Warping it up! » Open Source

FSF: 5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G

Fini Alring — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:10:07 +0000

The Free Software Foundation has published an article that throws a big punch at Apple’s iPhone.

The 5 real reasons to avoid iPhone 3G:

iPhone completely blocks free software. Developers must pay a tax to Apple, who becomes the sole authority over what can and can’t be on everyone’s phones.

iPhone endorses and supports Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology.

iPhone exposes your whereabouts and provides ways for others to track you without your knowledge.

iPhone won’t play patent- and DRM-free formats like Ogg Vorbis and Theora.

iPhone is not the only option. There are better alternatives on the horizon that respect your freedom, don’t spy on you, play free media formats, and let you use free software — like the FreeRunner.

“This is the phone that has changed phones forever,” Mr. Jobs said.

We agree. A snake oil salesman not satisfied with his business of pushing proprietary software and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) technology into your home, Jobs has set his sights on getting DRM and proprietary software into your pocket as well.

There is a reason so much emphasis was put on the visual design of the iPhone. There is a reason that Apple is so concerned about unsightly seams that they won’t even let you change the battery in your own phone.

Apple, through its marketing and visual design techniques, is manufacturing an illusion that merely buying an Apple makes you part of an alternative community. But the technology they use is explicitly chosen to divide people into separate digital cells, and to position Apple as sole warden. When your business depends on people paying for the privilege of being locked up, the prison better look and feel luxurious, and the bars better not be too visible.

Read the rest of the article at fsf.org:

5 reasons to avoid iPhone 3G – Free Software Foundation

Open source hardware

Fini Alring — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 11:28:58 +0000

Many years ago I had great visions of open source concept evolving into something much bigger, and leaving it’s software grassroots.. My own ideas are along the lines of Open Engine, Open Vehicle, Open Space Shuttle. I think that could be a serious boost to humanity in terms of getting things done in this super commercial world where everyone has their own interests closest, and standards seems to be more of a marketing thing than actual leverage for development and intergration.

Those that have yet to wrap their head around the notion of open source hardware may want to mosey on over to the MAKE blog, which has put together a quick primer that attempts to clear things up for you and set you off on the right foot. Among other things, it sorts out the partially open source hardware like D-Link’s WRT54GL router from the truly open source gear like MAKE’s own Daisy MP3 player (pictured above), and provides a few suggestions to ensure that your own open source hardware creations remain as such. True to its nature, the primer is also admittedly a work in progress, so you know what to do if you see room for improvement.

MAKE offers up open source hardware primer – Engadget

OpenDocument goes ISO

Fini Alring — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:42:53 +0000

The OpenDocument format has reached the staging phase of ISO standardization, and is now an official ISO Standard Format for advanced office documents. The format has mainly been developed within the OpenOffice.org project scope, but already many other office applications have or will be adopting the format. Microsoft which is dominating the market with their proprietary formats have now also accepted that open formats are not going away, but of course Microsoft has decided to contribute with their own version of an open office format… As far as I am aware it is not as open as they would have you think, however when its finalized as an ECMA standard i guess we will see, and hear much more about this topic…

The OpenDocument standard has been developed by a variety of organizations and is publicly accessible. This means it can be implemented into any system, be it free software/open source or a closed proprietary product, without royalties.

Slashdot | OpenDocument Now Published ISO Standard

Java goes Open Source

Fini Alring — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:20:54 +0000

So it finally happened, Sun relicensed Java to the GNU Public License (GPL), the most widely used Open Source license.
I welcome this move and look forward to seeing where it will take the Java and open software in general.

According to the theserverside.com: ” The rumors have been confirmed by Sun: Java is going to be released in full under the GPL v2. The initial plan is to release Hotspot and the javac compiler under the GPL v2, with the rest of Java to follow in the first half of 2007. Java EE will also be opened under the GPL, as well as J2ME. The Java specification will remain under the control of the JCP.

The GPLed components will be hosted in the JDK communities on dev.java.net. Initial components (javac and Hotspot, as well as Javahelp) are from the Java 7 codebase, as Java 6 is almost entirely finished; Java 6 will eventually be put under the GPL as time permits.

The key behind moving to the GPL is to drive more volume and more adoption for the platform. The GPL helps get Java into some markets that it hasn’t served as fully as it should – such as educational markets, governments in the developing world, and some commercial customers – as well as, obviously, some distributions of Linux which insist not on Linux-friendly licenses but on actual GPL licensing.

GPLv2 was chosen over GPLv3 for fairly obvious reasons: GPLv3 isn’t finished yet! Sun is, they said, working with the FSF on defining GPLv3.”