Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Legal risks
Who secures legal risks in using FOSS?
Diversity
What makes the issue of software complex?
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Refinement of Applications
Characteristics of bazaar development model
Quality not always guaranteed
Separation of development versions and stable versions
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Underdeveloped FOSS-Related Market
and Support Concerns
Related markets still undeveloped
Business deployment of FOSS often still at explorative
stage
Training and support markets are small
Shortage of FOSS books
Information frequently obtained online
SCO controversy
SCO sent a challenge to FOSS communities in 2003
Responsibility of warranty
Who has responsibility for defects in FOSS?
License violations
GPL violations occur every day in the world?
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Relationship of FOSS versus Copyright
and Patents
Many developers participate in FOSS style
development
Risk of containing code that infringes on copyright or
patents; code can slip in intentionally or through
carelessness
Infringement on patent license
Normal business response
Cross-licensing
Financial resolution (payment of patent royalties)
Both difficult to execute with FOSS
Risk of patent royalties being claimed directly against
users, or a cease-and-desist order could be issued
Example of guard mechanisms
MPLClause to the effect that any withstanding patents
applying to source code must be expressly declared by
the contributor
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SCO Controversy
US-based firm SCO Group issues warning against
GNU/Linux users in May 2003
Claim asserts that Unix code was misappropriated for
Linux and infringes on intellectual property held by
SCO
Claim against Linux kernel Version 2.4 and later; SCO
alleges that Linux kernel contains code relating to
NUMA, JFS and SMP technologies
SCO alleges that it purchased rights to Unix from Novell
SCO sues IBM for damages, claiming that IBM
misappropriated code from AIX (March 2003)
Surrounding response
73% of GNU/Linux programmers say that SCO claims
have no merit
SCO controversy barely receives attention today in
2005
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Responsibility of Warranty
Is no one responsible for FOSS?
Fundamentally provided “as is” and with “no warranty”
Proprietary software: Warranty conditions and exemptions
Does not mean that users can rest easy
Japanese Consumer Contract Act
Section 5, Article 8: “Clauses which totally excludes a
business from liability to compensate the damage to a
consumer caused by such defect” are null and void under a
contract for value
Some experts consider exclusion of any warranty
unenforceable under Japanese law
Situation can also be viewed as business opportunity
Support business
Provide insurance and warranties, legal risk management,
etc.
Open Source Risk Management (US firm)
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License Violations
Incidents involving license violations
Printer driver
Binaries distributed free of charge contained FOSS code, but
software was not released as FOSS
Manufacturer issued apology on Web site and issued
replacement software with revised license
DivX Converter contained misappropriated XviD code
(FOSS)
PornView incident, in which original copyright notices from
GImageView were stripped
FSF responds to GPL violations
FSF manages copyrights for Free Software
By transferring copyright to FSF, legal authority and
responsibility is centrally managed by FSF
By transferring copyright, FSF has authority to take action
against violations
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FOSS Deployment on
Desktops
Trends in FOSS desktop market
What is the trends of software market regarding FOSS
desktop terminal use?
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Trends in FOSS Desktop
Market
Was 2004 “year one” for spread of FOSS
desktops in Japan?
FOSS desktops begin drawing interest in wake of FOSS
deployment for servers, backbone systems and
embedded applications
OSDL launches new working group (January 2004)
Desktop Linux Working Group
Several trials for FOSS desktops conducted
AIST’s FOSS desktop strategy
FOSS trials for schools (IPA and CEC)
Reference: Decrem, Bart. Desktop Linux Technology & Market Overview. Open
Source Applications Foundation, July 2003
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Barriers to Spread of FOSS Desktops
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Diversity
Driving factors behind diversity
What is diversity?
Diversity of data
Issues on data format handled by applications
Diversity of platforms
Issues on environments where applications work
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Driving Factors behind Diversity
What is diversity?
Freedom to combine
components leads to explosion
in number of combinations
Diversity reflects a high degree
of freedom, resulting in a trade-
off relationship with integrated
feel
Also happens in proprietary
environments
PC-compatible machines
Diversity of devices
Addressed by device
manufacturers
Difficult for minority makers
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Diversity of Data
Problems arise during external exchange of
electronic documents
Data formats specific to applications
ex. *.doc, *.xls, *.ppt,...
Standardization of documents
Trial to make electronic document interchange smooth
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Standardization of GNU/Linux
Seek to absorb platform variations
UnitedLinux consortium’s trial
FSG (Free Standards Group)
Non-profit organization dedicated to FOSS-related
standardization
Develops standards
Develops compliance testing tools and tests software for
compliance
Linux Standard Base (LSB) Project
Dedicated to application compatibility between
authorized distributions
Other related standards
Portable Operating System Interface for Unix (POSIX)
Single Unix Specification (SUS) Version 2
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)
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Standardization of Documents
OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of
Structured Information Standards)
Study by standardization committee
OpenDocument
Based on XML
Open standards specification
No platform dependency
No application dependency
Candidate for EU’s public document format
Used in OpenOffice.org 2.0 and KOffice 1.4
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I18n, M17n and L10n
“I18n” takes first letter “i” and last letter “n,”
omitting 18 letters
i18n (Internationalization)
Provision of framework that simplifies implementation
of m17n and l10n in applications
Preparation of fonts, input method, basic libraries, etc.
Gettext and message catalogs
m17n (multilingualization)
Modification to support multilingual handling
Not just characters and words, but also line breaks,
dates, currency units, etc.
Concurrent handling of multiple languages separates
m17n from l10n
l10n (localization)
Enables display in each language
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Examples of Internationalized
Applications
Necessity of internationalized
applications
Owner’s manuals
Translation
Need to display and edit at least
two languages
Handling of characters
Unicode
Issues with support for existing
character encodings
Number of Unicode-compatible
applications is increasing
Implementation still incomplete
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