. "Doesn't anybody else see that as being hypocritical?"
"If a module arguably isn't a derived work, we simply shouldn't try to say that its authors have to conform to our world view," he added. "We should make decisions on technical merit. And this one is clearly being pushed on anything but."
In essence, Torvalds argued that to unilaterally enforce one set of rules for the Linux kernel is no different that what the MPAA does with DVD encryptions and does not allow Linux users to watch legally watch DVDs on their PCs.
"I happen to believe that there shouldn't be technical measures that keep me from watching my DVD or listening to my music on whatever device I damn well please. Fair use, man. But it should go the other way too: we should not try to assert our copyright rules on other peoples code that wasn't derived from ours, or assert our technical measures that keep people from combining things their way," he stated.
Torvalds recognized that the majority opinion would likely win out in this discussion, but was adamant regarding his own participation.
"I'll not fight the combined opinion of other kernel developers, but I sure as hell won't be the first to merge this, and I sure as hell won't have my tree be the one that causes this to happen," Torvalds indicated, "So go get it merged in the Ubuntu, (Open)SuSE and RHEL and Fedora trees first. This is not something where we use my tree as a way to get it to other trees. This is something where the push had better come from the other direction.
"Because I think it's stupid. So use somebody else than me to push your political agendas, please," he concluded.
The entire ongoing thread, with responses to Torvalds' statements, can be found on the Gmane archive site.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-12-14-020-26-NW-KN-DV
Managing Editor
Several Linux kernel developers have suggested that the time has come to set a definitive boundary for what kind of modules should be allowed within the Linux kernel. By January 2008, they maintain, all non-GPL kernel modules will not be allowed.
The move would ban all binary modules in the kernel, a long sticking point for many in the Linux community. The discussion has not clarified whether open source modules that might exist under other licenses would also be banned, but based on the wording thus far, it appears that the GPL is the criteria, not a module's binary status.
The discussion, which sprang up in a thread on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML) that originally debated driver core patches for Linux 2.6.19, led to a statement from Linux kernel developer Martin Bligh, who wrote: "So let's come out and ban binary modules, rather than pussyfooting around, if that's what we actually want to do."
The response from Linux kernel maintainer Andrew Morton was supportive and outlined the framework for the plan.
"Give people 12 months warning (time to work out what they're going to do, talk with the legal dept, etc) then make the kernel load only GPL-tagged modules," Morton wrote.
Developer Greg Kroah-Hartman then chimed in, indicating that he would be willing to build a patch that would warn developers and users of modules not licensed under the GNU General Public License that such modules would be banned beginning in January 2008. The reasoning for this suggestion was summed up by Kroah-Hartman in the thread.
"Numerous kernel developers feel that loading non-GPL drivers into the kernel violates the license of the kernel and their copyright," he wrote.
The eventual response from kernel founder Linus Torvalds, however, was decidedly not in favor of the plan.
"Btw, I really think this is shortsighted," Torvalds wrote. "It will only result in exactly the crap we were just trying to avoid, namely stupid 'shell game' drivers that don't actually help anything at all, and move code into user space instead."
Torvalds contends that such a move on the Linux kernel would be comparable to what the RIAA is doing in the music industry.
"The silly thing is, the people who tend to push most for this are the exact same people who say that the RIAA etc should not be able to tell people what to do with the music copyrights that they own, and that the DMCA is bad because it puts technical limits over the rights expressly granted by copyright law," Torvalds wrote in his lengthy initial reply. "Doesn't anybody else see that as being hypocritical?"
"If a module arguably isn't a derived work, we simply shouldn't try to say that its authors have to conform to our world view," he added. "We should make decisions on technical merit. And this one is clearly being pushed on anything but."
In essence, Torvalds argued that to unilaterally enforce one set of rules for the Linux kernel is no different that what the MPAA does with DVD encryptions and does not allow Linux users to watch legally watch DVDs on their PCs.
"I happen to believe that there shouldn't be technical measures that keep me from watching my DVD or listening to my music on whatever device I damn well please. Fair use, man. But it should go the other way too: we should not try to assert our copyright rules on other peoples code that wasn't derived from ours, or assert our technical measures that keep people from combining things their way," he stated.
Torvalds recognized that the majority opinion would likely win out in this discussion, but was adamant regarding his own participation.
"I'll not fight the combined opinion of other kernel developers, but I sure as hell won't be the first to merge this, and I sure as hell won't have my tree be the one that causes this to happen," Torvalds indicated, "So go get it merged in the Ubuntu, (Open)SuSE and RHEL and Fedora trees first. This is not something where we use my tree as a way to get it to other trees. This is something where the push had better come from the other direction.
"Because I think it's stupid. So use somebody else than me to push your political agendas, please," he concluded.
The entire ongoing thread, with responses to Torvalds' statements, can be found on the Gmane archive site.
http://www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-12-14-020-26-NW-KN-DV
The R Zone: Success for Free Software in Latin America
URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-12-14-018-26-OS-PB
Today was the day I received notice that Richard Stallman had a
personal talk with Rafael Correa, our newly elected soon-to-be
president...
Today was the day I received notice that Richard Stallman had a
personal talk with Rafael Correa, our newly elected soon-to-be
president...
Press release: FSF announces support for the Free Ryzom
Boston, December 13th 2006 - Free Software Foundation announces that it
will officially support the Free Ryzom campaign (www.ryzom.org) with a
pledge of $60,000.
The Free Ryzom campaign was established to purchase the online game and
universe known as Ryzom, property of the now bankrupt Nevrax company,
and release the entire game as free software.
As stated by Peter T. Brown, Executive Director of the Free Software
Foundation, the FSF considers the Free Ryzom campaign "a high priority
project for the free software movement". The aim of the campaign is to
publish the source code to the entire game under the terms of the
widely-used GPL, as well as publishing all of the artwork and other
content under similar free licenses.
The Free Ryzom campaign represents a unique opportunity for the free
software movement and the emerging free gaming field. A fully free
MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) engine and
client/server architecture would allow the development of a myriad of
universes, each one evolving its own philosophy and unique content - but
sharing in general technical improvements. If successful, this campaign
would allow any user to create their own universe and produce their own
content based on the Ryzom/Nevrax architecture.
Since the announcement by Nevrax of their bankruptcy, the Free Ryzom
campaign has drawn together a heterogeneous community of volunteers
formed by ex-employees, current players and free software sympathizers.
With the support of the FSF, it is now expected that the campaign will
be able to increase its bid to over 200.000€.
The campaign is also seeking to create a non-profit organization to run
and maintain the current game servers. Monthly fees would be spent on
service costs and game development. Pledges can be submitted at the Free
Ryzom campaign website (www.ryzom.org). Pledges must be made within the
next few days, since the deadline for the final bid is expected sometime
before Wednesday, December 19th, depending on when the judges make their
decision.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of Free (as
in freedom) Software - particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants - and Free Documentation for Free Software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. They are
headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
About The Free Ryzom Campaign
The Free Ryzom Campaign is a community-based initiative formed to
purchase the MMORPG game Ryzom from the now-bankrupt Nevrax. Players,
former Nevrax employees, and free software sympathizers have partnered
with Olivier Lejade (former CEO of Nevrax, now CEO of Mekensleep) and
Valentin Lacambre (a well known personality related to the alternative
Internet movement in France) to purchase the game and release the source
code under the terms of the GNU GPL, and the content and artwork under
similar free licenses. For more information on their campaign, or to
make a donation pledge, please visit www.ryzom.org
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
will officially support the Free Ryzom campaign (www.ryzom.org) with a
pledge of $60,000.
The Free Ryzom campaign was established to purchase the online game and
universe known as Ryzom, property of the now bankrupt Nevrax company,
and release the entire game as free software.
As stated by Peter T. Brown, Executive Director of the Free Software
Foundation, the FSF considers the Free Ryzom campaign "a high priority
project for the free software movement". The aim of the campaign is to
publish the source code to the entire game under the terms of the
widely-used GPL, as well as publishing all of the artwork and other
content under similar free licenses.
The Free Ryzom campaign represents a unique opportunity for the free
software movement and the emerging free gaming field. A fully free
MMORPG (massively multiplayer online roleplaying game) engine and
client/server architecture would allow the development of a myriad of
universes, each one evolving its own philosophy and unique content - but
sharing in general technical improvements. If successful, this campaign
would allow any user to create their own universe and produce their own
content based on the Ryzom/Nevrax architecture.
Since the announcement by Nevrax of their bankruptcy, the Free Ryzom
campaign has drawn together a heterogeneous community of volunteers
formed by ex-employees, current players and free software sympathizers.
With the support of the FSF, it is now expected that the campaign will
be able to increase its bid to over 200.000€.
The campaign is also seeking to create a non-profit organization to run
and maintain the current game servers. Monthly fees would be spent on
service costs and game development. Pledges can be submitted at the Free
Ryzom campaign website (www.ryzom.org). Pledges must be made within the
next few days, since the deadline for the final bid is expected sometime
before Wednesday, December 19th, depending on when the judges make their
decision.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of Free (as
in freedom) Software - particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants - and Free Documentation for Free Software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software. Their web site, located at www.fsf.org,
is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. They are
headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
About The Free Ryzom Campaign
The Free Ryzom Campaign is a community-based initiative formed to
purchase the MMORPG game Ryzom from the now-bankrupt Nevrax. Players,
former Nevrax employees, and free software sympathizers have partnered
with Olivier Lejade (former CEO of Nevrax, now CEO of Mekensleep) and
Valentin Lacambre (a well known personality related to the alternative
Internet movement in France) to purchase the game and release the source
code under the terms of the GNU GPL, and the content and artwork under
similar free licenses. For more information on their campaign, or to
make a donation pledge, please visit www.ryzom.org
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press
França planeja construir centro de excelência em software livre
Por Peter Sayer, para o IDG Now!
Publicada em 05 de dezembro de 2006 às 17h31
Paris - Região próxima a Paris vai ser transformada em centro de excelência em código aberto, afirmou ministro da economia, Thierry Breton.
O governo francês planeja transformar a região próxima a Paris em um centro de excelência para o desenvolvimento de software de código aberto, anunciou o ministro da Economia, Finanças e Indústria, Thierry Breton.
O objetivo do centro de excelência, de acordo com o ministro, é desenvolver uma indústria de software livre saudável e lucrativa.
