OpenSource Global

Open Source Workflow Engines in Java

2007-01-31T02:12:00.001-08:00

Open Source Workflow Engines in Java

The Open For Business Project: Workflow Engine Guide
The Open for Business Workflow Engine is based on the WfMC and OMG spec. it is a member of the Services Framework, and is tightly integrated with the Entity Engine. It uses the entities found in entitymodel_workflow.XML for definition information and entitymode_workeffort for runtime storage. All changes to a process or activity are persisted real-time. Therefore, the engine does not run in a thread, it is simply a group of APIs and common objects which handle the flow. When a change to the workflow is made, the engine then processes that change. When finished, the engine returns. Hence, if the application does crash, or the system reboots, the workflow will continue right where it left off upon restart.

Open Source Graphical XPDL Java Workflow Editor
Enhydra JaWE (Java Workflow Editor) is the first open source graphical Java workflow process editor fully according to WfMC specifications supporting XPDL as its native file format. It can be used to edit view every XPDL file which conforms to WfMC XPDL specifications, does NOT use any proprietary XPDL extensions and is available in English, German, French and Serbian language already. But we are still searching for volunteers for even more translations. Feel free to contribute. Advanced features like the consistency validation and guided property editor dialogs for all XPDL objects make it really easy to create valid XPDL files. The representation of workflow participants as "swimlanes" in the editor graphics gives a comprehensive overview of process responsibilities. In combination with Enhydra Shark, the Java XPDL Open Source Workflow Engine you get a complete workflow solution for embedded or standalone usage .

Open Source Workflow engine
WfMOpen is a J2EE based implementation of a workflow facility (workflow engine) as proposed by the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) and the Object Management Group (OMG). The workflow component is based on a set of JAVA interfaces that define an API for a workflow management facility. The basic "omgcore" interfaces follow OMG's Workflow Management Facility Specification, V1.2 very closely, while making some modifications to adapt the CORBA service to the established design practices for a Java API. Workflows are specified using WfMC's XML Process Definition Language (XPDL) with some extensions.

Weblog: Open source workflow
In this blog we share our discoveries in our search for open source workflow management tools. For tools that we find interesting, we download the code, try to execute the engine, or even get our reference process model working. From documentation, I gather that wfmOpen's XPDL implementation is quite complete, and the type of changes mentioned in the changelog suggest that wfmOpen is used heavily in production environments. From the forums I gather that the wfmOpen folks are very much into commercial support for their engine, but at least that means that they're making money out of it, and that they feel the pain when the thing doesn't work.

The Open Source Business Engine
The Open Source Business engine is a flexible, modular, standards-compliant Open Source Java workflow engine. It is fully J2EE compliant, and supports several J2EE application servers, operating systems and databases. It faithfully implements Workflow Management Coalition Open Standards (WfMC), to which it offers a variety of extensions and enhancements. OBE is equally suited to embedded or standalone deployment.
OBE supports automated, manual and mixed workflow processes, and has extensible work item allocation and activity completion algorithms. Activities are automated through an extensible system of Tool Agents, which enable the invocation of external logic defined in Java classes, EJBs, native executables, scripts in arbitrary scripting languages, Web Services, and so on. Human interactions are managed through work items, which can be purely manual or can provide the means to invoke the appropriate software tools. OBE provides a worklist API and worklist clients to manage work items.

A flexible workflow management system
The most innovative aspect of OpenFlow is its flexibility. Unlike others WfMS, OpenFlow can easily handle all the exceptional situations that usually stress workflow-based applications. Moreover, from the analysis of the exceptional situations encountered, it is possible to dynamically modify workflows in order to increase efficiency and make the conceptual flow closer to the real one. OpenFlow offers complete support to deal with exceptional situations that could occur in workflows; it offers various tools for the administrator to bring back the system in a coherent state.
Every exceptional case can be traced, isolated and properly processed, so that it can be re-inserted in the flow. Thus, it is no more necessary to forecast every possible situation while modelling the process: the system will remain always coherent, always up and running.

JBoss adds open source BPM engine to its offerings
JBoss Inc. announced today it has added a business process workflow engine to its array of open source offerings. Known for its popular application server, JBoss said it has acquired the open source Java Business Process Management project (jBPM) and hired its founder and lead developer, Belgian Tom Baeyens. JBoss vice president of strategy and development Bob Bickel said jBPM has been downloaded 30,000 times and will be available from JBoss as a free download under the Lesser General Public License (LGPL). The LGPL is amenable to businesses because it requires the user to release only the changes made to the open source code, unlike the GPL which requires release of the entire code stack to the development community.

Open Source Workflow
Open Source Workflow is fairly different from most other workflow systems available, both commercially and in the open source world. What makes OSWorkflow different is that it is extremely flexible. This can be hard to grasp at first, however. For example, OSWorkflow does not mandate a graphical tool for developing workflows, and the recommended approach is to write the xml workflow descriptors 'by hand'. It is up to the application developer to provide this sort of integration, as well as any integration with existing code and databases. These may seem like problems to someone who is looking for a quick "plug-and-play" workflow solution, but we've found that such a solution never provides enough flexibility to properly fulfill all requirements in a full-blown application.

Workflow, BPM and BPEL made practical
JBoss jBPM enables the creation of business processes that coordinate between people, applications and services. Designed for the mass market as well as supporting enterprise scale applications, jBPM bring process automation to a much wider set of business problems ranging from embedded workflow to enterprise business process orchestration and BPM. JBoss jBPM is a platform for multiple process languages supporting workflow, BPM, and process orchestration. Today, JBoss jBPM supports two process languages: 1. jPDL is a process language to implement BPM and workflow in Java. jPDL combines human task management with workflow process constructs that can be built in Java applications. 2. BPEL provides process orchestration which is the abililty to combine web services into a process execution flow.

The Open For Business Project: Workflow Engine Guide
The Open for Business Workflow Engine is based on the WfMC and OMG specifications. The Workflow Engine is a member of the Services Framework, and is tightly integrated with the Entity Engine. It uses the entities found in entitymodel-workflow.XML for definition information and entitymode-workeffort for runtime storage. All changes to a process or activity are persisted real-time. Therefore, the engine does not run in a thread, it is simply a group of APIs and common objects which handle the flow. When a change to the workflow is made, the engine then processes that change. When finished, the engine returns. Hence, if the application does crash, or the system reboots, the workflow will continue right where it left off upon restart. The Workflow Engine is not designed for processing flow of a web site. This is a common misconception. Web site flow is controlled by the Control Servlet. Workflow is the processing of manual and automatic activities to fulfill a specific goal.

Bossa is a workflow engine written in Java
Bossa is a workflow engine written in Java. The engine is very fast and lightweight, without sacrificing functionality. Its main strengths are the very expressive Petri net based notation it uses to define workflows and the powerful resource selection mechanisms it provides. Also, it is free software licensed under the GNU GPL. Bossa does not require a RDBMS and is very simple to use and to integrate with java applications. Actually, it was designed to be embedded. Therefore, Bossa is organized as a library to be used by server side applications (especially web oriented ones) that need workflow services. The characteristic that makes Bossa at the same time simple and powerful is the clear separation between workflow logic and application logic. We believe that the application's workflow logic should be abstracted in the same way that RDBMSs abstract the application's data storage and retrieval concerns.

J2EE Cooperative Workflow System
Bonita is a workflow system featuring innovative features like activities that can start in anticipation awareness infrastructure allowing user notification of any events occurring during the execution in a given process , or automatic activation of user's code according to a defined activity life cycle. Traditional workflow features like dynamic user/roles resolution, activity performer and sequential execution are also included in Bonita to support both cooperative and administrative workflow processes. Bonita is a fully conformant J2EE application, taking advantage of the power and robustness of the J2EE platform. The BONITA API is accessible either thru EJBs or Web Services calls. Processes are created using a graphical definition tool, by using the Project interface API or by means of a XPDL file definition. A process is defined as a set of activities and an associated execution model. The enactment engine takes care of scheduling the activities according to the defined execution model.

