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.

I blame the souls at Ars Technica just as much as the diabolical (though creative) minds at Miro for the ear-drum shattering, make-your-teeth-ache squeal I just unleashed upon the world. Miro's new fundraising campaign -- where for $4 a month, one can adopt a line of code -- has got to be one of the most innovative, creative, and inviting fundraising efforts an open source software project could ever dream up.

While I still take stock in the notion that perhaps open source projects could benefit from spinning their requests for monetary contributions as investments rather than donations, the Miro team has hit on (figuratively, anyway) real gold with this effort. Adopting a line of code (as if it were a whale, or, even, say, a penguin) and giving a little to the adoptee in return -- a blog widget, an adoption certificate, and a picture of your fostered line -- has a low impact on the project's resources, can garner some great returns, and is just fun.

I'm betting it'll turn out to be effective in other ways, as well.

In my inbox yesterday, along with the notes from my mom, forwards from relatives and friends who never really write, and a wide variety of great deals on fake watches, I discovered a press release from Funambol. That in and of itself isn't unusual, but what the open source mobile sync and push solution company was reporting is remarkable on several levels.

Many open source software companies are seeing increases in revenue, stronger migration rates and a general upswing in business thanks to the rather anemic economy. You don't need to write about open source to see this -- it's readily apparent to anyone skimming tech-related headlines. Funambol's announcement certainly mentioned the economy, and gave some truly impressive figures surrounding the project's growth -- but they weren't in relation to undeniably important financial gains. The jaw-dropping growth is happening somewhere that's even more critical in the long-term: the community.

I've noticed, as I get older, time seems to go exponentially faster. Unfortunately, this meant high school lasted an eternity, and I'm burning through my thirties at warp speed. Some events make me more aware of this than others -- it seems like it was only last week that Fedora 10 made its first mark upon the world.

But no, another release cycle has nearly come full circle, and today the Fedora Project announced the Preview Release of Fedora 11 (codenamed Leonidas). This preview will be followed by a release candidate (scheduled for a May 12 appearance), with the final version hitting the streets on May 26.

So what new features can we expect to see in Fedora 11?

I can't help, when hearing more of the details about the EFF and OdioWorks joint lawsuit against Apple, thinking that the whole situation is just broken from any angle. The DMCA isn't without issue and the fact that it was applied to an online discussion about reverse engineering possibilities is a disturbing first. Even more backwards is the idea that a company producing wildly popular devices that are unsupported on an operating platform that's attracting an increasing number of tech- and gadget-happy people would not expect (or tolerate to some degree) discussion about reverse engineering.

Let's put the legal issues aside for a moment -- or the idea that any copy protection systems were going to be stripped and copyright laws would be violated left and right. Wouldn't having a device your company produces but will not (or can not) support on some platforms reverse engineered so that it is able to work on (and with) a larger pool of software going to make your device more desirable?

Even as a child, I knew that Pixie Sticks were just trouble. The paper tubes loaded with colorful yet mysteriously flavorless sugar weren't particularly tasty, and too many of them led to mom and dad either threatening to pull the car over or hinting ominously about what would happen if they had to tell me again. Parents today know that in addition to the traditional side effects, Pixie Sticks aren't terribly good for USB ports, either.

That's not the case with the other sort of Sugar. Sugar, the kid-friendly open source desktop that was featured first on the OLPC XO laptop is now available (in a beta release) as a liveUSB image. The Sugar on a Stick environment is powered by Fedora 11 and features familiar Sugar desktop applications and functions, as well as new educational and collaborative tools, such as the InfoSlicer online content editor, remixer, and delivery application.

We've written on numerous occasions about open source adoption in government and education. The ways that open source solutions make sense in (and even philosophically complement) these areas are many, and often make any obstacles involved seem less critical. But for reasons that are frequently unrelated to the utility or appropriateness of open source software, adoption in the public sector has been slow.

It is on the increase, however. The Daily Gazette in Schenectady, New York, recently ran a piece detailing the reasons why the public sector has been hesitant about -- but not entirely resistant to -- adopting open source software.

When did you use Linux for the first time? The question was posed at the Linux Collaboration Summit earlier this month, and has prompted many Linux users to take a trip down memory lane.

I'm not sure if the admission that I remember my first Linux installation much more clearly than any date with my first boyfriend or my first date with my husband is a really wise thing to put in writing. I will freely admit it wasn't quite as anxiety-inducing as a date, and the long-term relationship that sprang from it taught me quite a bit about myself, how I learn, and how to passionately load kernel modules at boot.

I was never one for cryptozoological taxidermic creations -- you won't find mermonkeys or crocoducks on display in my home. I have, however, for the last few weeks, been hiding a jackalope in my laptop bag. He was an experimental little guy, but the folks at Canonical and the vast community behind Ubuntu have completed the necessary gene splicing and DNA alterations and soon -- very soon -- the final, stable release of Ubuntu 9.04 (the Jaunty Jackalope) will be let loose into the wild.

What's new this time around? How does it all work? And for the wilder types, where locally can you attend a Jaunty Jackalope release party?

Maybe it's not a completely counterintuitive concept that giving away a service can yield new business relationships and profits, but undoubtedly, actually doing so is still a leap of faith. It was a chance that Open-Xchange felt was worth taking when it announced it would be giving away its webmail module to qualifying telecom, non-profit, and educational organizations. Almost three months later, Open-Xchange is seeing that giving a little bit can bring good returns.

Open-Xchange's ongoing Webmail4Free promotion offers a free (in speech and cost) webmail module in exchange for marketing the company's open source groupware and mobility modules to the qualifying organization's users and signing a support agreement. The agreement terms vary depending on the organization's size and scope.

It's working out for Open-Xchange, which is reporting a rosier Q1 than expected, and has seen a number of new partnerships and customers thanks to the promotion.