][ stefano maffulli

Simon Phipps, SunMink: US OOXML Discussion Now Public
Bene. Ora speriamo che siano poche le aziende che vogliano coprirsi di ridicolo approvando uno standard ancora immaturo e non ancora pronto per l’approvazione su Fast track.
(tags: OOXML open+standard microsoft iso)

How To Import mails from Evolution to Thunderbird – SWiK
I’m getting sick of using Evolution, so I started [...]

Free Software is first about ethics, not only licenses nor development models.  Ethics in business has started to be considered as an important item and it’s not unusual nowadays to see Corporate Social Responsibility mentioned in business reports. 

That’s why I think that to qualify a Free Software Business we need to measure its orientation to doing good to freedom in the digital society.  I’ve talked about this topic also in the past and I’m still convinced that consideration like the following from Roberto should come after looking at the companies missions and CSR reports. 

we ended up classifying OS firms as those that:

• sponsor, support, facilitate an open source project, that is a
  project that has a license compatible with the OSD definition, in a
  direct or indirect way.
• the sponsoring/support must be continuous, that is it should not be a single, one time contribution.

I am aware that it’s not easy to measure ethics or freedom in digital society.  Neither is easy to measure sustainable development, but many have been suggesting ways for many years despite difficulties   Probably this could be a role for FSFE’s future activities?

Vdrift: Sbandate libere!
adoro questo gioco Mi viene voglia di comprare il volante
(tags: videogames games free+software)

Seminario sul software libero nella pubblica amministrazione
Importante appuntamento per la PA e per i consulenti della PA
(tags: seminario free+software)

The simplest ideas are often the foundation of powerful business cases.  Roberto’s idea of a Free Software franchise seems a natural evolution towards a market that adds  the power of a brand to the professionality and high quality services of many existing Free Sw Businesses.

I think that many potential users of Free Software, especially small businesses, can be reassured more easily with a brand if they need to buy services from small firms.

What’s a franchise if not the sum of the power of a brand, as Schwartz says, and quality of services?

An Open Source Franchisor could aimed at delivering to the market IT
basic services using OSS, with a fixed-time fixed-price formula,
training its franchisees to meet predefined performance criteria.

Simon? Jonathan?  What do you think? 

Commercial Open Source Software » Open Source Franchising: From artisanship to industrial

In case you were wondering how big 6000 pages is: OpenXML/OOXML/whatever
Ecco a che servono le specifiche vastissime: farsi assumere a vita per implementarle
(tags: ooxml open+standard microsoft)

As some Fellows have noticed, FSFE has humbly published the new logo on its institutional web pages. This logo was discussed with the Fellows at the Meeting in Bolzano and picked between a few alternatives.  I’m glad most liked the same logo I liked. It is based on the concept of Osmosis and Metamorphosis and it connotates growth, development, evolution.  This new logo gives the right image not only for its simplicity and friendlyness but also because it pictures our movement perfectly.

Riprendo dal blog di Quintarelli l’idea di discutere della rete di nuova generazione (NGN) come per la TAV e per la Variante di Valico. D’altronde è un’opera strutturale anch’essa.’  Io ho la fibra a casa da 3 anni e ho capito quanto sono fortunato solo dopo aver attivato l’ADSL a mia madre: la fibra [...]

Architects are taught from day one at school that pictures are worth a thousand words if you want to describe something.  Look at the picture of the specifications of Microsoft OOXML standard: doesn’t it scream Interoperability is IMPOSSIBLE to you?

Read more on Pavel’s diary

Groklaw – Moglen: SUSE Vouchers Have No Expiration Date! (Unlike MS’s Patent Bullying)
Il FUD magari funziona, però fa perdere ancora di più la faccia a chi lo pratica.
(tags: fud gplv3 moglen microsoft)

Nelle comunità  italiane del software libero ci sono persone che non smettono di stupirmi. Nextime, aka Franco (ma lui dice che anche sua madre lo chiama nextime) sviluppa da un po’ di tempo una distribuzione specializzata per il voip, Medianix. Domenica sera nextime ha rilasciato la nuova versione, tra l’altro.
Ora leggo che Medianix può essere [...]