OpenWFE is open source workflow engine
OpenWFE is an open source workflow engine. It is implemented in Java, and is available under the BSD license. OpenWFE not only features a workflow engine, but also a full fledged Business Process Management Suite. OpenWFE contains these features and many more:
* a worklist component for storing workitems (tasks) for participants
* an APRE component, allowing you to implement automated agents into your work flows
* Droflo, our web-based flow designer
* and a well-documented REST interface and several libraries to access it, with more on the way.

Jakarta Turbine Web Application Framework
Turbine is a servlet based framework that allows experienced Java developers to quickly build web applications. Turbine allows you to use personalize the web sites and to use user logins to restrict access to parts of your application. Turbine is a matured and well established framework that is used as the base of many other projects (like e.g. the excellent Jetspeed 1 Portals framework. Turbine is an excellent choice for developing applications that make use of a services-oriented architecture. Some of the functionality provided with Turbine includes a security management system, a scheduling service, XML-defined form validation server, and an XML-RPC service for web services. It is a simple task to create new services particular to your application.

Open source bexee-BPEL Execution engine
Bexee stands for BPEL Execution Engine and is an open source implementation of the BPEL standard. The bexee project has been initiated in the scope of a diploma project at the Berne University of Applied Sciences, School of Engineering and Information Technology The goal of the Web Services effort is to achieve universal interoperability between applications by using Web standards. Web Services use a loosely coupled integration model to allow flexible integration of heterogeneous systems in a variety of domains including business-to-consumer, business-to-business and enterprise application integration. Systems integration requires more than the ability to conduct simple interactions by using standard protocols. The full potential of Web Services as an integration platform will be achieved only when applications and business processes are able to integrate their complex interactions by using a standard process integration model .

Open Source Business Model

2007-01-31T02:11:00.001-08:00

Open Source Business Model

What is the open source business model
It is often confusing to people to learn that an open source company may give its products away for free or for a minimal cost. While it is true that an open source business may not make money directly from its products, it is untrue that open source companies do not generate stable and scalable revenue streams. In actuality, in the 21st century web technology market, it is the open source company that has the greatest long-term strategic advantage. This is demonstrated by companies such as LINUX, Apache, and Netscape, a host of web-specific technologies such as Java, Perl, TCL, and a host of web-specific technology companies such as Send mail. The open source business model relies on shifting the commercial value away from the actual products and generating revenue from the 'Product Halo,' or ancillary services like systems integration, support, tutorials and documentation.
Open Source as a Business Approach
The purpose of this section of the website is to describe, in general terms, how open source business models work so as to provide a starting point for discussion of what would be involved in translating the open source approach from the software to the biotechnology context. I envisage two kinds of audience for my attempts to determine the viability of open source biotechnology as a business model. The first is made up of companies that release, sell and/or support biotechnology research tools commercially. In this category there are two subcategories: startups and established firms. Startups may be a tougher crowd because they are only likely to get one stab at getting established and may prefer what they see as the safer option of adopting the familiar IP-rent approach. On the other hand, established firms have more to lose by converting to a new approach.
The Open Source Business Model
In a recent column, she considered open source software as a business model, and found much to recommend it. For the sake of this discussion, the terms Open Source Model and Free Software Model which in theory are synonymous, will be used differently: Open source has come to mean a larger set of software and software producers which do not adhere to all the qualities of a free software company, but perhaps some or most of them. The term open source has also gained currency since, as Sol puts it free software tended to scare off some people, especially investors and large clients, and open source did better in boardroom discussions. Her argument centers around the contention that the open source software development process produces applications which equal or best applications produced in closed environments. The major reasons why are given below.
An open source business model
Following is a series of notes on an open source business model that I think could unleash community driven software development. Today, workable open source business models that involve community driven software development are rare. The two models you typically encounter are:
* You start and lead an open source project, and sell services around it; but I hardly see how this model can work, since you end up financing the R&D of your competitors.
* You contribute to an already existing and widely supported open source project, and sell services around it; making this model a bit more workable .
A Business Model For Open Source
Tomorrow I’m heading out to San Diego to speak at the Linux Desktop Summit. I’ll be talking about Breaking the Barriers to the Acceptance of the Linux Desktop and I wanted to share some thoughts about the Open Source market .An important part of the Open Source market is the underlying operating system, generally Linux, which is developed by a volunteer community, with the assistance and cooperation of a number of for-profit companies (hardware, software, and services) that have a vested interest in the success and continuing refinement of Linux. It is a popular myth to think of these volunteers as entirely unpaid and Linux as free, but, in fact this explanation seems less true over time.
Open-Source As A Business Model?
Open-source, as an approach to create software as a commodity, new ways of doing journalism, news reporting and even video production may seem a little too cutting edge to many, but indeed these new experimental ways of working collaboratively and from the roots, show great promise as each day passes. That's why open-source as a business model may soon become more attractive to many, especially those who prioritize meaning and the greater good above a fatter wallet. Today, Slash dot opened its email-based news digest with an emblematic short introduction to a possible open-source approach in running a business company. While very simple and undetailed on many aspects, the post is representative of a growing trend toward open-source, P2P, collaboration and grassroots cooperation that sees no slowdown.
Open source business models come to the fore
A few years ago, releasing once-secret source code to the public would have been a highly unusual first move for a company with a newly acquired software product line. But that's exactly what Integrated Computer Solutions is announcing this week with the Project.net project management software it bought on 1 January. And it's a move that today is downright ordinary. Open source software has become not only increasingly mainstream, but it's also often a way for a company to gain advantage over a proprietary rival with a close guard over its software's underlying instructions. Integrated Computer Solutions announced its open source move in conjunction with the Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco this week. The conference has become a focus for a new wave of open source companies with products that often run at a higher level than earlier open source successes such as Linux or Apache.
Open Source Business Model in OATH
It's a business model that seems to work for Safehaus, an organization now collaborating with OATH (Initiative for Open AuTHentication) on technologies for authenticating cell phone subscribers, among other things. For its part, OATH was formed by vendors who perceived a void in standards around authentication based on strong encryption, said David Berman, OATH's membership chair, during an interview with LinuxPlanet. The static password has been a weak link. We need to drive down the costs of strong authentication," according to Berman, who is also director of partner marketing for VeriSign Security Services.
The Open Source Business Model
In the financial sense, I mean. Sometimes, a large corporation will offer a project funding. Or perhaps they will hire the primary developer and allow him to continue working on the project, as Microsoft has done with Iron Python. Most open source authors that I know of aren’t writing their software for the money they hope to make with it. They work on it because they love it and would do it even if there is no hope of gaining funding of any sort. They work on their projects in their spare moments before and after the job that pays the bills and when they aren’t enjoying time spent with their families. Sometimes, a project gains a large enough of a user base that the project’s author is able to offer his services around the project on a paid basis. Recently, Kevin Dangoor, the creator of Turbo Gears, announced that he would be offering consulting services around Turbo Gears, primarily development of Turbo Gears features, coaching, and training.
Enterprise Open Source Business Model
Enterprise Open Source is the business model of eZ systems, meaning that we do business in the realm of freedom and responsibility. While our products are Open Source licensed, eZ systems is still a company with a professionally hired crew. Thus, just like any other company, we deliver if you pay us and we need to make money to pay our crew and bills. Since 1999, eZ systems has been creating Open Source software and serves its customers. During that time, we have first of all experienced the benefits of Open Source when it comes to efficient product development and distribution. We acknowledge that our software would not have been as good as it is today without the help of an active community and the Open Source development model.
Matra Datavision: towards an open source business model
On December 1999, Matra Datavision announced the adoption of an open source strategy for its CASCADE geometric modeling libraries with publication of their source code on the Internet, as the Open CASCADE product, distributed under a LGPL-like licence. Before that announcement, CASCADE had been marketed using a traditional, proprietary model, with an installed base of about 130 active customers, using 250 development licences and 1,500 run-time licences worldwide. From a technical point of view, Open CASCADE is a set of components for the development of technical and scientific modeling applications ranging from CAD/CAM/CAE to metrology and measuring machines, biomedical software, 3D geological mapping, optical simulation, product design and styling. When Matra Datavision decide that Open CASCADE was to be distributed under an open source licence, they gave developers free access to the source code of many 3D geometry data structures including hundreds of modeling algorithms.

