Open source and government

Dana Blankenhorn at Zdnet.com bring in his real life experience over many years about the relationship between open source and government:

"But after watching government on every level, in various countries, for over half my lifetime, I can tell you the last thing any government wants is to make a decision its successor can overturn.

Every government knows its time in office is limited. What it needs are stalwart friends and a legacy. Proprietary vendors deliver both, and it is in the nature of open source that these not be provided."

http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=5967

Ubuntu now the most popular cloud computing platform

"Ubuntu is currently the most popular operating system base for developers building cloud-based computing solutions, Crawford said. The open source operating system is already used in some government agencies, including NASA, but has not been widely available as it lacked GSA schedule pricing and support."

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/190264/ubuntu_linux_now_available_to_fed_customers_on_gsa_advantage.html

Confused investments in e-government

"After more than a decade of confused investments in e-government, information society, knowledge society, and so forth, I would have thought that the EU would help its member states better focus their efforts and good practice exchanges. Unfortunately, as browsing through other parts of epractice.eu clearly shows, it appears this is not the case.

Then why are we surprised if Europe lags behind in so many areas?"

http://blogs.gartner.com/andrea_dimaio/2010/02/24/why-the-eu-keeps-failing-on-e-government/

Indonesia, Brazil and India put up on US "Special 301 watchlist" for communistic open source recommandation

This is flat-earth news from the copyright lobby: because these three countries has recommended use of open source software in the public administration they deserve to be put on the "Special 301 watchlist" according to the copyright industry.

Norway, Great Britain and many other countries have also recommended open source software in public administration, and Canada was actually put on the 301 watchlist. International Intellectual Property Alliance wrote that Open Source software encourage a mindset for piracy, when it actually do the opposite because people download legal open source software instead of pirate Microsoft Windows copys ;-)))

It encourages a mindset that does not give due consideration to the value to intellectual creations. As such, it fails to build respect for intellectual property rights...

http://www.iipa.com/2010_SPEC301_TOC.htm

William Patry: "How to Fix Copyright" is coming in 2011

William Patry has written a book "about how we talk about copyright and the influence that plays in our thinking": Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars

http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Panics-Copyright-William-Patry/dp/0195385640/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0

His new blog has the same name: http://moralpanicsandthecopyrightwars.blogspot.com/

He wrote in a review post in Amazon that he is going to write a second book that is "entirely prescriptive, called "How to Fix Copyright"".

I am looking very much forward to that book. I think those two books will be the ultimate in copyright literature upp till now.

"Had I wrote a prescriptive book, that's all people would have focused on, I feared. But, since in the book I frequently advocate giving consumers what they want rather than what businesses want to give to them, I am heeding my own advice. I am writing a sequel, which is entirely prescriptive, called "How to Fix Copyright." It will be published by Oxford University Press too and will come out I imagine at the beginning of 2011. so please read and judge Moral Panics for what it set out to do."

http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Panics-Copyright-Wars-ebook/product-reviews/B002MTM3LQ/ref=sr_hist_5?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&filterBy=addFiveStar

Discrimination of Muslims in Norway

I thought some of you could be interested in the discrimination of Muslims in Norway. I am deeply disappointed of how the mass media is writing about Muslims compared to other Norwegians. Here is the English translation of an important analysis:


Here are some new links about the issues:

http://www.aftenposten.no/meninger/kronikker/article3531988.ece


New report from IMDI

http://www.utrop.no/18181:

http://www.utrop.no/Plenum/Kommentar/18194

http://www.utrop.no/Nyheter/Innenriks/18183

Macmillan with new ebook platform

This is VERY interesting

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/450204-Macmillan_Debuts_Interactive_Digital_Textbook_Platform.php

Historic victory for Open Source

Here are a testemony that corresponds very much with my own impression of open source people:

One of the things I enjoy so much about Open Source is the amazing people you meet, like Jacobsen. There were a few people that smart at Pixar when I worked there, but there seem to be tons of them in the Open Source world.

Bruce Perens: Inside Open Source's Historic Victory

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/features/article.php/3866316/Bruce-Perens-Inside-Open-Sources-Historic-Victory

Open source to the moon

Great project for the next Moon mission.

The Open Luna Foundation plans to put a permanent outpost on the Moon.

http://features.techworld.com/applications/3211968/is-open-source-the-right-way-to-the-moon/