Breton, que já foi o principal executivo da France Telecom S.A., disse que um novo modelo econômico e tecnológico, baseado no software livre, está se formando na indústria de tecnologia.
O ministro acredita que a venda de software e outros intangíveis vão ajudar a economia francesa a crescer entre 3% e 4% anualmente.
A economia chinesa, baseada na venda de bens tangíveis, tais como computadores, está crescendo por volta de 10% anualmente, segundo dados da Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Peter Sayer é editor do IDG News Service, em Paris.
http://idgnow.uol.com.br/computacao_corporativa/2006/12/05/idgnoticia.2006-12-05.8093064242/IDGNoticia_view
Publicada em 05 de dezembro de 2006 às 17h31
Paris - Região próxima a Paris vai ser transformada em centro de excelência em código aberto, afirmou ministro da economia, Thierry Breton.
O governo francês planeja transformar a região próxima a Paris em um centro de excelência para o desenvolvimento de software de código aberto, anunciou o ministro da Economia, Finanças e Indústria, Thierry Breton.
O objetivo do centro de excelência, de acordo com o ministro, é desenvolver uma indústria de software livre saudável e lucrativa.
Breton, que já foi o principal executivo da France Telecom S.A., disse que um novo modelo econômico e tecnológico, baseado no software livre, está se formando na indústria de tecnologia.
O ministro acredita que a venda de software e outros intangíveis vão ajudar a economia francesa a crescer entre 3% e 4% anualmente.
A economia chinesa, baseada na venda de bens tangíveis, tais como computadores, está crescendo por volta de 10% anualmente, segundo dados da Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Peter Sayer é editor do IDG News Service, em Paris.
http://idgnow.uol.com.br/computacao_corporativa/2006/12/05/idgnoticia.2006-12-05.8093064242/IDGNoticia_view
Freedom, freedom...
By Mitch Meyran
Online on: 31/08/2006
A few years ago, when you wanted to use a GNU/Linux distribution for
your desktop computer, you still needed to concede a part of your
freedom to open some PDF files, run most Java programs, or all Flash
animations.
Not anymore.
Several steps closer to a fully free system
Java
Right now, the most used version of Java (and therefore, the most
targeted by free implementations) is 1.4.2, even though 1.5 has been
out for two years now.
With gcc 4, a JVM was added to the existing Java support. Strong with
existing free implementations (such as kaffe), this support rapidly
reached 75% of compatibility between gcj and Sun's JVM.
Right now it stands at 99.75%.
Thanks to what? Maybe the strong reliance of Openoffice.org 2 upon
Java... As a result, a very compatible JVM is now available. Flash
Flash support has always been sporadic under GNU/Linux systems. While
it's gotten better with the release of Flash 7 and Flash 9 being
developed concurrently for win32, MacOS and GNU/Linux...
Gnash is, right now, the only way for someone using a 64-bit browser to
enjoy Flash animations.
And it actually works quite well - its use of OpenGL can even make it a
bit more fluid under X. Acrobat
Adobe and Apple created a very nice format: PostScript, and
encapsulated it nicely: Portable Document Format. They went as far as
opening the specs on the file format, and provided a readily
downloadable viewer for a large variety of platforms.
Ghostscript can now render pretty much every PDF 1.4 file out there.
A full desktop?
I've been complaining about the lack of free 3D support under X; it was
time I said something nice about what most people working with
computers use everyday... Copyright information
This blog entry is (C) Copyright, Mitch Meyran, 2004-2006. Unless a
different license is specified in the entry's body, the following
license applies: "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice
is preserved and appropriate attribution information (author, original
site, original URL) is included".
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1742
Online on: 31/08/2006
A few years ago, when you wanted to use a GNU/Linux distribution for
your desktop computer, you still needed to concede a part of your
freedom to open some PDF files, run most Java programs, or all Flash
animations.
Not anymore.
Several steps closer to a fully free system
Java
Right now, the most used version of Java (and therefore, the most
targeted by free implementations) is 1.4.2, even though 1.5 has been
out for two years now.
With gcc 4, a JVM was added to the existing Java support. Strong with
existing free implementations (such as kaffe), this support rapidly
reached 75% of compatibility between gcj and Sun's JVM.
Right now it stands at 99.75%.
Thanks to what? Maybe the strong reliance of Openoffice.org 2 upon
Java... As a result, a very compatible JVM is now available. Flash
Flash support has always been sporadic under GNU/Linux systems. While
it's gotten better with the release of Flash 7 and Flash 9 being
developed concurrently for win32, MacOS and GNU/Linux...
Gnash is, right now, the only way for someone using a 64-bit browser to
enjoy Flash animations.
And it actually works quite well - its use of OpenGL can even make it a
bit more fluid under X. Acrobat
Adobe and Apple created a very nice format: PostScript, and
encapsulated it nicely: Portable Document Format. They went as far as
opening the specs on the file format, and provided a readily
downloadable viewer for a large variety of platforms.
Ghostscript can now render pretty much every PDF 1.4 file out there.
A full desktop?
I've been complaining about the lack of free 3D support under X; it was
time I said something nice about what most people working with
computers use everyday... Copyright information
This blog entry is (C) Copyright, Mitch Meyran, 2004-2006. Unless a
different license is specified in the entry's body, the following
license applies: "Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire
article is permitted in any medium without royalty provided this notice
is preserved and appropriate attribution information (author, original
site, original URL) is included".
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/1742
NewsForge: Why Proprietary Software is Dangerous for Business-Critical Applications
URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-08-30-007-26-OP-LL
A friend of mine is the IT manager for a medium-sized wholesale
distribution business. One afternoon in early August, a hard disk drive
in one of his employer's servers started to show signs that it was
A friend of mine is the IT manager for a medium-sized wholesale
distribution business. One afternoon in early August, a hard disk drive
in one of his employer's servers started to show signs that it was
Open source guru advocates ideological shift
Eric Raymond calls for compromise...
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
Published Thursday 17th August 2006 08:38 GMT
Eric Raymond, one of the high priests of open source, has told the
community that painful compromises are needed to the way it deals with
closed source platforms and formats to avoid losing ground on desktops
and new media players.
Raymond said the community is not moving fast enough to engage with
non-technical users whose first-choice platform is either an iPod, MP3
player or Microsoft desktop running Windows Media Player.
With iPod holding a massive market share and Windows Vista coming down
the pipe, Raymond warned that Linux risks getting locked out of new
hardware platforms for the next 30 years unless it proves it can work
with iPods, MP3s and WMP.
It was an unexpected reality check from the unorthodox Raymond, author
of the famed Cathedral and the Bazaar, participating in a spirited
panel at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, California.
Joining Raymond were Linux International executive director Jon
"maddog" Hall, Google open source program manger Chris DiBona, Intel
director of Linux and open source strategy Dirk Hohndel, and moderator
Larry Augustin.
Raymond apparently isolated himself on the issue of using binary
drivers in Linux - a hotly contested issue in the open source movement.
Binary drivers are platform, format and hardware specific and can make
applications like multimedia run smoothly on a PC or device.
Raymond called binary drivers an evil for open source, but because of
their proprietary nature, "a necessary compromise".
Raymond, a champion of all things open, said it is vital to the future
uptake of Linux that the community compromise to win the new generation
of non-technical users aged younger than 30. This group is more
interested in having Linux "just work" on their iPod or MP3 player and
"don't care about our notions of doctrinal purity",
"We have a serious problem. Whenever I try to pitch Linux to anyone
under 30, the question I get is: 'Will it work with my iPod?," he said.
"We are not yet as a community making the painful compromises need to
achieve widespread desktop market share. Until we do, we will get
locked out of more hardware."
Raymond is concerned the window of opportunity is closing for Linux on
the desktop. He calculates the end of the transition to 64-bit
computing by the close of 2008. According to his studies, the best
opportunity to displace the dominant operating system (in this case
Windows on the desktop) takes place with a major architectural shift
like this.
Raymond believes Linux will get locked out for 30-odd years until the
next platform shift as it's so far not doing enough to reach out to
non-technical users.
"The end of the 64-bit transition happens at the end of 2008. After
that the operating system gets locked in for the next 30 years. I'm
worried we are not doing enough to appeal to non-technical users. I'm
worried we will be locked out of the desktop for a very long time," he
said.
Fellow panelist Hohndel took a more optimistic view. He estimated that
while Linux would see single-digit desktop market share in economies of
North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Linux would get 20 per cent of
the market in emerging markets during the next five-years.
Maddog Hall, meanwhile, urged LinuxWorld attendees to evangelize Linux
at schools, universities and their community organizations, and ensure
Linux is taught in academic curriculums. ®
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/eric_raymond_linux_compromise/
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco
Published Thursday 17th August 2006 08:38 GMT
Eric Raymond, one of the high priests of open source, has told the
community that painful compromises are needed to the way it deals with
closed source platforms and formats to avoid losing ground on desktops
and new media players.
Raymond said the community is not moving fast enough to engage with
non-technical users whose first-choice platform is either an iPod, MP3
player or Microsoft desktop running Windows Media Player.
With iPod holding a massive market share and Windows Vista coming down
the pipe, Raymond warned that Linux risks getting locked out of new
hardware platforms for the next 30 years unless it proves it can work
with iPods, MP3s and WMP.
It was an unexpected reality check from the unorthodox Raymond, author
of the famed Cathedral and the Bazaar, participating in a spirited
panel at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, California.
Joining Raymond were Linux International executive director Jon
"maddog" Hall, Google open source program manger Chris DiBona, Intel
director of Linux and open source strategy Dirk Hohndel, and moderator
Larry Augustin.
Raymond apparently isolated himself on the issue of using binary
drivers in Linux - a hotly contested issue in the open source movement.
Binary drivers are platform, format and hardware specific and can make
applications like multimedia run smoothly on a PC or device.
Raymond called binary drivers an evil for open source, but because of
their proprietary nature, "a necessary compromise".
Raymond, a champion of all things open, said it is vital to the future
uptake of Linux that the community compromise to win the new generation
of non-technical users aged younger than 30. This group is more
interested in having Linux "just work" on their iPod or MP3 player and
"don't care about our notions of doctrinal purity",
"We have a serious problem. Whenever I try to pitch Linux to anyone
under 30, the question I get is: 'Will it work with my iPod?," he said.