Open Source Application Server(2)

2007-01-31T02:09:00.000-08:00

Open Source Application Server

New Open-Source Application Server
A new open source application server is available for download from WSO2 Inc., a little known but highly regarded Sri Lankan firm of open source developers. It's Tungsten 1.0 application server is designed to handle Ajax and other scripting based applications more efficiently. The WSO2 stands for Web Services Oxygenation, perhaps an alchemist's way of saying it's time to activate a new generation of Web applications. Nevertheless, WSO2 is bringing a fresh set of concepts and standards to the notion of an application server, software that gives a Web site its ability to scale across many users. Application servers available today, such as IBM Web Sphere, BEA Systems WebLogic, and Red Hat's JBoss, are written in Java and geared to run Java applications. WSO2's Tungsten 1.0 comes in both Java and C versions, with the latter offering some advantages when it comes to dealing with Web technologies.
Open-source application server enters the fray
Enterprise computing has increasingly embraced open-source Web servers, operating systems, tools, and browsers -- so the arrival of an open-source application server should come as little surprise. Lutris Technologies, a consultancy in Santa Cruz, Calif., will announce April 19 that its free, open-source Java/Extensible Markup Language (XML) application server, Enhydra, is gathering momentum both in deployment and via the efforts of developers contributing to its evolution. The privately held company, which oversees Enhydra's development in the open-source milieu, claims Enhydra is the only open-source XML compiler and server available. Lutris hopes to do to the application server space what Apache has done for the Web server arena and Linux has done for platforms: commoditize the baseline functionality at little or no cost to users while leveraging the benefits of open-source development progress and testing to advance the product.
WS02 Debuts Tungsten, Open Source Application Server
WSO2, a new start-up creating open source platforms for Web services, launched its premier product, Tungsten, and announced that the company has received an investment from Intel Capital, the venture capital arm of Intel Corporation. Founded by technology pioneers, the WSO2 team is comprised of individuals instrumental in establishing Web services and SOAP standards, and longtime contributors to the Apache open source project. The middleware market today is dominated by expensive, complex products that will be rapidly commodities by less expensive, technically superior open source alternatives that have been created specifically for today’s Web services environments, said Sanjiva Weerawarana, CEO of WSO2. “WSO2 has developed an open, modern architecture that delivers the cleanest standards support.
Red Hat Delivers Open Source Application Server
The world's leading provider of open source solutions to the enterprise, today announced the availability of Red Hat Application Server. Red Hat is delivering this new solution in response to customer demand for a commercially supported, lightweight and lower cost application server. With this announcement, Red Hat is reinforcing its strategy to work with partners and open source developers to create quality enterprise options for customers building Open Source Architectures. Customers have been asking for an open source application server that is fully interoperable with existing J2EE vendors, so that they can leverage open source where possible while protecting legacy investments, said Paul Cormier, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Red Hat. "The open source web and Java communities are flourishing and expanding with organizations such as Apache, Object Web and Eclipse driving the innovation. The application server was a natural next step for open source.
Open source application server and integration tools
At its JavaOne conference today, Sun Microsystems Inc. unveiled new open source initiatives designed to keep itself and Java relevant in the emerging service-oriented architecture era. Amidst a 10th birthday for Java featuring a ragtime band and a ukelele-wielding mascot, Sun threw its weight behind open software development by releasing code for the popular Java System Application Server Platform Edition 9.0 and Java System Enterprise Server Bus, which is based on the Java Business Integration (JBI) specification (JSR 208), plus new SOA tools.
Sun CEO Scott McNealy stressed that Sun doesn't make money by selling Java as a language, but rather by coming up with commercial uses for Java. In the SOA space he made no bones about Java and Microsoft's .NET platform being in a foot race.
Red Hat Packages Up Open Source Application Server
While operating systems may no longer be the absolute control points that they used to be in the server market, they are still a decent foundation on which to build a business. But a foundation is not a house, and that is why the commercial Linux distributors have focused on selling services and support and moving up the software stack to peddle all kinds of middleware. Red Hat threw its hat in the middleware ring last week as it announced an integrated open source application server to sell with its Enterprise Linux 3 platform. Commercial application servers from IBM, BEA Systems, or Oracle are not really a single program, but an amalgam of many different programs that do a lot of different work to link back end systems to front end Web clients. The same holds true with the new Red Hat Application Server, which was announced at the Linux World trade show in San Francisco last week. As you might expect, the Red Hat Application Server is based on open source software and is only supported on Red Hat's own Linux server variants.
Open Source XML Application Server
Planet 7 Technologies of Redmond, WA has released a beta version of its XML Application Server (XAS) under the Open Source licence. The XML Application Server is written in Java and requires a Java Virtual Machine. The XML Application Server allows XML documents to be shared and modified in real-time by multiple users whose interactions with the document become part of the document. It is intended for interactive, collaborative applications, especially where monitoring user activity in real-time is important. XML.com contacted Chris Jones, the CEO of Planet 7 Technologies who along with business partner, Drew Batchelor, is the author of the upcoming Open Source Linux Web Programming . Here's what Jones told XML.com about using the XML Application Server. The first step is to make an XML representation of your web site. The resultant XML document may have nodes representing each page, and perhaps even the content within them. This document is published to XAS ready for client access.
Open Source application server for Linux
The WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (WAS CE) is a lightweight J2EE application server built on Apache Geronimo, the open source application server project of the Apache Software Foundation. WAS CE is the follow-on product for Glue code SE that the Glue code company always envisioned. Find out what this new Community Edition app server, which is 90% Apache Geronimo, means to the open source Apache Geronimo development community. WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (quite a mouthful; let's just say WAS CE) is based on the Apache Geronimo M5 (milestone 5) driver, which the project delivered in October. Geronimo M5 was the first official J2EE-certified driver from the project. This IBM product redistributes the Apache Geronimo code base in an easy-to-install-and
-go configuration -- along with professional documentation -- to make sure that the early developer experience is a positive one.
Open Source J2EE Application Server
The Apache Software Foundation announced the release of Apache Geronimo Version 1.1, an open source J2EE application server from the Apache Geronimo project. This release continues the evolution of the Apache Geronimo server, adding new features and capabilities to a fully compliant J2EE container suitable for everything from development to enterprise deployments. Along with many new features Apache Geronimo Version 1.1 introduces several structural changes designed to improve scalability, portability and overall organization. An easy-to-
use configuration and management console provides access to the new innovative plug-in architecture, allowing advanced control over the rich modularity of the Apache Geronimo server as well as simplifying day-to-day operational management tasks.
Open Source Grid Application Server
ActiveGrid Inc, a commercial open source software company, announced the early-access release of the company's next-generation enterprise application platform. The Active Grid Application Builder and Grid Application Server are now available for download under the popular open source Apache Software License 2.0. Built on the proven LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP/Python/Perl) software stack, the ActiveGrid platform is designed to scale business applications across horizontal Grids of commodity computers -- accelerating composite application development, reducing cost, and enabling customization at runtime .

