There is currently a great deal of buzz surrounding Open Source contractual obligations which includes not only open source content but closed source software too. No sooner than a vendor announces that a program will not work with Linux or the free operating system community, the usual response from this vendor is that the vendor is Shutting Down Due to an Open Source License(FOSS).
It seems that vendors are required to keep track and satisfy a lawsuit with the intent of preventing your customers from transferring their source code. For the most part vendors like Linux Partner, Red Frog, contribute greatly to open source. These companies have memberships or have partnerships with open source developers.
The complaint forwarded against Microsoft was that customers were objecting to customizable designs, use of licensing controls and rapid release schedules. The Open Source Initiative (OSI) is pushing for an open license which should eliminate these restrictions. If the goal is to have an open and customizable licensing model the inventors should get together and agree on the details of the license.
The Software Creation Contract Act of navigate be key in the future of foss creates, as it grants for the first time campe fined open standards for software. According to the Free Software Foundation, these standards effectively remove the barriers experienced by vendors as well as customers in purchasing software.
The Free Software Foundation expands on this idea through the Free Software Foundation Global Initiative (GFI). The goal is to create these international, non-profit organizations that will bring together developers, vendors, customers, and regulatory community to develop a specific goal of organizing, developing, marketing, and support free software. This GFI is headed by kids who swarm college campuses ( campuses like OSU, WMYK, and others) where students learn how to program using the Free Examples of Logo software (open source) and other open source programs.
The goal is very similar to the MIT Open Course Ware project. The stated goal of the GFI is to provide all students “the opportunity to access, study, and apply the latest free and open source software from repositories that are managed by the community.” The students would be able to program the open source software they obtain from repositories, either from the internet using a broad category of free applications, or using classroom sessions ( likely the best way to program such software as open source so the students have a set amount of equipment at their disposal).
The fact that students massing together on college campuses to learn how to program using open source gives an interesting insight on the future of open source in general. I think in the years to come, open source software will be utilized by millions of individuals and businesses; people will use it, state it, write it, and share it. The students who elect to learn programming using an open source framework and then having careers in that field are proof that open source is not merely a Concept; it is a way of learning, a way of doing, and a way of seeing.
On the IMDb Trivia iPhone App, you can bet your bottom dollar that it contains one million lines of Worm! designed to defraud you out of money. I used to be on IMDb Trivia a month and I learned a lot about worms. Not only that, it contains special Worm! shares, which are a form of popularity contest these days. A few of the featured worm types are W32/E and TDL3; they all attempt to steal your phone number.
Despite the apparent danger, IMDb Trivia is still one of the best database-searching mobile apps on the market. The app works good, fast, and it makes you smarter.