Asterisk SCF

It’s called Asterisk Scalable Communications Framework, or Asterisk SCF.

It’s a new project from Digium, the Asterisk people, aimed at giving Voice Over IP true integration with other Internet services, on an Internet scale.

They’re quick to note this is not a replacement for the main Asterisk project, now on version 1.8, but is being built on top of it.

The aim is to make SCF a set of distributed components that can be deployed as clusters in a single server and be transparent to the user.

According to the press release, it offers “the full range of real-time IP communications, including video, multi-channel wideband and ultra-wideband audio, chat, desktop sharing and other media types that may arise in the future.”

My late friend Russell Shaw, who covered this beat for ZDNet until his death in 2008, would be proud. Were he still with us I might not be able to finish, we would be so busy Tweeting one another and arguing about things.

Today’s news comes alongside Astricon, Digium’s annual conference and user tribute, going on right now at a resort hotel near Washington, D.C. There users are hearing about stuff like this, Xorcom’s complete hotel solution, an Asterisk PBX that can run the hotel where the conference is being held.

Solutions like this represent where Asterisk has been, and what it has become. VOIP has mainly been developed as a way to get around the phone system, its costs, gatekeepers, and taxes. It is seen by many as a way to cut telephone costs.

But it has always been much more, and with SCF it can become much more. Voice is a low-bandwidth service that can and should be integrated into other Internet services, that can be one ingredient in a larger solution. That process is now well underway.

At which point there will be no more phone network, only ISPs, hopefully in a more competitive market.

Open Node 1.0 (stable) Released

Open Node unveils version 1.0 of their open source server virtualization solution

Open Node, an Estonia-based company utilizing RHEL-based CentOS 5 to build locally manageable OpenVZ and KVM solutions, is on track to release the web-based FuncMAN management console later in October.

Open Node 1.0 Installer screenshot

According to the announcement, Open Node 1.0 uses the following:

* Kernel - ovzkernel-2.6.18-194.17.1.el5.028stab070.7

* KVM - kvm-83-164.asys.17.x86_64.rpm

Users can download Open Node 1.0 or see the roadmap for OpenVZ /KVM and FuncMAN on the company website.

Astaro 8.100 Beta Testing Begins

Astaro 8.100 focuses on Wireless functionality of Access Points and Wifi Controllers

Yesterday security solution provider Astaro announced that ASG appliance-users can begin Astaro 8.100 beta testing. Developers ask users to test ASG 8.100 in their own environment and give feedback using dedicated forums.

According to the company, ASG 8.100 usability improvements include: Improved Object Table, Dashboard Links, SMTP Profiles Redesign, Streamlined Interface Setup, Uplink Balancing Mixed Mode, HTTP Parent Proxy Routing.

SkySQL will try to drive MySQL fork, Oracle's ouster

The creation of SkySQL — a virtual spinoff of MySQL (pre-Sun, pre-Oracle)– was as inevitable as LibreOffice.

The community simply doesn’t trust that Oracle will be a good steward of open source software and is acting quickly to preserve top open source projects.

SkySQL, which will provide alternative services and support for the MySQL database, is playing it safe for now. It is not helping found a new open source foundation to sponsor an official MySQL fork, and is not declaring open war on Oracle.

But it appears the gang behind SkySQL  – a bunch of ex MySQL execs, developers and investors — will try to wrest control of the open source database business back from the proprietary grasp of Oracle.

The SkySQL Enterprise subscription, launched last week, for example, will support the development of “alternative software” for MySQL as well as offer support mySQL branches such as MariaDB.

The company highlights its more cost effective service and support offerings as the core business model — yet subtly implies that it would welcome and drive a a bona fide MariaDB fork if demand materializes.

And that demand is already materializing, SkySQL noted in its press release last week.

“SkySQL Ab …  is committed to furthering the future development of MySQL database technologies, while delivering cost-effective database solutions and exceptional customer service.”

SkySQL’s CEO makes it clear that he and many other top original MySQL developers believe that MySQL will die under Oracle’s control.

“When Sun was acquired by Oracle, there was a collective gasp in the MySQL community,” said Ulf Sandberg, CEO at SkySQL Ab. “MySQL supporters were rightfully anxious that growing the bottom line of big business would take precedence over further investment in the development of the MySQL franchise. In our view, progress of MySQL’s technology has been stymied, leading to a mass exodus for those involved in the technology. SkySQL has become a new haven for MySQL expertise due to our unwavering commitment to providing high quality, expert support of MySQL technology and services on a global scale.”