Open Source Antivirus

2007-01-31T02:08:00.001-08:00

Open Source Antivirus

Developing Open Source AntiVirus Engines
According to its Web site, the OpenAntivirus Project is “a platform for people seriously interested in antivirus research, network security and computer security to communicate with each other, to develop solutions for various security problems, and to develop new security technologies.” Among these technologies are Scanner Daemon, Virus Hammer and Pattern Finder, which are “a first implementation of a GPLed virus scanner written in Java.” This article will take a look at the OpenAntivirus AV engine, assess its progress so far, and offer some suggestions of how the developers can continue to develop it. While some of the commentary in the following sections may be fairly critical, the purpose of this paper is not to flame the OpenAV project or its developers but, on the contrary, to salute their efforts. Hopefully, this article and the comments herein will make a significant contribution to the development of a viable, working open source antivirus product.
Open Source Anti-Virus for the Whole Network
Until recently, there was not a strong open source presence in the anti-virus realm. Now, however, there is more than one project in this arena, and the ClamAV project in particular is proving its ability to provide software scanning in a way that's adaptable and effective. In the spirit of the Unix philosophy, Doug McIlroy said, "Write programs that do one thing and do it well. Write programs to work together." ClamAV demonstrates just how effective this model continues to be. The ClamAV engine simply filters any input given and outputs a basic summary stating whether a virus was detected. This simplicity makes it appropriate for scanning content on a local file system, network file system, Web proxy, mail gateway, or whatever.
ClamAV antivirus Open source
ClamAV For Windows is a completely free and open source anti-virus software package. ClamAV is an open source antivirus solution for UNIX/Linux operating systems. It features a command line interface for scanning files, updating the virus definitions, and a daemon for faster scanning needed on high performance systems. ClamAV is a security software that protect your PC against virues. Unlike most antivirus products, ClamAV requires no yearly subscription fee, and is completely free with source code to anyone who wishes to use it. Because ClamAV is released under the GPL v2 license, you must follow all license requirements if you modify the ClamAV source code, or use it in your own projects. The SOSDG has taken the latest ClamAV from the CVS tree, compiled it against the current stable Cygwin DLLs, which provide a full UNIX/Linux compatibility layer for Windows operating systems.
Open Source Not Ready for Anti-Virus
Anti-virus software is definitely a challenge for the open-source model, and while there is at least one active program, there's no good evidence of how well it works. The anti-virus business is an interesting one. On the one hand, it's amazingly competitive on a worldwide basis, even if Symantec dominates the U.S. consumer market; there are a lot of companies in this business. But it's also a disappointing business technologically. The companies are not out to solve a problem as much as to acquire an annuity stream in the form of subscriptions for signature updates. So where does the free software movement fit in all this? For their own purposes, viruses and the other things a signature-based scanner would find are a comparatively minor problem. If you're a Linux or BSD user, there aren't many viruses that can attack you. But there are plenty of file and mail servers running on Linux that service Windows users.
Clam AntiVirus: Open source vs. the bad guys
Protecting against viruses has become an inherent part of using a computer, thanks to the pervasiveness of email, a favorite delivery platform for malicious code. Open source software, in the form of Clam AntiVirus, can help you detect these rogue programs before they hit your inbox, whether you run Linux or Windows. In fact, you can install ClamAV on a wide range of operating systems, either through pre-compiled binaries or by a source code build. This flexibility gives ClamAV a distinct advantage over competing products in the virus detection arena, which often ignore users with older or non-mainstream operating environments. If you detect a malicious executable within your network, you may submit your suspicious file to the ClamAV database for the benefit of the whole community, a process which accelerates the response and detection time for newly spreading viruses. Because the users pitch in, ClamAV doesn't have to charge for subscription updates, as most commercial vendors do.
Open-source antivirus tech may get commercial
To plug a hole in its intrusion-prevention product, eEye Digital Security may adopt the Clam AntiVirus project and improve the open-source software. eEye's Blink intrusion-prevention product includes system- and application-level firewalls and protects computers against phishing, spyware and exploitation of known vulnerabilities. "Antivirus is the only missing piece," Ross Brown, eEye's chief operating officer, said in an interview with CNET News.com. Blink is used by about 250 organizations worldwide, including the U.S. Army and the Department of Homeland Security, according to Brown. Some want the product to include antivirus support, so eEye is considering its options, including adopting the Clam AntiVirus project.
Forum Systems to Support Open Source Clam Antivirus
Forum Systems announced its support for Clam Antivirus, a leading Open Source antivirus toolkit. Forum XWall Web Services Firewall now integrates and extends the Clam Antivirus scanning engine to prevent the propagation of virus, worms, Trojans and other malicious software that finds its way into XML and SOAP documents, the emerging standards for business communications. Clam AntiVirus is an open source content scanning engine that is widely adopted for its high performance virus database and comprehensive malware signature database. The new Open Source-based module is available at no extra fee to Forum XWall customers. Recent industry examples with financial companies such as CardSystems Solutions, ChoicePoint, Bank of America and Wachovia point to lost, misplaced or stolen data that could potentially affect millions of customers. A virus embedded in XML messages and documents is another avenue by which malicious users are able to corrupt workflows, steal data and stall enterprise productivity.
Anti-Virus Vendors Disagree on Open Source
Days after anti-virus software provider McAfee issued a special report on the dangers of the open source method when it comes to combating malware, competitor Trend Micro is stumping for the other side of the argument, pointing out that it's the "openness" of open source that makes malware easier to find - and find quickly. Trend Micro's CTO is cited here for the proposition that security loopholes are fixed faster and malware is combated more efficiently because open source developers address security issues as they happen rather than waiting for the next patch cycle to come around, as is common in proprietary software companies. An SMB usually has fewer dollars to spend and less pull with vendors than a large enterprise, which could result in less than optimal anti-malware. Clam AntiVirus, profiled here, is an open source alternative developed for UNIX systems that is gaining respect in the enterprise arena.
Forum Systems to Support Open Source Clam Antivirus
Forum Systems, the leader in Web services security for threat protection and trust management, announced today its support for Clam Antivirus (http://www.clamav.net/), the leading Open Source antivirus toolkit. Forum XWall Web Services Firewall now integrates and extends the Clam Antivirus scanning engine to prevent the propagation of virus, worms, Trojans and other malicious software that finds its way into XML and SOAP documents, the emerging standards for business communications. Clam AntiVirus is an open source content scanning engine that is widely adopted for its high performance virus database and comprehensive malware signature database. The new Open Source-based module is available at no extra fee to Forum XWall customers. Recent industry examples with financial companies such as CardSystems Solutions, ChoicePoint, Bank of America and Wachovia point to lost, misplaced or stolen data that could potentially affect millions of customers. A virus embedded in XML messages and documents is another avenue by which malicious users are able to corrupt workflows, steal data and stall enterprise productivity.

Open Source Accounting

2007-01-31T02:06:00.000-08:00

Open Source Accounting

Turbocase open source Accounting software
TurboCASH .7 is an open source accounting package that is free for everyone to download and distribute under the terms of the General Public Licence (GPL). It is one of the world's first fully-featured open source accounts packages for small business. Turbo CASH is much more than a simple 'home finances' or small business bookkeeping system . Small business accounting software providers typically release a low-end product for £100 that excludes such basic features as stock control. TurboCASH includes most functions a business will ever need: debtors, creditors, general ledger, full stock control, VAT accounting, invoicing, bank reconciliation, trial balance, balance sheet and income statements, full reporting and analysis, as well as mutli-company and multi-user capabilities.
Pros and Cons of Open Source Accounting Software
Open source applications are an important part of the computer landscape and need a proper evaluation when making computer decisions. While open source licensing has no cost, open source computing is not “free.” The focus of this article is to consider whether open source is a viable platform for accounting applications. There are lots of applications built on an open source platform, such as the operating system from Linux and the Internet browsers from Firefox and Mozilla. Typically, open source software starts with a small company developing the foundation application code. Other software developing companies, individuals and small groups test and determine the code’s usefulness and whether they have any interest in enhancing the code. This public participation creates the opportunity for a major collaboration among the original developers and a wide range of other developers. Some believe that open source is the domain of the geek who does nothing but play with code. With easy access to an open source application, the techie can wreak havoc and make error-filled changes. However, this does not happen.
Open Source Accounting and Inventory Program Launched
A web based, open source accounting and inventory program called NOLA has been released. It appears that this program is fully web based, so it should be especially useful if you need remote access to accounting and inventory systems, or if you are working in a mixed platform environment. According to the press release: Noguska has long been a leader in the graphic arts niche market, installing it's various accounting, estimating, and management packages for businesses around the globe. The release of it's Web Based NOLA accounting software under the GPL promises to bring Noguska's software engineering expertise to the business accounting software market.
Open Source Accounting Software in Business
In the world today there are new businesses that are opening. Many of these new businesses are small and need help with the financial and accounting concerns of the business but do not have a lot of money to spend on elaborate software. Luckily, there is Open Source Software which provides these companies with free downloadable programs that will help run the business and provide up-to-date information. Open Source Software gives new business owners a chance to succeed with no cost. With the advancements in communications and technology, more and more people are opening small businesses and successfully operating them from their home. Accounting in large and small businesses is an important part of running a successful business. Today, there are many software programs that are designed to aid in the accounting portion of business. The problem with these programs is that they are very expensive and small businesses do not have the funds to purchase the expensive programs.
The business of sharing - accounting for open source
The benefits of free, open source software are great, and managed well can add great value to a business. Existing accounting best practices offer guidance on how best to account for the benefits of these, alongside the broad spectrum of other software in use today. Make sure you see the full value of your IT investment . Free" or open source software could be compared to a potluck dinner- you bring something nice to share, and you are free to choose from whatever you like. Take some of this, skip that. How well you eat depends as much on your own preferences as on the culinary skills of the other guests. And nobody checks to see if you really did bring something; it’s just expected, not enforced. Open source technology allows you to build a system up at your own pace for your own needs. Because source code is shared openly, you can freely use the useful innovations made by other companies or individuals from your original ideas. Through this process, a company can build value from inside and outside its operations.
Open Source Accounting Solutions
At first glance, you might think accounting systems are the main type of software that keep you using Windows systems. QuickBooks, Peachtree, Microsoft Money, and Quicken all run on Windows, and not directly in Linux. These programs have certainly captured the market for financial software for small businesses. Slightly larger businesses opt for expensive enterprise accounting systems such as Great Plains, MAS 90, and Lawson. These programs require extensive customization to make them work for a particular business. A few open source systems have emerged to provide compelling alternatives to proprietary accounting software. These systems are beginning to surpass the proprietary offerings in terms of features, customizability, and flexibility.

