][ stefano maffulli

Roberto is asking a very difficult question: is OGG/Theora a standard, after all?  Since it is not documented in anything else but the source code, and the code is distributed under BSD license, what will make sure that nobody will start predatory practices on the format? 

I understand Richard’s request though, based on practical terms as usual: there are no other formats for audio/video that aren’t encumbered by nasty patents.  

Is OGG a standard?  Probably not.  Is it an open unencumbered format? I think so.  Will my data be safe for future use?  This is the most difficult question to answer: one can say that since the code is out there you can always write the decoder.  But real life is more complex than that.

Hula era stato annunciato con grandi fanfare come il server che avrebbe sostituito Microsoft Exchange.’  Ora Novell abbandona ufficialmente lo sviluppo del programma.’  È questa la dimostrazione che Novell non ha bruciato le navi e che si sta ritirando dal mercato innovativo, per tornare alla logica di mercato del software proprietario?
Slashdot | Novell Dumps the [...]

Antonio Perez, CEO di Kodak Eastman, non poteva dirla meglio: se si vuole cambiare il modello di business di un’azienda bisogna cambiare radicalmente e fare in modo di non poter tornare sui propri passi.’  Perez sta infatti guidando l’ennesimo cambiamento radicale di Kodak che è già  passata da produttore di film e carte alla fotografia [...]

A very interesting story from CNN:

Chile’s Mapuche Indians allege that Microsoft
translated Windows software into their native language without getting
tribal leaders’ permission.
The tribe went so far as going to court accusing Microsoft of ‘intellectual piracy’.

Somebody should tell them that it would be simpler and easier not to buy Microsoft products and promote Free Software since it can come in their language with all freedoms attached.

Link

Things are going wild these days and it seems that there is never enough time to blog.

 Yesterday I met with Simon Phipps in Milano at a Sun event here: charming chat, as usual, but this time with more spin because the Java-trap is finally disarmed and we had only to talk about positive things to do together.  He was happy to hear about the Freedom Task Force, for example. 

Besides that, this morning it was special also because FSF and FSFE are both on boingboing: FSFE for its Italian activity to free the postcodes and FSF for being quoted on Newsweek with DefectiveByDesign.  It’s a sign that today will be a good day

I should be glad to discover that others are in the same stupid situation where Italy is: a private company is allowed by the government to hold a monopoly on basic data, like the ZIP codes (Codici di Avviamento Postale, CAP in Italian).
A group of Italian volunteers have rebuilt the database, although without geographical references [...]

Allora a cosa dobbiamo credere? A Ballmer, un mastino napoletano rabbioso e affamato che continua a mordere chiunque gli passi a tiro e che non si lascia scappare occasione per confermare che distruggerà  Linux col suo arsenale nucleare di brevetti?
Oppure dobbiamo credere ad una Microsoft che si avvia a cacciare Ballmer per diventare un tenero [...]

Dovrò darci un’occhiata. Qualcuno l’ha provata?

Tim Bray a proposito di Java

Chi si ricorda le polemiche di IBM contro Sun che non rilasciava la Java Virtual Machine con una licenza libera? Ora che Sun ha iniziato a rilasciare Java con la licenza GNU GPL, IBM continua a lamentarsi.
Scegliendo la GPL Sun in una mossa contribuisce alla comunità  del software libero, diventandone un cittadino importante, ed [...]