In other words, the company will survive offering customers more affordable service and support contracts than those proferred by Oracle. Yes, it is committed to becoming the default alternative for Oracle’s MySQL software, service and support, and is investing in the cloud opportunity — hence the Sky in SkySQL, one executive told this ZDNet Blogger.

But make no mistake — SkySQL will try to regain control over the open source database development. And it looks like they have the clout to do it.

“SkySQL is becoming the new center of the MySQL ecosystem because our foundation of key experts is based on over a hundred years of experience in serving MySQL users commercially,” said Kaj Arnö, Executive Vice President of Products, SkySQL Ab. “These experts have joined our company to build a business dedicated to serving the users of MySQL and related technologies with commercial value add, while respecting open source values. Founding the company with these gifted minds puts SkySQL in a unique position to inherit and preserve the principles that made the MySQL database so appealing in the first place.”

I asked SkySQL if it will eventually sponsor an official fork of MySQL, and here is the company’s official response:

SkySQL is committed to the long term future development of the MySQL database, to ensure that the product will continue to meet the increasing requirements of performance, scalability, reliability and ease of use.  Our current subscription offering already includes support for MariaDB - a branch of the MySQL database.  As adoption of the latter increases, the development and support of MariaDB may get more attention, since it presents a solid technical future roadmap for customers.”

Paula Rooney is a Boston-based writer who has followed the tech industry for almost two decades.

Might Google Maps be hoisted on its open source petard?

There is growing evidence that OpenStreetMap, an open source Wiki-based mapping system based in England, is becoming a serious threat to Google Maps.

Could the “Wikipedia of maps” do to Google what Google’s Android has done to Symbian? (The illustration shows the current OpenStreetMaps view of my home town.)

AOL’s MapQuest unit is especially high on OpenStreetMap, having opened new map sites in India and Europe around the product.

Since it’s dependent on user input there’s not a lot of there there, but apps based on it are still coming out for the iPhone and Android.

Microsoft is also using OpenStreetMap in Bing. A U.S. unit of the OpenStreetMap Foundation was incorporated earlier this year.

What’s possible is illustrated by The Bike Hub, an iPhone app with crowd-sourced data that lets cyclists in England steer around traffic. Reviews are positive, with free satellite navigation (even if a bit kludgy) approved of heartily. (I’d love it if they tracked hills as well as traffic.)

OpenStreetMap says it has 300,000 registered map makers on its site, but that it’s the idea behind it — free data users can adapt to their needs — that is its most powerful feature.

It’s the excitement of user-generated content that Google Maps was trying to access when it opened up its APIs. The question becomes, then, one of how open is open. Google Maps is open like Windows, while OpenStreetMaps appears to be open like Linux.

Ouch.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Is FRAND compatible with FOSS?

Open source advocates are treating Florian Mueller (right) the way liberals are treating Juan Williams these days, and it’s not hard to see why.

Mueller’s acceptance of the fact that Fair, Reasonable And Non-Discriminatory Terms (FRAND) is coming to open European standards has made him apostate.

Some are even willing to write me out of the movement for daring to befriend the man.

But Mueller isn’t writing this stuff because he wants to, and I don’t think he’s doing it because he’s paid to, either.

He’s writing it because it happens to be true.

Take, for example, this post by Unisys developer Patrice-Emmanuel Schmitz, writing at the Open Source Observatory and Repository,  which calls itself “a platform for exchanging information, experiences and FLOSS-based code for use in public administrations.”

In the European Union Public License (EUPL) (and in copyright law in general), the term royalty-free means that once the software is licensed, the licensee is free to use and distribute the work without paying additional royalty charges. This makes no obstacle to charging an initial fee for distributing or selling the software (as it may be done by a commercial FOSS organisation), or to a financial agreement between developing organisations (i.e. to mutualise and share the cost of software development).

In other words, there’s nothing wrong with paying for code. Royalty-free should mean that continuing charges past that initial payment — monopoly rents — should not be allowed.

It seems to me this stance falls somewhere between that of groups like Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE), and the Business Software Association. Schmitz is saying that paying for software is OK, but once you pay for it you control it. The BSA only supports licenses for software — ownership does not change hands.

Mueller finds FRAND a reasonable position. He quotes former EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes, who said in June “I have nothing against intellectual property being brought to the standard-setting table, but it must be disclosed.”

Then he adds:

Mrs. Kroes said in the same speech that “reasonable people often disagree” when trying to set FRAND license fees. That’s a challenge, not a knock-out criterion. FRAND isn’t a mathematical formula that arrives at a simple result. FRAND is a framework, and the way it’s interpreted is subject to the specific circumstances of a license agreement.