Open Source Project Management

2007-01-31T02:05:00.001-08:00

Open Source Project Management tool
dotProject is a volunteer supported Project Management application. There is no "company" behind this project, it is managed, maintained, developed and supported by a volunteer group and by the users themselves. The software is free to anyone who would like to download it. Day to day support is provided free by volunteers. If you would like to see the system in operation - use the Demo link in the modules list to the left top of the site. If you would like to download the package use the downloads link on the top right. Please be aware that the CVS snapshot is guaranteed to be UNSTABLE and should not be used on a production site or if you are not willing to have to do some work at the code level. If you are looking for support, to ask a question or to check to see if issues have been raised by others - use the support link at the top right to access our support forums.
An Open-Source Based Project Management System
This web page is about the technical details of project-open and its developer community. This page is designed for software developers, administrators and users with certain technical background. project-open is a very complete online platform and already contains today many of the feature that are currently announced by many large international companies. We can provide these features thanks to the open-source nature of ]project-open[ that allows us to tap into thousands of many years of development time from other open-source projects such as OpenACS, AOLServer, PostgreSQL, CygWin, CVS, Postfix, Linux, Pound, Inno Setup, etc. project-open is an open-source based project management system. Functionality include internet collaboration and e-Rooms, discussion forums, Internet file storage, customer management (CRM), timesheet management, management accounting with profit & loss per project, basic human resources management (HR), provider & freelance database, search engine, reporting, translation workflow and many more.
Open source or low-cost project management
We're looking for an open source or low-cost Web-based project management tool. The most important feature we need is a decent calendaring system that will work with users from distributed groups that don't share an e-mail platform. We would like the kind of functionality Outlook provides for calendars and tasks in an Exchange environment, but without requiring that everyone use Outlook and Exchange. There are several free and low-cost project management and collaboration groupware tools, ranging from full-featured project management portals to simple task trackers, or software tool kits that interchange information and data files between open formats and Microsoft Project.
Open Source Website Content Management System
OpenCms helps to create and manage complex websites easily without knowledge of html. An integrated WYSIWYG editor with a user interface similar to well known office applications helps the user creating the contents, while a sophisticated template engine enforces a site-wide corporate layout. As true Open Source software, OpenCms is completely free of licensing costs. OpenCms is based on Java and XML technology. Therefore it fits perfectly into almost any existing modern IT infrastructure. OpenCms runs in a "full open source" environment (e.g. Linux, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL) as well as on commercial components .
Free source project management
Project management and engineering is a largely neglected aspect of free source development. Monty R. Manley addressed this issue in a recent article on linuxprogramming.com, but I have reservations about his particular recommendations. Nevertheless, it's an issue we need to tackle. Manley's article is very thought-provoking, and prodded me to give some thought to issues that have been at the back of my mind for a while. As a free source project lead myself (for gimp-print), I've had to face a lot of these issues. In my professional career, I've frequently been both a developer and release engineer, and I've developed some insights from this experience.
Open-Source Project Management Software
Open-source based project management software announces the release of Version 3.0 of project-consulting . The new version runs with the free PostgreSQL database on both Linux and Windows, allowing SMEs to take advantage of Internet technology at zero license cost. The open-source based project-consulting project management solution has been designed for the specific needs of small and medium companies. Working with project-consulting allows you to perform your projects more cost-efficiently which leads to competitive advantages. The open-source idea is just beginning to gain momentum in the market for project management software and will ultimately revolutionize the market. We want to give our customers the chance to take advantage of these developments as soon as possible.
The paradox of open source project management
Leaders from three separate but related - and incredibly successful -- free/open source projects agree: If you want the project to move to the next level, let go and let the community take over. We asked Larry Wall, creator of Perl; Brian Behlendorf, the Apache Project leader; and Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, for their thoughts on why this happens and how they and their projects have fared as a result. All of these projects are tied in some way to the great enabler: the Internet. They share synergy with it. All have contributed to the growth of the Internet, and the Internet has provided the medium that has allowed them to thrive. If the Internet is one extended machine network, Perl is the baling wire that has held it together. The Apache Server has come out of nowhere to dominate the Internet statistically. And Linux is probably the best-loved kernel of all time, whose popularity continues to surge.

Open Source Installer

2007-01-31T02:04:00.001-08:00

Open Source Installer

Open source installer tool
NSIS (Null soft Scriptable Install System) is a professional open source system to create Windows installers. It is designed to be as small and flexible as possible and is therefore very suitable for internet distribution. Being a user's first experience with your product, a stable and reliable installer is an important component of successful software. With NSIS you can create such installers that are capable of doing everything that is needed to setup your software. NSIS is script-based and allows you to create the logic to handle even the most complex installation tasks. Many plug-ins and scripts are already available: you can create web installers, communicate with Windows and other software components, install or update shared components.
Open Source Java Tool Installer
MyJavaPack is a platform independent installer of Java developer goodies. This distribution contains valuable, up to date, Open Source software. The software breakdown is: dev tools (e.g. Ant, Eclipse), frameworks (e.g. Hibernate, Spring, Struts, Velocity), servers (e.g. JBoss, Tomcat, HSQL, MySQL), and admin tools (e.g. MySQL Administrator, Webmin). MyJavaPack Home is open source software trying to fill basically the same niche. It does installation of lots of Java development tools and a few common open source tools that aren't just for Java (e.g. MySQL). It doesn't have as many different tools it can install nor does it offer to install example projects which use subsets of the other tools to confirm that installed everything correctly or to give you a quick starting point for your own work.
Litestep Open Source Installer
Download the beta from the downloads section and save it to a place where you can easaly find it, like your desktop. Use it in every way you can think of, then report back on what didn't work. But don't just run it once. Try it as many times as possible, with different options every time. The more senarios you can try, the better. This site provides free project hosting for the LiteStep community. Project hosting and software development tools are available to anyone with a project idea that is somehow related to LiteStep. From here you may browse the active projects or start your own.
Quake3 Open Source - Installer on several Platforms
Quake 3 source code has been released under GPL by id Software .The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software--to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. You can apply it to your programs, too. When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things.
Sugar Open Source Installation Guide
The contents of this document are subject to the Sugar Public License and the SugarCRM Community License Agreement You may not use this document except in compliance with the License that you choose. Software and documents distributed under the License are distributed on an “AS IS” basis, without Warranty of any kind , either express or implied. All SugarCRM logos in this document are registeredtrademarks of SugarCRM Inc. See the SugarCRM trademark policies at www.sugarcrm.com/trademark for more information on how SugarCRM trademarks can be used.
Open source, multiplatform installer and builder
InstallJammer is a multiplatform GUI installer designed to be completely cross-platform and function on Windows and most all versions of UNIX with eventual support for Mac OS X. It features a very powerful install builder with support for multiple themes and a high level of configurability for installers. Installers are built as single executable files for easy distribution over the web and handle installing everything you need for your application in a simple, cross-platform way. The InstallJammer Team is pleased to announce the release of InstallJammer 1.0.2. This release fixes some minor bugs that have been reported since the 1.0.1 release.

