Linux Solutions

iPod inventor Apple yes I’m aware they have something to do with computers at one time or another has had its attempts to stop an app that allows iPod/iPhone users to use non-Apple software such as a Linux OS brushed aside said the Electronic Frontier Foundation said earlier this week.

Earlier in the month, one of Apples lawyers from its legal counsel, O’Melveny & Myers, managed to force the removal of an open source project called iPodhash from Bluwiki, a free website that allows users to create Wiki pages. They said that the project was illegal under the U.S. Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Bluwiki complied with the request after the sites founder, Sam Odio, received this request from the lawyers:

“It has come to our attention that a website you operate, www.bluwiki.com, is disseminating information designed to circumvent Apple’s FairPlay digital rights management system.”

“FairPlay is considered anti-circumvention technology under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA explicitly prohibits the dissemination of information that can be used to circumvent such technology.”

Odio said that iPodhash’s developers were not trying to break Apples copyright protection: “He’s not developing software to unencrypt the songs,” he said. “What he’s actually doing is unencrypting the database.”

Senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann explained the situation on his blog

“In September 2007, Apple introduced new software into iTunes and the iPod that runs a cryptographic operation on iTunes data, creating a special number called a checksum hash. The number is used to ensure that the iPod is talking to Apple’s iTunes software, rather than other programs such as Winamp or Songbird.”

“Although it doesn’t appear that the authors had yet figured out the new iTunesDB hashing mechanism, Apple’s lawyers nevertheless sent a nastygram to the wiki administrator,” he said.

Von Lohmann said in an interview that Apple was using the DMCA protection to stop free speech. “Apple is essentially saying here that people can’t even talk about the mechanisms that Apple uses to lock in its music to the iTunes software,” he said.

He said that checksum mechanism does not actually protect the copyright on iTunes music – it’s just meant to confirm that iPhone is communicating with iTunes.

“Nobody has ever suggested a purpose of this other than forcing iPod owners to use Apple’s software,” he said. “It’s an anticompetitive tie-in device.”

But why put up such a fight, Apple are a big shark in this pond? iTunes does not run on Linux, the iPodhash project is important to the Linux community, Odio said.

He wants to be allowed to put the iPodhash project back on his site. “I regret having to do this,” he said. “I may be able to put the site back on-line, but quite honestly it’s unlikely because I can’t afford a legal battle with Apple.”

A federal judge has ruled that SCO owes Novell a little over $2.5 million, after insisting that the software company was given a financial boost from a 2003 licensing agreement with increasingly-doomed looking Sun Microsystems.

Judge Dale Kimball issued his final statement on the case on Thursday of last week, effectively ending the long-running battle between SCO and Novell. Kimball has waived SCO’s attempt to waive certain claims then resurrect them on appeal, and finalises the ruling back in July that ordered the sum of $2,547,817 to be paid to Novell by SCO for unilaterally agreeing to amend Sun’s license for the UNIX SVRX copyrights. They must also pay over $900,000 worth of interests on top of the figure. Ouch.

This leaves SCO with two choices: Stump up and pay the fine, or drag the case out for another few months. However, it’s not likely that an appeal would make a difference. The company doesn’t sell anything worth mentioning, and in September 2007, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

In February, a private equity firm agreed to breathe new life into the organisation with a $100 million cash injection, but the firm saw sense and dropped out of the deal, meaning SCO can’t afford to pay the ever growing bill to Novell.

Brilliantly, this legal battle was started by SCO, who decided to sue Novell in January 2004 for ‘slander of title action’, accusing Novel of stealing the claim t the UNIX SVRX copyrights.

Around a decade previous to these shenanigans, Novell sold its UNIX trademarks and other assets to SCO, and they assumed the deal included the UNIX copyrights as well. Fair enough, but they didn’t, so when SCO started to enter licensing agreements with companies like Sun Microsystems, and started to sue companies like IBM for breaching copyright, the result could be seen coming a mile off, not unlike a Lesley Neilson joke.

In August last year, judge Kimball ruled that the copyrights were actually Novell’s, killing off SCO’s case. This final verdict should be the nail in SCO’s coffin.

Some mildly exciting news for this morning: Reflecting the growing demand from open source fans, Adobe is set to release a 64-bit version of its Flash 10 player for Linux. The 64-bit version will be an alpha release, and is to be the first in a line of versions for other platforms in the future.

The company said it released this version to the Linux community as it wanted it more, which is why users on other platforms will have to wait.

