Anne Zelenka recently predicted that software businesses will move from the extreme 'closed' and 'open' licensing models toward the center, what she refers to as 'clopen', or hybrid closed and open licensing models. I think she's missing something.

Either there really is no "average" computer user, or "Mrs. D" is just not your "average" average user.

Against the backdrop of cries from the GNU/Linux community, Asus has taken steps to correct the availability of the source code for its Eee PC.

Looks like Comcast has joined Verizon Wireless, et.

Just in case you're wondering why Microsoft 'folded'...
Just read it and weep. Grrrr....

One of the biggest gripes the FOSS community has with respect to Microsoft's business tactics is that its longstanding exclusionary agreements with hardware vendors has stifled genuine competition. This is the very issue of one of two claims Novell will be allowed to press against Microsoft in their anti-trust lawsuit.

For some time now, Microsoft has been accusing the FOSS community of violating its patents. FOSS journalists have been calling their bluff for about as long. And now the patent armageddon game is on. And we could have prevented this all along.

The Amarok team is giving away an iAudio player. Kudos to them, but also to Cowon, a company that has boldly proclaimed support for GNU/Linux for some time now.

Blue GNU caught up with Kelley Graham, of Toasterz, to find out about his company's business appliances, migration and education work.

Whew! What a weekend it was at the Ohio LinuxFest in Columbus, Ohio! Between the free (but not Free) beer, having to choose between apparently popular sessions, and the wide variety of booths, the biggest problem was choosing which fun to have.

People interested in offering and seeking jobs specifically related to Free Software might find the GNU Herds project interesting...

Last year, I interviewed the team behind Neoscopio, then just a Free/Open Source Software business concept. Now, just a scant 3 months into their official business venture, they are well ahead of where they thought they would be right now. I asked Gustavo Mendez to bring us up to speed on where the fledgling company currently stands...

Just sharing some thoughts on FOSS businesses in the US, based on data I've collected on nearly 1000 companies.

We can't let this one go. The wicked witch is dead. Yeah, there's still the devil to deal with, but that's one imp out of the way.

The ISO announced on their website yesterday that the proposal to fastrack the "draft standard ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology – Office Open XML file formats" did not gain enough votes to pass. In fact, it failed on both criteria. Even so, the possibility of two incompatible document standards looms in the not too far distance.

A recent News.com article by Martin LaMonica reports on the ODF vs OOXML war. The report mentions the arguments over one standard vs two competing standards. But shouldn't we be trying to solve - not prolong - the interoperability gap?

A conversation between two IT management types displayed a definite mistrust of Microsoft's sales reps during a re-licensing negotiation. Yet we're supposed to trust a cmpany with a long history of dishonest behavior and a hostile attitude toward the FOSS community with the OSI stamp of approval?

Insomnia and stress can put the mind into altered states of thought and I believe "thinking outside the box" came from just one stressed-out soul.

Kim Hart, of the Washington Post writes: "Wal-Mart today announced it would sell digital music downloads with no anticopying software". Is this a golden opportunity for the anti-DRM movement?

It has been said there is no such thing as a 'true' Free Software business. Blue GNU interviewed the Ada Core Technologies team to learn about the company that has been a 'true' Free Software business for over 20 years. Ada Core is one of a few businesses listed as such by the Free Software Foundation/GNU Project.