Microsoft just released the source code of one of its most important computer operating systems. The catch is that the software is over 30 years old.

Yesterday, with permission from Microsoft, Silicon Valleys Computer History Museum published the source code for MS-DOS, the text-based operating system that ran so many personal computers in the 80s and turned Microsoft into one of the industrys dominant software companies. For computer geeks, the move can provide a bit of fun a glimpse into how software was built in the past and it provides a nice metaphor for a Microsoft thats evolving with the times. Microsoft was once vehemently opposed to open source software, believing that it would cut into its core business, but in a modern world where open source is so very important, the company is changing its tune.

But the company shouldnt stop at symbolic gestures. We love that the MS-DOS code is now available to the world at large (even if you cant distribute your own changes to it, as with truly open source software). And we love that Microsoft has also released the code behind another seminal piece of software: Microsoft Word for Windows, originally released in 1990. But if the company is to regain its place at the head of the tech table, it needs to start open sourcing operating systems that are used today, not 30 years ago. Microsoft needs to open up the Windows Phone mobile OS and maybe even desktop Windows.

Google already gives away both the source code and the licenses for its Android and Chrome operating systems, and that strategy has been quite successful in stealing market share from Apple and Blackberry. Especially in the developing world, handset makers are flocking to Android, and theres little reason for them to pay a fee for Windows Phone.

Theres even reason to consider extending this policy to the desktop. Apple long ago open sourced the foundation of its OS X operating system through a project called Darwin, and now, it gives away new versions of the operating system to existing customers. Microsoft licenses Windows Phone to manufacturers for as little as $10 per device, and desktop versions of Windows may sell for even less than that. As the price of operating systems approaches zero, Microsoft is running out of excuses not to open up its operating systems. Plus, this could give the company added currency among the worlds software developers something it desperately needs.

Releasing source code resonates on so many different levels. It helps software spread. And it accelerates the pace of innovation. But it also engenders an added trust in the companies and individuals doing the open sourcing, a trust that spreads among developers as well as users. People are often more likely to use and build on top of software if they can see into the source code. The history of MS-DOS can actually provide a window into this phenomenon.

Microsoft started out as a company that sold tools for programmers. But tiny outfit got its big break in 1980 when IBM asked for help building an operating system for its new desktop PC line. The result was MS-DOS. It was hugely successful, but a cloud has hung over it from the very beginning. For years a man named Gary Kildall claimed that parts of Microsofts operating systems were copied from an OS he built at a tiny company called Digital Research Inc.

The questions that plagued Microsoft during its early years could have been resolved long ago had it simply published its source code under the same license it did today. Rivals wouldnt be able to use it in their own products, but curious parties could have decided for themselves just how closely Redmond mimicked Kildalls work.

In similar fashion, Microsoft could help answer lingering questions about Windows. Rumors about NSA backdoors into Microsoft products have swirled since at least 1999, and trust in Microsoft and other large tech companies has only eroded since Edward Snowden leaked a large cache of documents showing the breadth and depth of NSA spying. Microsoft could help clear this up by publishing the full source code of its modern operating systems even if its under a very restrictive license.

According to reports, Microsoft is already looking to license certain Windows operating systems at no charge. This is different from open sourcing. But its a start. And through Nokia, the handset maker its acquiring for $7 billion, Microsoft may even build low-cost phones with Android, the poster child for how successful an open source OS can be.

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Microsoft Finally Gave Away MS-DOS. Now It Should Open Source Everything Else

Once a developer's hobby, a new survey finds open source is increasingly being driven by business managers.

Ten years ago, open source was a developer movement for developers. Not so anymore.

As a new Linux Foundation survey suggests, "business managers recognize open source software as a business imperative and are taking the lead in initiating open source participation." This, in turn, refashions open source as a critical business driver, not merely an efficient way to write code.

Once an imitator of proprietary innovation, open source has set the agenda on industry innovationfor years. The biggest trends in computingfrom cloud to Big Data to mobileare all powered by open source. And business users have taken notice.

Developers used to be able to get away with delivering on business requirements by leveraging open-source software, but today's business managers are openly asking for more open-source software.

The business reasons for getting started with open source, while different from those of developers, are compelling, according to the survey of 686 software developers and business managers:

From the Linux Foundation survey, other interesting facts arise, each of which points to a future filled with even greater business influence and involvement in open source:

The subtext in these results is clear: Business is driving more open-source development. In fact,among business managers, 44% indicated they would increase their investments in collaborative software development over the next six months, with another 42% said they planned on sustaining their current investment. No respondents said they had plans to decrease their investment.