Tech magazine CNet spoke to Adobe who said:

“[The] release of this alpha version of 64-bit Flash Player on Linux is the first step in delivering on Adobe’s plans to make Flash Player native 64-bit across platforms. We chose Linux as our initial platform in response to numerous requests in our public Flash Player bug and issue management system and the fact that Linux distributions do not ship with a 32-bit browser or a comprehensive 32-bit emulation layer by default.”

That’s nice of them right? They continued that Flash Player 10 is, “a full native participant on 64-bit Linux distributions. We are committed to bringing native 64-bit Flash Player to Windows and Mac in future releases. We expect to provide native support for 64-bit platforms in an upcoming major release of Flash Player. Windows, Macintosh and Linux players are expected to ship simultaneously moving forward.”

The good news for pen source fans continues with the results of a survey by IT analysts Gartner, who say that they predict all businesses will be using open source software within the next 12 months.

The study was carried out between May and June this year, and showed that 85 percent of companies are currently using some kind of open source software, with the remaining 15 percent expected adopt open source software within the next year.

274 companies were surveyed across multiple countries across the world including, Asia, Europe and North America. Gartner says companies that took part in the survey varied from small to large and were evenly spread throughout the manufacturing, education, financial and service industries.

Those surveyed were asked to pick the main reasons for using open source software, which included; lower cost and reduction of development costs which made it easier to start new IT projects or software initiatives.

Many of the companies that took part said that they used open source software as a way of keeping all their cards to their chest, as it stopped a single vendor controlling the IT department.

Some other businesses said that by using open source software, they could have a faster time to market, which better positions them to meet the demands of internal and external customers.

It all just shows another step to open source acceptance across business and the world.

A six month survey on the choice of office software has been taken by ClickStream Technologies, and has found that free desktop-based office applications such as OpenOffice are what keep Microsoft on its toes.

The survey was taken by 2400 internet users in America on their preference of both hosted and desktop-based paid-for , and free office applications The survey results showed that although Google Docs and Spreadsheets were a firm favourite as a competitor to Microsoft’s Office software, “OpenOffice is currently the more likely app t take that position”

ClickSteam found that consumers are still not fully convinced of the merits of ‘cloud computing’, and that this was a good indication of, “the value of offline and local processing enabled by installed applications.”

The survey also pointed out that Google had been unable to use the popularity of its Gmail email service to encourage the uptake of its Software as a Service (SaaS) options. Of all of those surveyed, no-one viewed an email attachment in Google Docs using the ‘Open as a Google Document’ button within Gmail.

The survey found that while the use of Google Docs and OpenOffice remains quite low, Microsoft’s Office showed “no signs of declining popularity”, and was still used by around 50 percent of those surveyed.

OpenOffice was the most popular of all the free applications, with 5 percent of those surveyed using the package. The web-based Google Docs was the second most popular free application, used by one percent of the 2400 surveyed. Over the sixth month period, users performed 1797 actions in Microsoft Word. OpenOffice came second with 548 actions used, and Google brings up the rear with just 40.

Other hosted apps didn’t make much impact: “Less than on percent of the sample used Zoho Virtual Office, no use was observed for ThinkFree or WriteBoard,” ClickStream said.

It added that during the study, “Of all participants who used Google Docs or Google Spreadsheets during the study, 68 percent also used Word at least once, indicating that Google Docs has yet to be considered a stand-alone product by most of its users.”

In contrast however, just 26 percent of OpenOffice users, used Microsoft Word over the course of the six months. However, Microsoft word was shown to be the most popular application used by 51 percent of the surveyed users.

ClickStream conducted the survey on 2400 American internet users over the age of 18. They had to install a program called ClickSight that collects entered data, click patterns, and user behaviour across all browsers.

When small time hacker David C. Kernell broke in to, then McCain running mate, Sarah Palin’s Yahoo email account, I don’t think he was thinking about the consequences. He now sits in court facing some pretty scary charges – just don’t call him a hacker…

Kernell’s defence attorneys have filed a heap of documents that say Kernell should not be tried as a hacker per say, “Because of the negative connotations evoked by these terms, there is a significant danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, and misleading the jury.”

His lawyers believe that the terms “hacker” and “hacking” have no place in the court case, under the law Kernell is accused of breaking. They say that, “Hackers are commonly portrayed as dangerous criminals who are involved in malicious conduct such as credit card fraud, stealing, intentional disruption of legitimate activities and causing economic damages.”

Kernell caused a media storm when he hacked into Palin’s account when he used readily available information to hack into the Alaskan Governors account. His lawyers say that hackers use “sophisticated means or specialised computer skills”, and that that does not apply to this particular case.

The majority of computer security specialists don’t see that calling Kernell a hacker is justified. With one security expert saying that hacking into the governor’s account was, “something that a teen can figure out, rather than an advanced professional.”