"We are not yet as a community making the painful compromises need to
achieve widespread desktop market share. Until we do, we will get
locked out of more hardware."
Raymond is concerned the window of opportunity is closing for Linux on
the desktop. He calculates the end of the transition to 64-bit
computing by the close of 2008. According to his studies, the best
opportunity to displace the dominant operating system (in this case
Windows on the desktop) takes place with a major architectural shift
like this.
Raymond believes Linux will get locked out for 30-odd years until the
next platform shift as it's so far not doing enough to reach out to
non-technical users.
"The end of the 64-bit transition happens at the end of 2008. After
that the operating system gets locked in for the next 30 years. I'm
worried we are not doing enough to appeal to non-technical users. I'm
worried we will be locked out of the desktop for a very long time," he
said.
Fellow panelist Hohndel took a more optimistic view. He estimated that
while Linux would see single-digit desktop market share in economies of
North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, Linux would get 20 per cent of
the market in emerging markets during the next five-years.
Maddog Hall, meanwhile, urged LinuxWorld attendees to evangelize Linux
at schools, universities and their community organizations, and ensure
Linux is taught in academic curriculums. ®
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/eric_raymond_linux_compromise/
Free Software Magazine: Is Free Software "Communist"? Maybe Yes...
URL: http://linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2006-08-08-003-26-OP-SW
So rather than react as some have done with a knee-jerk 'no it's not!',
I propose to accept the label and see where that insight takes us...
So rather than react as some have done with a knee-jerk 'no it's not!',
I propose to accept the label and see where that insight takes us...
Open source needs sex education
"If open source is open to all, why does half the world not want to
know...?"
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,2mup,1,9j97,5wxq,m16j,arem
know...?"
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,2mup,1,9j97,5wxq,m16j,arem
"Brazil", Microsoft, Linux, software livre...
http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1000059
Link sobre o filme "Brazil":
http://adorocinema.cidadeinternet.com.br/filmes/brazil/brazil.htm
Link sobre o filme "Brazil":
http://adorocinema.cidadeinternet.com.br/filmes/brazil/brazil.htm
Exclusive: Richard Stallman, interviewed at GPLv3 Conference in Barcelona, by Sean Daly
Groklaw's own Sean Daly was in Barcelona at the 3rd International GPLv3
Conference in Barcelona, Spain, this week, and while there, he had the
opportunity to interview Richard Stallman [as Ogg (3.8 MB)] . He asked
Mr. Stallman what programmers should focus on next, about DRM, binary
drivers, proposed changes to the GPL, and what he feels he has yet to
accomplish.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060625001523547
Conference in Barcelona, Spain, this week, and while there, he had the
opportunity to interview Richard Stallman [as Ogg (3.8 MB)] . He asked
Mr. Stallman what programmers should focus on next, about DRM, binary
drivers, proposed changes to the GPL, and what he feels he has yet to
accomplish.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060625001523547
Software Wars
A graphic map depicting the epic struggle of Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) against the Empire of Microsoft.
http://mshiltonj.com/software_wars/current/
Software (FOSS) against the Empire of Microsoft.
http://mshiltonj.com/software_wars/current/
Projeto incentiva softwares livres em telecomunicações
A Câmara analisa o Projeto de Lei 6685/06, do Senado Federal, que
concede preferência no financiamento de equipamentos de
telecomunicações a produtos que utilizem software livre. O objetivo é
incentivar a flexibilização do uso dos programas de código aberto, que
permitam a adaptação para as necessidades específicas de cada
instituição, a custo reduzido, ao contrário dos softwares que exigem
licença.
Além de caros, os programas que exigem licença dos fabricantes são
produzidos a partir de códigos fechados, ou seja, que não permitem ao
usuário fazer nenhuma intervenção para adaptá-los a seu perfil de uso.
O projeto altera a Lei 9998/00, que instituiu o Fundo de
Universalização de Serviços de Telecomunicações (Fust).
Recursos
O fundo é financiado com 1% da receita operacional bruta das
concessionárias de telefonia e tem recursos superiores a R$ 4 bilhões.
O dinheiro está retido no caixa do Tesouro enquanto não se define como
garantir o acesso de toda a população ao telefone. Com o
desenvolvimento da telefonia por internet, a tendência mundial é que,
em futuro próximo, o único custo para falar ao telefone seja o da
conexão na rede, bem mais barata que o sistema convencional.
Assim, o substitutivo prevê que os recursos do Fust também sejam usados
para financiar a inclusão digital. O Fust inclui tecnologia de
informática, telefonia fixa e móvel e serviços de TV a cabo.
O Fundo prevê ainda recursos específicos para a educação, como a
instalação de 250 mil computadores com acesso à internet em 12,5 mil
escolas públicas de ensino médio do País. Com esse investimento, o
Governo espera beneficiar 6,6 milhões de estudantes. Este programa será
mantido com investimento inicial da ordem de R$ 500 milhões.
Tramitação
A proposta tramita em caráter conclusivo e será analisada pelas
comissões de Ciência e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática; de
Finanças e Tributação; e de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania.
Notícias anteriores:
Falta de treinamento prejudica programa de micro popular
Propostas relacionadas:
- PL-6685/2006
Reportagem - Antonio Barros
Edição - Francisco Brandão
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=88785
concede preferência no financiamento de equipamentos de
telecomunicações a produtos que utilizem software livre. O objetivo é
incentivar a flexibilização do uso dos programas de código aberto, que
permitam a adaptação para as necessidades específicas de cada
instituição, a custo reduzido, ao contrário dos softwares que exigem
licença.
Além de caros, os programas que exigem licença dos fabricantes são
produzidos a partir de códigos fechados, ou seja, que não permitem ao
usuário fazer nenhuma intervenção para adaptá-los a seu perfil de uso.
O projeto altera a Lei 9998/00, que instituiu o Fundo de
Universalização de Serviços de Telecomunicações (Fust).
Recursos
O fundo é financiado com 1% da receita operacional bruta das
concessionárias de telefonia e tem recursos superiores a R$ 4 bilhões.
O dinheiro está retido no caixa do Tesouro enquanto não se define como
garantir o acesso de toda a população ao telefone. Com o
desenvolvimento da telefonia por internet, a tendência mundial é que,
em futuro próximo, o único custo para falar ao telefone seja o da
conexão na rede, bem mais barata que o sistema convencional.
Assim, o substitutivo prevê que os recursos do Fust também sejam usados
para financiar a inclusão digital. O Fust inclui tecnologia de
informática, telefonia fixa e móvel e serviços de TV a cabo.
O Fundo prevê ainda recursos específicos para a educação, como a
instalação de 250 mil computadores com acesso à internet em 12,5 mil
escolas públicas de ensino médio do País. Com esse investimento, o
Governo espera beneficiar 6,6 milhões de estudantes. Este programa será
mantido com investimento inicial da ordem de R$ 500 milhões.
Tramitação
A proposta tramita em caráter conclusivo e será analisada pelas
comissões de Ciência e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática; de
Finanças e Tributação; e de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania.
Notícias anteriores:
Falta de treinamento prejudica programa de micro popular
Propostas relacionadas:
- PL-6685/2006
Reportagem - Antonio Barros
Edição - Francisco Brandão
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=88785
No Brasil, quase dois terços dos softwares são piratas
Índice de cópias ilegais em software para PCs se manteve estável em 64%
no ano passado, gerando US$ 766 milhões em perdas para a indústria
brasileira
SÃO PAULO - Em 2005, 35% dos pacotes de software instalados em
computadores pessoais ou PCs em todo o mundo eram ilegais, totalizando
uma perda global de US$ 34 bilhões em função da pirataria. No Brasil, o
índice de pirataria se manteve estável, em 64%.
No entanto, o estudo conduzido pela empresa de pesquisas IDC e
divulgado nesta terça, descobriu um movimento positivo em uma série de
mercados. Mostra que os esforços de educação e aplicação das leis estão
dando resultado em países emergentes como a China, a Rússia e a Índia,
bem como no Leste Europeu, no Oriente Médio e na África.
A pesquisa foi patrocinada pela Business Software Alliance (BSA),
associação que reúne os principais desenvolvedores de software do
mundo, em parceria com a Associação Brasileira das Empresas de
Software, (ABES).
"O avanço obtido na redução de pirataria de software é muito
animador," disse o presidente da BSA, Robert Holleyman.
"Entretanto, mais de uma em cada três cópias de software de PC
instaladas em 2005 continuava sendo obtida ilegalmente, o que significa
que ainda falta muito para ser feito para combater a pirataria de
software pelo mundo."
Os países com as taxas mais altas de pirataria foram o Vietnã (90%), o
Zimbábue (90%), a Indonésia (87%), a China (86%) e o Paquistão (86%).
Já os países com as taxas mais baixas foram os Estados Unidos (21%), a
Nova Zelândia (23%), a Áustria (26%) e a Finlândia (26%).
A pesquisa abrange todos os pacotes de software que operam em PCs. O
estudo não inclui outros tipos de software, tais como os que operam em
mainframes ou servidores, ou programas vendidos como serviço.
O IDC usou estatísticas próprias para avaliar as compras de software e
hardware, realizou 5.600 pesquisas e teve a colaboração de analistas do
IDC em 38 países para verificar as tendências de pirataria de software.
A pirataria no Brasil
No Brasil, o índice de pirataria no setor de software em 2005
manteve-se estável em relação ao ano anterior, com o índice de 64%,
aproximadamente 2/3 dos aplicativos instalados. No entanto, as perdas
sofridas pela indústria nacional no ano passado sofreram um aumento de
14%, somando US$ 766 milhões, decorrente do crescimento do mercado.
A indústria brasileira tem intensificado os esforços contra a
pirataria. Em 2005, foram enviadas 3.036 notificações extrajudiciais às
empresas que fazem uso irregular de software.
O combate à pirataria também contempla a Internet. No ano passado,
17.303 sites dedicados à venda de software pirata foram retirados do
ar, enquanto 27.961 anúncios de software ilegal foram removidos de
sites de leilão no mesmo período. Além disso, foram realizadas 656
ações policiais, que resultaram em 1.717.339 CDs de software pirata
apreendidos.
http://www.estadao.com.br/tecnologia/informatica/noticias/2006/mai/23/221.htm
no ano passado, gerando US$ 766 milhões em perdas para a indústria
brasileira
SÃO PAULO - Em 2005, 35% dos pacotes de software instalados em
computadores pessoais ou PCs em todo o mundo eram ilegais, totalizando
uma perda global de US$ 34 bilhões em função da pirataria. No Brasil, o
índice de pirataria se manteve estável, em 64%.
