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EU offers bounties to help find security flaws in open source tools
The European Union believes it has a simple way to bolster its digital security: offer lots of cold, hard cash. The European Commission is launching bug bounties in January that will offer prizes in return for spotting security flaws in 14 free, open source software tools EU institutions use. These include well-known tools like VLC Media Player, KeePass, 7-zip and Drupal as well as something as vital as the GNU C Library.
Ubuntu Linux is available in the Windows Store
Here's a statement that would have been unimaginable in previous years: Ubuntu has arrived in the Windows Store. As promised back in May, you can now download a flavor of the popular Linux distribution to run inside Windows 10. It won't compare to a conventional Ubuntu installation, as it's sandboxed (it has limited interaction with Windows) and is focused on running command line utilities like bash or SSH. However, it also makes running a form of Linux relatively trivial. You don't have to dual boot, install a virtual machine or otherwise jump through any hoops beyond a download and ticking a checkbox.
A fight is brewing over ads in the 'open-source Photoshop'
Far from just being that character in Pulp Fiction, GIMP is also an open-source alternative to Photoshop that's given away freely for all to use. Unfortunately, there's been a kerfuffle between the project's creators and SourceForge, one of the places that the software is available to download. The latter stands accused of adding for-profit adware to its version of GIMP, which is a big no-no amongst the free and open-source software community. In a posting to Google+, SourceForce is alleged to have frozen out GIMP for Windows rep Jernej Simončič and subsequently injecting malicious code into the build to trap unwitting users.
Completely open source, high-end laptop gets closer to reality
If you've wanted a laptop where all the software is free and open source (FOSS), you've usually had to settle for mediocre hardware. Even FOSS champion Richard Stallman is making do with a ThinkPad that's several years old. At last, though, it looks like you won't have to compromise your ideology for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses. Purism has successfully crowdfunded the Librem 15, a portable PC that combines modern parts (such as a 3.4GHz Core i7 and an optional 4K display) with software that's accessible from head to toe. The operating system (a variant of Trisquel GNU/Linux), hardware drivers and included apps are all free and open -- Purism is even trying to loosen up the BIOS and firmware.
Slackware 14.0 now available, freshens and simplifies a Linux vanguard
When it comes to Linux distributions, Slackware could well be called the archetype. It's not just one of the longest-serving releases at nearly 20 years old -- it's designed to be "pure" and cut back on customized apps, many graphical interface assistants and the requirement to download anything during the installation process. Pat Volkerding and team have nonetheless given us a bit of a break with the launch of Slackware 14.0. While many open-source fans will be downloading a copy for the more recent Linux 3.2.29 kernel and other updated packages, ease of use is the guiding principle for the new build: there's now a graphical NetworkManager interface to manage wired and wireless connections, for a start. In tandem with the newer kernel, updated versions of the KDE and Xfce desktop environments also result in much broader hardware support than many veteran users will remember. Slackware is now much more savvy about removable storage, accelerated 3D video, SATA and other features that have sometimes demanded command line trickery. Anyone can download the revamped distribution for free, including for ARM-based devices like the Raspberry Pi, although we'd consider springing for the $33 subscription to CD-based copies of Slackware to fund Volkerding's long-term efforts.
Why Apple's many patents in Germany get stayed
Here at TUAW, we've found ourselves covering lawsuits around Apple quite a bit lately, especially in Germany, where Apple is getting sued by lots of companies, and then getting shut down by the courts. Ever wonder why so many companies sue in Germany, or why so many of Apple's arguments are stayed? Here comes FOSS Patents to the rescue, with this great piece on Apple's legal troubles. The long and short of it is that in Germany, patents are challenged along two paths: Invalidity, and infringement. That is, first, a patent is examined for whether it's valid or not, and then second, it's examined against the product in question for actual infringement. Validity is determined much more quickly than infringement, and in Germany and the European patent system, the two paths are much more separate than anywhere else. And why are Apple's patents being stayed so much? FOSS suggests that Apple expects this -- it's using a shotgun style for its patent fights, hoping that one of them eventually gets through and puts them at a point where they can really exploit that winning patent for all it's worth. Apple certainly has the cash and resources to play a lot of cards, and that's exactly what it's doing. Sooner or later, one of Apple's patents will stand, and then it will use that powerful patent to block competitors whenever possible.
OpenOffice 3 includes native version for Mac OS X
OpenOffice has released version 3 of its eponymous open-source alternative to Microsoft Office, which includes a native version for Mac OS X. According to Insanely Great Mac, the software includes: ODF 1.2 Support Microsoft Office 2007 Import Filters Solver component which allows solving optimization problems Support for displaying custom error bars and regression equations Improved Crop Feature in Draw and Impress The software is only available for Macs with Intel processors. There are projects for converting OpenOffice for PowerPC, but an official version was not included in this 3.0.0 release. OpenOffice's site was running very slowly this morning due to overwhelming demand for the new software, but the official download link is here. There are mirrors available, and this one seemed to work for me. For Mac users, the file to download includes MacOSXIntel_AQUA_install in the name. The download is 163MB.
