Stories about: Software Works

Viewed by many as open source's most compelling business play in the past few years, MySQL made waves this year, accepting Sun Microsystems' US$1 billion acquisition bid, opening eyes on Wall Street as to open source's potential to shake up the software industry in the process.

11 leaders from the open source and vendor communities discuss the current open source climate and outline the challenges and opportunities ahead.

Software developer Unison has launched what it claimed is the world's first fully-unified communications suite based on Linux.

Google and IBM have teamed up to offer a curriculum and support for software development on large-scale distributed computing systems, with six US universities signing up so far.

Google and other search engines face far more than just a new rival in Wikia, they face the prospect of hundreds, even thousands of new competitors.

Open source technologies already permeate most data centres, and their influence is spreading. However, data centre managers who wouldn't think twice about dropping a new Linux server into a rack feel very differently about building an open source firewall as the main barrier between their own network and the great unwashed. Security remains outside the open-source comfort zone.

Cross-platform management vendor Centrify this week introduced an auditing tool that lets Windows shops log, monitor and audit the activity of their users working in Unix and Linux environments.

Even while Cisco Systems is suing Apple for violating its iPhone trademark, an open-source enthusiast is accusing Cisco itself of infringing copyright in the same product.

Zfone, a free piece of software that encrypts voice over IP calls in a way that may circumvent government eavesdropping laws in some countries, is now available to Windows users, its developer said on Sunday.

Open-source database company MySQL AB has acquired a small Web application technology company and in the process hired its founder, Jim Starkey, a noted database software architect, MySQL announced on Monday.

Eyebrows raised around the globe last week, as Microsoft announced that it would license Windows source code to third-party developers as part of a settlement of antitrust litigation in the European Union. E.U. competition regulators had demanded that Microsoft make detailed technical documentation available to developers who want to write software that will interoperate with key Windows protocols. In a surprise move, Microsoft decided to go them one further.