No entanto, o estudo conduzido pela empresa de pesquisas IDC e
divulgado nesta terça, descobriu um movimento positivo em uma série de
mercados. Mostra que os esforços de educação e aplicação das leis estão
dando resultado em países emergentes como a China, a Rússia e a Índia,
bem como no Leste Europeu, no Oriente Médio e na África.
A pesquisa foi patrocinada pela Business Software Alliance (BSA),
associação que reúne os principais desenvolvedores de software do
mundo, em parceria com a Associação Brasileira das Empresas de
Software, (ABES).
"O avanço obtido na redução de pirataria de software é muito
animador," disse o presidente da BSA, Robert Holleyman.
"Entretanto, mais de uma em cada três cópias de software de PC
instaladas em 2005 continuava sendo obtida ilegalmente, o que significa
que ainda falta muito para ser feito para combater a pirataria de
software pelo mundo."
Os países com as taxas mais altas de pirataria foram o Vietnã (90%), o
Zimbábue (90%), a Indonésia (87%), a China (86%) e o Paquistão (86%).
Já os países com as taxas mais baixas foram os Estados Unidos (21%), a
Nova Zelândia (23%), a Áustria (26%) e a Finlândia (26%).
A pesquisa abrange todos os pacotes de software que operam em PCs. O
estudo não inclui outros tipos de software, tais como os que operam em
mainframes ou servidores, ou programas vendidos como serviço.
O IDC usou estatísticas próprias para avaliar as compras de software e
hardware, realizou 5.600 pesquisas e teve a colaboração de analistas do
IDC em 38 países para verificar as tendências de pirataria de software.
A pirataria no Brasil
No Brasil, o índice de pirataria no setor de software em 2005
manteve-se estável em relação ao ano anterior, com o índice de 64%,
aproximadamente 2/3 dos aplicativos instalados. No entanto, as perdas
sofridas pela indústria nacional no ano passado sofreram um aumento de
14%, somando US$ 766 milhões, decorrente do crescimento do mercado.
A indústria brasileira tem intensificado os esforços contra a
pirataria. Em 2005, foram enviadas 3.036 notificações extrajudiciais às
empresas que fazem uso irregular de software.
O combate à pirataria também contempla a Internet. No ano passado,
17.303 sites dedicados à venda de software pirata foram retirados do
ar, enquanto 27.961 anúncios de software ilegal foram removidos de
sites de leilão no mesmo período. Além disso, foram realizadas 656
ações policiais, que resultaram em 1.717.339 CDs de software pirata
apreendidos.
http://www.estadao.com.br/tecnologia/informatica/noticias/2006/mai/23/221.htm
At Your Request, the GPLv2-GPL3 Chart
Groklaw has posted charts outlining the working differences
between GPLv2 and GPLv3.
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,2662,1,g7zg,5ym,m16j,arem
between GPLv2 and GPLv3.
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,2662,1,g7zg,5ym,m16j,arem
Câmara suspende pregão para adquirir softwares
A Câmara dos Deputados suspendeu por tempo indeterminado o pregão
eletrônico destinado à aquisição de softwares MS-Office, da Microsoft.
O pregão teve início na terça-feira (20), depois de uma negociação
prévia pela qual a Microsoft concedeu à Câmara o maior desconto que faz
em nível mundial. Isso faria com que o custo das 7.587 licenças, orçado
em cerca de R$ 11 milhões, baixasse para aproximadamente R$ 6 milhões.
A Comissão de Licitação considerou, ao decidir suspender o pregão, que
as propostas apresentadas até o momento não alcançaram o patamar de
redução previsto. O edital de licitação fixava o preço do software
MS-Office na versão Standard em R$ 821,47, enquanto a melhor proposta
do pregão para o produto foi de R$ 819,00.
Experiência
A Câmara decidiu adquirir o MS-Office depois de uma experiência de dois
anos com o software livre OpenOffice, quando verificou
incompatibilidades entre a plataforma exclusiva de softwares livres com
as atividades e necessidades da Casa. O OpenOffice continuará a ser
usado, mas os deputados, comissões, lideranças partidárias e setores
técnicos da Câmara terão a opção de usar também o produto da Microsoft.
Incompatibilidades
A Câmara iniciou o uso do OpenOffice em 2003. Ao longo de 2005, a
direção da Casa recebeu 79 pedidos de aquisição do Microsoft Office,
vindos de deputados, comissões, lideranças partidárias e órgãos da Casa
para os quais o OpenOffice não era suficiente para atender as
necessidades administrativas.
As principais reclamações referem-se à perda de formatação ocorrida no
recebimento de documentos externos e no envio de documentos para fora
do ambiente da Câmara dos Deputados, à dificuldade em operar com macros
e a incompatibilidade entre documentos do MS-Office e do OpenOffice.
Além disso, setores importantes da Casa, como a Secretaria Geral da
Mesa, a Consultoria Legislativa, a Taquigrafia, a Agência Câmara de
Notícias, entre outros, sofriam limitações técnicas em suas atividades
devido ao uso exclusivo do software livre.
Notícias anteriores:
Câmara adquire softwares pela metade do preço de mercado
Reportagem - Antonio Vital
Edição - Regina Céli Assumpção
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=81369
eletrônico destinado à aquisição de softwares MS-Office, da Microsoft.
O pregão teve início na terça-feira (20), depois de uma negociação
prévia pela qual a Microsoft concedeu à Câmara o maior desconto que faz
em nível mundial. Isso faria com que o custo das 7.587 licenças, orçado
em cerca de R$ 11 milhões, baixasse para aproximadamente R$ 6 milhões.
A Comissão de Licitação considerou, ao decidir suspender o pregão, que
as propostas apresentadas até o momento não alcançaram o patamar de
redução previsto. O edital de licitação fixava o preço do software
MS-Office na versão Standard em R$ 821,47, enquanto a melhor proposta
do pregão para o produto foi de R$ 819,00.
Experiência
A Câmara decidiu adquirir o MS-Office depois de uma experiência de dois
anos com o software livre OpenOffice, quando verificou
incompatibilidades entre a plataforma exclusiva de softwares livres com
as atividades e necessidades da Casa. O OpenOffice continuará a ser
usado, mas os deputados, comissões, lideranças partidárias e setores
técnicos da Câmara terão a opção de usar também o produto da Microsoft.
Incompatibilidades
A Câmara iniciou o uso do OpenOffice em 2003. Ao longo de 2005, a
direção da Casa recebeu 79 pedidos de aquisição do Microsoft Office,
vindos de deputados, comissões, lideranças partidárias e órgãos da Casa
para os quais o OpenOffice não era suficiente para atender as
necessidades administrativas.
As principais reclamações referem-se à perda de formatação ocorrida no
recebimento de documentos externos e no envio de documentos para fora
do ambiente da Câmara dos Deputados, à dificuldade em operar com macros
e a incompatibilidade entre documentos do MS-Office e do OpenOffice.
Além disso, setores importantes da Casa, como a Secretaria Geral da
Mesa, a Consultoria Legislativa, a Taquigrafia, a Agência Câmara de
Notícias, entre outros, sofriam limitações técnicas em suas atividades
devido ao uso exclusivo do software livre.
Notícias anteriores:
Câmara adquire softwares pela metade do preço de mercado
Reportagem - Antonio Vital
Edição - Regina Céli Assumpção
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=81369
Aprovado fim de venda casada em licitação de informática
A Comissão de Trabalho, de Administração e Serviço Público aprovou na
terça-feira (29) a desvinculação das licitações públicas para compra de
hardware (equipamento de computador) e de software (programa de
computador). A medida, prevista no Projeto de Lei 1739/03, do deputado
Sérgio Miranda (PDT-MG), pretende evitar a chamada "venda casada", que,
de acordo com o parlamentar, tem favorecido a empresa Microsoft em
prejuízo de outros fornecedores de sistemas operacionais e aplicativos,
sobretudo os de código aberto.
Preços menores
O relator, deputado Isaías Silvestre (PSB-MG), apresentou parecer pela
aprovação do projeto e da emenda inserida nele pela Comissão de Ciência
e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática. Segundo Silvestre, a mudança
permitirá à administração pública reduzir preços e fazer aquisições
mais vantajosas.
A emenda aprovada admite a entrega do software instalado no
equipamento, quando requerida pelos vencedores da licitação.
Tramitação
O projeto, que tramita em caráter conclusivo, segue para exame das
comissões de Finanças e Tributação; e de Constituição e Justiça e de
Cidadania.
Notícias anteriores:
Comissão aprova proibição de venda casada em licitação
Seminário propõe tributação específica para software
Conselho de Altos Estudos discute mercado de software
Reportagem - Luiz Claudio Pinheiro
Edição - Rejane Oliveira
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=80129
terça-feira (29) a desvinculação das licitações públicas para compra de
hardware (equipamento de computador) e de software (programa de
computador). A medida, prevista no Projeto de Lei 1739/03, do deputado
Sérgio Miranda (PDT-MG), pretende evitar a chamada "venda casada", que,
de acordo com o parlamentar, tem favorecido a empresa Microsoft em
prejuízo de outros fornecedores de sistemas operacionais e aplicativos,
sobretudo os de código aberto.
Preços menores
O relator, deputado Isaías Silvestre (PSB-MG), apresentou parecer pela
aprovação do projeto e da emenda inserida nele pela Comissão de Ciência
e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática. Segundo Silvestre, a mudança
permitirá à administração pública reduzir preços e fazer aquisições
mais vantajosas.
A emenda aprovada admite a entrega do software instalado no
equipamento, quando requerida pelos vencedores da licitação.
Tramitação
O projeto, que tramita em caráter conclusivo, segue para exame das
comissões de Finanças e Tributação; e de Constituição e Justiça e de
Cidadania.
