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Submission + - The rise of Drupal and the fall of closed source

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: The open source content management system Drupal powers millions of applications and websites, including some of the Web's biggest sites like whitehouse.gov and Examiner.com. So how did Drupal grow from a message board created in founder Dries Buytaert's small college apartment to being one of the most widely-used open source content management frameworks? In this essay, tech writer Jared Whitehead outlines the history of Drupal from its beginnings in Buytaert's apartment, to its role in Howard Dean’s online presence for the 2004 presidential election, to its current popularity, showing how Drupal's rising popularity opened up new doors for open source software.

Submission + - Open source beehives designed to help save honeybee colonies (opensource.com)

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Honeybees are disappearing at an alarming rate, with a third of U.S. honeybees vanishing last year. Since bees pollinate many fruits and vegetables, the disappearance of honeybees could cause the United States to lose $15 billion worth of crops, and even change the American diet. The honey bee disappearance is called Colony Collapse Disorder, a serious problem of bees abruptly leaving their hives. A new open source effort called the Open Source Beehives project hopes to help by creating "a mesh network of data-generating honey bee colonies for local, national, and international study of the causes and effects of Colony Collapse Disorder." Collaborators have created two beehive designs that can be downloaded for free and milled using a CNC machine, then filled with sensors to track bee colony health.

Submission + - The ultimate open source gift guide for 2013

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: From a 3D printer that carries the Free Software Foundation's Respect Your Freedom Certification to an open hardware kit that will let you build your own version of the classic game Simon Says, this open source gift guide highlights 20 of the coolest open source-related gifts for the holidays.

Submission + - Aging Linux kernel community is looking for younger participants

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Time has been good to Linux and the kernel community, with the level of participation and volume of activity reaching unprecedented levels. But as core Linux kernel developers grow older, there's a very real concern about ensuring younger generations are getting involved. In this post, Open Access supporter Luis Ibanez shares some exciting stats about recent releases of the Linux kernel, but also warns that: "Maintaining the vitality of this large community does not happen spontaneously. On the contrary, it requires dedication and attention by community members on how to bring new contributors on board, and how to train them and integrate them alongside the well-established developers."

Submission + - Google's Open Source Director says open source world can be "brutal"

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: A crowded Sun workstation lab with poor ventilation and smelly "coder odor" ultimately led Chris DiBona to give Linux a shot, and he says it was his "best decision ever." These days DiBona is the Director of Open Source for Google. In this interview, DiBona talks about his favorite Linux distribution and why he once called open source "brutal," saying that "survival of the fittest as practiced in the open source world is a pretty brutal mechanism, but it works very very well for producing quality software."

Submission + - Kenyan open source software company put skills to work during Nairobi mall siege

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: The four-day-long siege of a Nairobi mall that ended Tuesday hit close to home for employees of the Kenyan-based non-profit tech company Ushahidi. Fortunately all the Nairobi-based team members were accounted for, including one team member who was in the mall with his wife and children during the siege. Ushahidi specializes in developing free and open source software to help collect, visualize and map data. On day three of the siege the full team met and mapped out all the Nairobi blood donation locations, and also wireframed an entire tool called Ping to make it easy for people to quickly check in with loved ones when disaster strikes. The code is on GitHub, and volunteers are welcome to help with the finishing touches. As Ushahidi team member Erik Hersman said: "It’s times like this where it takes a community of people to get things done." Certainly that applies to the rescue workers, blood donors and those from afar who have sent money to help, but it also applies to the open source community that rallied to create new tools during this crisis.

Comment Re:Bounty Source is over 7 Years Old (Score 1) 52

They originally launched in 2004 as a full project management platform for open source software, but they moved onto other projects. They relaunched Bountysource again last year with the same name, but an entirely different concept. Details are in the interview: https://opensource.com/business/13/9/bountysource-CEO-interview

Submission + - A new way to fund open source software projects, bug fixes and feature requests

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Open source software projects are seeing some success on fundraising sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. But Warren Konkel believes open source software needs a better funding model that's more aligned with how software is built. So Konkel, who was the first hire at LivingSocial, teamed up with his friend David Rappo, a producer for games including GuitarHero and Skylander, and founded Bountysource, a crowdfunding and bounty site specifically designed to help developers raise money for thier OSS projects, bug fixes and feature requests. In this interview, Konkel talks about how he recently snagged a $1.1 million investment in Bountysource, gives developers tips on launching a fundraising effort for thier OSS project, and more.