The defence attorneys have posted three defense motions since Kernell was indicted back in October for breaking in to a protected computer without authorization. Kernells father is a Democratic state lawmaker, and looks to be pulling his resources to mount a defense that is more than most computer-crime cases.

One of the motions argues that prosecutors charged Kernell with a felony, hen in fact he should have been charged with a misdemeanour. Under the current law, breaking into someone else’s computer should be classified as a misdemeanour, except for when it is used to enhance a crime.

Jennifer Granick, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, thinks the indictment as “very strangely pled and circular”.

“It’s not surprising given the nature of the charges and given the quality of the indictment that the defendant would see a real opportunity here to make some points in favour of the defendant,” she said

A further motion filed by the defence is seeking to push the trial date from December 16th to next year. To this point the judge has not made a decision on any of the motions, but its fair to say this one will drag on for a while.

Microsoft has irrefutably denied any wrong doing after rumours emerged that they had paid-off a Nigerian contractor for $400,000 in an effort to trip up the smooth run of Linux’s move into the government sector.

The media has pounced on the company alleging that Microsoft had offered the sum to a government contractor under a joint marketing agreement last year. The deal reportedly involved the contractor being paid to persuade the government to adopt Microsoft Windows instead of a Linux OS for thousands of school laptops.

A joint marketing agreement was drafted to document a best practice for using technology in education, however it never happened, said Thomas Hansen, regional manager for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa. It became clear that one customer would prefer a Linux OS.

“As such, the joint marketing agreement became irrelevant; no such marketing agreement was ever agreed to, and no money was ever spent,” he said.

Aside fro the fact that Linux is freely distributed, its functionality and adaptability have made it the main alternative for anyone who would rather steer clear of the corporate giant Microsoft. Even though the governments of Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria and South Africa have adopted Linux, and placed departments in schools, Hansen claims Microsoft still has a strong relationship with these governments.

“From our standpoint, those governments, and indeed every customer, should always decide which software solutions meet their needs most appropriately. We strongly believe that governments must carefully consider all costs of acquiring and using a PC, along with the benefits of widespread application availability, maintenance, and training,” he said.

Hansen staunchly defended the Windows platform, saying that although you think your saving money, in actual fact you’ll end up spending more for Linux.

“Further, when the full range of user benefits are taken into account, such as the wide range of applications available, familiarity, and ease-of-use, Windows is often a much better overall value,” he said.

Da, Daa, Dum, Dee, Do, Da, Daa, Dum, Dee, Do, Da, Daa, Dum, Dum, Da, Duum…

In a galaxy not so far away, Red Hat has inextricably linked the worlds of Star Wars and open source, as the president of George Lucas’ Lucasfilm Ltd., Micheline Chau, has joined Red Hat’s board of directors.

Ok, so it may not entirely be big news, but it is perhaps a sign that open source is gaining further acceptance in the movie, online and digital gaming industries.

Over a decade ago, the vast majority of special effects were produced on a network of Unix workstations. These days Windows and Linux-based systems are part of a never-ending struggle for supremacy in effects, and game development.

Its impressive that Red Hat landed such a big fish, Chau looks after a lot of the Star Wars franchise including, Lucasfilm’s motion-picture and television productions, Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, LucasArts Entertainment, Lucas Online, Lucasfilm Animation and Lucas Licensing.

What Chau’s role will be is not confirmed, but it looks like he’s been brought in to help Red Hat get involved in the digital entertainment world.

Much closer to home, OpenOffice.org celebrated 10 million downloads of their OpenOffice 3.0 package.

The newest version of the popular software was released just a month ago, on October 13th, and after just two days had reached an impressive 3 million downloads. The software still sees around 275,000 downloads per day.

John McCreesh, OpenOffice’s marketing project lead, said, “What makes the statistics impressive is that they only record downloads via the OpenOffice.org website, and exclude for example large numbers of Linux users who generally download software from their own distributor.”

McCreesh couldn’t begin to estimate the amount of OpenOffice users, but that “the Community believes it is well on track to reach its declared target of a 40% market share worldwide by 2010.”

The Open Source community’s worst enemy, Microsoft, have launched a new programme called Microsoft BizSpark.

BizSparc gives small businesses and start up’s a heap of free software and services to encourage them to stick with Microsoft for the future, which for a start-up has to be an attractive offer, especially with the state of the economy to consider.

The interesting thing about this programme is that Microsoft are not just provide SMEs (Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises) with freebie software and a firm pat on the back, but they are giving away other valuable services, such as expert mentoring and marketing assistance. What this means is that if your company plans to stick with Microsoft, you will be taken care of.

