TheOpenAnalyst

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Matt Asay nods approvingly at a recent study saying more CIOs plan to invest in Red Hat and JBOSS technology.

Well and good. Just don’t break out the champagne.

Open source may be doing well with a shrinking waterhole but that does not necessarily mean it is doing well.

Open source and the shrinking waterhole | Open Source | ZDNet.com

Popularity: 85% [?]

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Sam Ramji wants more input from the open-source community, hoping to make Microsoft more responsive to their needs.

The director of the open-source development lab at Microsoft has told a Linux Foundation event he’s trying to educate Microsoft and slowly change its ways. The only way he can do that, Ramji said, is to hear from those in the community, to channel and understand their ideas.

Ramji called himself the community’s “unelected representative” within Microsoft.

Microsoft ready for an open-source skoolin’ • The Register

Popularity: 83% [?]

The President’s announcement of a coordinated system of Electronic Medical Records for both soldiers and veterans could be a big win for open source.

As ZDNet Healthcare reported early this week the military and VA records will transfer under NHIN-CONNECT.

Presidential commitment to open source still unclear | Open Source | ZDNet.com

Popularity: 77% [?]

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Sun Microsystems share price has plummeted this week following the breakdown of IBM’s takeover talks. The board rejected an offer of $9.40 per share and terminated their agreement to negotiate exclusively with IBM.

Sun has been looking for a buyer for several months. The company has struggled for a few years and is in the process of cutting 6,000 jobs. Most analysts agree that it has never fully capitalized on its core technologies such as Java. During the mid-1990s, Java was touted as being the only development platform needed for desktop and web applications, but performance issues, licensing confusion, and the success of competing technologies contributed to its sedate uptake in the market.

Where Next for Sun Microsystems?

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Last week, I spent a lot of time with the folks from Symbian, the mobile operating system that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) paid $410 million for, only to turn around and donate the assets to an open-source foundation. What I wanted to know was how the employees—who were once programmed to make profits and sell licenses—were adapting to a life as a non-profit, which gave away code and incorporated the intellectual property of others? From the outside, it appears the transition is going well. Over the past few months, the Foundation’s openness has been demonstrated through its blog, which informs people of everything from the move into new offices to the latest software launch. The vocabulary is very deliberate, using words such as “community,” “movement,” and “heart” whenever possible. Developers and outsiders are encouraged to give their opinions, and frequently, Symbian responds with an explanation, even when criticized (I’ll get to that later).

Symbian has no simple task in front of it. This may be the largest open-source endeavor that any one entity has ever attempted. As Nokia executives have said before, it brings together millions of lines of code that companies have invested billions of dollars to create. But the radical decision to open-source the software clearly demonstrates the mounting competition from new entrants, such as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), the LiMo Foundation, Google’s Android operating system and even incumbent platforms such as Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. In some ways, Symbian had no choice.

The Making Of Open Source: Checking In On The Symbian ‘Movement’ | mocoNews

Popularity: 92% [?]