Wednesday, 25 April 2007

I eat crow: Flex to open source under Mozilla Public License

The other day, I gave Adobe a little kick in the shin when their CEO attacked Microsoft's cross-platform record. I've noted multiple times that they hang in the balance between taking serious steps to show they're ready to take the Red Pill (ironically the codename for a Photoshop release) and start to truly embrace open standards, open source and most of all Linux or proving that they were just a few billion dollars and a monopoly short of being just like Microsoft. Well, then...I got a call from James Ward. The Adobe Flex SDK is being open sourced under the Mozilla Public License and it looks like it is going to be the real OSI-certified one rather than some exhibit B (aka adware/badgeware) monstrosity. This is the first really definitive step that they've taken along the road to truly embracing open source. Guys, this is BIG, this is Really BIG.

James has never fed me a tastier meal of crow. James is a major contributor to Meldware's Webmail Client and even the originator of the source. Without him, Adobe wouldn't have crazy open source supporters like me giving them lip. While I've little doubt this decision is the work of many people, I have no doubt that it wouldn't have happened without the catalyzing effect of James Ward, Adobe's Grand High Evangelical Priest of Flex.

   

I think this is a tremendous step for Adobe, far bigger than their JIT donation to Mozilla. This move cements Flex's position as a defining technology for Web 2.0 development. Moving it to open source will not only improve its adoption but improve the technology through collaboration with the open source community. Buni has been very pleased with our results from using Flex in Meldware Communication Suite and we look forward to collaborating even more closely with Adobe. This will certainly help answer some of the usual Flash-haters at my Linuxfest Northwest talk. Now about that Flash plugin...

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Posted by acoliver at 10:29 PM in Open Source
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Why nothing specified by the JCP is ever open or free continued

Sam Ruby writes...

David Herron: Robert Burrell Donkin (JCP: Time For An OpenTCK) and Steve Loughran (Open tests for open standards) discuss their thoughts about an “Open TCK”. These are interesting thoughts .. ones that make it tempting to conclude that there must be an open TCK for Java...Remember that for Java there are at least four different classifications of test suites that exist:

1. The TCK’s and the JCK are specifically focused on conformance with the specifications.

...

Question: why aren’t we talking about #1?

My question exactly.

As Mark Wielaard states:

trying to negotiate a special deal for a select private group behind a NDA just doesn’t make sense for a open, distributed, collaborative group effort, especially not if you want to build bridges towards other communities and share efforts. Been there, done that, didn’t like the t-shirt.

Sun has an interesting relationship with open source. Open source defeated .NET for Java. Sun learned...sorta...that open source is good for it. However, they keep needing to be sent to the chalkboard. No recess (read:profits) for you Sun until you learn your lesson.

Let us hope that others that come into the crosshairs of proprietary monopolists are faster learners...

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Posted by acoliver at 9:36 AM in Open Source
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Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Linux Action Show

The Linux Action show is covering Linuxfest Northwest which we're participating in. Yet Slashdot still refuses, despite covering every other linux conference known to man, probably because they think it competes with their favored Penguicon. Though one is more of a regional tech conference and the other is more of a cultural conference. If you've got connections with the Slashdot crowd, I'd appreciate your assistance and will mail you some official Bunisoft panties if you're able to get it posted. If you don't have vitamin B plus then maybe you can help by clicking on the link and voting it up huh? Or maybe Digg it or something. Thanks in advance.

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Posted by acoliver at 12:55 PM in Open Source
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Monday, 23 April 2007

I question Adobe's cross-platform commitment

Adobe CEO questions Microsoft Silverlight cross-platform commitment. Well I question Adobe's. The Mac plugin for Flash 9 has been a bit finicky at best (granted I don't use it regularly). The Linux plugin is only now stable. There is no "official" version of Flex Builder for Linux despite this being Eclipse and there being no technical obstacle to releasing one. Apollo was originally not listed to be released on Linux and now will be released (like Flash 9) some months after. Guys you're either in this cross-platform, open world with us -- or you're just another Microsoft wannabe who is only a few billion dollars and a monopoly short of being just as bad. (While we at Buni love all operating systems, we do acknowledge a clear preference for no lock-in, open standards, open source and openness in general).

Commander Adama, Battlestar Galactica

"Make your choice", but make it carefully.

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Posted by acoliver at 1:03 PM in Open Source
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Why nothing specified by the JCP is ever open or free

Steve Loughran writes:

Contractual disputes between Apache and Sun notwithstanding, if you do get access to a JCP TCK, and the TCK is only available under NDA, then only a restricted subset of developers can see the tests. Those who have an access, have to keep it a secret. Although they can see the tests, they can't file bugreps that disclose public details of the test. That is, they could enter a bugrep that says "test 1032" failing, but not "test 1032 fails because https.proxyHost isnt set before java.net.URL ctor is called", or worse include a code snippet.

This is why at JBoss I never got involved in the compliance effort. At one point I really wanted to help as I knew we were under the gun, but I was unwilling to bind myself to Sun in this way. I feel that anything specified by a not truly open specification or design (despite any best intentions), is never truly open source. If Sun is serious about making the JDK or JavaEE open source, they actually should start with the CTK (they now call it Compatibility Test Kit as apposed to TCK). At the moment they dubiously determine the RIs (which are dubbed "correct") and even where those are open the CTK is not. From what I hear (not solely from my former coworkers) the CTKs are piles of poo as far as code goes (oops I hope that detail wasn't a trade secret).