Developer Open Source Library

2007-01-31T01:59:00.000-08:00

Introduction of moo.fox
moo.fx is a super lightweight, ultratiny, megasmall JavaScript effects library, written with prototype.js. It's easy to use, fast, cross-browser, standards compliant, provides controls to modify Height, Width, and Opacity with builtin checks that won't let a user break the effect with multiple crazy clicks. It's also optimized to make you write the lesser code possible. moo.fx has been successfully tested with: Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. It should work in most of the gecko browsers too. Only Height and Width will work in Opera, since that browser does not support opacity. moo.fx is not a replacement for script.aculo.us or other effects libraries. It's just a little alternative for people (like me) that do not need more than just simple, basic effects.
Rico an open source JavaScript
Ajax is the term that describes a set of web development techniques for creating interactive web applications. One of the key ingredients is the JavaScript object XmlHttpRequest. Rico provides a very simple interface for registering Ajax request handlers as well as HTML elements or JavaScript objects as Ajax response objects. Multiple elements and/or objects may be updated as the result of one Ajax request. Desktop applications have long used drag and drop in their interfaces to simplify user interaction. Rico provides one of the simplest interfaces for enabling your web application to support drag and drop. Just register any HTML element or JavaScript object as a draggable and any other HTML element or JavaScript object as a drop zone and Rico handles the rest.
Swat is an open-source web application
Swat is a new project and has not yet had a release 1.0, but most of the toolkit is already in place and available in our Subversion repository. Announcements will be made on the mailing list. We've long been the beneficiaries of open-source software at silver orange, building many of our websites and web applications on top of an open-source stack (PHP, Apache, Linux, PostgreSQL, etc.). We have also known for a while now that the next platform project we worked on would be released under and open-source license. That time has come with the release of the Swat Web Application Toolkit. Swat is an open-source web application toolkit built with PHP5. It is primarily developed and maintained by silver orange, but participation and contributions are welcome.
Color combo
Welcome to ColorCombos.com. This site was built to help web developers quickly select and test color combinations. The heart of the site is the Combo Tester, which allows web developers to see how different color combinations work together on the screen. If you are looking for Color Combination ideas, check out the Combo Library.
Open Source script.aculo.us
The Web is changing. The 30-year-old terminal-like technology it was originally is gradually giving way to new ways of doing things. The power of AJAX allows for rich user interaction without the trouble that has bugged traditional web applications. Building upon the wonderful Prototype JavaScript library, script.aculo.us provides you with some great additional ingredients to mix in. Web applications don't have to stay behind the current graphical trends in ultra-rich-desktop-applications. And they don't have to resort to fancy plug-ins that break usability and accessibility. Browsers and standards have reached a stage where advanced animations are finally possible to do with JavaScript.
Dynamic Drive CSS Library
Welcome to Dynamic Drive's new CSS library Here you'll find original, practical CSS codes and examples such as CSS menus to give your site a visual boast. Here are the rules for the contest:
* Submit an original CSS example, whether it's a CSS menu, image effect, or skeleton CSS layout etc. Originality is defined as code that may be inspired by techniques found on the web but ultimately put together by yourself. Any images used must be 100% original.
* Your code must be 100% CSS based. No JavaScript allowed.
* Submissions are judged on the basis of practicality, coding style, and originality. For this first contest, I (ddadmin) will be the sole judge.
* The top 3 submissions will each receive an award. By submitting your code you understand and grant Dynamic Drive the right to include it in our library regardless.
PEAR - PHP Extension and Application Repository
PEAR is a framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components. More information about PEAR can be found in the online manual and the FAQ. If you are a first time user, you might be especially interested in the manual chapter "About PEAR". PEAR provides the above mentioned PHP components in the form of so called "Packages". If you would like to download PEAR packages, you can browse the complete list here. Alternatively you can search for packages by some keywords using the search box above. Apart from simply downloading a package, PEAR also provides a command-line interface that can be used to automatically install packages. The manual describes this procedure in detail. In case you need support for PEAR in general or a package in special, we have compiled a list of the available support resources.
A library of DHTML and AJAX Scripts
In this DHTML menu script, the submenu slides to left or to the right. The menu is based on an unordered list. This is based on the menu below. The difference is that this one support multiple colors and that it also give you the option to choose between changing saturation(color intensity) or brightness onmouseover. I have separated them into two scripts because the one below is a little bit easier to configure. So if you only need one color, use the menu below, otherwise use this one.
dojo the JavaScript toolkit
The latest release of Dojo improves the already ground-breaking 0.3.x line with over a hundred improvements. All versions of 0.3.x include:
* Less boilerplate when writing widgets
* A new lightweight animation system that makes using and building animations dead simple
* Tested, high-performance local storage engine
* Cross-domain Ajax support and cross-domain package loading
* The ability to bundle CSS as well as HTML in profile builds
* Better performance
Yahoo User Interface Library
The Yahoo User Interface (YUI) Library is a set of utilities and controls, written in JavaScript, for building richly interactive web applications using techniques such as DOM scripting, DHTML and AJAX. The YUI Library also includes several core CSS resources. All components in the YUI Library have been released as open source under a BSD license and are free for all uses. Download the entire library, its documentation and examples from Sourceforge.The library's developers blog at the YUI Blog and the YUI Library community exchanges ideas at ydn-javaScript on Yahoo Groups.

Open Source JavaScript

2007-01-31T01:58:00.000-08:00

Open Source JavaScript

The JavaScript Source
This script reads a series of alphanumeric characters, and calculates how many unique ways those characters can be rearranged. If desired, it will display all of the combinations. These scripts all relate to time and dates. Some of them display only the month, others the entire year. Some highlight the current day or tell you when you entered the page. Other scripts display the current date or time according to the user's time zone, or another time zone some other place in the world. The source code is available for all the scripts.
What is JavaScript
JavaScript is the Netscape-developed object scripting language used in millions of web pages and server applications worldwide. Netscape's JavaScript is a superset of the ECMA-262 Edition 3 (ECMAScript) standard scripting language, with only mild differences from the published standard. Contrary to popular misconception, JavaScript is not "Interpretive Java". In a nutshell, JavaScript is a dynamic scripting language supporting prototype based object construction. The basic syntax is intentionally similar to both Java and C++ to reduce the number of new concepts required to learn the language. Language constructs, such as if statements, for and while loops, and switch and try .catch blocks function the same as in these languages .
A Smooth Open Source JavaScript IDE
Aptana is a free JavaScript-focused development environment (IDE) for building dynamic web applications. The first public beta of the open source framework was released on July 14 by a small web development startup of the same name.Aptana includes a number of features that make it a quality tool for web development. It has full "code assist" for JavaScript funtions, as well as any included JavaScript code. Additionally it outlines the code structure of JS, HTML and CSS, and provides error notifications and code validation for all three languages. Finally, Aptana is customizable and its functionality can be extended with the inclusion of external JavaScript.
An Open source Javascript library
Ajax is the term that describes a set of web development techniques for creating interactive web applications. One of the key ingredients is the JavaScript object XmlHttpRequest. Rico provides a very simple interface for registering Ajax request handlers as well as HTML elements or JavaScript objects as Ajax response objects. Multiple elements and/or objects may be updated as the result of one Ajax request. Desktop applications have long used drag and drop in their interfaces to simplify user interaction. Rico provides one of the simplest interfaces for enabling your web application to support drag and drop. Just register any HTML element or JavaScript object as a draggable and any other HTML element or JavaScript object as a drop zone and Rico handles the rest.
The WebKit Open Source JavaScript Project
This is the project page for WebKit's JavaScript implementation. JavaScript is the primary programming language used on web pages. Originally named Live Script and now also known as ECMAScript, it's a safe, dynamic language that's arguably one of the most well-known programming languages in the world. There's a JavaScript standard, created by ECMA. WebKit's JavaScript engine, JavaScriptCore, based on KJS, is a framework separate from WebCore and WebKit, and is used on Mac OS X for applications other than web page JavaScript.
WebKit Open Source Tools Add JavaScript Debugger
The WebKit application framework for the Mac now includes a JavaScript debugger, named Drosera. Drosera, named after the largest genera of bug eating plants, lets you attach and debug JavaScript for any WebKit application-not just the Safari browser, which is based on WebKit, as per the company. One of the unique things about Drosera is that over 90% of it is written in HTML and JavaScript. Similar approach was used in the WebKit's existing development application, named Web Inspector. The development team stated this technique is a testament of what you can do with web technologies today and the rapid development that WebKit allows.

