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the war between open source and proprietary software is over - and moreover that open source has won.

the war between open source and proprietary software is over - and moreover that open source has won.

The Open Source Definition is somewhat limited in policing the use of the term. It seems steps are being taken to address that.

And the best open source license is …

while we expect Open-Core to remain a significant business model for 'pure-play' open-source companies, and we expect to see more software licensed under the Apache license, we don't see the two as being directly related.

Open source as an on-ramp to the cloud

A great mind map of open development

OSS Watch promotes awareness and understanding of the legal, social, technical and economic issues that arise when educational institutions engage with free and open source software. It does this by providing unbiased advice and guidance to UK higher and further education.

Free software manuals for Free software

Collaborative development projects have opened the door to much wider input than is the case in a closed development environment with subsequent improvements in price and performance. Open source reduces R&D costs, increases productivity, improves efficiency, facilitates interoperability and encourages innovation.

In a new study on open-source adoption in the business intelligence (BI) market, it's becoming clear that both the benefits and shortcomings of open source software are nearly universal across all technology segments.

Let's concentrate on a very specific aspect: making money out of open source projects' participation, building proprietary software leveraging open source ones.

A recent IDC study reveals that worldwide revenue from open source software (OSS) will grow at a 22.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $8.1 billion by 2013. This forecast is considerably higher than 2008 for three reasons: (1) the bottom-up list used to calculate the revenue has expanded through an exhaustive effort to include more projects in this forecast; (2) open source software has had a much higher level of acceptance over the past 12 months than previously expected, and; (3) the economy accelerated the uptake and use of open source software in the closing months of 2008.

highlight some differences of OSS business models in regards of the software stack being exploited: either a CCII (Common Content & Information Infrastructure) or a CEVA (Content Enabled Vertical Applications)

The Apache community not only managed to survive and grow, while many other open source communities faced troubles or even disappeared, but furthermore Apache has become a real institution and is well-known and respected within the IT area. As a community brand, Apache offers many of the benefits described above. Community members do not only respond with high loyalty towards the brand, but furthermore serve as passionate brand evangelists.

Talk about turning lemons into lemonade. The new Tr.im may be the most exciting thing to happen in URL shortening since now market leader Bit.ly itself launched.

IBM proved long ago that it's possible to build billion-dollar businesses with Apache. But SpringSource is the first start-up to suggest that Apache isn't simply a way for big companies to create complements to proprietary cores. Sometimes an Apache core is worth something, too. At least $420 million, by SpringSource's reckoning.

Should we dump all evangelism for Linux and Open Source? Should we immediately stop promoting it? Hardly. We simply need to go about it in a new way. Grab a ruler, pull out your behive hairdo and pick up an apple, because the new way to make converts is.....education.

Creating FOSS Allies Through Volunteerism

In just over three years, four companies that Fenton invested in while at his current firm Benchmark Capital, or previous one, Accel Partners, have sold for a combined $1.6 billion. Fenton, who ranks on Forbes' Midas List at No. 50, was an investor in JBoss Inc. (sold to Red Hat Inc. for $350 million), Zimbra Inc. (acquired by Yahoo Inc. for $350 million), and XenSource Inc. (bought by Citrix Systems Inc. for $500 million). So what are the ingredients he looks for in a potential open-source investment?