Open-Source Backers March on Washington

Open-Source Backers March on Washington - Bits Blog - NYTimes.com
July 23, 2009, 2:03 pm

By Ashlee Vance

Update | 7:43 p.m. Correcting spelling of Roger Burkhardt's name.

Look out, lobbyists: Here come the open-source zealots.

Some of the world's largest technology companies have banded together in a bid to push open-source software on the United States government. They've formed a group called Open Source for America, which seeks to make sure that government agencies at least consider open-source software as an option in their buying decisions. The big, rather timely pitch behind this move is that open-source applications can help save the government money.

"The market for open-source software is growing dramatically, but there still needs to be education around understanding how to get the most out of it," said Roger Burkhardt, the chief executive of Ingres, a maker of an open-source database, who is on the Open Source for America board of advisers. "There are quirks to the government procurement process that need to be addressed."

Open-source companies often give away their base product and then charge customers for support and other services. This model, according to Mr. Burkhardt, can perplex government bodies used to buying software upfront. In addition, the group hopes to make sure that open-source software receives the necessary federal nods for use in things like drug approvals and high-security computing projects.

Some of the initial members of the organization include Google, Oracle, Red Hat, Advanced Micro Devices, Novell and Canonical. A host of smaller open-source software makers are involved as well.

The board of advisers is more or less a Who's Who of open-source advocates, including Eben Moglen, a prominent lawyer; Mark Shuttleworth, the chief executive of Canonical; Michael Tiemann, a vice president at Red Hat; and Jim Zemlin, the executive director of the Linux Foundation.

The government has aimed a large amount of its stimulus money at technology projects, and the open-source backers hope to get their fair share of that cash. More broadly, they would like the United States to follow countries in Europe and Asia with better defined guidelines around buying software.

The open-source "movement," if you will, continues to have some grass-roots momentum, with developers working without charge to improve projects like the Linux operating system and Mozilla Web browser. That said, large companies have come to dominate the open-source world. I.B.M., Google, Intel and others employ many of the best known open-source programmers and have made the software a key part of their internal operations as well as their business strategies.

Regardless of their affiliation, open-source types have demonstrated a fondness for backing free software in a vocal, often argumentative manner. They're sure to give the lobbyists working for proprietary software companies a run for their vocal cords and money.

OLPC software to power ageing PCs

BBC NEWS | Technology | OLPC software to power ageing PCs
Page last updated at 19:01 GMT, Wednesday, 24 June 2009 20:01 UK

Sugar runs on the XO and rival Intel Classmate PC Software originally developed for the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) project can now be used on any old PC. Sugar on a stick, as it is known, can be run from a USB drive to give ageing PCs a new interface and access to collaborative educational software. The software, designed for use by children, was launched at the LinuxTag conference in Berlin. It has been developed by Sugar Labs, a breakaway organisation from OLPC. "[Sugar on a stick] is a great new opportunity to breathe new life into these old machines," Walter Bender, founder of Sugar Labs, told BBC News. The release could dramatically increase the use of the free software, which has until now been predominantly distributed with the XO laptop, the machine sold be OLPC. The child-friendly computers, originally marketed as the $100 (£60) laptop, currently cost $199 (£120) each. Sugar on a stick, however, can be used on any machine. "It runs on Asus, Dell, HP - it runs on anything," said Mr Bender. "It even runs on phones." It has already been shown working on an Intel Classmate PC, one of the main rivals to the OLPC machines. Sweet release Mr Bender was formerly second in command at OLPC. He left in April 2008 after it was announced that the low-cost laptops would be offering Microsoft Windows software. The software can be run from a 1GB USB stick "I didn't leave OLPC because of the Microsoft deal - it was a symptom rather than the cause," he told BBC News at the time. "I left OLPC because I think the most important thing it is doing is defining a learning ecosystem." Mr Bender went on to found Sugar Labs, an independent effort to develop the software and interface used on the OLPC machines. The interface emphasises collaborative learning, allowing children to share material between different machines. For example, they can write documents or make music together. The open source software also contains a journal and automatically saves and backs up all data. It has been used by more than one million children on the XO laptop and has also been released as part of other operating systems. For example, it was bundled with releases of the Ubuntu and Fedora Linux systems. The latest release - Sugar on a Stick - allows anyone to run the software from a 1GB USB stick. It includes 40 programs, including a word processor, drawing application and games. Mr Bender said the ability to transport the software and plug it into any computer would allow children to have a "consistent experience" wherever they worked. "No matter what computer you have at home or at the library you're going to have the same use experience because you have sugar on a stick," he said. The software can be downloaded for free from the Sugar Labs website. It can be run on Linux machines, as well as Macs and Windows PCs. Recent Mac users and older Windows machines must use an additional "helper CD" to allow the computer to boot-up from the USB stick. The software will also be used to power newer versions of the XO laptop, shipped in the autumn. However, the new machines will not use Sugar as the primary interface. Instead, they will have a traditional desktop and allow children to run Sugar as a separate application. "Our current belief is that Sugar should have always been on a stick," an OLPC spokesperson told BBC News. "In our case it should have been an application on top of a native Linux. "We have been working on decoupling Sugar from our hardware since [Mr Bender] left." Mr Bender said that the statement from OLPC was based on a misunderstanding by Nicholas Negroponte - head of OLPC - about how Sugar worked. "What I think he meant was that Sugar should co-exist with traditional desktops," he told BBC News. "Sugar always has and still does and will continue to do be able to co-exist with traditional desktops. He just never quite understood that."