Open source news for your reading pleasure

March 29 - April 4, 2014

In this week's edition of the open source news roundup, we look at the end of Ubuntu One, a totally-open laptop, Microsoft's recent steps toward openness, and more.

Microsoft open sources Windows...

...Library for Javascript. Yes, Windows Library for JavaScript is now open source, potentially making it easier for developers working on cross-browser implementations of their software. Sorry, if the headline threw you, but it serves as our April Fools joke the year! Microsoft has been releasing more source code to the public lately, including some very old versions of DOS and Word. Yes, that's MS-DOS 1.1/2.0, not a fancy "new" version such as the MS-DOS 6.22 that fans of Windows 3.1 might remember, and no, it's not really open source, because you don't any rights to edit or redistribute the source code. But many open source fans are hoping this, along with Microsoft's open sourcing of their Roslyn collection of .Net coding tools, is a sign of a step in the right direction.

Crowdfunding an open source laptop

Most computers running Linux are only open source to a certain depth; almost always the underlying hardware is full of proprietary designs which are protected by encumbering legal restrictions at worst and little to no documentation at best. Meet the laptop which is trying to change all of that: the Novena. Already shown to be workable with a functioning prototype, the Novena is now trying to raise funds in order to enter mass production. Though with the plans for PCBs freely available, if you had the right tools and skills you could build one yourself.

Saying goodbye to Ubuntu One

Canonical has pulled the plug on Ubuntu One, the cloud storage and music streaming service which had been closely integrated with the popular Linux distribution. Citing increased competition from other cloud storage providers, Ubuntu One will not be included in the upcoming Ubuntu 14.04 release, and existing users have until July 31 to retrieve their files and move them to another hosting solution of their choice.

Apache adds a new top-level project

Ever wanted to build your own homebrew version of SourceForge? We might just have the software you've been looking for. Apache Allura has graduated from incubation status to become a full top-level project at the Apache Foundation. Allura is a tool for creating web sites that manage "source code repositories, bug reports, discussions, wiki pages, blogs, and more" for multiple projects. This may be of particular interest to organizations wishing to bring additional control and customization to the software development projects they manage.

OpenStack User Survey wrapping up soon

Are you an OpenStack user? We know some folks who would love to hear about it. The third annual OpenStack User Survey runs through April 11, and it will help the OpenStack community to better understand their user's needs and the types of problems they are using OpenStack to solve. The results will be made available at the OpenStack Summit, coming up May 12-16 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Hat tip to Opensource.com moderator Robin Muilwijk for sharing some of these news articles with me this week.