It’s worth noting the features that Microsoft are giving/loaning businesses:

• Microsoft Windows Server® (all versions up to and including Enterprise)
• Microsoft SQL Server® (all versions)
• Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server
• Microsoft System Center
• Microsoft BizTalk® Server
• Microsoft Dynamics® CRM (coming soon)
• Access to Microsoft Azure Services Platform
• Free MSDN subscription

The scheme is free to join, but cost $100 to leave.

Microsoft knows exactly what they are doing. They’ve had to sit by while small companies with little or no start-up capital have opted for free open source software alternatives. Microsoft obviously realise the weight behind their name, and are using this to their advantage. Ask yourself this, how often do you see the words “Microsoft” and “free” in the same sentence?

It seems like a solid strategy, but the open source community still stand by the fact that Microsoft will never be open source – and that for many is the only reason to avoid Microsoft products. Microsoft may well be offering free services and products initially but you will have to pay a hell of a lot of money when the free start-up deal comes to a close, and you need to buy the software for real.

I think if you were always planning to use Microsoft tools to build your business, then this scheme could be your answer. However, if you do get sucked in by Microsoft’s vast hype, please take care to ensure you know exactly what you have to do/buy to get out. As a huge business themselves, Microsoft just want your money, and the promise that you’ll use them forever, and ever, and ever…

Intel has joined with the Taiwanese government as part of its project to put a Linux stack on the Atom Processor. The Microsoft partner said today that it is getting together with Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to establish a “Moblin Enabling Center” to encourage developer support and interest.

The company is also spending 386 million New Taiwan dollars (£7.14m) into the WiMax technology carrier VMax, which plans to push Taiwan’s first nation-wide 4G WiMax network.

Moblin is a Linux stack that is designed to be fast and light for low-cost, low-power netbooks and nettops.

The Moblin lab is to train an consult device and software vendors, which Intel hopes will encourage the development of more Moblin-based devices arriving sooner to the market. The company’s main contribution will be to fill the Center with trained engineers.

“With a shared vision to accelerate mobility industry momentum, our collaboration with Intel positions Taiwan to further capitalize on opportunities created by the next phase of the Internet,” said Yiin Chi-Min, Minister of the Taiwan MOEA.

Intel had previously funded 29 WiMax companies worldwide, VMax is the 30th.

“With Intel Capital’s support, VMax intends to become the first-mover in bringing the benefits of high-speed wireless broadband to Taiwan,” said C.K. Liu, Vmax chairman.

“Vmax intends to be the first to deploy a 2.5GHz WiMax network in Asia Pacific,” he added.

Intel say the WiMax service will be available in Tawain in the first half of 2009.

Alongside a group of human rights and public interest organisations, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo are planning to introduce a global code of conduct that they say will offer better protection for online freedom of speech and privacy against government intrusion.

The Global Network Initiative (GNI) commits the companies to “avoid or minimise the impact of government restrictions on freedom of expression,” according to the final draft of documents that the New York Times have obtained.

The document states that privacy is not only a human right, but a “guarantor of human dignity”. The initiative aims to commit the companies to try and resist demands for restricting freedom of speech and overly broad demands that could compromise the privacy of their users.

The initiative was set up after human rights groups and Congress criticised the companies for cooperating with the Chinese government’s censorship laws for its citizens. As well as setting out a code of conduct, the initiative will act as a non-governmental forum for companies and human rights groups to join together in the fight against censorship. The GNI will also establish a system of independent authors to rate the companies’ conduct.

Michael Posner, president of Human Rights First, said, “This is an important first step in providing standards for free expression and privacy that obligate companies to do more to challenge government restrictions.”

“It sets up an accountability mechanism that will allow each of the companies to be evaluated over time.”

As well as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo - Vodafone and France Telecom are also considering getting involved, with more companies expected to be involved in the near future.

The GNI has the backing of many large scale human rights organisations including; Human Rights Watch, Human Rights in China, and The Committee to Protect Journalists. Also involved are the Business for Social Responsibility and the Center for Democracy and technology, the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and the Calvert Group.

Although things are moving along, its not enough for some human rights activists. Morton Sklar, executive director of the World Organisation for Human Rights USA feels that “after two years of effort, they have ended up with so little.”

He feels that, “It is really very little more than a broad statement of support for a general principle without any concrete backup mechanism to ensure that the guidelines will be followed.”

Currently Google, Yahoo China, and Microsoft MSN search are all cooperating with the Chinese government to filter search results, and more recently the Chinese version of Skype had been modified to save users conversations on to servers run buy Tom, Skype’s Chinese partner.