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Posted by acoliver at 9:12 AM in Open Source
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Friday, 20 April 2007

Right on "Chinese Guy"

Shawn the Rock posts this awesome picture:

of a fellow in China's response to a Microsoft chat at a local university. While we at Buni (uh hum) love ALL operating system vendors (for the record we do kinda think Exchange sucks, but who doesn't huh?), the message totally resonates with us man. First off, this would take balls to do in the US. In China it would take BRASS ones. Secondly, he isn't so infested with dogma that he only says Open Source or only Free Software...he places them both on his banner. Free Software where it belongs as a higher ideal. Open Source second, as a lesser pragmatic compromise.

Finally, I'd like to highlight Shawn the Rock's blog, CityPassword (quickly becoming one of my personal favorites). While I only understand every other post (the ones in English), the dude is infected with that Open Source punk rock spirit. I might not agree with everything he says but I damn sure agree with him saying it! Rock on Shawn in Sichuan.

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Posted by acoliver at 7:21 PM in Open Source
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Buni Meldware @ Linuxfest Northwest

Apparently I'm not the only one excited that this time next week I'll be on the LUG tour at Linuxfest Northwest. We'll be doing a meldware talk/demo on both days @ 10a. I hope to see you there.

http://linuxfestnorthwest.com

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Posted by acoliver at 9:36 AM in Buni.org
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Wednesday, 18 April 2007

Anonymous CVS restored

Okay we have some sort of weirdness going on with CVS. It took some dirty hacking but now anonymous CVS access to Meldware works again. I'm not sure why the normal way of doing things did not work. Oh well. Anyhow...fresh open source...come and get it.

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Posted by acoliver at 6:08 PM in Buni.org
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Tuesday, 17 April 2007

Roy Russo and Tom Elrod launch LoopFuse

Congrats to my former JBoss coworkers Roy Russo and Tom Elrod on their new venture, LoopFuse. It is a pretty ballsy move to do this in open source and I'm sure won't be without controversy.

Roy has posted a good introduction to "demand generation" here but basically it tracks clicks, ties it to customer records and helps you decide where the areas of interest are. Some may view this as the embodiment of "the man" but trust me this kind of tech can make a company. I wish Roy and Tom lots of success and encourage you to check out LoopFuse.

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Posted by acoliver at 9:04 AM in Open Source
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Sunday, 15 April 2007

Volunteers wanted

Hi all, we're working feverishly towards release and we could really use a hand in a number of areas. If you're a Java or Javascript developer and have been thinking about getting involved and haven't taken the plunge because you don't know where to start. Write me at acoliver -at- buni -dt- org. I'd love to hear from you.

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Posted by acoliver at 2:23 PM in Buni.org
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Saturday, 14 April 2007

Buni is all about home baked cookies and....thong panties

The TriLUG meeting went off without too much of a hitch. Though oddly, and this is the one last place that Linux truly blows, I got my projector to work after two days of twiddling with the help of the folks in the #trilug IRC room on freenode. However, I could NOT get it to work for the presentation. It did however work with Red Hat's projector (the meeting was at Red Hat HQ). My wife is testing out some cookie recipes for a business she may start. Unfortunately this batch wasn't quite as good as previous batches, however the comments were constructive and helpful nonetheless. The deal was a survey for a cookie. We also gave out a survey for to draw for the Buni logo thong panties. I'm sure both gentlemen who won them will look stunning in them. The slides are improving. I hope to have them trimmed down by my next presentation at Linuxfest Northwest. We have a few other surprises planned for LFNW. However no cookies, sorry.

The demo also went better than expected. I did spend so much time on the projector issue that I forgot to disable the debugger, but someone commented that things seemed pretty fast. Someone mentioned their favorite moment was when I went "oh wow, it actually worked!". Anyhow, you may get to hear a podcast of this show (and so you know...it is different EVERY TIME) although apparently it may be marked "explicit" because I called myself an "asshole" (actually I was quoting someone in an embellished story). Anyhow, what can I say, that is how we roll at Buni: home-baked cookies, cussing, code and thong panties. I think I set the tone in my first entry. Anyhow, hope to see everyone at LinuxFest. It will be fun. BTW...M8 will be out shortly, we're fixing a bug or two and Mike is doing something really cool ;-).

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Posted by acoliver at 11:19 PM in Buni.org
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Wednesday, 4 April 2007

Come to the Triangle Linux User Group on April 12th, win thong panties

After Aron's talk at the SVLUG tonight, the next stop in our Linux User Group Tour is the Triangle User Group at Red Hat headquarters in Raleigh, NC. This is my hometown LUG. I thought gosh T-Shirts are boring. Golf shirts are worse. It would be great if I could economically produce Buni Meldware slacks (to go with all the T-Shirts that other vendors produce). However, I wanted to capture the spirit of our little company.

That's right...we'll be drawing for Meldware thong panties. Imagine how great you'll look in these -- you'll feel like a real winner!

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Posted by acoliver at 9:52 AM in Meldware
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