GPL

Selling Open Source software into the Public Sector

Why is it so hard to sell Free, Open Source solutions into the Public Sector especially Local Authorities?

You would have thought that it would be easy - after all FOSS solutions for services such as e-mail, collaboration software, and learning platforms are demonstrably cheaper and more effective than their proprietary equivalents.

You would also be encouraged by the Government mandating that all public sector IT procurements show that due consideration has been given to Open Source solutions alongside proprietary ones.

Eucalyptus: the unsung hero of Open Source?

Eucalyptus is an open-source infrastructure for the implementation of cloud computing on computer clusters. Its name is an acronym for "Elastic Utility Computing Architecture for Linking Your Programs To Useful Systems". The current interface is compatible with Amazon's EC2 cloud computing interface. Tom Callway speaks to Rich Wolski, the project's director, about how Eucalyptus can be leveraged by enterprises and where it sits along side proprietary alternatives like Windows Azure.

Debian Lenny, coming Real Soon Now!

With the release of 'Lenny' - the latest stable branch of Debian GNU/Linux - on Saturday (yes, that's Valentine's day - don't forget!), Tom Callway speaks to the head of the Debian project, Steve McIntyre.

Why is the imminent release of Lenny a good thing for the Debian community?

It's the focus of lots of the work we've been doing for the last two years or so, with many new and updated versions of everybody's favourite packages. We've translated more of our packages into more languages, and (as ever!) there are more packages available. That means we can cover more people's needs, from home laptop or desktop system through to universities running massive scientific clusters and businesses depending on a very solid platform for their servers.

What vendors really mean by 'open source'

When you say 'open source', you may be clear about what you mean. However, others are twisting the term for their own ends, says open-source expert Mark Taylor.

Like me, you've probably read articles on how free software, or open source, is going to thrive in 2009, and how businesses everywhere are going to survive the recession by migrating to it.

Open Source Learning Platforms... what is the point?

Introduction

If you work in education you will know only too well what an LP is (and for our older readers, it's not made of vinyl). Otherwise you probably have no idea, ditto the near synonyms VLE and CMS.

They respectively stand for: Learning Platform,Virtual Learning Environment, and Course Management Software.

For our purposes I will use the collective acronym, LP.

But, before plunging into the debate it must be said that schools themselves know the abbreviations better than they do the products and, be aware, there is no single agreed 'take' on what exactly a LP is.

Branding Open Source moves heaven and earth to beat Microsoft

Google's and Amazon's 'homes in the clouds' are to have a new neighbour, the good ol' boys from Seattle. Microsoft's online-adventure, named Azure (conjuring up images of clear blue and paradoxically cloud-free skies) may however turn out to have an identity crisis comparable to ill fated Windows ME and Vista.

'Cloud Computing' will succeed or fail on the trusting nature of its users, so if social network sites are any guide, it will be a sure-fire bet for the dolts of this world. Microsoft has bravely (or foolishly) opened up yet another competitive front, this time in the sky... where Open Source based rivals dominate.

Interview: Steve McIntyre, Debian Project Lead

Steve McIntyre is a software engineer and a long-time Debian developer. His best known contributions have been in the field of creating Debian CD/DVD images; he is the debian-cd team leader and is responsible for generating the official images. McIntyre ran for the post of Debian Project Leader in 2006 but was defeated by Anthony Towns by only six effective votes. In 2006-2007, he was named "Second in charge", a post created for him by Towns. In the 2007 DPL election, he was defeated by Sam Hocevar, again by a small margin, only eight effective votes. In 2008 he again ran for the position of DPL and was elected.

Linux in schools can save the planet

In the past few weeks I have written several articles for this blog deprecating at length the wasteful power consumption of ICT facilities in schools and suggesting alternative strategies to tackle the problem. I do not intend to do go over the ground again because you can only hector folk for so long on one topic. In any case I don't need to, since wonderfully, the Cardinal Wiseman CTC in Birmingham has recently deployed the UK's first zero carbon ICT facility.

Interview: Aaron Seigo, KDE Project Lead

Aaron Seigo joined the KDE project in 2000 and is sponsored by Trolltech. Based in Calgary, Canada Aaron spends his time thinking about KDE project and its client-side software. Here he describes how porting KDE4 to Windows and MacOS will enable Kontact, the Open Source groupware application, to challenge the dominance of Microsoft Outlook in the enterprise.

Interview: Tim Pearson, CEO at RM plc on interoperability and software patents

John Spencer talks to Tim Pearson Chief Executive of RM. RM is the largest most successful supplier of ICT to the UK education market and, for good measure, is British too. Tim has been there from the start and so is really now Mr RM. This autumn he gave the school ICT world a jolt when RM announced its Asus miniBook. It retails to schools for only £169 and runs Open Source software throughout. The miniBook has preceded an avalanche of new products and new thinking.