The theory behind open-source software is that it avoids many of the pitfalls - including cost - of closed alternatives.

But Steven Buckley, who runs Christian Aid's common knowledge programme, prefers to buy software from the likes of Microsoft. Is this not odd for a charity?

Cleversafe project, developers of the world’s first open source Dispersed Storage software, today announced it has launched a new open source project, called Cleversafe Desktop, which is an open source application with a graphical user interface (GUI) that improves visual presentation, ease of use and efficiencies for users storing data on open source dispersed storage grids.

Leading open source collaboration software provider recognized by partners for high ROI, innovative product.

Open-Xchange Inc., the leading provider of open source collaboration software, announced today that it has been named to CRN’s Emerging Vendors Directory, a list of 75 top companies recognized for bringing their partners high margins by providing cutting-edge, low-cost, easy-to-use alternatives to standard industry solutions.

The conference “The Role of Open Source Software for the Development of Information Society” was held in Yerevan, capital of Armenia from October 31 to November 1, 2006. The conference aimed at exchange of experience in open source promotion policy and in the use of open source software in specific areas such as public administration and education.

There's a tendency to think of the community as being entirely volunteers somehow working for free in their basements, but invariably they're in government or research," said Red Hat's Rick Carr. "For the commercial products, such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, where the customer base is Wall Street or wherever, the large majority of development is done by commercial IT companies.

I'm voting tomorrow, and hope you will too.

I will line up and use a Diebold voting machine, like everyone else in Georgia, and hope that the vote count is accurate. But that's all it will be, a hope. As last week's HBO special revealed the machines and (more important) the system is both closed-source and easy to hack.

The biggest obstacle in Java's path to becoming the dominant software architecture for mobile phones has been its fragmentation - both in terms of technical features and the various licensing schemes adopted by its early exponents. The past two years have seen the handset makers and large operators increasingly taking the steering wheel of the mobile Java movement, seeking to create unified platforms and work around the confusion caused by Sun's halfhearted open source approach.

There has been much debate about the GNU General Public License v3. Unfortunately, much of it has centered more on Stallman's personality and less on the technical issues. Furthermore, many seem to be ignoring history, especially the fact that Xerox' malfunctioning proprietary printer is what led to the explosion of Free Software as a movement. In order to understand the anti-DRM clause, you have to understand the Xerox incident. In this, the first of two articles examining the GPLv3 debate, we will briefly revisit history to see how the GPL came about, and how the debate about the the GPL is turning into a personality conflict, with even journalists making unwarranted attacks on Stallman's character.