Open Source DRM

2007-01-31T01:57:00.001-08:00

Open Source DRM

SideSpace releases open source DRM solution
SideSpace Solutions released Media-S, an open-source DRM solution. Media-S is format-independent, though the first release only supports the Ogg Vorbis open-source audio codec. As recently as last year, one would have thought that "open source" and "digital rights management" were oxymoronic. The World Wide Web consortium, for example, has taken the view that DRM is antithetical to open software. It just goes to show that for all the talk about the commercial world embracing open-source software, the reality is that the commercial and open-source worlds are converging toward each other. Recall that "open source" used to be known as "free software" and have Marxist overtones.
Reasons to Love Open-Source DRM
The title of this column is strange. Aside from the fact that most savvy music listeners hate DRM, the very idea of using open-source software to enforce digital rights management runs counter to everything commonly assumed about the technology: that it needs to be secret, obscure, proprietary. But open-source DRM is exactly what Sun Microsystems has proposed, with its DReaM initiative. Its goal is to promulgate an open-source architecture for digital rights management that would cut across devices, regardless of the manufacturer, and assign rights to individuals rather than gadgets.
Sun pushes open-source DRM scheme
Sun Microsystems stepped into the fractious arena of digital copyright protection this week with plans for an open-source, royalty-free digital rights management (DRM) standard. The Open Media Commons initiative aims to address concerns that a growing number of incompatible download schemes might frustrate consumers and hold back growth in the download market. To get the ball rolling, Sun is releasing its code from its Project DReaM (DRM/everywhere available) program under the open-source Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). It's inviting other firms to join the initiative which involves the development of a device independent DRM standard - called DRM Opera - and user-based licensing.
Royalty-Free Open Source DRM
Sun Microsystems is jumping into digital rights management (define) with the launch of an open source version not dependent on devices. Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's president and COO, announced the launch of the Open Media Commons' DRM/everywhere (DReaM) project in order to kick off the Progress & Freedom Foundation's annual summit in Aspen, Colo.The intent of the project is to create a DRM standard that's royalty-free and interoperable with other DRM technologies, similar to Sun's work with the Liberty Alliance, an open community for the federated identity industry. The DRM technology created will be licensed under a Creative Commons-based license, according to a statement by the Progress & Freedom Foundation.
Extended Open Source DRM
Mutable Media has released version 2 of its OpenIPMP, a Digital Rights Management program based on open standards. The goal of the Open Source project is to provide an interoperable and easily portable solution for the management of rights to digital media on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and embedded systems. Unlike proprietary DRM solutions, OpenIPMP v2 fulfills the guidelines of the Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA) DRM 2.0 published in April, the ISMA developed by the Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) for encryption and DRM transmission in MPEG-4 streams and playbacks, and MPEG IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and Protection) for MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. The open DRM system that can be downloaded under the Mozilla Public License (MPL 1.1) not only includes SDKs for the integration of DRM in MPEG encoders/decoders, but also a J2EE server for license management; it also serves as a sample implementation of the complete MPEG4IP MPEG-4 suite.
Open source DRM software project
An open source DRM (digital rights management) software project that supports embedded Linux has achieved its second major release. OpenIPMP v2 adds support for additional open DRM standards, along with structural and development improvements aimed at making the software easier to port, build, and integrate. The OpenIPMP project aims to provide open standards-based DRM software that can be easily ported to any platform, including embedded RTOSes, POSIX OSes such as Linux and BSD, 32-bit Windows OSes, and Mac OS X. Along with an SDK (software development kit) for adding DRM to media encoders and players, OpenIPMP includes a J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) server application for rights management and license issuing.
Open source DRM?
A couple of weeks ago, Sun Microsystems released specifications and source code for DReaM, an open-source, "royalty-free digital rights management standard" designed to operate on any certified device, licensing rights to the user rather than to any particular piece of hardware. DReaM (Digital Rights Management - everywhere availble) is the centerpiece of Sun's Open Media Commons initiative, announced late last summer as an alternative to Microsoft, Apple and other content protection systems. Sun is talking about a sea change on the scale of the switch from the barter system to paper money. Like money, this standardized DRM system would have to be acknowledged universally, and its rules would have to be easily converted to other systems.
Open-Source DRM Specs
Sun Microsystems Inc. will publish open-source technical drafts for conditional access specifications (CAS) and digital rights management (DRM) within the next 10 days, the company said Friday. The open-source project is under Sun's Open Media Commons (OMS) initiative to license content to individuals rather than machines, such as cellular phones, MP3 players, PCs and set-top boxes. The specifications need more work before they can ship, but there are many startups that would have shipped them a long time ago," said Tom Jacobs, director of research at Sun Labs, and project lead for Open Media Commons. "We think it will take between 12 and 18 months to complete, but in reality we will have specs in which independent companies can either modify existing products or build new ones before the end of the year.

