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Advocacy material for "going open source"?
by Torsten Bronger 28 Jan '15

28 Jan '15

Hi! I work in a government-funded research facility. Over the past 6 years, we created in-house software for managing our research data. I was the primary responsible person for this project. Now, I'd like to see it being converted into an open-source project. GPL, GitHub, etc. My boss does not rule it out straight away. But he likes to be convinced that it is a good move. He has only little idea about open-source software, licences and the like. By the way, we have no other "business plan" with this software. My question is: Is there any material (slides, web pages, books, case studies, peer-reviewed articles) that help with promoting converting to an open-source model? Could you point me to it? (I raised this question on a German FSF mailing list a couple of months ago but the responses did only contain personal opinions. While I agree with all of it, it does not help me.) Regards, Torsten Bronger. -- Torsten Bronger Jabber ID: torsten.bronger(a)jabber.rwth-aachen.de or http://bronger-jmp.appspot.com

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Meeting at FOSDEM
by Erik Albers 27 Jan '15

27 Jan '15

Dear Fellows and friends of Free Software, as you might know, I am in charge of the organisation of the Fellowship as well as the support of local communities. And - as many others on this list, I guess - I will be on FOSDEM this year again. In case I am not meeting someone there you can find me around the FSFE booth that will be prominently visible in the K building. Hence, this would be a good opportunity for all of us to get to know each other - if you like spontaneously and without announcement. If you have any questions about possible ways to get support for your local activities, how to grow a local Fellowship activity, technical help or anything else, please pass by. I am looking forward to get to know everyone of our community. Of course, you are also welcome to pass by in case you do not have any questions but you would like to give feedback. Or you like to tell me about your activities (I am eager to listen those stories!) or maybe you are just looking for a contact person inside FSFE. In case I am not present when you come, just leave a message for the booth team. Looking forward, Erik PS: please feel free to forward this mail to your local FSFE / Free Software list -- Erik Albers | https://fsfe.org/about/albers Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) - Campaigns & Community Free as in Freedom!

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Re: Discussion Digest, Vol 145, Issue 3
by Jay McKinnon 26 Jan '15

26 Jan '15

Unless the definition of "non-proprietary" is really unorthodox/counterintuitive, this regulation basically requires making publications available in a DRM-free ePub format. A publisher could sabotage this by using a weird format and a free DRM, but that would be pretty obvious (like publishing in HyperCard). Other than ePub, the living eBook formats, all are proprietary (PDF coming closest as an alternative); there are free legacy formats (XML, HTML, OEBPS, ODP...) and a few cult formats, but they're rarely found in the wild. Amazon's Kindle doesn't support ePub so ePub is often used as the source for conversion to an eReader-supported proprietary format. The ePub format *does* support DRM, but the DRM schemes in use are proprietary and there's little (if any) inter-compatibilty. Amazon & Apple DRMs are restricted to their own markets, and Adobe's DRM would make it impossible to read an ePub on most devices (or convert it to Kindle). I'm sure it's possible to come up with a non-proprietary DRM for ePub, but it would probably make the document unreadable on any eReader. /AFAIK

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Free 500 USD laptop proposal
by Paul van der Vlis 24 Dec '14

24 Dec '14

Hello, I saw this propposal, could be interesting: https://bryanquigley.com/uncategorized/would-you-crowdfund-a-500-ubuntu-ope… But I think I would like an laptop without an OS more. With regards, Paul van der Vlis -- Paul van der Vlis Linux systeembeheer, Groningen http://www.vandervlis.nl

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Smart Home - Lacking standards and lock-in
by Nico Rikken 22 Dec '14

