Open Source Initiative

We just received confirmation that OSI's request to be added as a signatory to the Declaration of Internet Freedom has been accepted. We endorse this Declaration and encourage authorities worldwide to embrace it and implement regulations protecting the principles it espouses.

Just to make sure that everyone knows, this "OpenSource" user on Google Plus posts links to interesting Open Source software, and has nothing to do with us. When they talk about "members" they mean people who have circled them. Nothing to do with our membership program. Share and enjoy!

The OSI Board is very pleased to announce that five significant organisations have applied for and been granted Affiliate Membership of the Open Source Initiative, including the first User Group.

As part of the OSI’s governance reform, we are planning to establish a mechanism for individuals to join the OSI. We recently conducted a survey to ask people about their interest in joining, and to learn some preferences about how best to proceed. We received more than 350 replies to the survey, which was initially announced at FOSDEM in February 2012. The respondents came from many different countries, and had widely differing experiences with open source software. We are grateful to those who took the time to participate in the survey.

The OSI recently instituted a term limit on directors (after two terms, a director must be off the board for at least one year). In the most recent election cycle, this resulted in Michael Tiemann stepping down from the board and the Presidency. The newly-elected directors officially started their terms this April 1st, and their first meeting was today, April 4th. At that meeting, the Board passed the following resolution by unanimous & enthusiastic consent, with the new directors participating:

The Open Source Initiative thanks Michael Tiemann for his decade of service and sensitive leadership on the OSI Board, and hopes that he will continue to be involved with the OSI for a long time.

OSI is very pleased to welcome two important new members to the Affiliate scheme for community groups. They are CENATIC and Debian.

I just read this in Nature:

The researchers designed the structure of the nanorobots using open-source software, called Cadnano, developed by one of the authors — Shawn Douglas, a biophysicist at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. They then built the bots using DNA origami. The barrel-shaped devices, each about 35 nanometres in diameter, contain 12 sites on the inside for attaching payload molecules and two positions on the outside for attaching aptamers, short nucleotide strands with special sequences for recognizing molecules on the target cell. The aptamers act as clasps: once both have found their target, they spring open the device to release the payload.

These robots may be able to identify and target cancer cells.

OSI is changing, and you can help!  I spoke at FOSDEM in Brussels on Saturday, on behalf of the Open Source Initiative (OSI) where I serve as a director. My noon keynote covered a little of the rationale behind OSI and a quick synopsis of its last decade from my own perspective and then announcements on OSI's behalf about the work we’re doing to make OSI strong and relevant for a new decade.