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

While the Googlers want to talk today about improvements to GMail for mobile, there remains a serious concern for you to discuss this weekend.

Is Google really good at being part of an open source community?

There are three types of mobile source projects:

1. One-company projects.
2. Multiple-company projects.
3. Community projects, which may or may not have a commercial arm.

Can Google build open source communities | Open Source | ZDNet.com

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

The clearest sign of Vodafone’s new philosophy can be found on a Web portal called betavine. The site allows anyone from hobbyists to software pros to create and test one another’s mobile applications, which can be downloaded on any wireless network, not just Vodafone’s. While developers retain intellectual property rights, the British giant gets insight into the latest trends and ensures that new apps are compatible with its network. Vodafone itself used betavine to enlist those enthusiasts to test a software add-on that enables mobile broadband customers to access the Internet via Linux.

Vodafone: Embracing Open Source with Open Arms – BusinessWeek

It’s ironic but fitting that executive bonuses, a subject that’s ignited popular anger against the very companies in Sun Microsystems’ core customer base on Wall St, helped kill Sun’s future.

It’s been reported that a disagreement between IBM and Sun over post-acquisition packages for both chief executive officer Jonathan Schwartz and chairman and co-founder Scott McNealy helped sink a deal that sources last week told The Reg was imminent.

Did Sun’s total package kill the IBM deal? • The Register

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?

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

It is meant to illustrate the costs of “upgrading” from a proprietary to a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) solution in your IT shop.

The open source sea change and the Taylor graph | Open Source | ZDNet.com

OpenMoko said it will not be making successors to its open source Neo FreeRunner smartphone.

Speaking at a conference in Switzerland, OpenMoko CEO Sean Moss-Pultz said the company will discontinue development on the next iteration of its Linux-based smartphone, as the FreeRunner only sold about 10,000 units. The company will focus on a supporting the existing smartphone, as well as a new product that’s not a mobile phone, Moss-Pultz said.

OpenMoko Ending Open Source Smartphone — Open Source Smartphone — InformationWeek

That latest piece of Microsoft nonsense makes too easy a target and is not my real focus here. I would rather dig into the true financial story behind migrating to free software.

The true cost of migrating to open source – at ZDNet.co.uk