While some of this heady optimism for open collaborative development is fueled by specific projects like Hadoop or Android, much of it comes down to collaboration with industry peers and even competitors to solve hard technology problems. OpenStack, OpenDaylight, Eclipse and Linux are all exemplars of industry collaboration; for some companies like IBM, collaborative foundations are the new default for development entirely.

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Open Source Isn't Just For Developers Anymore

Richard Stallman Free vs Open Source Software english subtitles

By: Gianna Gaydou

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Richard Stallman Free vs Open Source Software english subtitles - Video

The UK government has mounted, and in some cases joined, a variety of initiatives in recent years aimed at open standards, open source software and, perhaps above all, open data.

At government level this means transparency and the ability of organisations and the public at large to access the various datasets they may have a vested interest in.

The UK government joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as a founding member in 2011. The OGP was established with a remit to establish "an international platform for domestic reformers", a label which the UK would presumably like to wear, were it not for its own various back-pedalling on open data and Freedom of Information (FOI) targets, due to legacy system issues and other complexities.

The government established the National Information Infrastructure (NII), committed to creating "as complete an inventory of the datasets they hold as possible". Once again, although initiatives of this kind set out with the best intentions, pragmatic rationalisation and execution are often a harder trick to pull off.

The government justifies the need to create a transparent environment for open data because, in its own view, over the past three years it has become clear that public sector information is capable of driving significant social and economic growth in the UK.

The NII published a white paper in October 2013 entitled Setting out a National Information Infrastructure. Its authors note: "Innovative applications and services have been developed using government open data from datasets whose value was not immediately obvious."

The government advocates a "twin-track" approach to the release of government data, focusing in the first instance on the release of "core reference data"; and then related "unspecified other" datasets.

Given the interplay and interconnect points between business and government today, how do big suppliers such as SAP, Oracle and IBM offer tools to help organisations and governments categorise data for the purposes of governance, risk and compliance (or GRC as it is now increasingly known)?

Oracle for its part has been nothing if not formal on this subject and has published a white paper, entitled Transparency in the Public Sector: Its Importance and How Oracle Supports Governments Efforts, to set out its stall.

Oracle says it offers a variety of technology and application products that can support government transparency efforts anywhere. The supplier says governments can use its Endeca enterprise content management tool to give citizens an easy way to search for and retrieve a wide variety of documents.

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The private sector answer to exploiting public sector data

Los Angeles, California (PRWEB) March 24, 2014

Achieve Internet is excited to announce the addition of Jennifer Hols to our growing Open Source software development team as Vice President of Sales. Jennifer will be leading the technical sales and business development efforts from our Los Angeles office. Jennifer will be responsible for ensuring current and new clients reach their desired business goals and objectives. As well as helping Achieve continue its expansion in the Healthcare and Entertainment markets. Her deep background in user experience and content architecture will allow Achieve to offer a higher level of user centric tools to our hospitals and medical device organizations focused on reaching their ACA and Meaningful Use goals.

Jennifer brings with her 10 plus years of technical sales and business development skills with a deep understanding of Open Source web technologies and content management systems (CMS) including infrastructure management and architecture, and a mix of front and back-end engineering expertise.

Jennifer has demonstrated the leadership and technical expertise to run a highly successful sales and business development team. With a laser sharp focus on delivering user-friendly solutions that exceed industry expectations, I am confident that Jennifer will provide a great benefit to both new and existing clients for Achieve, said Ron Huber, Achieve CEO. Achieves future success depends on building solutions that deliver the most value to the Healthcare and Entertainment markets. Jennifers experience in both solution architecture and business development makes her an important addition to our leadership team.

Achieve Internet, Inc. is a leading Southern California software solutions company focused on the Healthcare and Entertainment markets leveraging Open Source technologies to develop advanced User and Patient Portal solutions. By combining 12 plus years of deep experience in third party software integration, responsive design, globalization and performance optimization, Achieve has brought web engagement management to clients including WellPoint, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Universal Music Group, Alliance Health, Dexcom, and Drupal.org. You can visit Achieve Internet at http://www.achieveinternet.com and our Health division Achieve Health at http://www.achievehealth.co

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Achieve Internet Taps Experienced Technical Sales Professional as New VP of Sales

1) In general, open source refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. Open source software is usually developed as a public collaboration and made freely available.

