The Proliferation of Linux

Google has finally released the full source code of its Linux-based Android platform.   The source files are available for download at:

http://source.android.com/posts/opensource

David Bort writes on the Android page:

Even if you’re not planning to ship a mobile device any time soon, Android has a lot to offer.  Interested in working on a speech-recognition library?  Looking to do some research on virtual machines?  Need an out-of-the-box embedded Linux solution?  All of these pieces are available, right now, as part of the Android Open Source Project, along with graphics libraries, media codecs, and some of the best development tools I’ve ever worked with.

[via Ars Technica]

The Intranet Journal has a conside article comparing open source and proprietary intranet software.  T It is set to be a three part series, and atleast this first part is general enough to be applicable to most OSS vs. non-free choices.

The article covers the pros and cons in terms of:

• Freedom from “The Man”
• Cost of ownership
• Experienced support communities
• Software customization
• Product longevity

So if you need to convince someone to go with OSS instead of proprietary, take a look.

Intranet Journal

Is the adoption of open source systems being hindered by the rampant piracy of proprietary software?

So says Louis Suarez-Potts, the community manager at Sun Microsystems Inc. for the OpenOffice.org open-source project, who discussed the phenomenon here at the 10th annual O’Reilly Open Source Convention.

“Piracy hurts open source because open source asks people to help give back and contribute code, but they say, ‘Why should I help? I have Microsoft Office for free,’” Suarez-Potts said.

There is no direct financial loss to Open Office when someone has a pirated copy of Microsoft Office. To the extent that BSA enforcement actions cause fear in the market, that just benefits open source, so why join it?

On the other hand if we helped Oracle enforce its license terms we might accelerate the move to mySQL and Ingres.

ZDnet & Computer World

Netgear has announced a new open source wireless router today (the WGR614L) and has launched a new web community, MyOpenRouter.com.

The new portal site features a ton of articles, tutorials, downloads and community advice to support “Netgear’s open source router community.”

The WGR614L itself is being marketed as an “open-source router for Linux developers and open-source experts” on the Netgear site.  The WGR614L is priced at an affordable $69 (or about 44€).

Netgear [via InformationWeek & ZDNet]

Linux Devices reports that OpenMoko has begun shipping its Linux-based, open source Neo Freerunner ( 3D model) phone to five newly announced distributors, in Germany, France, and India.

Specifications:

• Processor: Samsung S3C2442 500MHz
• RAM: 128MB
• Flash: 256MB
• Display: 4.3″ diagonal 640 x 480 VGA Colour TFT LCD
• Graphics: SMedia 3362-based 3D graphics acceleration
• Accelerometers: 2 x 3D accelerometers
• Audio: “high-quality” audio codec
• USB: 1 x version 1.1
• Cellular: 2.5G tri-band GPRS/GSM (900MHz or 850MHz)
• WiFi: 802.11b/g WLAN
• Bluetooth: version 2.0
• GPS: AGPS (assisted global positioning system) receiver

LinuxDevices.com