OStatic

SourceForge, which is behind several media properties including Slashdot, SourceForge.net, Linux.com and Freshmeat.net, is announcing today that it is including OpenID functionality in its SourceForge.net website. OpenID, of course, is an open, decentralized framework for handling digital identities and authentication. It eliminates the need for multiple usernames online. Many big companies, including Google, Yahoo, IBM, and Microsoft (OpenID can be used with Windows CardSpace) employ OpenID. SourceForge's move, and the extent to which it's embracing OpenID, makes it one of the largest implementers yet.

Sun Microsystems officials are maintaining that MySQL will remain fully open source but does that mean just the kernel?.....

Sun is also in a new partnership with Liferay, to deliver next-generation web technologies.....

Oracle is eyeing open source developers with its Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, a new component of Oracle Fusion Middleware....

In other Oracle news, one of its executives says there should be only one Linux distribution: Red Hat.....

Linux.com has a video interview with IBM's Linux guru.....

At the JavaOne conference, Sun officials detailed how they've dealt with missteps in delivering open source products such as OpenSolaris.....

Microsoft hires SCO veteran to head up its competitive strategy initiatives.....

Britney Spears beats Paris Hilton in open source code references.....

Enomaly's open source cloud computing platform is getting more attention.....

After several months of discussion and speculation, the Microsoft-Yahoo buyout deal is apparently off. At least, that's what both Microsoft and Yahoo announced over the weekend. There is some speculation that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made his announcement in order to topple Yahoo's share price, in order to make another offer at a lower price. But for now, Yahoo is saying that they have come out of this fight stronger and more focused than before. Does this mean that we will see a change in Yahoo's commitment to open source?

It's hard to believe, sometimes, how little faith the press has in the financial prowess of Microsoft. The company produced the person who became, for a long time, the richest person in the world? Accidental--nothing more, says the press. In the wake of today's news, the press is unanimous in saying that the move culminated a whirlwind, three-month courtship that it initiated on Jan. 31 Game over, in other words. Give me a break. As Om has pointed out, the game has just begun, and there are important things hanging in the balance for open source.

On the heels of our prediction, open source Java is quickly heading into Linux distros. Sun Microsystems, Canonical and Red Hat have announced the inclusion of OpenJDK-based implementations in Fedora 9 and Ubuntu 8.04 Long Term Support Server and Desktop editions.....Microsoft is using open source to extend systems management to Linux.....Sun Microsystems' chief open source officer, Simon Phipps, discusses his company's move to 100 percent open source software development.....Canonical's Mark Shuttleworth weighs in on MicroHoo.....

The big tech conference this week is Web 2.0, going on now in San Francisco. There is a lot of meaningful news coming out of the conference, much of it directly impacting open source and some of it peripherally impacting it. Bungee Labs is looking to open source to expand its hosting options, Microsoft's Live Mesh announcement is getting lots of attention, Forrester Research is predicting big things for Web 2.0 technologies, and more.

We've rounded up the news here, and we'll keep it coming from the conference this week.

eWeek has a good interview with Ubuntu guru and Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth, who claims Microsoft is fracturing the open source community.....

Asus' Eee PC is the most popular laptop featuring an open source OS. The company will share its development experience at the Taiwan Open Source Summit.....

Microsoft and Novell are expanding their open source initiatives into China.....

The head of Sun Microsystems' database division says MySQL will remain an open source product.....