2) Open Source is a certification mark owned by the Open Source Initiative (OSI). Developers of software that is intended to be freely shared and possibly improved and redistributed by others can use the Open Source trademark if their distribution terms conform to the OSI's Open Source Definition. To summarize, the Definition model of distribution terms require that:

This was last updated in May 2009

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Unified computing systems (UCS) hold the promise of simplicity for data center, but the technology and associated costs may not be appropriate for every application. Learn about the potential of UCS to help your data center, and what you should consider prior to implementation.

The shortfalls of UCS include the potential for vendor lock-in and interoperability issues. Learn more about these and what you need to know to deploy a UCS in your data center. Some implementation considerations include storage, hypervisors, and a contingency plan in case your vendor changes course.

Most machines running Linux are x86 PCs. IBM's System p and Linux go well together, and Ken Milberg explains why and what's new. He gives five reasons to run Linux on System p, and shares some of the options for PowerVM, IBM's virtualization platform.

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What is open source? - Definition from WhatIs.com

By Jack M. Germain LinuxInsider 03/21/14 2:03 PM PT

One of the most useful parts of Whittum's focus on open source software in schools appears in his second major book division. This is where he discusses the vast curriculum strengths of open source software. Whittum lays out the available software that awaits use in six parts. He covers Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, the Arts and Bible Studies.

Energizing Education through Open Source: Using Open Source Software to Enhance Learning By Christopher Whittum ISBN: 978-1-4834-0444-8 Pages: 144 Price: US$21.95 Available at Lulu.com, Amazon and Barnes & Noble] .

A new book on open source education teaches school leaders and parents why kids need to see coding as more than cool. Energizing Education through Open Source: Using Open Source Software to Enhance Learning by Christopher Whittum makes a strong case for deploying the Linux OS and its academic software in schools.

The step-by-step lessons and free online resources Whittum provides make this book required reading for developing computer-driven curricula and at-home studies. It is part of the STEM Education Coalition's mission to inform federal and state policymakers about the critical role that science, technology and engineering play and the benefits available to schools from open source technology.

Computer systems analyst jobs are projected to grow 22 percent between 2010-2020, according to the United States Department of Education, but only 16 percent of high school seniors are interested in a STEM career. To improve those statistics, computer technology teacher Christopher Whittum asserts that U.S. schools can implement more STEM classes at a lower cost.

Whittum pushes the idea that school districts easily can deploy open source software and the free Linux operating system to provide more affordable options to incorporating technology across the curriculum. His book is a how-to guide on learning open source computer systems through use of Edubuntu Linux and UberStudent Linux.

The challenge to giving schools access to more affordable technology starts with an awareness of open source software. Whittum focuses on using viable alternatives to proprietary software and technologies that dominate school buying decisions.

Whittum presents his rationale for using open source in a building-block fashion in five main sections. Each section is divided into a series of parts. This makes it very easy to see the significant aspects to each step of the open source discovery and selection process.

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Linux Goes to the Head of the Class

Writing the words government and open source in the same sentence feels inherently wrong, almost as if lying. Recent talk of the NSA, Edward Snowden, and PRISMdoesnt make the government seem any more open. The government carries the stigma as being on of the least open things in the world. If youre a fan of House of Cards on Netflix, you understand just how not open the government is perceived to be. Yet contrary to popular belief, the government is using open source as a tool to improve agencies on the back-end and save tax dollars.

. More of the government is using open source than you may realize. To quote OpenSource.com, While the U.S. government has, to date not issued guidance requiring a preference for open source, it has clearly indicated that open source products are to be given at least as much preference as proprietary products.

OpenSource provides an example of the successful use of open source by the a U.S. government agency, with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). It is the second largest agency of the U.S. federal government, employing more than 280,000 people and providing health care services to almost 8.7 million patients, benefitting close to 23 million veterans. The VA also operates the nations largest health care system with more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, community living centers, and other facilities. And the VA also happens to be one of the largest users in the federal government adopting Open Source Software (OSS).

Wes Caldwell. Image via LinkedIn

To give you more insight as to the governments use of open source software, we sat down with Wes Caldwell, Chief Architect, Intelligent Software Solutions (ISS). ISS provides the federal government and the Department of Defense with data visualization, event analysis and pattern detection software. The company places a heavy emphasis on OSS applications and affordable government off-the-shelf (GOTS) products, which make it easier for government agencies to integrate into their networks and keep them from having these inflexible programs that lead to huge cost overruns.

The following is an excerpt from a recent interview with Caldwell, who shares his thoughts on the benefits of OSS in the US government, as well as suggestions on how the country can tackle remaining obstacles to OSS adoption.