Notícias anteriores:
Comissão aprova proibição de venda casada em licitação
Seminário propõe tributação específica para software
Conselho de Altos Estudos discute mercado de software
Reportagem - Luiz Claudio Pinheiro
Edição - Rejane Oliveira
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=80129
Peru's president approves open-source bill
"Alejandro Toledo, president of Peru, signed legislation
this week that allows public institutions to consider adopting
open-source software, another step forward for the open-software
movement..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1zb5,1,jzn2,jbeb,m16j,arem
this week that allows public institutions to consider adopting
open-source software, another step forward for the open-software
movement..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1zb5,1,jzn2,jbeb,m16j,arem
Falta de treinamento prejudica programa de micro popular
Falta de treinamento prejudica programa de micro popular
Os participantes de audiência pública realizada hoje pela Comissão de
Ciência e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática chegaram à conclusão de
que, embora promissor, o programa Cidadão Conectado precisa ser
divulgado para alcançar a meta de inclusão digital de 2 milhões de
famílias com renda entre 3 e 10 salários mínimos (de R$ 900 a R$ 3
mil). Anteriormente conhecido como PC Conectado, o programa oferece
linhas de crédito para a compra de computadores de até R$ 1,4 mil.
A principal ação do Governo Lula pela inclusão digital foi questionada
especificamente por utilizar o software livre nos equipamentos.
Representantes de empresas de programação e informática temem que, sem
treinamento para o uso desses programas, o comprador do micro popular
opte por piratear softwares mais conhecidos de programas proprietários,
como o Windows.
Pirataria
O deputado Walter Pinheiro (PT-BA), integrante da Frente Parlamentar do
Software Livre, observou que 79% da população brasileira nunca usaram
computadores e 89% nunca acessaram a internet. "Quando falamos sobre
qual software usar no Brasil, tanto os softwares livres quanto os
proprietários são desconhecidos pela população de baixa renda",
destacou.
O presidente da Associação Brasileira de Software Livre (Abrasol),
Jayme Álvares Gomes Filho, ressaltou que o cidadão comum não sabe nada
sobre o programa nem sobre o software livre. Gomes Filho também se
disse preocupado com a falta de capacitação desses novos usuários de
computadores. Segundo ele, ao incentivar a compra de equipamentos
eletrônicos sem o treinamento devido para a utilização dos programas,
"o governo pode acabar promovendo a pirataria de softwares".
O representante da CompTia na América Latina, Gilberto Galan, observou
que 90% dos computadores vendidos em países emergentes sob programas
que utilizam softwares livres acabam utilizando programas piratas em
substituição.
A CompTia é uma associação que atua em 103 países e tem 20 mil empresas
associadas. Entre seus participantes estão algumas das maiores empresas
de computação do mundo, como a Sun, a IBM, a HP e a Microsoft. Apesar
desse perfil, Galan defende a "neutralidade tecnológica", que
permitiria à população escolher entre softwares livres, proprietários
ou híbridos.
Desafio
Em resposta a essa preocupação, o diretor do Serviço Federal de
Processamento de Dados (Serpro), Sérgio Rosa, disse que os incentivos
são para todas as empresas, mas que o governo fez uma aposta nos
programas que ele próprio vai financiar. Rosa fez ainda um "desafio" às
empresas para que demonstrem a diferença entre softwares livres e os
proprietários a uma pessoa que nunca utilizou computador. "A tela do
computador é idêntica e os softwares têm as mesmas funções".
O diretor-presidente do Instituto Nacional da Tecnologia da Informação
(ITI), Renato da Silveira Martini, ressaltou que, além de reduzir o
custo final do micro, o software livre permite que qualquer empresa
interessada desenvolva novos produtos com soluções aplicáveis a esses
programas.
Na avaliação do secretário de Políticas de Informática do Ministério da
Ciência e Tecnologia, Marcelo Lopes, a associação de políticas social e
industrial é o principal foco do projeto. "Ao promover a inclusão
digital, o programa também está criando uma indústria nacional",
avaliou.
Leia mais:
Codefat liberou R$ 250 milhões para inclusão digital
Reportagem - Marcello Larcher
Edição - Francisco Brandão
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=75829
Os participantes de audiência pública realizada hoje pela Comissão de
Ciência e Tecnologia, Comunicação e Informática chegaram à conclusão de
que, embora promissor, o programa Cidadão Conectado precisa ser
divulgado para alcançar a meta de inclusão digital de 2 milhões de
famílias com renda entre 3 e 10 salários mínimos (de R$ 900 a R$ 3
mil). Anteriormente conhecido como PC Conectado, o programa oferece
linhas de crédito para a compra de computadores de até R$ 1,4 mil.
A principal ação do Governo Lula pela inclusão digital foi questionada
especificamente por utilizar o software livre nos equipamentos.
Representantes de empresas de programação e informática temem que, sem
treinamento para o uso desses programas, o comprador do micro popular
opte por piratear softwares mais conhecidos de programas proprietários,
como o Windows.
Pirataria
O deputado Walter Pinheiro (PT-BA), integrante da Frente Parlamentar do
Software Livre, observou que 79% da população brasileira nunca usaram
computadores e 89% nunca acessaram a internet. "Quando falamos sobre
qual software usar no Brasil, tanto os softwares livres quanto os
proprietários são desconhecidos pela população de baixa renda",
destacou.
O presidente da Associação Brasileira de Software Livre (Abrasol),
Jayme Álvares Gomes Filho, ressaltou que o cidadão comum não sabe nada
sobre o programa nem sobre o software livre. Gomes Filho também se
disse preocupado com a falta de capacitação desses novos usuários de
computadores. Segundo ele, ao incentivar a compra de equipamentos
eletrônicos sem o treinamento devido para a utilização dos programas,
"o governo pode acabar promovendo a pirataria de softwares".
O representante da CompTia na América Latina, Gilberto Galan, observou
que 90% dos computadores vendidos em países emergentes sob programas
que utilizam softwares livres acabam utilizando programas piratas em
substituição.
A CompTia é uma associação que atua em 103 países e tem 20 mil empresas
associadas. Entre seus participantes estão algumas das maiores empresas
de computação do mundo, como a Sun, a IBM, a HP e a Microsoft. Apesar
desse perfil, Galan defende a "neutralidade tecnológica", que
permitiria à população escolher entre softwares livres, proprietários
ou híbridos.
Desafio
Em resposta a essa preocupação, o diretor do Serviço Federal de
Processamento de Dados (Serpro), Sérgio Rosa, disse que os incentivos
são para todas as empresas, mas que o governo fez uma aposta nos
programas que ele próprio vai financiar. Rosa fez ainda um "desafio" às
empresas para que demonstrem a diferença entre softwares livres e os
proprietários a uma pessoa que nunca utilizou computador. "A tela do
computador é idêntica e os softwares têm as mesmas funções".
O diretor-presidente do Instituto Nacional da Tecnologia da Informação
(ITI), Renato da Silveira Martini, ressaltou que, além de reduzir o
custo final do micro, o software livre permite que qualquer empresa
interessada desenvolva novos produtos com soluções aplicáveis a esses
programas.
Na avaliação do secretário de Políticas de Informática do Ministério da
Ciência e Tecnologia, Marcelo Lopes, a associação de políticas social e
industrial é o principal foco do projeto. "Ao promover a inclusão
digital, o programa também está criando uma indústria nacional",
avaliou.
Leia mais:
Codefat liberou R$ 250 milhões para inclusão digital
Reportagem - Marcello Larcher
Edição - Francisco Brandão
http://www.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=75829
Sun Changes OpenOffice.org Licensing
"With SISSL retired, OO.o will be licensed under the LGPL, according to Sun's chief
open-source officer, Simon Phipps..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1vf0,1,iz6h,c8yr,m16j,arem
open-source officer, Simon Phipps..."
COMPLETE STORY:
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NVidia Still Hostile To Free Software
3. NVidia Still Hostile To Free Software
10 Aug - 18 Aug (37 posts) Archive Link: "NCQ support NVidia NForce4 (CK804)
SATAII"
Topics: Serial ATA
People: Michael Thonke, Jeff Garzik, Allen Martin, Lee Revell, Chris Wedgwood
Michael Thonke asked, "what the plans/timeplan to implement NCQ support for
NVidia NForce4(CK804) SATAII based chipsets? Fact is that is it possible to use
NCQ with NForce4 SATAII on Windows system, I wonder why it isn't support by
libata?" Jeff Garzik replied, "Ask NVIDIA. They are the only company that gives
me -zero- information on their SATA controllers. As such, there are -zero-
plans for NCQ on NVIDIA controllers at this time." Elsewhere, Allen Martin from
NVidia said, "Likely the only way nForce4 NCQ support could be added under
Linux would be with a closed source binary driver, and no one really wants
that, especially for storage / boot volume. We decided it wasn't worth the
headache of a binary driver for this one feature. Future nForce chipsets will
have a redesigned SATA controller where we can be more open about documenting
it." Some posts down the line, Lee Revell remarked, "Nvidia is not Linux
friendly. Their business is making hardware so people can play games on
Windows. Anything that their lawyers think might have a 0.0001% chance of
interfering with that business model in the slightest bit will not happen."
Elsewhere, Chris Wedgwood recommended, "keeping constant pressure of vendors
like nvidia about openness is probably the best we can do right now (obviously
this means avoiding buying their products as much as possible)."
10 Aug - 18 Aug (37 posts) Archive Link: "NCQ support NVidia NForce4 (CK804)
SATAII"
Topics: Serial ATA
People: Michael Thonke, Jeff Garzik, Allen Martin, Lee Revell, Chris Wedgwood
Michael Thonke asked, "what the plans/timeplan to implement NCQ support for
NVidia NForce4(CK804) SATAII based chipsets? Fact is that is it possible to use
NCQ with NForce4 SATAII on Windows system, I wonder why it isn't support by
libata?" Jeff Garzik replied, "Ask NVIDIA. They are the only company that gives
me -zero- information on their SATA controllers. As such, there are -zero-
plans for NCQ on NVIDIA controllers at this time." Elsewhere, Allen Martin from
NVidia said, "Likely the only way nForce4 NCQ support could be added under
Linux would be with a closed source binary driver, and no one really wants
that, especially for storage / boot volume. We decided it wasn't worth the
headache of a binary driver for this one feature. Future nForce chipsets will
have a redesigned SATA controller where we can be more open about documenting
it." Some posts down the line, Lee Revell remarked, "Nvidia is not Linux
friendly. Their business is making hardware so people can play games on
Windows. Anything that their lawyers think might have a 0.0001% chance of
interfering with that business model in the slightest bit will not happen."