While European governments have a distinct preference for open source, they also prefer not to dictate the choices their members make. A standards process shouldn’t be used to knock out specific vendors, and as Mueller writes there is a difference between openness and royalties.

You may disagree with that. Open source advocates may disagree with that strenuously. That’s a good thing. But insisting that all those who accept the legitimacy of a contrary position are bad people is going a little too far. Sometimes they’re just reporting the facts.

Don’t shoot the piano player.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Microsoft strategy against Android comes together

The Microsoft strategy against Android owes less to Ray Ozzie than it does to John Roberts.

As I noted at the time, the non-decision in Bilski vs. Kappos gave companies a green light to try and sue innovation out of existence.

This nightmare has now come to pass.

The problem with software patents, as opposed to those for drugs or medical devices, is that they don’t cover the way you do something, but the idea of doing something.

Thus, Microsoft claims to control the syncing of e-mail between the Web and a mobile device. You can’t innovate around the patent, as you might around the patent for a new pacemaker.

This is what makes software patents so dangerous. They place an ever-larger tax on innovation, because innovations are always based on what came before. And if you can’t innovate around an idea, then you must pay for it. And pay and pay and pay.

So we come to Android, which is drawing patent suits the way a fumble does 300-pound linemen. Microsoft is telling Android phone makers they must still pay it for use of its patents, that it might cost them less in Intellectual Property rights fees to go with Windows than with Linux.

In that scenario Windows doesn’t have to be better. It doesn’t even have to be as good. It just needs to be in the ballpark.

Patent rights in this scenario do for Microsoft what bundling did for it in the early 1990s. They get rid of competition.

Yes, this is a dangerous game. Other companies have big patent portfolios, not just Microsoft. Customers won’t like being denied choice, and being forced to buy inferior products at monopoly prices. You could have either a patent “nuclear war” — everyone suing everyone — or potent political blowback.

These are questions for another day. For now Microsoft’s patents are putting it back in the game, putting enough Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt into the minds of manufacturers that its offerings will get a hearing, and will likely find a place in the market.

How will Google respond, given the relatively small size of its patent portfolio compared with those of its proprietary rivals? How should it respond?

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

Oracle purging OpenOffice.org community council

Oracle employees are purging the OpenOffice.org community council of people who support the competing LibreOffice and The Document Foundation.

LibreOffice is a fork of Oracle’s OpenOffice.org.

In the log of a community council meeting held last Thursday, linked to from member Cor Nouws at UberVu, Oracle community manager Louis Suarez-Potts put the question plainly, describing the problem as a conflict of interest.

“You now represent The Document Foundation (TDF) and LibreOffice,” he told TDF steering committee member Christoph Noack. “These are distinct from OpenOffice.org. For you to represent OpenOffice.org (OOo) in the Community Council (CC) is therefore quite confusing.”

Brazilian Olivier Hallot, another member of the TDF steering committee, tried to intervene. “Our presence in OpenOffice Community (OOC) is a good opportunity to keep door open to both projects,” he wrote.

Later in the transcript, he admitted “I only see Cor Nouws, Christoph Noack and Olivier Hallot as the community members and all other are now Oracle employees so I take it as Oracle wants us to get out.”

In the transcript Matthias Huetsch, a former Sun employee now with Oracle, backed up Suarez-Potts. “You have chosen to leave, so we wish you good luck, but please leave; and that has nothing to do with Oracle; that is my personal opinion.”

Suarez-Potts then set a deadline of today for an answer to the resignation demand, writing “We are giving the TDF members the time to understand the weight of their action and to act gracefully.”

Assuming the community council members comply, and the situation is as Hallot described it in the transcript, then as of today the OpenOffice.org community council is a collection of Oracle employees masquerading as a community.

And if that’s the case, then OpenOffice.org is no longer a community endeavor, but entirely a corporate project. Anyone thinking of contributing to the code base should probably keep that in mind.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

The choice engine is an Italian job

One of the greatest things about open source is it opens up opportunities for people and companies around the world.

In the past I’ve covered open source start-ups from Russia, from France, and even from Atlanta.

Last week I was privileged to visit with another innovator, in Rome, Italy.

Roberto Galoppini (right) is solving one of the biggest problems this fast-growing market faces, the problem of choice.

If an enterprise wants to go with open source, they first have to decide which package to commit to. It’s not like going with a proprietary solution. There are many factors to consider, from the maturity of the code, to its features, to its license and copyrights, to the strength of the community.

And the data is in many, many different places. You can’t just send someone to a trade show and expect them to come back with the knowledge you need. Even a Web search will just bring you data, not answers.

