OStatic

A lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants. Mark Twain said this when news moved at the speed of the telegraph, imagine what he'd clock a lie at now. This weekend a rumor asserting that Apple would require all software to be signed in order to run on Mac OS X 10.7 made its way through Identi.ca and Twitter with astonishing speed. Few bothered to notice that the source of the rumor did not cite any evidence for the assertion. It went from an unverified post on a non-news site to a hot topic in no time at all.

While it's not reasonable to expect readers to verify every single chunk of information, it's disappointing to see the reaction that accompanied this news. Rather than asking, is that really true? the report was republished and discussed as if Steve Jobs himself made the announcement.

February is a great time to visit Barcelona -- the sights, the culture, the history, and of course, the Mobile World Congress. As an astute mobile enthusiast, you've probably noticed that open source platforms, applications and services are cropping up all over the mobile industry. It's no secret that a few of us here are fond of Funambol, thanks to its cross-platform functionality and community involvement.

At the Mobile World Congress, Funambol will unveil new products to interest mobile users and developers.

While the ten hopeful finalists in the Cisco Think Inside the Box developer competition await the judges' decision, OStatic has been fortunate enough to speak with a few teams about their submissions. The global contest centered on the network as a platform approach to develop applications using Cisco's Linux-based AXP (Application Extension Platform), a service module on its ISR (Integrated Services Routers).

Today, Roman Skvirsky of Team RSDevs has graciously taken the time to tell OStatic readers a little bit more about his Flash Gateway to Videoconferences application. The Flash Gateway to Videoconferences allows users to connect and join conferences and audio calls to H.323 and SIP phones through a web browser -- requiring no additional software installation beyond the Flash plugin.

It's so obvious, and it's still so easy to forget. Open source software is, well... open. People can modify it, give it back, pitch in, and use it as they wish. They can poke at and observe how scripts work and interact in one application, and apply those principles -- if not the code itself -- in their own projects. Still, it's so easy to forget it isn't simply about the code. Code is a major component, of course, and it's a driving force, but when it all boils down, it's still a means to an end, a tool, a way to get a job done.

It doesn't mean that code just has to work and have a function. There are oodles of other factors playing in -- usability, accessibility, and outright aesthetics. There's extensibility, compatibility, interoperability. There's spreading the word, demonstrating, advocating, and educating. And it sounds, sometimes, really endlessly time consuming. It can be -- but so can a few minutes of playing Fallout 3 before writing that email for work. Just ask my husband.

It doesn't have to be. Crazy as it is, contributing can be light work, and still effective. Sometimes, especially when it comes to advocacy, there are better results when alternative applications are mentioned and outlined in a general sense. Talk about the software further when asked, tell the person asking what the penguin (or the neat red swirly design) on your shirt represents.

Ah, the open source business model, and the inevitable question that always accompanies its mention -- How can you make money if you give the product away? Then come the raised eyebrows when you mention support and training services. It does work, of course. Any business, whether it makes open or proprietary software products, or noise makers and party hats, needs to diligently think of ways to make its products more useful and appealing to its current -- and potential -- markets.

One of the best ways to do this is to just listen. What are current users (or those who'd like to, but...) asking for? Funambol is no stranger to asking its users how they feel about the business and its services, and seriously considering the feedback that is received. Customer demand is in large part why Funambol now offers hosting services for its commercial Carrier Edition software.

Over at the Lynx blog, Dougie Richardson cast his vote for the best comment made during the course of Ubuntu's Open Week. While his choice might be completely subjective, there is no denying that Mark Shuttleworth's response when asked whether WINE (in its own right, or as a general synonym for Windows compatibility) or native Linux ports were more important to Ubuntu's success was thought provoking.

The question (and answer) invite all sorts of tangential queries. What should any desktop computer be expected, by default, to deliver? If equivalent applications on different platforms have identical features and functionality, and content produced by one application can be opened and modified on the other, will user interfaces and familiarity matter less -- or more? If Microsoft made every last line of its code available to peruse and modify right now -- how would Windows change? How would Linux change? If you need a Philips head screwdriver, is it possible to squeak by with an approximately sized flat head type?

In my inbox yesterday, along with the notes from my mom, forwards from relatives and friends who never really write, and a wide variety of great deals on fake watches, I discovered a press release from Funambol. That in and of itself isn't unusual, but what the open source mobile sync and push solution company was reporting is remarkable on several levels.

Many open source software companies are seeing increases in revenue, stronger migration rates and a general upswing in business thanks to the rather anemic economy. You don't need to write about open source to see this -- it's readily apparent to anyone skimming tech-related headlines. Funambol's announcement certainly mentioned the economy, and gave some truly impressive figures surrounding the project's growth -- but they weren't in relation to undeniably important financial gains. The jaw-dropping growth is happening somewhere that's even more critical in the long-term: the community.

I can't help, when hearing more of the details about the EFF and OdioWorks joint lawsuit against Apple, thinking that the whole situation is just broken from any angle. The DMCA isn't without issue and the fact that it was applied to an online discussion about reverse engineering possibilities is a disturbing first. Even more backwards is the idea that a company producing wildly popular devices that are unsupported on an operating platform that's attracting an increasing number of tech- and gadget-happy people would not expect (or tolerate to some degree) discussion about reverse engineering.

Let's put the legal issues aside for a moment -- or the idea that any copy protection systems were going to be stripped and copyright laws would be violated left and right. Wouldn't having a device your company produces but will not (or can not) support on some platforms reverse engineered so that it is able to work on (and with) a larger pool of software going to make your device more desirable?

I have a confession: When I read press releases about Envizions' EVO Smart Console I am unsure if the company is run by self-assured, confident visionaries or if -- well, the situation is actually quite the opposite. I like (love?) the idea of an open source, Linux-powered gaming console. I like the potential it holds, the almost limitless features it could deliver, the creativity it could inspire.

I know that bringing hardware to market is rough, and that sometimes things get bogged down in regulatory processes and unexpected red tape. I know that balancing what you want to sell, what you want to deliver, and what your customers want, expect and request can be tricky. A company needs to hold on to its dreams and ideals -- and it needs to bring in cash in order to make those dreams and ideals happen.

It isn't easy, especially when you're selling something that isn't even at the early adopter stage. It's impossible to say if Envizions is going about this in the most logical manner -- it's uncharted territory. This is why Envizion's announcement of a 3-D online community (think Second Life) leaves me feeling even more conflicted about the EVO open source game console than ever.