What are 2-3 immediate benefits for government agencies using open source?

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Can you give examples of the Pentagon or other government agencies using open source?

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Your U.S. government uses open source software, and loves it

Steven Max Patterson | March 18, 2014

Data centers, mobile phones, and the software industry have all been changed by open source. Are mobile networks next?

Open source projects garner the attention of the tech community because the passionate people behind these developments occasionally cause major disruption and create opportunities to change industries, as Android and Linux did. An open source project with the goal of changing how mobile networks are built, from expensive proprietary hardware to cheap commodity hardware - just as mainframe data centers moved to commodity X86 hardware - is certainly worth a deeper look. Learning that former Cisco CTO Ed Kozel is leading the venture, Range Networks makes it worth a deep dive.

For now at least, Range Networks isn't trying to compete with NSN, Ericsson, Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent. The company is looking for underserved areas that need a low-cost alternative to the big mobile network solutions designed for big mobile carriers. Range Networks' OpenBTS has been used to build a temporary mobile network serving 1,200 people over a 10-square-kilometer area at the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Burning Man festivals, as well as permanent mobile networks in Antarctica and Papau Indonesia.

The core of Range Networks innovation is an open source OpenBTS 3G GSM stack and a software defined radio (SDR) covering the 700 Mhz to 2.5 Ghz bands. Range Networks has plans to add 4G and LTE, but in the meantime a visitor to Papau Indonesia, where there has never been mobile phone service, would have to feel extremely entitled to complain about slow 3G Facebook download speeds.

OpenBTS runs on standard X86 hardware that can be packaged in an environmentally hardened enclosure to withstand the elements. Range Networks' engineering team includes not only open source software hackers, but open source hardware hackers too. The SDR is designed by the company's engineers and all the specifications, schematics, and production data have been made available under open source BSD, Creative Commons, and GPL licenses at OpenBTS.org, so other manufactures can improve and produce it in volume at reduced cost.

The Tier project at the University of California Berkeley is a great example of the value of Range Networks' open source model. UC Berkeley researchers have built software that runs on handsets and OpenBTS that samples the airwaves to find unused radio spectrum, called white spaces, that are free of interference from other types of radio broadcasts. Once the white space is identified, it can be used for voice and mobile data services. Because UC Berkeley built it with OpenBTS, the white space functionality is contributed back into OpenBTS.

Use of white space radio spectrum is of interest to anyone who builds any type of product that uses radios. Government radio spectrum regulators, like the FCC, auction radio spectrum for billions of dollars to commercial users. But the regulators often reserve some spectrum for free public use. If public spectrum is detected as unused by OpenBTS, it can be added to the white space table and used for voice and data. The regulations and exact use of radio spectrum differ from country to country, but a socially or financially motivated entrepreneur could build a mobile network inexpensively in an underserved part of the world using OpenBTS if he or she could identify white space.

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Open source project builds mobile networks without big carriers

With the Microsoft Corporation deciding to stop technical assistance for Windows XP operating system next month, the Tamil Nadu government has advised all its departments to install free open source software BOSS Linux.

Consider installing BOSS [Bharat Operating System Solutions] Linux as one of the mandatory operating system, said an order issued by Information Technology Department. Listing various aspects in support of the software developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the order said BOSS Linux, by virtue of being open source software, can be modified to specific needs.

A key benefit of the switch will be the consequential savings to the government. The huge investment cost involved in purchasing closed source software [such as Windows XP] may be avoided, which in turn translates into huge savings for the government, the order said.

Though the government had, by another order in November 2011, approved installation of BOSS Linux for all its departments, many of them continued to Windows XP use as the primary operating system. The prompt for the present advisory is the Microsoft decision as a result of which security updates or technical support for Windows XP operating system would not be discontinued after April 8.

Phasing out of the proprietary software may necessitate upgrading to a higher/latest version which may call for an additional spending not only on the software but also on the hardware.

This can be prevented by going in for BOSS, the order said. The open source OS supports all Indian languages, bio-sensing devices, digital signatures and could be customised for local environments. OSS, the order said, is almost free of virus. Hence loss of information, hacking, phishing can be prevented there is no need to spend on expensive anti virus software.

Microsoft India on its website said that for the past 12 years support for Windows XP was being provided. But now the time has come for us, along with our hardware and software partners, to invest our resources toward supporting more recent technologies so that we can continue to deliver great new experiences.

If you continue to use Windows XP after support ends, your computer will still work but it might become more vulnerable to security risks and viruses, the company said.

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TN state departments asked to switch over to open source software