Submission + - Will GitHub's new choosealicense.com site change developers' licensing habits?

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: When GitHub launched the microsite choosealicense.com earlier this summer, it hoped to make it easier for developers to choose an open source software license. The site launched following criticism that many GitHub projects didn't include OSI-approved open source licenses. But is GitHub's new license picker really making licensing options more clear for developers? In this essay, Red Hat's IP/Open Source Licensing and Patent Counsel Richard Fontana takes a critical look at the new site, commending GitHub for making it open source, but questioning several aspects of the site, saying: "It will be interesting to see what effects, if any, the license picker will have on the licensing of GitHub-hosted projects."

Submission + - Final Mars One Numbers are In. Over 200,000 People Have Applied. (spaceindustrynews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The first round of the Mars One Astronaut Selection Program has now closed for applications. In the 5 month application period, Mars One received interest from 202,586 people from around the world, wanting to be amongst the first human settlers on Mars.

Submission + - New report shows disproportionate share of software-related patent litigation

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: A new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) paints a rather grim picture of the current patent system, especially for software patents. The report found that between 2007 and 2011, two-thirds of defendants in patent litigation were sued over software-related patents, saying unclear and overly-broad patents were key factors in patent litigation abuse. Red Hat Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Global Public Policy Mark Bohannon takes an in-depth look at the new GAO report, saying it offers solid evidence for reforming the U.S. patent system.

Submission + - Afraid someone will steal your game design idea?

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Game studios go to great lengths to protect their IP. But board game designer Daniel Solis doesn't subscribe to that philosophy. He has spent the past ten years blogging his game design process, posting all of his concepts and prototypes on his blog. Daniel shares four things he's learned after designing games in public, saying paranoia about your ideas being stolen "is just an excuse not to do the work." His article provides a solid gut check for game designers and other creatives who may let pride give them weird expectations.

Submission + - Can there be open source music?

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Cygnus Soluitons co-founder Michael Tiemann takes an in-depth look at whether music can truly ever be open source. Leaning on his personal experiences of trying to convince the market that a company that provided commercial support for free software could be successful, Tiemann argues that similar to how "the future of software was actually waiting for the fuller participation of users ... so, too, is the future of the art of music." In his essay, Tiemann makes a case for open source music, from licensing for quality recordings to sheet music with notes from the original composer in an easy-to-reuse format, and he offers ways to get involved in making music open source.

Submission + - FairSearch complaint: Does no-cost software harm consumers?

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: The stakes could be high for the future of open source code in a complaint filed to the European Commission by FairSearch, which argues that Google is engaging in "predatory pricing" by distributing Android software for free. It's not yet clear whether the EU Commission will even investigate FairSearch's claim, but if it does and rules the wrong way, it could potentially discourage the use of open source code as companies may not want to be accused of being anticompetitive by offering free code. In this article, attorney Patrick McBride walks through the FairSearch complaint, including the role Microsoft and Nokia are now playing in protesting Android.

Submission + - Open source licensing debate has positive effect on GitHub

Submitted by Lemeowski
Lemeowski writes: Critics have been pounding GitHub recently claiming it is hosting tons of code with no explicit software license. The debate was thrust into the limelight last year when James Governor of RedMonk issued an acclaimed tweet about young developers being "about POSS — post open source software," meaning they disliked or avoided licensing and governance. Red Hat's IP attorney Richard Fontana explores the complaint, saying there is a positive aspect of the POSS and GitHub phenomenon: Developers are, for the first time in the history of free software, helping inform each other about licensing and aiding in the selection process. The result is that it's becoming easier to suggest legal improvements to GitHub-hosted repositories.

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