OStatic

Even though the economy is rough all over, this really is one of the best times to be working in an open source company. There are advantages for those running the business, and for those using its services. Perhaps the only better arrangement would be along the lines of what Likewise Software has put together -- an open source company developing and offering support services for software that integrates and secures mixed network environments.

There are a lot of mixed networks out in the wild, of course. This is why Likewise has successfully secured a $10 million Series C round of funding, which the company plans to use to pursue growth in new markets and fund the development of its product line.

Over the past few years, implementing security properly has become a big issue for software applications of all stripes, including open source applications and platforms. That's why I noted with interest a couple of blog posts on the topic from leaders behind two high-profile open source projects: Firefox and Drupal. In a piece called Learning From Mozilla Security on InternetNews, Jonathan Nightingale of Mozilla's security team, who has the title Human Shield, provides some instructive examples of the lengths Mozilla goes to to keep Firefox secure (and security is the reason some people use the browser). Meanwhile, Dries Buytaert, founder of the open source Drupal content management system, has a post up on strategic steps he wants to put in place for a security team to police Drupal and its many modules.?

Google Chrome users should take note of a blog post from Mark Larson, Chrome's Program Manager, calling out a fix for a serious security problem in the browser. The problem affects the non-developer, stable version of Chrome and allows the possibility of cross-site scripting attacks, which are becoming more and more common. The problem is now fixed in the new version 1.0.154.59 download.?