22 Dec '14

Hello everyone, A topic I'm interested in is the field of home automation and home energy management, which are highly related. I'm curious how you conceive the developments in this field, in your country and for your use-case. The availability and quality of hardware and software in this field has increased rapidly in the last couple of years and I can only assume adoption is increasing likewise. With smart-home targeted interfaces being included in an increasing number of appliances, and with gateways being offered as a gift, the barrier to home automation is being lowered for the general consumer. I'm however concerned about the lack of open standards and the related purposeful creation of a lock-in. In the Netherlands there are about a dozen companies developing gateways and some home automation components, often times with a cloud-based back-end. Some are developing in accordance to standards like Z-Wave, Zigbee and OpenTherm, whilst others have defined their own Application Profiles on top of the Zigbee communication stack (Plugwise) or have developed RF-based communication (FifthPlay). Not using proper standards is becoming more of an issue now that in NL energy companies are offering gateways as part of the contract, both as a nice-to have device and as a way to help save energy. People are however coming to find that some of these systems sold by their energy company become pretty much useless when they cancel their contract, since a large part of the added value is in the data-services by the energy company. They end up with a stand-alone device which was never intended to be used stand-alone. This practice of lock-in also comes into play with custom communication standards, such that replacing the gateway would require you to ditch the additional devices as well. Whilst being proper standards, the specifications of Z-Wave and Zigbee (Application Profiles) aren't as open as some other available protocols [1]. Likewise there is a lack of standardisation in gateway interfaces for third-party applications to tie into these systems. How do you conceive these developments, and is there a FSFE-angle to this story? Kind regards, Nico [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZigBee#License

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Re: Smart Home - Lacking standards and lock-in
by Nico Rikken 22 Dec '14

22 Dec '14

Dear Jann, Considering anyone to be able to, and actually make a conscious decision indeed seems to be a wrong assumption, as has been proven in society and technology many times over. Systems should default to be secure and respect your freedom. This is however a goal that is not yet achieved. Kind regards, Nico

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Re: Smart Home - Lacking standards and lock-in
by Diderik van Wingerden 20 Dec '14

20 Dec '14

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi, for your information: we are currently working on the vendor lock-in "problem" for Dutch Smart Home Energy Monitoring (connecting to P1 port of Dutch Smart Meters) by developing on "open"-based product (Open Hardware, FOSS), where the user is in full control of his data and is responsible for deciding where his data goes. We have a working prototype and are currently doing B2B pre-sales. When reaching our pre-sales target we can produce, undercutting the competition's price by 50% or more. If we can reach critical mass, this will result in "data freedom" for Dutch smart meter data and an open market for innovative energy data solutions (apps, websites). On 19-12-14 12:00, discussion-request(a)fsfeurope.org wrote: > Re: Smart Home - Lacking standards and lock-in - -- Warm regards, hartelijke groet, Diderik van Wingerden +31621639148 http://www.think-innovation.com/ "There is no cloud, just other people's computers." -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1 iQIcBAEBAgAGBQJUlC8lAAoJEDiSfCO5DiADMk8QAMIIBSI1AjmSCkVwTWAA4Ci4 a9rYxrDoUvQfIOKVDrvvxFK/XaME0dqzhL4VfKYoEGK/0VTN5W5VAI/D+PUBk2mN gjFW0xUQBrCd8Fl8jSKA0ROwwe62Q2I+71pwYTA6o7nktPr4RO53R3yM7q0QzW3Z jkuWd25oCWdR36LPC4x5kwZJCdT04BX3lRbPKGKyxgecc0Ay8yoZfDEVlnTiLDH4 EwqXcZ53F1YQQPSTXJgOhXmJ/LOdAiVotbkFmUjSu/zgI4xjpOwuNqAZps4CtSqN lg/CSGMFIe7JK1t0lQDo35/b3ViSufJHEO+s3V2hN/4ZXBYgd2YOUGfXD+3hw/2S phhLwWEpadjJPGytrkwc4Dr+8XiFjEw8gohmylMMU15CsSUWq8BGw0ha0xuj4Jw/ 8S0lb+xvAOcvpcoBw5Pmd8zvtYTkjmU0IeuoD+rQYKKdolYHipK7WCWQbjYLqwTE zkpy1roiLMj6GF1TDTrBTWhIXsbgd2qikYwnTDA++ITFspC75uYMMC1AWiOkkb9m KslounlSfVLyz6Nj7F/2swPaYqOUfjbtkqQzglCV3YhhcjNJCn1Jw7vrSmt4T9Xu iLRQlA7j+54F5OchTF9KXcAXXZiTjuNAN6BzinqhpfRuQ/uGIDMwYegFguXvfonb wKFD2tbPRan+hYlnq5Yv =PGca -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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Re: Smart Home - Lacking standards and lock-in
by David Gerard 18 Dec '14

