I’ve given Sun a lot of pain because of their attempt to steal Linux’s thunder, but let’s never forget all the wonderful things they have given us — from OpenOffice.org to Java, which is now Free as in “free speech”.

HERE is an increasing number of companies which try to play the “source code” card when it fact they give nothing but binaries. This trend is worrisome. It is also disturbing because it adds ‘noise’ and makes it difficult to identify projects that are truly about collaborative development.

Here are some projects that thrives in Open Source status that is not truly deserved:

• Coverity - brags detection of defects in Open Source code, but proprietary nonetheless.
• Krugle - searches and indexes Open Source code, but if you talk the talk, you ought to walk the walk.
• Google - Thrives in the use of Open Source software, but lacks transparency (APIs are no code).
• Black Duck - verifies license compliance in open source projects, but still proprietary.

What does it all come down to? It’s nice when you speak about opening and sharing, but if your company only exploits this “Open Source” aura, then you can do more harm than good. Software opens up because it makes it better and development is sped up. Companies whose focus are other open source projects ought to realise this.

Earlier today, a mini milstone for Google Groups left its stingy mark . The beta version of the new interface, which acts as a gateway to UseNet (and beyond), has just gone live as a stable service. The old presenatation, which was simpler, is sadly no longer available. I am not too happy about this ‘facelift’, yet no options that I navigated through could take me back to the minimalist and familiar interface. This transition — a questionable ‘upgrade’ — may be even worse than the last one, which discoraged proper netiquette and earned Google Groups users some bad reputation. It sometimes led them to killfiles and filters, quite collectively and prejudicely.

In any event, my main concern with the new interface is one which cost me between 15 minutes to half an hour. The new Google Groups interface conflicts with AdBlock (Firefox plugin). Something in the naming of the divs has apparently changed. Looking at userContent.css (under /chrome) and removing some of the prominent selectors with “ad” as a substring resolved the issue. They are located at the top, but I am not sure whose removal resolved the problem.

So, in case someone is having the same trouble as me, I decided to post this as a blog item that’ll prove redundant to most readers. Let’s make something more useful of this ramble. Are you reading and /or using Digg? If so, why not strip all the ads off the site?

If Windows is so genuine and innovative, then how can Microsoft explain the following?

Gates: “And through Windows NT, you can see it throughout the design. In a weak sense, it is a form of Unix. There are so many of the design decisions that have been influenced by that environment. And that’s no accident.”

[...]

In light of the recent saber rattling about Linux and patents, the “There are so many of the design decisions that have been influenced by that environment” sentence is particularly interesting if these patent threats include things that are prior Unix art. “In a weak sense, it is a form of Unix” is also telling. I said before that I don’t think that’s the case; I think the patent stuff is talking about things like Samba and Mono, but even there the “influenced by that environment” could be important in the court of public opinion if not in actual law.

This is definitely a noteworthy observation, which has just been posted by Anthony Lawrence.

It has already been argued that Novell’s Mono had evolved to become a legal minefield. Unsurprisingly, Red Hat excludes Mono from RHEL 5.

There are a lot of great new programs and innovations expected in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. The Novell-led Mono project isn’t one of them.

Mono is an open source implementation of Microsoft’s .NET framework. It recently hit version 1.2 offering the promise of improved Windows-to-Linux .NET portability.

A KDE pager containing eight virtual desktops

URPRISE, surprise! It turns out that I am only one among several. Several (former) Manchester University CS students who contribute to Linux, that is. Purely by coincidence (a newly-published feed item), I have just spotted an old University mate on the KDE Web site. It turns out that he followed an educational route similar to mine and is now maintaining KSysGuard, which I use on occasions. Keep up the good work, John.

S a programmer in training and background, I have always been told that I must keep up with the latest and the greatest — technology-wise that is — in oder to remain marketable. The way I perceive it, Windows technology that excludes the competition is a dying breed. I would not want to expand my knowledge in that area, which is why I continue to urge people to upgrade to Linux. At the same time, I rarely bother to keep up with advancements in the Windows world and yet I keep an eye on features and demonstrations that permit me to make a comparative analysis.

A mockup I prepared using the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP)

Today in the news:

• Microsoft CEO seeks to reassure analysts
• Ballmer: Windows releases must come more quickly
• Microsoft fails to ease Vista fears
• Beijing Co-Create Claims 50,000 Linux Desktops

And that, mind you, is just half a day in the news. It is representative of merely any day in the year 2006. The world changes more quickly than most people care to realise.