Open Source ISO

2007-01-31T01:53:00.000-08:00

Open Document Format Gets ISO Approval
The Open Document Format has been approved as an international standard by the International Standards Organization, a move that supporters say will serve as a springboard for the adoption and use of ODF around the world. The ODF allows the retrieval of information and the exchange of documents without regard to the application or platform in which the document was created. The format is supported by Corel, IBM, Novell, Opera Software, Oracle, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems. Microsoft, which is pushing its OpenXML document format as an alternative to ODF, plans to seek ISO approval for OpenXML as well. Jason Matusow, director of standards affairs for Microsoft, in Redmond, Wash., reiterated Microsoft's commitment to supporting interoperability between OpenXML and ODF documents, saying the "richness of competitive choices in the market is good for our customers and for the industry as a whole.
Open Office XML May Satisfy ISO
A letter to Sun Microsystems' COO Jonathan Schwartz by the European Commission (EC) this week may set the stage for the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to adopt the Open Office XML format (also known as OO.o XML) as an ISO standard. If it does, the stamp of approval would mark the largest ever validation of Sun's work on the desktop. The ISO has yet to chime in on the XML specification, which allows documents from different vendors to interoperate. An ISO representative was not immediately available for comment. Tim Bray, Sun director of Web Technologies and co-author of the XML standard, said in his Weblog that the EC entertained members of both the Open Office and Microsoft teams to illustrate how well their XML-based office document formats could work.
ISO backs Open Document Format
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has approved the open source Open Document Format (ODF) as an international data format standard. The ODF Alliance, a cross-section of industry associations, academic institutions and suppliers, had been lobbying for the decision. The ODF Alliance has more than 150 members worldwide and was created to resolve the potential problem of proprietary software limiting the ability of governments to access, retrieve and use records and documents in the future. The ODF is designed to make it easier for organisations to access and retrieve electronic government and business documents. It is seen as a possible way to prevent users from being locked into suppliers’ proprietary file formats. Approval of the ODF by the ISO marks an important milestone in the effort to help governments solve the very real problem of finding a better way to preserve, access and control their documents now and in the future,” said Marino Marcich, executive director of the ODF Alliance.
ISO Ratifies Open Document Format
This week, the International Standards Organization ratified the Open Document Format, an XML-based API to desktop office applications that has emerged to rival Microsoft Office’s proprietary file formats. The ODF format was also at the heart of a recent well-publicized controversy over whether the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should require ODF in future desktop software procurements. In the wake of his decision, then-CIO Peter Quinn, was criticized but ultimately cleared of unrelated accusations that his office misappropriated funds. Quinn subsequently resigned, but his ODF decision remained in force. Microsoft has responded to the emergence of ODF with OfficeXML, a published XML-based format available for free that it claims is in effect, open. Currently, ODF is supported by Sun's Star Office and its open source cousin, Open Office. Not surprisingly, that's where work on the ODF format started. It was subsequently submitted to Oasis, which ratified it as a standard in May 2005. This week was the ISO’s turn to follow up.
ISO approves ODF as international standard
The International Organization for Standards (ISO) this week gave formal approval to the Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF), paving the way for office suites based on ODF to be more broadly adopted, proponents said Wednesday. The move comes as Microsoft Corp.'s rival standard for its own Office productivity suite, OpenXML, awaits the same approval by the ISO. The ISO is an international consortium that works with the United Nations to maintain and approve international technology standards. ODF is a standard for office documents overseen by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) and supported by Microsoft rivals IBM Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., among other companies. They want to see ODF adopted internationally as the standard for office documents and software that creates and manages these documents, such as Microsoft's popular Office suite and rivals such as Sun's Star Office.
ISO Approves Open-Source Document Standard
The International Standards Organization (ISO) has approved the Open Document Format (ODF), giving a boost to firms and organizations opposing Microsoft's proprietary office software. Voting on the OASIS-supported format was closed earlier in the week. Given the ongoing unhappiness in Europe with Microsoft over what the EU regards as unacceptable bundling and other practices, this may be particularly significant, especially when taken with the desire of many European and other purchasers to use open source products whenever possible," said Andrew Updegrove, a partner in the Boston law firm of Gesmer Updegrove. Offerings such as OpenOffice and Koffice therefore should receive a boost in appeal and usage, as well as for-sale versions, such as Sun's StarOffice and IBM's Internet-based offering.Updegrove is a supporter of ODF. He made his comments on his blog. Also hailing the ISO vote was Marino Marcich, executive director of the ODF Alliance, who predicted the vote will serve as "a springboard" for adoption of ODF globally.
OpenForum Europe Welcomes Announcement from ISO
OpenForum Europe strongly welcomes the news that ISO has formally voted for Open Document format (ODF) to be recognized as an international standard. The decision confirms ODF as a key component for the future in the public and private sector. ODF is vitally important in ensuring that valuable data is not lost from organisations due to incompatibility with different systems. Nowhere is this more visible than the public sector and national government, which are responsible for maintaining the nation’s inheritance for future citizens. OFE calls upon every European National Government to act now to formally adopt ODF as the recognized open standard for data formats and to take practical action to implement this. OFE has in the past been critical of Europe in lagging behind the rest of the world in adoption of ODF, for example the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and will be seeking assurance from the European Commission on the steps it will now be taking to provide leadership to Member States.
ISO approves open document format
The major international standards body has endorsed the first nonproprietary technology for archiving government records. At the same time, one state government is hinting that it may soften its mandate to adopt such technologies. Yesterday, The International Organization for Standardization announced it has granted international standard status to the Open Document Format (ODF), an open, Extensible Markup Language-based suite of applications for text, presentations, spreadsheets and other office documents. Simultaneously, Massachusetts, the state government that had been leading the shift from proprietary software, such as Microsoft Office, to open-source formats, is apparently easing its mandate that all agencies replace Microsoft Office with open document formats by 2007. Massachusetts is exploring technologies, such as plug-ins, to ease the transition from Microsoft Office to open document formats. In addition, state officials have said that the forthcoming Microsoft Office Open XML product could be acceptable under the mandate.
Open Source ODF approved as an ISO standard
The Open Document Format for productivity applications was last night approved as an official ISO standard, reducing the potential for the format being undermined by 'open standards' FUD. Andy Updegrove has the scoop and notes that "software that implements the standard will now become more attractive to those European and other government purchasers for whom global adoption by ISO/IEC is either desirable, or required". The ISO standard approval is also unquestionable. While there was the potential for those with a vested interest in defeating ODF to suggest that its approval by Oasis did not fit the criteria (see "Why is Microsoft offering a new standard, rather than simply supporting the file format for the Open Office product?") for an 'open standard', ISO is a different kettle of fish.
OpenDocument alliance 'optimistic' about ISO certification
The recently formed OpenDocument Format Alliance has expressed its confidence that the file format will be approved by International Organisation for Standardization next month. The Alliance, to promote the use of the OpenDocument standard in governments, said on Tuesday that it has been lobbying various organisations to ensure that the standard achieves ISO certification. The ODF Alliance is now actively supporting adoption of the Open Document Format as a worldwide standard of the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) and the International Electro technical Commission (IEC)," the group said in a statement. "The ODF Alliance and its members have contacted various national voting entities recommending approval and are optimistic of a positive outcome.
Open Office XML Format Will Probably Become an ISO Standard
Because of the way ongoing works I need fairly short headlines, which is a pity, because for this piece I wanted to use The European Commission Makes Extremely Smart Moves Concerning Open XML-Based Office Document Formats and Browbeats Vendors Deftly; As a Result the Open Office XML Format Will Probably Become an ISO Standard. This story started for me back in March when an OpenOffice team and a Microsoft team were invited to present to the European Commission on the relative merits of their XML-based office document formats. You can read about the arguments here and what the EC’s response was here and if you care about these things and haven’t already, you probably should.
Thoughts on Open XML in ISO
As we move forward with the standardization of the Office Open XML formats, it's interesting to look at the motivations that brought us to this point, but also to think about what is still to come. We've wanted to provide folks with easier ways to work with our formats for years now, mainly because it significantly increases the value of Office documents when they are fully documented. An open format can integrate with business processes; databases; and workflows in a much simpler and more powerful way (for more on why we made the move to open formats, read here and here). That's why we've worked so hard over the past 3 or 4 releases to invest in other formats like RTF, HTML, and XML. These new Open XML formats which will be the default format for Office 2007 (as well as work in Office 2000, XP and 2003) are the result of all that work. If you've read my blog at all you know that it's been a serious evolution and a lot of work, and I'm really excited about the potential.
ISO and IEC approve OpenDocument OASIS standard
The OpenDocument Format OASIS standard that enables users of varying office suites to exchange documents freely with one another has just been approved for release as an ISO and IEC International Standard. OpenDocument, submitted by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards), was balloted as an International Standard in ISO/IEC's Joint Technical Committee 1 on Information Technology. The standard has been given the designation, ISO/IEC 26300. Most of today’s electronic office documents have been created by a few commercial software programmes and more often than not each one has its own format. In order to process a document, users need the same programme (and corresponding versions) or a filter that allows the document to be opened and modified. OpenDocument Format does away with this need.
ISO welcomes Open Document Format
The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has approved the Open Document Format (ODF) - a decision welcomed by those supporting open standards, including the EU. The ODF was approved as a standard by ballot, with no negative votes and a handful of abstentions and now merely faces a few formalities before it is officially christened ISO/IEC 26300. Microsoft, too, is rushing to have its formats accepted as an international standard, fast-tracking its Open XML specifications used with its Office 12 suite through the ECMA approval system, which will subsequently escalate to the ISO offices. The battle ground has been marked out by a new awareness in governments that settling for proprietary standards leaves them bound to those vendors, renders documents issued under such formats accessible only by using software licensed from a vendor and risks those same documents becoming unusable should the format become obsolete.
ISO approves Open Document Format as standard
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) this week accepted the Open Document Format (ODF) as an international standard for saving and exchanging digital office documents, according to a group supporting ODF's use. Best-known for its ISO 9000 family of quality certifications, ISO's 6-month voting process on whether to grant special ISO 26300 status to ODF ended May 1 with "sweeping approval from ISO members, according to Marino Marcich, executive director of the Washington, DC-based Open Document Format Alliance. This is a really powerful signal that ODF has arrived, and improves the prospect of it being incorporated into a range of products, said Marcich, head of the three-month old group. The ODF Alliance, an offshoot of the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), counts more than 150 companies and organisations as members.