Elsewhere, Chris Wedgwood recommended, "keeping constant pressure of vendors
like nvidia about openness is probably the best we can do right now (obviously
this means avoiding buying their products as much as possible)."
Annual Cost of Microsoft Monopoly: $10 Billion
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft's deals with major PC vendors lock
users out from alternative options, such as Linux. A recent [0]whitepaper
calculates that the cost to industry of this Microsoft monopoly is $10
billion per year."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=05/07/26/1434243
Links:
0. http://www.cybersource.com.au/about/monopoly.html
users out from alternative options, such as Linux. A recent [0]whitepaper
calculates that the cost to industry of this Microsoft monopoly is $10
billion per year."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=05/07/26/1434243
Links:
0. http://www.cybersource.com.au/about/monopoly.html
The future of computing: is free software ready?
"The future is the state of things yet to come. One can only
expect what may happen and never know what will happen..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ril,1,dhrt,ksat,m16j,arem
expect what may happen and never know what will happen..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ril,1,dhrt,ksat,m16j,arem
Brazil: the hearth of FOSS
"I wrote a couple of pieces on the global wave of legislation
which is inducing government-owned agencies and companies, to
use FOSS except when proprietary software is the only option..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1r1f,1,2y38,dwsu,m16j,arem
which is inducing government-owned agencies and companies, to
use FOSS except when proprietary software is the only option..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1r1f,1,2y38,dwsu,m16j,arem
Softwares de uso livre são colocados à disposição no país
O ITI -- Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia da Informação colocou à
disposição da sociedade três softwares livres desenvolvidos sob o
comando do instituto. A ferramenta foi licenciada sob o regime GNU/GPL
e autorizada para ser colocada em prática pela Portaria 41.
Os programas servem para facilitar a utilização da certificação digital
do sistema Linux. Alguns dos usos possíveis por meio deles são a
assinatura digital e a interação virtual com o Fisco. Como são de livre
distribuição, os softwares poderão sofrer ajustes e melhorias que
outros órgãos do governo, empresas e usuários entendam ser importantes.
De acordo com o texto da portaria, assinada pelo presidente do ITI
Sérgio Amadeu, o licenciamento de programas de computador em regime
livre é uma forma de compartilhamento público dos bens públicos.
Clique aqui para ler a íntegra da portaria
http://www.iti.br/twiki/pub/Main/PressRelease2005Jun28A/Portaria41_05.pdf
Revista Consultor Jurídico
http://conjur.estadao.com.br/static/text/35862,1
disposição da sociedade três softwares livres desenvolvidos sob o
comando do instituto. A ferramenta foi licenciada sob o regime GNU/GPL
e autorizada para ser colocada em prática pela Portaria 41.
Os programas servem para facilitar a utilização da certificação digital
do sistema Linux. Alguns dos usos possíveis por meio deles são a
assinatura digital e a interação virtual com o Fisco. Como são de livre
distribuição, os softwares poderão sofrer ajustes e melhorias que
outros órgãos do governo, empresas e usuários entendam ser importantes.
De acordo com o texto da portaria, assinada pelo presidente do ITI
Sérgio Amadeu, o licenciamento de programas de computador em regime
livre é uma forma de compartilhamento público dos bens públicos.
Clique aqui para ler a íntegra da portaria
http://www.iti.br/twiki/pub/Main/PressRelease2005Jun28A/Portaria41_05.pdf
Revista Consultor Jurídico
http://conjur.estadao.com.br/static/text/35862,1
Talking with Richard Stallman
"What I started in 1984 was the development of the GNU operating
system. All the operating systems for modern computers of
the day were proprietary; users were forbidden to share them,
and could not get the source code to change them..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ok2,1,iz1e,fwik,m16j,arem
***
5) What is your job?
I have not had a job since January 1984, when I quit working for MIT in
order to start developing the GNU system. My work, mostly unpaid,
consists of leading the GNU Project, directing the Free Software
Foundation, and promoting the Free Software Movement.
Interessante. Será que o Stallman vive de alguma renda acumulada?
No final achamos a resposta:
11) What do you do in your life? What's your work? How you gain living?
I explained my work above. Aside from working, I like to read, eat
delicious food, listen to music (I was just in Bulgaria and got a lot
of nice records of Bulgarian folk dance music). I am paid for some of
my speeches--not all--and that is where my income comes from.
Realmente as palestras devem dar um bom dinheiro.
system. All the operating systems for modern computers of
the day were proprietary; users were forbidden to share them,
and could not get the source code to change them..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ok2,1,iz1e,fwik,m16j,arem
***
5) What is your job?
I have not had a job since January 1984, when I quit working for MIT in
order to start developing the GNU system. My work, mostly unpaid,
consists of leading the GNU Project, directing the Free Software
Foundation, and promoting the Free Software Movement.
Interessante. Será que o Stallman vive de alguma renda acumulada?
No final achamos a resposta:
11) What do you do in your life? What's your work? How you gain living?
I explained my work above. Aside from working, I like to read, eat
delicious food, listen to music (I was just in Bulgaria and got a lot
of nice records of Bulgarian folk dance music). I am paid for some of
my speeches--not all--and that is where my income comes from.
Realmente as palestras devem dar um bom dinheiro.
Brazil adopts open-source software
"But there's one big difference. The word 'Microsoft' is nowhere
in sight..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ntw,1,176k,kd06,m16j,arem
in sight..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ntw,1,176k,kd06,m16j,arem
Developing Countries Opting for Linux
"The Cuban government's announcement it is switching from
Microsoft's Windows to Linux reflects an ongoing trend of more
developing countries and local governments making the change..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ngf,1,9k58,6iyk,m16j,arem
Microsoft's Windows to Linux reflects an ongoing trend of more
developing countries and local governments making the change..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ngf,1,9k58,6iyk,m16j,arem
Stallman Unimpressed by Nokia Patent Pledge
0]Joe Barr writes "NewsForge is running a [1]commentary by Richard
Stallman on the recent PR blitz by Nokia concerning their promise not to
enforce patent claims against the Linux kernel project. Stallman's take?
"In effect, Nokia is lobbying the European Union to give Nokia and many
others a new kind of weapon to shoot at software authors and users
with--and telling the legislators, 'Don't worry, it's safe to let private
armies carry these guns, because we promise that our gunmen won't shoot
anyone in that building.'""
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=05/05/30/170220
Links:
0. mailto:joe@pjprimer.com
1. http://trends.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/30/1155209&tid=147
***
Belíssima sacada do Stallman.
Stallman on the recent PR blitz by Nokia concerning their promise not to
enforce patent claims against the Linux kernel project. Stallman's take?
"In effect, Nokia is lobbying the European Union to give Nokia and many
others a new kind of weapon to shoot at software authors and users
with--and telling the legislators, 'Don't worry, it's safe to let private
armies carry these guns, because we promise that our gunmen won't shoot
anyone in that building.'""
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=05/05/30/170220
Links:
0. mailto:joe@pjprimer.com
1. http://trends.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/30/1155209&tid=147
***
Belíssima sacada do Stallman.
GNU guru asks Taiwan PC makers to free their drivers
"Richard Stallman, one of the main forces behind the GNU/Linux
operating system and the free software movement, is in Taiwan
fighting on a new front--to get the island's PC makers to
release source code for their drivers..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1n40,1,cnox,gm6f,m16j,arem
operating system and the free software movement, is in Taiwan
fighting on a new front--to get the island's PC makers to
release source code for their drivers..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1n40,1,cnox,gm6f,m16j,arem
Paraná oferece licença de programas em software livre
O governo do Paraná vai oferecer para todas as administrações públicas
os seus sistemas de informática desenvolvidos em software livre para
uso, publicação, distribuição, reprodução e alteração. O governador
Roberto Requião assina a licença durante o 6º Fórum Internacional de
Software Livre (FISL), no próximo dia 2 de junho no Centro de Eventos
da PUC/RS, em Porto Alegre.
A licença garante, também, o desenvolvimento, adequação e distribuição
de programas de informática, desde que acompanhado de seus
códigos-fonte e de todos os módulos necessários ao funcionamento normal
dos programas, mais as rotinas utilizadas para controlar as compilações
e instalações, obrigando que todos esses direitos sejam transferidos ou
relicenciados gratuitamente.
Os desenvolvedores só poderão efetuar cobranças por serviços prestados,
como, por exemplo, a gravação de um CD ou mídia equivalente, serviços
de entrega e de elaboração de alterações ou customizações no programa e
suporte técnico.
A licença livre, denominada Licença Pública Genérica para Programas de
Computador da Administração Pública (LPG-AP), foi elaborada pelo
escritório Kaminski, Cerdeira e Pesserl Advogados Associados.
Segundo Nizan Pereira, secretário de Assuntos Estratégicos do governo
do Paraná, a licença tem por objetivo colocar à disposição da sociedade
todo o conhecimento envolvido na produção dos sistemas governamentais
desenvolvidos no Estado pela Companhia de Informática do Paraná
(Celepar).
Oferece também a possibilidade de plena auditoria sobre seu
funcionamento, o que não implica na transferência de titularidade de
qualquer programa, não efetivando renúncia, abdicação ou cessão de
direitos autorais. "Além de liberamos o uso de nossos programas,
queremos tornar público o conhecimento necessário para elaboração e
compreensão dos mecanismos de funcionamento de nossos sistemas",
destaca Nizan.
Além da assinatura da licença, o governador Roberto Requião participará
da solenidade de abertura do FISL 6.0, onde fará uma palestra sobre o
sucesso do software livre no Governo do Paraná. Segundo Mário Teza, da
coordenação do FISL 6.0, "o Paraná é o Estado mais avançado no uso
do software livre, na divulgação intensiva de seus sistemas e no
compartilhamento de suas soluções".
Desde sua primeira edição, em 2000, o Festival Internacional de
Software Livre se caracteriza por reunir professores, pesquisadores,
estudantes e profissionais para a apresentação de trabalhos de pesquisa
e desenvolvimento relacionados a Software Livre. Neste ano estão sendo
aguardados cerca de 5 mil participantes de todo o mundo.
http://conjur.estadao.com.br/static/text/34972,1
os seus sistemas de informática desenvolvidos em software livre para
uso, publicação, distribuição, reprodução e alteração. O governador
Roberto Requião assina a licença durante o 6º Fórum Internacional de
Software Livre (FISL), no próximo dia 2 de junho no Centro de Eventos
da PUC/RS, em Porto Alegre.
