OStatic

It was well over a year ago now that news of the Symbian operating system--found on approximately half of global smartphones--going open source broke. The news was interpreted as particularly important to Nokia's forward-looking Symbian strategy, but after all this time, an open source version of Symbian's platform is still only in beta testing.

Today, though, as EETimes notes, Symbian has released its platform microkernel, and software development kit (SDK), as open source under the Eclipse Public License. The Symbian Foundation claims that it is moving quickly toward an open source model, which is questionable, but the release of the EKA2 kernel is a signal that Symbian still means business about adopting an open source model.

The Software Freedom Law Center and Red Hat's CEO rag on the patent system. Nobody can write software without risking a lawsuit.

Ingres goes after Sun's customers. The company is promoting a migration path from the MySQL database.

Apple's iPhone now has one-third the market share of desktop Linux. NetApplications measured how much Linux and the iPhone are used to access the Internet.

FOSS sexism claims stir up the pot. Bruce Byfield's recent article on the topic has people talking.

ARMing desktop Linux. ARM-based netbooks are on their way and they can't run Windows.

It's no news to anyone that Palm is desperate to make a success of its Palm Pre phone. It was met with very solid reviews initially, and AdMob's latest wireless traffic metrics show it gaining market share. Nevertheless, Palm's recent revenue forecast missed Wall Street applications by a long shot, and that's heading into the important holiday season, when the iPhone and many new Android handsets are likely to go on a tear.

Apple's success with the iPhone, of course, has a lot to do with its App Store, which has now moved over 2 billion applications. To put that 2 billion number in perspective, that's not far behind the total number of songs sold on iTunes since its inception years ago. Palm would very wise to try to compete with Apple's App Store through openness in its Palm App Catalog, along the lines of how Android Market pursues openness. That's why it's disturbing news that a Netscape veteran is reporting that his apps were rejected from the App Catalog because the source code was available elsewhere.

Talk of the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, once on the tip of everyone's tongue, has been waning lately as executive members jump ship and project teams are sent in different directions.

Not everyone has forgotten about this important program designed to put affordable laptop computers into the hands of children in impoverished nations, however. PocketMac, creators of Mac-to-handheld device syncing software, announced a fundraising partnership today with OLPC to drive additional money to the program and raise awareness of the project.

Want to hear an odd little theory (or perhaps more of a personal hang up) of mine? I don't own a Mac, and have never owned a Mac -- and I can say without reservation that many Macs I've worked with have been great, robust little machines. I also have never owned any Apple device (iPod, iPhone, or even a Newton). There are a few reasons on that front, one being that I don't have a Mac, and historically I've seen that these devices just don't play as well on other platforms as they do on Macs.

Here's the rub: Macs are nice, contained sorts of bio-domes, technological terrariums of sorts. The hardware and software all work together by design (which makes computing pleasant when all goes to plan and frustrating when it doesn't). When you need (or want) to use an outside service, problems ranging from aesthetic annoyances to complete non-communication arise.

Open-Xchange is an open source groupware and email alternative to Microsoft's Exchange Server. Though Open-Xchange previously supported Mac systems to some degree, it wasn't truly a cohesive, native experience.

If you're running OS X and use Open-Xchange, syncing your calendar, email, tasks and appointments between desktop, server, and mobile device just got a lot more functional, and much easier.