Open source license ruled enforceable, hippies rejoice
Good news, open source fans -- copyleft licenses just got a big boost from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled last week that the open source Artistic License is valid and enforceable, and that violating the terms of the license constitutes copyright infringement. (You might be familiar with the Artistic License -- it's what governs Perl.) That's a big deal, as it's the first open source license to get put to the test -- while traditional EULAs have been upheld for years, open licenses hadn't been directly litigated like this yet, and it means that similar licenses like the GPL and Creative Commons now stand on firmer ground. As you'd expect, OSS advocates like Lawrence Lessig and the Open Source Initiative are all pretty pumped about the ruling, with Lessig calling it "huge and important news." We'd agree wholeheartedly, but here's some food for thought while you celebrate in the comments: if you're okay with FOSS software developers enforcing open-source license agreements, are you also okay with commercial software developers enforcing their own EULA restrictions? We can think of one in particular that seems to have people pretty ticked off.Read - InformationWeek articleRead - Lessig blog post
OpenMoko to unveil consumer-minded Neo FreeRunner
So far, OpenMoko's Linux-based open source phones have amounted to little more than a twinkle in the eye of Joe Consumer, instead getting fast-tracked into the hands of developers who hope to make the whole package stable and functional enough for the average buyer to give a flip by the time they're widely available. We'd say that's a solid policy -- especially if these guys hope to fight the oncoming Android steamroller -- and the next volley is about to get fired in the form of the "Neo FreeRunner." The spiritual successor to the original Neo1973 (pictured), the FreeRunner is being billed as a "compelling mass market device" thanks to some key additions: WiFi, motion sensors, a faster 500MHz processor, and 3D graphics acceleration. OpenMoko's previewing the phone at CES next week with shipments following on to developers in the spring in two triband GSM versions, one with North America-friendly 850MHz and the other with 900MHz. Consumer sales are expected to happen after that (shortly after that, hopefully) once the dev community blesses it with solid code.
HandBrake gets some major press
When your open-source project is the focus of a New York Times article, that's a big news day for you (at least it would be if not for those meddling kids in line to buy iPhones). Thursday's NYT article discussing the technical hurdles, legal haziness and other challenges to ripping DVDs for personal use leads off with the example of HandBrake dev lead Eric Petit ('titer') using his very own tool to convert a movie so it'll play on his PSP. The article goes on to mention VisualHub and VideoLan, and quickly dives into an acronym soup of MP4, OGG, AVI and more.What I found most interesting about the story was what it failed to say about the software it featured so prominently: neither HandBrake nor VisualHub were described as Macintosh apps. VisualHub is of course Mac-only, and HandBrake has been historically a Mac tool (after beginning life on BeOS) before forking and unforking as MediaFork with a Windows version in the mix. It's pleasantly surprising to me that this sort of article can be platform-agnostic.
Microsoft: Linux and others violate 235 of our patents
If you thought that Microsoft's deal with Novell was the end of Redmond v. Linux litigation, think again. In an unsettling story carried by Fortune over the weekend, Microsoft's General Counsel claims that free and open-source software (FOSS) violates exactly 235 Microsoft patents: Linux kernel (42), Linux GUI (65), Open Office suite (45), email (15), and then another 68 patents violated across a variety of FOSS wares -- the first time Microsoft has provided such specificity. Microsoft goes so far as to claim that that is the reason for open-source software's high-quality. However, Eben Moglen, legal counsel to the Free Software Foundation and head of the Software Freedom Law Center, says that software is a mathematical algorithm which can not be patented and easily "invented around" -- a case made even stronger last month by the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling undermining patent trolls. Still, FOSS allies such as Sony, Philips, Novell, Red Hat and NEC were already banded together under the Open Invention Network with their own collection of patents meant to protect themselves from the kind of litigious quagmire Microsoft seems poised to launch. Ironically, that very pact between Microsoft, Novell, and more recently Dell makes Microsoft an uneasy Linux distributor (depending upon your legal interpretation of the deal) which could leave them powerless to bring patent suits against Linux customers and distributors. With Microsoft facing the Google goliath and a general consumer malaise, it's really no surprise to find them prepped for a patent offensive in search of additional revenue. However, our biggest fear is for this sudden increase in posturing by Ballmer and Co. to turn into a full blown series of lawsuits and countersuits sure to stifle innovation into the next decade. [Via Scobleizer]
Care and feeding of open source programmers
[Update: Brian Ganninger of Growl and Adium fame has posted on his strong disagreement with the HandBrake manifesto.]Since HandBrake got back under one open-source roof, the attention to everyone's favorite Mac DVD 'archiving' tool has heated up, and with said attention the volume of end-user feature requests has apparently risen. Over at the HandBrake forums, back on March 6, Rodney posted a manifesto called "HandBrake and Open Source - an end-user must-read," pointing out what he sees as the differences between F/OSS and commercial software when it comes to user-driven feature priorities. I quote:"Open source software is exactly what it sounds like: It's software written by a (usually small) group of highly-dedicated people that solved particular problems they themselves had and thought others might find useful as well. Like most things that are free, it comes with no warranty: If it does what you want, that's great - that's exactly why it was offered to you. If not, you have the freedom of choice to either modify it to suit your desires or find another software package that more closely meets your needs."The core of Rodney's message, as I read it: if you want something weird or customized, either pay someone for it or code it yourself -- don't knock on the glass with your crazy "why doesn't HandBrake do X?" requests, unless you're willing to pull your weight, 'cause everyone here is a volunteer. I don't agree with him on all fronts -- certainly, 'big kahuna' open source projects like Firefox, Webkit or OpenOffice are highly focused on the needs of the end user -- but for apps like HandBrake with a small core of developers, it definitely pays to ask very politely if there's something you desire, and to accept the fact that your priorities may not sync up with the developers' areas of interest. Now, off to learn C -- where did I leave that copy of Kernighan and Ritchie?