A licença garante, também, o desenvolvimento, adequação e distribuição
de programas de informática, desde que acompanhado de seus
códigos-fonte e de todos os módulos necessários ao funcionamento normal
dos programas, mais as rotinas utilizadas para controlar as compilações
e instalações, obrigando que todos esses direitos sejam transferidos ou
relicenciados gratuitamente.
Os desenvolvedores só poderão efetuar cobranças por serviços prestados,
como, por exemplo, a gravação de um CD ou mídia equivalente, serviços
de entrega e de elaboração de alterações ou customizações no programa e
suporte técnico.
A licença livre, denominada Licença Pública Genérica para Programas de
Computador da Administração Pública (LPG-AP), foi elaborada pelo
escritório Kaminski, Cerdeira e Pesserl Advogados Associados.
Segundo Nizan Pereira, secretário de Assuntos Estratégicos do governo
do Paraná, a licença tem por objetivo colocar à disposição da sociedade
todo o conhecimento envolvido na produção dos sistemas governamentais
desenvolvidos no Estado pela Companhia de Informática do Paraná
(Celepar).
Oferece também a possibilidade de plena auditoria sobre seu
funcionamento, o que não implica na transferência de titularidade de
qualquer programa, não efetivando renúncia, abdicação ou cessão de
direitos autorais. "Além de liberamos o uso de nossos programas,
queremos tornar público o conhecimento necessário para elaboração e
compreensão dos mecanismos de funcionamento de nossos sistemas",
destaca Nizan.
Além da assinatura da licença, o governador Roberto Requião participará
da solenidade de abertura do FISL 6.0, onde fará uma palestra sobre o
sucesso do software livre no Governo do Paraná. Segundo Mário Teza, da
coordenação do FISL 6.0, "o Paraná é o Estado mais avançado no uso
do software livre, na divulgação intensiva de seus sistemas e no
compartilhamento de suas soluções".
Desde sua primeira edição, em 2000, o Festival Internacional de
Software Livre se caracteriza por reunir professores, pesquisadores,
estudantes e profissionais para a apresentação de trabalhos de pesquisa
e desenvolvimento relacionados a Software Livre. Neste ano estão sendo
aguardados cerca de 5 mil participantes de todo o mundo.
http://conjur.estadao.com.br/static/text/34972,1
Cuba to dump Windows for Linux
"Cuba will gradually switch to the open-source Linux operating
system for its state computers, eliminating its exclusive use
of Microsoft Windows..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1mce,1,k98k,9bxu,m16j,arem
system for its state computers, eliminating its exclusive use
of Microsoft Windows..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1mce,1,k98k,9bxu,m16j,arem
Intel, Novell say Linux gains on Microsoft Brazil
"Intel and Novell on Monday said Linux is gaining on Microsoft's
Windows operating system in Brazil thanks to government policies
pushing open source software..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1m8a,1,6j59,cicu,m16j,arem
Windows operating system in Brazil thanks to government policies
pushing open source software..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1m8a,1,6j59,cicu,m16j,arem
Microsoft faces challenge from Brazil
"Brazil is encouraging other developing countries to follow
its lead in replacing Microsoft Corp. software with free
alternatives, such as Linux..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1lv1,1,ibp6,31ej,m16j,arem
its lead in replacing Microsoft Corp. software with free
alternatives, such as Linux..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1lv1,1,ibp6,31ej,m16j,arem
Deputado quer programas de urnas eletrônicas acessíveis
Deveriam substituir esse tal de VirtuOS pelo Linux.
***
Deputado quer programas de urnas eletrônicas acessíveis
A Câmara analisa o Projeto de Lei 5023/05, do deputado Sérgio Miranda
(PCdoB-MG), que busca tornar o processo eleitoral informatizado mais
transparente e seguro. A proposta determina que todos programas
utilizados pela Justiça Eleitoral para registrar e apurar os votos
devem ter seus códigos-fonte abertos seis meses antes das eleições a
partidos políticos, coligações, a Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB),
o Ministério Público e universidades para fins de fiscalização. "A
confiabilidade do sistema de voto eletrônico brasileiro está
diretamente ligada à confiabilidade dos programas de computador
utilizados", disse o parlamentar.
Regras atuais
Atualmente, pode-se apenas acompanhar as fases de especificação e de
desenvolvimento de programas do próprio Tribunal Superior Eleitoral
(TSE) ou produzidos sob sua encomenda. O prazo para o TSE
disponibilizar esse acompanhamento é de seis meses antes das eleições.
No máximo até 20 dias antes do pleito, o TSE permite o acesso aos
programas-fonte e a programas executáveis dos sistemas e aplicativos
que serão utilizados, mas mantém em sigilo suas chaves eletrônicas
privadas e senhas eletrônicas de acesso.
O projeto obriga o TSE a abrir os códigos-fonte dos programas a, pelo
menos, 60 dias antes das eleições, além de obrigar a abertura de todos
os programas, inclusive os protegidos pelo direito autoral.
Programas
Os programas de terceiros, como o VirtuOS, instalados em 350 mil urnas
da Justiça Eleitoral, não puderam ser estudados nas últimas eleições,
ano passado. Os titulares de seus direitos autorais usaram da
prerrogativa para protegê-los, já que, caso tivessem seus códigos
abertos, poderiam ser copiados ou imitados. "É insustentável a
prevalência do direito privado sobre o direito público", criticou
Sérgio Miranda.
Tramitação
O PL 5023/05 está na Comissão de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania
(CCJ), onde será analisado em caráter conclusivo
Reportagem - Edvaldo Fernandes
Edição - Rodrigo Bittar
http://www3.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=66196
***
Deputado quer programas de urnas eletrônicas acessíveis
A Câmara analisa o Projeto de Lei 5023/05, do deputado Sérgio Miranda
(PCdoB-MG), que busca tornar o processo eleitoral informatizado mais
transparente e seguro. A proposta determina que todos programas
utilizados pela Justiça Eleitoral para registrar e apurar os votos
devem ter seus códigos-fonte abertos seis meses antes das eleições a
partidos políticos, coligações, a Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB),
o Ministério Público e universidades para fins de fiscalização. "A
confiabilidade do sistema de voto eletrônico brasileiro está
diretamente ligada à confiabilidade dos programas de computador
utilizados", disse o parlamentar.
Regras atuais
Atualmente, pode-se apenas acompanhar as fases de especificação e de
desenvolvimento de programas do próprio Tribunal Superior Eleitoral
(TSE) ou produzidos sob sua encomenda. O prazo para o TSE
disponibilizar esse acompanhamento é de seis meses antes das eleições.
No máximo até 20 dias antes do pleito, o TSE permite o acesso aos
programas-fonte e a programas executáveis dos sistemas e aplicativos
que serão utilizados, mas mantém em sigilo suas chaves eletrônicas
privadas e senhas eletrônicas de acesso.
O projeto obriga o TSE a abrir os códigos-fonte dos programas a, pelo
menos, 60 dias antes das eleições, além de obrigar a abertura de todos
os programas, inclusive os protegidos pelo direito autoral.
Programas
Os programas de terceiros, como o VirtuOS, instalados em 350 mil urnas
da Justiça Eleitoral, não puderam ser estudados nas últimas eleições,
ano passado. Os titulares de seus direitos autorais usaram da
prerrogativa para protegê-los, já que, caso tivessem seus códigos
abertos, poderiam ser copiados ou imitados. "É insustentável a
prevalência do direito privado sobre o direito público", criticou
Sérgio Miranda.