That’s where SOS Open Source comes in. After sifting through many different data repositories, Galoppini has created a methodology, and software, that lets him give you an in-depth comparison of several projects in a given area very quickly.

The finished reports include numbers and graphs. They are very visual. He collects your requirements, runs the data, then delivers the results within a very short time.

It’s a little bit of software, a soupcon of research, and a dash of consulting, which can accelerate “buying” decisions significantly.

And even with free software, an enterprise faces a buying decision here, he explained over pasta and tiramisu in a charming Roman cafe within walking distance of Vatican City.

For any enterprise, the decision to depend on an open source project is a serious commitment of resources. You don’t want to get halfway down the road and find you have taken a wrong turn. I did that on the way to lunch and it took a $14 cab ride to find my way back. For a scaled enterprise, the loss can be millions.

And this is why open source isn’t more used than it is, he continued. Fair evaluations, based on knowledge of requirements and of what’s available, can cost more to create than the margins proprietary companies may charge to take the problem off your hands.

No more. Which puts Mr. Galoppini in an interesting position, one I’ve seen many times in my years as a tech reporter. Now that he has this valuable service, how should he exploit it? Grow an open source presence in Rome, associate with a larger company, sell-out and start again? Or maybe move to Silicon Valley, as Funambol did.

It will be fun to find out.

Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983.

15 Fantastic Inkscape Tutorials for Creating Awesome Vector Art

15 Fantastic Inkscape Tutorials for Creating Awesome Vector Art: Inkscape is without doubt the most well-known and perhaps the best free and open-source vector graphics editor available for Linux. It is loaded with powerful features that will allow anyone with ingenious mind create some amazing digital art.

You may have seen our collection of excellent vector clip art made using Inkscape and might want to create your own. Hence, I decided to gather several highly informative and easy to understand Inkscape tutorials so that you too could produce your very own awesome vector art.

In no particular order, here are 15 fantastic Inkscape tutorials:

* Creating Pac-Man Baddies

* Draw A Realistic Vector Guitar

* Inkscape-tastic icons

* Illustrating Chinese Dragon

* Illustrating Rainbow with Clone tool

* Create a Snail

* Sticker with Folded Edge Tutorial

* F10 Gears: Drawing the Gears

* Creating a Coffee Cup

* Illustrate A Peacock

* Creating Postage Stamps

* Create a Vector Compass

* Text and Simple Styling

* How to Create Valentine's Day Hearts Artwork

* Creating Rubber Stamp

If you know a link or two to other excellent Inkscape tutorials, you may share them with us via comment.

Google Chrome OS (Stable) May Be Unleashed this November

The final stable version of Chrome OS could be out this November. TechCrunch has reported that developers are already testing the Chrome OS Release Candidate (RC), which means Google may finally announce the finished product no later than next month.
There are several hints that Google Chrome OS is on the horizon. One is the Chrome Web Store that will be launched this October. There is also the rumored Google tablet computer that may also be released in November. Lastly, developers are now busy working on the screensavers, login screens, highlight colors, and other user interface elements, which is a telltale sign that most of the important under-the-hood features are pretty much done.

TechCrunch has contacted Google for comments and here is their response:

“We are very happy with the progress of Google Chrome OS and expect devices will be available later this year. We’ll have more details to share at launch.”

This is pretty exciting news because I think Chrome OS is one of the keys to Linux world domination. I can't wait to get my hands on Chrome OS and probably the Google tablet computer.

Installing Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) on Mac OS X Using VirtualBox

As some of you may know, I've upgraded or should I say tried upgrading my Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) desktop to 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). Sad to say, the result was a disaster. Although the whole installation process was successful, I ended up having an unbootable system. Since I'm not yet in the mood to fix it, I decided to just try Ubuntu 10.10 by installing it on Mac OS X as guest OS using my favorite free virtualization software VirtualBox.

To those of you who would also like to install Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) on Mac OS X via VirtualBox, here is a step-by-step guide (with screenshots) on how to do it:

1. Download the latest version of VirtualBox for OS X from HERE, and then install it.

2. Run the VirtualBox application and create a new virtual machine.

3. Allocate RAM to your virtual machine. The recommended amount of memory is 512MB but I decided to portion out 1024MB since my total RAM is 4GB.

4. Create a new virtual hard disk for Ubuntu.

5. Select the type of virtual hard disk. I recommend you use dynamically expanding storage for a more flexible disk space.

6. Decide on the size of disk space that will be allotted to your virtual machine.

7. The virtual disk will be created once you click on the "Done" button.

8. Turn on the virtual machine by clicking on the "Start" icon.

9. The first run wizard will appear to help you install the OS, in this case Ubuntu 10.10.

10. Select the media that contains the Ubuntu 10.10 ISO installer.

11. Since the installer was saved on my hard drive, I added it using the virtual media manager.

12. Once you are done, the Ubuntu 10.10 installation process will follow. If you are already familiar with Ubuntu, just install it like you normally would.

