MySQL founder savages Oracle’s move to ‘open core’
One of the key founders of the MySQL project, Ulf Michael ‘Monty’ Widenius, has savaged Oracle’s decision to start selling commercially exclusive extensions to MySQL.
In an extensive blog post, Monty said that the so-called "open core" model – where open source code is sold alongside proprietary add-ons – was not the original intention of MySQL and that the setup devalues the open source project. The full open source nature of the project was what made MySQL so popular, he explains, and Sun’s earlier attempts to move to an open core model were squashed.
“When Sun bought MySQL, and the shareholder agreement expired, they saw their chance and announced that backup would be a commercial closed source extension,” he said. Read more...
Microsoft faces fresh antitrust probes in Ireland and Spain
Microsoft is facing more antitrust scrutiny as Spanish competition authorities announced an 18-month review of Redmond’s licensing practices in Spain and Ireland.
The Comisión Nacional de la Competencia (CNC) said that the investigation will look into possible restrictions on operating systems licensing in the two countries, and is not taking a mañana approach to the probe. The CNC said it has good evidence and should have the case completed in 18 months.
“This case originated in a complaint filed by Elegant Business SC for a possible breach of competition law,” the CNC said in a statement badly mangled in translation. Read more...
How real-time computing will change the landscape
Vivek Ranadive is not only the chief executive officer of TIBCO Software, Inc., he's a New York Times bestselling author of works like "The Power of Now," "The Power to Predict," and the recently released "The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future -- Just Enough." As you'd expect from such a literary type, this proponent of event-driven computing and herald of Enterprise 3.0 is handy with a well-turned phrase. He describes your relational database as a "phone that doesn't ring" and his description of what happens when you open a certain software package from rival IBM is likely to stick in your mind. In this latest installment of the IDG Enterprise CEO Interview Series, Ranadive spoke with IDGE Chief Content Officer John Gallant about why your company needs to move to real-time computing and how TIBCO's "two-second advantage" can change your business. Read more...
Will Windows 8 be Windows Phone 7′s savior?
There hasn't been a great deal of good news for Windows Phone 7 recently. But the Windows 8 Developer Preview holds out hope that Windows 8 may eventually be the boost the struggling smartphone operating system needs.
The moment you boot into Windows 8, you're sent to a screen that looks and works very much like Windows Phone 7. It has the same interface in which constantly changing information is displayed on tiles that represent different apps, such as stocks, weather, and so on. The familiar desktop is just another app on the screen, and not a visually appealing one, either.
That means that when Windows 8 hits, millions of people will be introduced to the Windows Phone 7 interface, simply by using Windows 8. That's important, because the Windows Phone 7 interface is very different from the app-centric interfaces of the iPhone and iOS. Making people comfortable with the interface makes it more likely they'll buy a Windows Phone 7 device when they compare it to an Android one or an iPhone. Read more...
China denies role in hack of Japanese defense contractor
A Chinese government official today denied any involvement in the attack that compromised scores of servers belonging to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan's largest defense contractor.
According to press reports, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed suggestions that the attacks against Mitsubishi originated in China.
"The Chinese government has consistently opposed hacking attack activities. Relevant laws strictly prohibit this," Hong told reporters for Reuters, the Associated Press, and other outlets, during a regular press briefing Tuesday.
"Criticism that China initiated a cyberattack is not only groundless, it goes against development of international cooperation on cybersecurity," Hong said. Read more...
Facebook rolls out revamped news feed today
Facebook is rolling out a new look for your news feed today. If you've been away for awhile from Facebook, the site will show you the stories it thinks are important to you first. This would be the former Top Stories view. Facebook didn't elaborate on how it determined which updates were of high importance, but they implied it would be those of close friends and family. It could also utilize your new friends lists.
After a few top stories, your news feed will continue as normal in chronological order. This would be the former Most Recent viewing option. If you visit Facebook often and regularly, you won't get any top stories at the beginning of your news feed. That is only for users who log on infrequently. Read more...
Oracle’s net rises 36 percent, but servers slip
Stronger spending on business software helped Oracle Corp.'s quarterly profit jump 36 percent, but the company's server business further deteriorated, a decline Oracle attributed to its move to shed lower-margin deals.
The company said after the stock market closed Tuesday that its net income rose to $1.84 billion, or 36 cents per share, in the quarter that ended Aug. 31. That compared with $1.35 billion, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.
Its adjusted net income for the latest quarter was 48 cents per share, a penny higher than the average forecast of analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue rose 12 percent to $8.37 billion, slightly exceeding the $8.36 billion that analysts expected. Read more...
Logitech Harmony Link turns tablets into universal remotes for $99
Logitech’s latest tidbit of technology may soon have us recycling our remote controls. In a somewhat ironic twist, the company responsible for some of the best-selling universal remote controls has created a device that lets you trash them and pick up your iPad, iPhone or Android device instead.
The notion of controlling electronics through iOS and Android devices isn’t new, but while electronics manufacturers have been struggling to code even passable smartphone apps into control their TVs, receivers and Blu-ray disc players, Logitech seems to have been quietly working away in the background designing what appears to be a system so streamlined and simple, your grandma could actually use it: the Harmony Link. Read more...
Rumor: White iPod touch coming, but few other changes expected
George Harrison was known as The Quiet One of the Beatles. The softly spoken lead guitarist of the Fab Four didn’t hanker for the limelight and was more than happy for John and Paul to take center stage and leave Ringo banging away on his bongos.
And so the same can be said of the iPod touch. Over time it has become The Quiet One of Apple’s product range, prepared to take a back seat while the iPhone receives all the attention. The multimedia device, which launched in 2007, usually gets a refresh each September, though it barely raises an eyebrow. On the other hand, people continue to go ga-ga at the slightest whiff of a rumor regarding the iPhone. Read more...
Press Starts to Doubt Anti-Piracy Propaganda Machine
The anti-piracy lobby group AFACT just championed a study which claims that nearly all of the popular files on BitTorrent point to infringing material. Although the study in question is probably not far off, the press-release of the anti-piracy group has been met with more doubt than ever before. Slowly journalists are starting to reflect on the ongoing propaganda stream from anti-piracy outfits, and some are even brave enough to call them out on it.
Last week the MPAA-supported lobby group AFACT released a study claiming that 72 percent of people would stop downloading infringing content if their Internet provider warned them.
The results claimed to support the effectiveness of a 3-strikes system for copyright infringers, but those who took a closer look saw that this was not the case.
As we pointed out, the results could also show that none of the current file-sharers would be deterred, as the question was also answered by the 78 percent of people who don’t even use file-sharing software. Read more...