Tramitação
O PL 5023/05 está na Comissão de Constituição e Justiça e de Cidadania
(CCJ), onde será analisado em caráter conclusivo
Reportagem - Edvaldo Fernandes
Edição - Rodrigo Bittar
http://www3.camara.gov.br/internet/agencia/materias.asp?pk=66196
O risco de mixar software livre e não livre
FREE SOFTWARE MAGAZINE: THE RISK OF MIXING FREE AND NON-FREE
"In a world where anything (even SCO...) is possible, we have
to remember that risks are taken when free and non-free software
are mixedl..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,cpe9,mdd8,m16j,arem
"In a world where anything (even SCO...) is possible, we have
to remember that risks are taken when free and non-free software
are mixedl..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,cpe9,mdd8,m16j,arem
Learning lessons from open source
"Proprietary software vendors can learn a valuable lesson from
their open source counterparts when it comes to customer care
and respect..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,d9n7,m276,m16j,arem
their open source counterparts when it comes to customer care
and respect..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,d9n7,m276,m16j,arem
Porque o software livre realmente importa
"Groklaw's Shawn Boyette has written an article for Groklaw on
why Free Software really matters..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,c0cl,l6jm,m16j,arem
why Free Software really matters..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1llq,1,c0cl,l6jm,m16j,arem
Free Software Foundation Latin America lays groundwork
"A small group of free software advocates has released a
declaration of intent to create the Free Software Foundation
Latin America (FSFLA)..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1lht,1,f141,5vpy,m16j,arem
declaration of intent to create the Free Software Foundation
Latin America (FSFLA)..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1lht,1,f141,5vpy,m16j,arem
Open Source VS Windows: Reality of a Better Paradigm
"But one Thursday evening, I realized once and for all that
the world of Linux/Open Source represents far more than simply
another tool among tools..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1l9f,1,4ayc,85bd,m16j,arem
the world of Linux/Open Source represents far more than simply
another tool among tools..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1l9f,1,4ayc,85bd,m16j,arem
Review: Ututo-e, the "only free distribution"
"Ututo-e is a Gentoo-based distribution developed in
Argentina. Of all the x86 distributions listed on DistroWatch,
Ututo-e is the only distribution endorsed by the Free Software
Foundation..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1kqd,1,i45n,8php,m16j,arem
Argentina. Of all the x86 distributions listed on DistroWatch,
Ututo-e is the only distribution endorsed by the Free Software
Foundation..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1kqd,1,i45n,8php,m16j,arem
Free software can resurrect 64-bit dinosaurs
"It has been 14 years since the first 64-bit processor--the
MIPS R4000--found its way into a workstation..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1km5,1,cqyy,4eyk,m16j,arem
MIPS R4000--found its way into a workstation..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1km5,1,cqyy,4eyk,m16j,arem
Open Source from Day One Builds Strength
"[PriceGrabber] has used open source technology from its
creation in 1999, employing Linux, MySQL and PHP, among other
technologies..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1km5,1,khg5,iui7,m16j,arem
creation in 1999, employing Linux, MySQL and PHP, among other
technologies..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1km5,1,khg5,iui7,m16j,arem
Government Plans Decree for Compulsory Open-Source Migration
"Brazil's federal government is drafting a presidential decree
to make it obligatory for administrative government entities
to use open-source software, local daily reported..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1kci,1,8321,hw5l,m16j,arem
to make it obligatory for administrative government entities
to use open-source software, local daily reported..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1kci,1,8321,hw5l,m16j,arem
The End of Software Licensing
"The success of open source software will, eventually, lead to
the end of proprietary software licensing as we know it..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ikb,1,ch46,2sb,m16j,arem
the end of proprietary software licensing as we know it..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1ikb,1,ch46,2sb,m16j,arem
South Korea Steps Up Linux Use in Public Sector
"South Korea said today it will launch a government-wide
promotion to increase the free use of the Linux operating
system in the public sector, a move what analysts say could
reduce the dominance of Microsoft's Windows..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1hus,1,3auu,fjbr,m16j,arem
promotion to increase the free use of the Linux operating
system in the public sector, a move what analysts say could
reduce the dominance of Microsoft's Windows..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1hus,1,3auu,fjbr,m16j,arem
Brazil looks to expand program, leaving Microsoft behind
THE NEW YORK TIMES/INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: AN OUTPOST
FOR FREE SOFTWARE
"Brazil looks to expand program, leaving Microsoft behind..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1hus,1,3nd,3jwc,m16j,arem
FOR FREE SOFTWARE
"Brazil looks to expand program, leaving Microsoft behind..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1hus,1,3nd,3jwc,m16j,arem
MIT urges Brazil to adopt open-source
"MIT's Media Lab has recommended Brazil install open-source
software instead of proprietary software offered by Microsoft on
thousands of computers that will be sold to the poor, according
to a letter obtained by Reuters Thursday..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1gxu,1,hou,m1v5,m16j,arem
software instead of proprietary software offered by Microsoft on
thousands of computers that will be sold to the poor, according
to a letter obtained by Reuters Thursday..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1gxu,1,hou,m1v5,m16j,arem
50% of Venezuela Government Software will be Open Source by 2007
"According to a presidential decree passed in December 2004,
Venezuela’s public administration must present a plan within
three months for how it will raise its usage of free software..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1fy0,1,5dfz,s7e,m16j,arem
Venezuela’s public administration must present a plan within
three months for how it will raise its usage of free software..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1fy0,1,5dfz,s7e,m16j,arem
Governo amplia uso do software livre
O Gesac, programa do Ministério das Comunicações que leva a Internet,
via satélite, a comunidades remotas, ampliará em 2005 a troca de
softwares de códigos proprietários, a exemplo do Windows, pelos
abertos, como o Linux. A iniciativa trará economia de R$ 27 milhões
para o país.
São Paulo - O governo federal continua apostando alto no software
livre. Agora é o Ministério das Comunicações que anuncia a ampliação de
seu uso no Gesac, programa que leva a internet e todos os seus
serviços, via satélite, e mais uma série de outros benefícios digitais,
a localidades remotas com baixo IDH (Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano).
Atualmente, o Gesac atende 3.200 comunidades, com pontos de conexão
instalados em escolas, associações de bairros, creches, sindicatos,
prefeituras e unidades das Forças Armadas. Até o final de 2005, a
expectativa é a de que mais 1.200 sejam beneficiadas com um kit que
inclui antena, modem e um servidor, se necessário.
Cerca de 4.500 das 18.000 máquinas instaladas até agora pelo Gesac, já
vêm com programas de código aberto, como o Linux, OpenOffice (o
equivalente ao pacote Office da Microsoft), editor de imagens Gimp e
browsers Mozilla e Firefox.
Segundo Antonio Albuquerque, diretor do Departamento de Serviços de
Inclusão Digital, órgão que coordena o Gesac, a iniciativa deve gerar
uma economia de R$ 27 milhões para o país.
João Magalhães
http://www.estadao.com.br/tecnologia/informatica/2005/fev/25/18.htm
via satélite, a comunidades remotas, ampliará em 2005 a troca de
softwares de códigos proprietários, a exemplo do Windows, pelos
abertos, como o Linux. A iniciativa trará economia de R$ 27 milhões
para o país.
São Paulo - O governo federal continua apostando alto no software
livre. Agora é o Ministério das Comunicações que anuncia a ampliação de
seu uso no Gesac, programa que leva a internet e todos os seus
serviços, via satélite, e mais uma série de outros benefícios digitais,
a localidades remotas com baixo IDH (Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano).
Atualmente, o Gesac atende 3.200 comunidades, com pontos de conexão
instalados em escolas, associações de bairros, creches, sindicatos,
prefeituras e unidades das Forças Armadas. Até o final de 2005, a
expectativa é a de que mais 1.200 sejam beneficiadas com um kit que
inclui antena, modem e um servidor, se necessário.
Cerca de 4.500 das 18.000 máquinas instaladas até agora pelo Gesac, já
vêm com programas de código aberto, como o Linux, OpenOffice (o
equivalente ao pacote Office da Microsoft), editor de imagens Gimp e
browsers Mozilla e Firefox.
Segundo Antonio Albuquerque, diretor do Departamento de Serviços de
Inclusão Digital, órgão que coordena o Gesac, a iniciativa deve gerar
uma economia de R$ 27 milhões para o país.
João Magalhães
http://www.estadao.com.br/tecnologia/informatica/2005/fev/25/18.htm
South America Goes Open Source
"The trend to Open Source in South America seems to be stronger
than it is anywhere else. Almost all governments there seem to
be setting an Open Source agenda..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1e2e,1,5hm8,dn5y,m16j,arem
***
Quem diria, o "terceiro mundo" é o primeiro a adotar software de
"primeiro mundo" :P
than it is anywhere else. Almost all governments there seem to
be setting an Open Source agenda..."
COMPLETE STORY:
http://nl.internet.com/ct.html?rtr=on&s=1,1e2e,1,5hm8,dn5y,m16j,arem
***
Quem diria, o "terceiro mundo" é o primeiro a adotar software de
"primeiro mundo" :P
Lei que dá preferência ao software livre é constitucional
Para a Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR), é constitucional a lei
que determinou a utilização preferencial de software livre na
administração pública direta e indireta no Rio Grande do Sul. O parecer
foi emitido pelo procurador-geral em exercício, Antônio Fernando Barros
e Silva de Souza, na quinta-feira (20/1).
A Lei Estadual 11.871/02 foi contestada pelo PFL em Ação Direta de
Inconstitucionalidade (3.059-RS) no Supremo Tribunal Federal. A PGR
firmou entendimento similar ao da Advocacia-Geral da União que, no
final de novembro passado, já havia defendido a constitucionalidade da
norma.
Para Marcelo Thompson, procurador-chefe do Instituto Nacional de
Tecnologia da Informação (ITI), o procurador-geral avaliou que a
questão não é a de optar por esse ou aquele produto, mas sim a de
escolher um tipo de contrato. "Assim, o estado, diante de dois
modelos contratuais distintos, opta por aquele que é compatível com o
princípio democrático, ou seja, pelo mais favorável ao estado e ao
cidadão", afirmou Thompson.
O parecer do procurador-geral registrou que as disposições da lei
gaúcha não violam o interesse do serviço público e não retiram a
competência privativa do Chefe do Poder Executivo para iniciar o
processo legislativo das leis que dispõem sobre licitação.
Além disso, o procurador entendeu que não há necessidade do
procedimento de licitação para a utilização de software livre,
justamente porque não é preciso comprá-lo. Outro ponto levantado é que
a lei não "estabelece preferências entre produtos, de acordo com
as normas constitucionais e inconstitucionais".
O parecer também registra que o software livre é aquele cuja licença de
propriedade intelectual não restringe sua cessão, distribuição,
utilização ou alteração de suas características originais, assegurando
ao usuário acesso irrestrito e sem custos adicionais ao seu código
fonte e permitindo a alteração parcial ou total do programa para seu
aperfeiçoamento ou adequação.
Leia o parecer
http://conjur.uol.com.br/textos/252106/
que determinou a utilização preferencial de software livre na
administração pública direta e indireta no Rio Grande do Sul. O parecer
foi emitido pelo procurador-geral em exercício, Antônio Fernando Barros
e Silva de Souza, na quinta-feira (20/1).
A Lei Estadual 11.871/02 foi contestada pelo PFL em Ação Direta de
Inconstitucionalidade (3.059-RS) no Supremo Tribunal Federal. A PGR
firmou entendimento similar ao da Advocacia-Geral da União que, no
final de novembro passado, já havia defendido a constitucionalidade da
norma.
Para Marcelo Thompson, procurador-chefe do Instituto Nacional de
Tecnologia da Informação (ITI), o procurador-geral avaliou que a
questão não é a de optar por esse ou aquele produto, mas sim a de
escolher um tipo de contrato. "Assim, o estado, diante de dois
modelos contratuais distintos, opta por aquele que é compatível com o
princípio democrático, ou seja, pelo mais favorável ao estado e ao
cidadão", afirmou Thompson.
O parecer do procurador-geral registrou que as disposições da lei
gaúcha não violam o interesse do serviço público e não retiram a
competência privativa do Chefe do Poder Executivo para iniciar o
processo legislativo das leis que dispõem sobre licitação.
Além disso, o procurador entendeu que não há necessidade do
procedimento de licitação para a utilização de software livre,
justamente porque não é preciso comprá-lo. Outro ponto levantado é que
a lei não "estabelece preferências entre produtos, de acordo com
as normas constitucionais e inconstitucionais".
O parecer também registra que o software livre é aquele cuja licença de
propriedade intelectual não restringe sua cessão, distribuição,
utilização ou alteração de suas características originais, assegurando
ao usuário acesso irrestrito e sem custos adicionais ao seu código
fonte e permitindo a alteração parcial ou total do programa para seu
aperfeiçoamento ou adequação.
Leia o parecer
http://conjur.uol.com.br/textos/252106/
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