Stories about: HIS Limited

If you had any doubts about Sun Microsystems' commitment to open source, it's time to set them aside. Sun put its money where its mouth is Wednesday, with the announcement that it would buy open source database vendor MySQL for a whopping US$1 billion. If the price tag set tongues wagging, however, it was no more tantalizing than the question that immediately sprung to the minds of IT managers everywhere: Now that Sun owns MySQL, what on earth does it plan to do with it?

Sun just announced its acquisition of MySQL, but for several months the open-source database has been getting the performance tracing integration with the Solaris platform that it needs to follow through on Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz's committment to performance improvements.

The US space program should look to collaboration and open systems to drive the next wave of human exploration and innovation, Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt said Thursday.

In agreeing this week to pay US$1 billion for MySQL, Sun Microsystems said it hopes to make MySQL's open-source database more attractive to enterprise users. But Sun has a lot of work to do, according to some MySQL users.

Oracle has entered into a "definitive" agreement to buy leading middleware vendor BEA Systems for approximately US$8.5 billion, the two companies announced on Wednesday.

Need a project for the new year? You could consider supporting, contributing to or starting an Open Movie. The Open Movie concept gained attention with the release of Elephants Dream in 2006. The Blender Foundation is currently developing a follow up called "Peach" which is should be released later this year. Lead artist from Elephants Dream, Matt Ebb gives us some background on Elephants Dream and talks about what is involved in making an open movie.

On May 26, 2006, Elcot (Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu) let in its first penguin. Things would never be the same again.

Linux development is more like a social network built on trusted relationships and less like a democratic community of individuals dedicated to a single development process, according to Linux creator Linus Torvalds.

The Open Source Applications Foundation has announced a major funding and personnel shakeup, including that Lotus Development founder Mitchell Kapor will begin to phase out his involvement and investment in the nonprofit organization, which he founded in 2001.

Gadgets have always taken center stage at the Consumer Electronics Show, but this year more than ever, even the coolest devices seem to be mere means to an end -- access to content and services whenever and wherever you want them.

The Consumer Electronics Show trade show is showcasing this year's batch of better, cheaper and cooler gadgets. Services that enable ever more powerful mobile capabilities abound. Wireless networks are popping up everywhere. It's now possible to travel around town, across the country and all over the world, working and playing online thanks to the collective efforts of thousands of companies and the enthusiasm of millions of users.