][ stefano maffulli

SugarCRM goes GPLv3…but not for the reasons you’re thinking | The Open Road – CNET Blogs
Good news
(tags: sugarcrm gplv3 free+software+business)

It seems that it’s not hot just in Milano but also in Portland. At least the debate between Eben Moglen and Tim O’Reilly at the OSCon seems to have heated up.  While giving a speech there, Moglen invited O’Reilly to join the conversation about freedom that he has been avoiding.  From what I read, Eben used his direct (warning: euphemism) style and Tim interpreted it as an attack.  But, all things considered, Eben is right: it’s time to grow up and face the real issues.

Moglen took O’Reilly to task over supporting "open source" rather than
free software. "If we’d been worrying about principle instead of open
source … You guys were wasting time talking about open source…. We
still have serious problems to correct in public policies made by
people propping up business models that were dying and wasting time
promoting commercial products." 

I couldn’t find the recordings of the speech: are there any?

TomTom buys TeleAtlas
WOW! Now that sounds interesting: the young rampant company TomTom is trying to fagocitate one of the two big commercial provider of geographic data worldwide.
(tags: geodata gps business)

Proposed debian-legal disclaimer
Marco writes rarely on his blog, but when he does he is funny
(tags: md)

OOXML Fails to Gain Approval in US
Do you see [...]

Mi sono preso una piccola soddisfazione recentemente completando un’attività  di ricerca con il Politecnico di Milano: sono riuscito a far digerire all’erogatore dei fondi di usare un webgis libero invece di un altro noto prodotto proprietario.’  Grande onore al merito va agli sviluppatori di ka-map, gli Ominiverdi che letteralmente in poche ore hanno agganciato il [...]

What’s that, retailers? I can’t hear you…
FakeSteveJobs on music retailers… brilliant
(tags: fakestevejobs prince copyright)

OOXML vs ODF the war is still ongoing (in Portugal).. « Paulo Pires – Blog
Microsoft did their homework and got not only the president seat but also half-a-dozen partners “inside” of it.
(tags: microsoft ooxml open+standard iso fight)

Piana.eu – OOXML does not buy [...]

heise online – Guest Commentary: The converter hoax
In other words: The only way to not be locked into MS-OOXML is to stay away from it. Because no matter what Microsoft and its business partners claim, the converters promote lock-in, they don’t avoid it.
(tags: fsfe open+standard odf OOXML microsoft hoax lock-in)

 It’s recent news that the Italian Camera dei Deputati (the lower
chamber of the Parliament) has started a project to offer support for
GNU/Linux on desktops for those that ask it.  I hope to see Pietro Folena’s
laptop equipped with Free Sw next time I meet him   From what I
understood also the backend infrastructure of the chamber will also
migrate to GNU/Linux. 

The big news, IMHO, is that the
technical helpdesk has been prepared to support GNU/Linux, which is an important achievement.  I’m one of those that believe that Free/Libre Software
shouldn’t need laws that mandate it. What is most needed IMHO, is that
CIO of public administrations are trained and prepared to deal with
Free Software acquisition.  Tenders to "buy" software often contain
provisions that cut out Free Software based solutions (as it was the case
fought and won by Assoli).

We need leadership (as Matt says) but we also need lobbyists
and think tanks that are strong and credible to support those leaders
because it’s a war out there, as Massachusetts demonstrated.   FSFE’s Freedom Task Force training goes in that direction, but more more more is needed and should be done.  I think that good-will, as Roberto puts it, is the same thing as leadership in this case.

BTW: DoD (Naval Research Lab) does and did "C".  At least one example is the project TOR, The Onion Router. Oddly enough, DoD shared development costs with those liberals of EFF

Boy, FakeSteveJobs is so funny, even when he calls us ‘freetards‘.  This post is not about rms not getting an iphone, but it’s aimed directly at Gates and about Vista. It’s an interesting read because it could be a post that one of us could have written (and probably did).  I love the advice to get rid of Ballmer: I think that most of the bad in Microsoft comes from him, too

Because you know what you’ve become? You’ve become the Grinch.
You’ve become a tax collector. You’re the guy people hide from when you
ride into town. It’s not good. You need to do something about that. 

» Ballmer: Caught between a software rock and a services hard place | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com
Ballmer ha una bella gatta da pelare, ecco perché è così nervoso.
(tags: microsoft ballmer saas)

Mac desktops are ’smarter money,’ says CIO | CNET News.com
la gatta da pelare di Ballmer è Ballmer stesso?
(tags: ballmer microsoft apple gnu/linux)

Ballano sui carboni ardenti, mi pare. Ci sono un po’ di commenti in giro su come l’accordo MS/Novell sia in difficoltà .’  Leggo su ArsTechnica:
Microsoft has decided that the Novell support certificates that we distribute to customers will not entitle the recipient to receive from Novell, or any other party, any subscription for support and updates [...]