For those of you who have not used Ubuntu before, watch out for the Ubuntu 10.10 installation walkthrough on my next post. I will also give a screenshots tour and share with you my first impressions of using Maverick Meerkat.

Google Chrome OS and Android are Keys to Linux World Domination

When we talk about web servers and supercomputers, the leading operating system in terms of usage share is Linux. However, on the desktop and mobile device categories, Linux is not so lucky.

Several sources put the Linux desktop market share at a mere 1%, which is lower than that of Mac OS X (6%). After all these years, Windows is still leading the pack with a dominant usage share of around 90%.

On the highly competitive area of mobile devices, the growth of Linux is faster than ever. Thanks to Android, it has gained enough usage share to beat Apple iOS and RIM. Although Symbian is currently at the top of the hill, it is not sitting comfortably there as Android or iOS is expected to dethrone it any time soon.

To all my fellow Linux advocates and enthusiasts, we have to accept the fact that “the year of the Linux desktop” will not be coming in the very near future. But I’m not saying that it would never come.

Although the Linux desktop is far from dead, a lot of things have to be done to keep it from being stagnant. It seems like Ubuntu is the only one that's been keeping the Linux desktop afloat. But Linux can't rely on a lifejacket for long. I think at the moment it needs a rocket booster that could help accelerate its growth. That rocket booster could be the upcoming Google Chrome OS.

Why Chrome OS?

Google has the resources for creating a high-quality Linux distribution. They also have a proven track record of making and releasing products that became extremely successful. In addition, Google is well respected and trusted by the PC industry, so getting support from different component makers and device vendors will be easy.

Some people are saying that a cloud-centric desktop operating system like Google Chrome OS will never have mass appeal and may just vanish into thin air. They might be true in the sense that most PC users are not yet prepared or are pessimistic about completely taking their data on the cloud. But I still think Chrome OS will succeed in the long run as it will constantly improve and in effect will gain trust.

When Android was unleashed in 2008, I did not expect it to become quickly popular. Back then, detractors were saying that it is bound to fail because it is a geeky OS just like Linux and that people will not even touch it. But look at it now. The growth of Android in terms of usage share is going at an amazing pace.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that Android and Chrome OS would likely converge over time. So imagine the possibilities of having a Linux-based PC that works hand-in-hand with all of your Linux-based mobile devices.

The future is bright for Linux, and Google Chrome and Android will help lead the way to world domination.

What do you think?

 

Upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) to 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat)

I just upgraded my Ubuntu desktop from 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) to the recently released 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). Initially, I never wanted to upgrade since Ubuntu 10.04 is running perfectly on my current setup. However, I've heard a lot of good things about 10.10 that I ultimately decided to take the plunge.

The upgrade process is really quick and easy but some of you may be confused as to why the 'New Ubuntu release 10.10 is available' option is not yet displayed or available when you run the update manager. Well, don't worry and keep the excitement going because the solution is really simple.

But before giving you the step-by-step process on upgrading from Lucid Lynx to Maverick Meerkat, here are some of the new features of 10.10 that helped encourage me to upgrade:

* Desktop theme refinements - new wallpapers, default font, sound menu, etc.
* Ubuntu One improvements - under the hood enhancements and music streaming support for Android and iPhone
* Enhanced Software Center - new categories, options, history tab, and paid applications
* Faster boot-up time

Upgrading from Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) to Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat):

1. Open the Update Manager by going to System --> Administration --> Update Manager

2. Inside the Update Manager, click on the 'Settings' tab to open the 'Software Sources' window.

3. From the Software Sources window, click on the 'Updates' tab, and inside the 'Release upgrade' option and the 'Show new distribution releases' drop-down menu, select 'Normal releases' and close.

4. Inside the Update Manager again, click on the 'Check' button.

5. You will now see the 'New Ubuntu release 10.10 is available' option, so click on the 'Upgrade' button, follow the on-screen instructions, and wait until the upgrade process is finished.

Actually, there is a quick and dirty way of upgrading. But I wrote the instructions above for those of you who hate keyboard shortcuts and commands. You could also start the upgrade by pressing Alt+F2, and then typing in "update-manager -d" (minus the quotes).

While writing this article, the upgrade process is still under way (currently fetching files) on my machine so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that nothing terrible will happen :-)

If the upgrade is successful, watch out for my initial impressions and quick review of Ubuntu 10.10.