South Africas Open Source Software Market Builds on the Government’s Adoption
of FOSS Policy
,----[ Quote ]
| While the South African open source software (OSS) market is still in its
| development stage, the recent decision by the South African Government to
| adopt a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) policy is a significant boost
| for the industry.
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http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/press-release.pag?docid=110730017
Frost does a lot of business with the abusive monopolist (Microsoft
self-praising 'studies'), so this one is a pleasant surprise.
Federal Government Votes for Open Source
,----[ Quote ]
| The Federal Open Source Alliance, an organization devoted to open source
| education, today announced the results of its “Federal Open Source
| Referendum” study, the first annual report designed to identify current open
| source adoption rates and trends in the Federal market.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071101/20071101005877.html?.v=1
No wonder Microsoft wanted to 'join' Open Source.
Related:
Is Microsoft Hijacking Open Source?
,----[ Quote ]
| What really worries me is what looks like an emerging pattern in Microsoft's
| behaviour. The EU agreement is perhaps the first fruit of this, but I predict
| it will not be the last. What is happening is that Microsoft is effectively
| being allowed to define the meaning of “open source” as it wishes, not as
| everyone else understands the term. For example, in the pledge quoted above,
| an open source project is “not commercially distributed by its
| participants” - and this is a distinction also made by Kroes and her FAQ.
|
| In this context, the recent approval of two Microsoft licences as
| officially “open source” is only going to make things worse. Although I felt
| this was the right decision – to have ad hoc rules just because it's
| Microsoft would damage the open source process - I also believe it's going to
| prove a problem. After all, it means that Microsoft can rightfully point to
| its OSI-approved licences as proof that open source and Microsoft no longer
| stand in opposition to each other. This alone is likely to perplex people who
| thought they understood what open source meant.
|
| [...]
|
| What we are seeing here are a series of major assaults on different but
| related fields – open source, open file formats and open standards. All are
| directed to one goal: the hijacking of the very concept of openness. If we
| are to stop this inner corrosion, we must point out whenever we see wilful
| misuse and lazy misunderstandings of the term, and we must strive to make the
| real state of affairs quite clear. If we don't, then core concepts like “open
| source” will be massaged, kneaded and pummelled into uselessness.
`----
http://www.linuxjournal.com/node/1003745
Could Open Source Fuel the Next Bubble
,----[ Quote ]
| With the Yahoo! acquistion of Zimbra for $350 million and the Citrix
| acquisition of Xensource for $500 million is there an impending feeding
| frenzy for open source companies? It wasn't that long ago that Red Hat bought
| JBoss and Oracle acquired Sleepycat. Maybe these are just the beginnings of
| a bigger trend.
|
| So back to the boys from Redmond, so who does Microsoft buy and why?
|
| Well I would think you need to discount the database market, they wouldn't
| want to compete with MS SQL.They probably would stay away from CRM because of
| Microsoft Dynamics.
`----
http://www.encoreopus.com/start-ups/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=505&Itemid=1
The irony of Ballmer's projected buying spree
.----[ Quote ]
| I've been thinking through Ballmer's comments that [1]he'll buy
| 20 Web 2.0 companies each year over the next five years, and a
| biting irony just hit me: Web 2.0 is all about collaboration and
| architecture of participation. Web 2.0 grows through community.
| Ballmer plans to get into this market by buying communities...
|
| ...which implies that he's not very good at building them. Now,
| some will cry "Foul!" given the rich partner ecosystem that
| Microsoft has grown over the years. But Microsoft's extant partner
| ecosystem is very different from the kind of community that open
| source and Web 2.0 fosters.
`----
http://blogs.cnet.com/8301-13505_1-9800503-16.html
|
|