18 Dec '14

h On 18 December 2014 at 00:10, Jann Eike Kruse <mail(a)jannkruse.de> wrote: > I don't think we can stop that train. People love convenience, they love gadgets, they like to show off and they are rarely concerned about privacy or security in such contexts...until it's too late. (I'm trying to change that...with only little success.) Just asking myself: How many of you friends use facebook or cracked software? (Both are not very secure, not very privacy-respecting.) Many...most...all? http://hackingdistributed.com/2014/12/17/changetip-must-die/t "... we all know how lazy people are from the way they install flappy bird apps on their phone with enough privileges to launch nukes." http://hackingdistributed.com/2014/12/17/changetip-must-die/ > So I say, we can not stop it but only try to take part in the 'evolution' and try to push towards solutions that are (nearly) equally fancy but (much) safer, i.e. open standards, open source. Nobody cares about freedom 0 (use for any purpose) until the lack of it bites them in the backside. Even then, they will ask around friends for workarounds rather than assert that they have a right. So my first thought is to get people to think about how to demand freedom ... that they literally don't understand. We, as technologists, have a responsibility to people who, in any practical sense that will ever happen, will never understand what we do. I hope that scares you as much as it does me. - d.

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Re: A question about open databases license
by David Boddie 16 Dec '14

16 Dec '14

[Resent from the correct address.] On Thu Dec 11 19:37:36 CET 2014, Michel Roche wrote: > My final advice to the organization has finally been to use a Public > Domain licence or an Attribution one when it was relevant. > And for opening the data that rise problems, the answer will be in their > "political" decision, where they'll have to decide between a small > income for them and the wealth of society. there's even an intermediate > choice that is to publish subsets of data that do not rise the said risk. I suppose they could perform an experiment by publishing a subset of data and see what happens. Then they would have evidence to support any decision they make later. > I like very much the text of the talk abstract you cited and will > forward it to the organization. If I find other presentations, I'll let you know. Regards, David

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A question about open databases license
by Michel Roche 12 Dec '14

12 Dec '14

Hello, I'm currently doing some research about the best way(s) to publish open data for a local administration. For many of the data they wish/can publish the license question is quite straightforward, but there's one database which raises much questions. I try to expose the problem as simply as possible: 1-the database : shape files with routes and POI about a region. 2-the context : the administration makes some money selling a walking guide using those informations 3-the aim : opening those data so that eventual reuses will publish correct information about pathes, dangers, etc. 4-the dilemma : open publishing those information may serve any competitor editor to build a competiting guide upon those data 5-the question : how licensing could help preventing such an usage while welcoming more friendly reuses such as : a promotional guide for hiking in the area that would reuse some of the data for the sake of promotion. *4b : let's assume that the dilemma is real. I mean : the risk may not ba as big as their fears, but this is not my point here. Licences evaluated, and the point where I am : - Open Licence (https://wiki.data.gouv.fr/images/0/05/Open_Licence.pdf), or CC-BY : welcomes *every* reuse, so won't solve the dilemma. - CC-BY-NC : may sound appropriate, but : non free (I'd dislike very much ending up in recommending a non-free license), would prevent some legitime reuses (let's imagine that the promotional guide has anything to do with a commercial use) - CC-BY-SA : this is the way I'd choose for : - it's free - the constraint introduced is only reclaiming openness - it may solve the dilemma, but can you help me answer following questions ? Let's assume the competitor wants to use the shape files under CC-BY-SA along with a closed base map bought from a vendor to have a nice looking printed guide. => publishing such a reuse of the data seems to lead to a licences conflict : the closed license would say something like "all rights reserved, reproduction forbidden", where the CC-BY-SA part would claim "any reuse of this data will be under this same license" => How to solve that ? If it' not solvable, this means that the commercial reuse cases of the data opened under CC-BY-SA are quite a complicated way, which I find a reasonable manner to solve the original dilemma Am I on the right way with my assumptions and questions ? Michel Roche

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