Archived material

RMS is leading people off on his own path again. He’s saying that if people want to keep their freedom they better not follow Torvalds. While it’s great that RMS doesn’t compromise his principles, the principle that he isn’t compromising isn’t necessary. RMS constantly tells us that it is the word “Free” which is important. This says to me that he feels that the experience of freedom — that actual freedom — is not important. Only the name is important, not the thing.

There’s been a lot of debate in the community about how OSI should properly handle Microsoft’s planned submission of some of its licenses for OSD certification. That debate has been been going on within OSI, too.

OSI’s official position, from the beginning, which I helped formulate and have expressed to any number of reporters and analysts, is that OSI will treat any licenses submitted to Microsoft strictly on their merits, without fear or favor. That remains OSI’s position. But…

I never quite have understood why the mainstream press concentrates so much on what companies are doing. For example, see Jon Brodkin’s NetWorld article, wherein he talks about nine open…

In 2005 I visited India for the first time. It was a whirlwind tour and one of the most eye-opening experiences of my life. The purpose of my visit was to promote open source based on my own experiences, and to get a first-hand understanding of the challenges and opportunities for open source in the world’s most populous democracy.

Mark Webbink has launched a new blog called Walking With Elephants. If Mark had been a developer working on glibc he might have gotten away with “Dances With Wolves”, but as a lawyer who has spent many years working with some of the largest software companies in the world, his title is certainly apt. As is his tag line: The Guy With The Shovel.

Earlier this summer I attended an event featuring Diane Rehm, host of The Diane Rehm Show. At a time when the radio talk show format seems to have reached a…

Dilbert mentions Open Source today. Or, rather, his boss mentions it “because it’s free.” Which it is, but it’s the freedom to run, modify, and share software that’s important. In…

The issue of whether OSI should shift from the current limited board composition to be a [potentially] representative member-based structure has been a fairly long-standing question. However, it has been…

The Impact of Design on Stock Market Performance dates back to 2004, but the kernel of truth it reveals could be even more stunning for the world of open source….

I first met Pierre Fricke in late 1998 or early 1999 when he was working for IBM. He was one of four people charged by IBM to research and evaluate the strategic implications of open source software for IBM’s business. Because I was a founder of the world’s first open source company, he was keen to understand what I saw back in 1989, what I saw looking to 1999 and beyond, and whether our experience (which earned upwards of $24M of revenue in 1999) could possibly inform the strategy for a company more than 1000x our size.

We’ve been setting up our calendar for OSCON 2007 Once again the OSI Board will be holding public meetings and also a day-long work session. Michael just blogged the “high…

Innovation requires imagination. Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” Making innovative leaps requires design thinking and a culture…