Flex:Open Source

Adobe is announcing plans to open source Flex under the Mozilla Public License (MPL). This includes not only the source to the ActionScript components from the Flex SDK, which have been available in source code form with the SDK since Flex 2 was released, but also includes the Java source code for the ActionScript and MXML compilers, the ActionScript debugger and the core ActionScript libraries from the SDK. The Flex SDK includes all of the components needed to create Flex applications that run in any browser - on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux and on now on the desktop using “Apollo”.

See also:
Silly Season (dive into mark)

Service designers are strongly encouraged to clarify the licencing of all of data, and to use an appropriate Creative Commons licence, ideally one that places some or all of the data into the public domain. Recognising that individual users may want alternative licencing details associated with their data, either more or less restrictive than that of the service itself, designers should consider allowing users to select an appropriate Creative Commons licence that can be stored referenced from their data.

As more web services appear and begin to be composed to create other applications, clear licencing of both services and data will become increasingly important.

from Connecting Social Content Services using FOAF, RDF and REST

Via In Search of OU 2.0... Exploring the potential of Web 2.0 techniques and applications in higher and distance education, informal and lifelong learning.

Shiira (Screenshots)

Shiira is a web browser based on Web Kit and written in Cocoa. The goal of the Shiira Project is to create a browser that is better and more useful than Safari. All source code used in this software is publicly available.

See also:
PingMag talked to the Shiira project team leader, Kinoshita Makoto, about the project and his thoughts on interface design.

I haven't tried it out yet, but one can download the Shiira Mini in a snap!

I didn't see it working, but if it can deliver as stated (save 20% of developer time), it has a tremendous value for any IT company. It will also increase the feeling of a global community of developers.



MobileCrunch:

Krugle bills itself as the search engine for developers but it’s much more than that. It’s the world’s most complete indexed repository of open source code. Finally there’as a way to quickly and easily find snippets of code for virtually anything you might be developing as well as the technical information to help make that code make sense.

krugle’s role

While the development world has changed, the tools that developers use haven’t kept up. Developers spend from 20-25 percent of their time looking for code and code related information – a frustrating situation for programmers, and an expensive problem for companies.

Current search engines are okay for finding web pages, but they don't crawl or find source code, whether in open repositories or within source code control systems (SCCS). They also don't leverage the inherent structure of code to support the types of searches programmers need.

See their blog

Commercial Commons License

A Model Agency Agreement, which was drafted by the South African partner of OpenBusiness. It is designed to assist creators, who release work under a Creative Commons license and want to engage with a publisher or gallery (for example) in a commercial relationship. They can use the Model Agency Agreement to structure the commercial relationship. The document provides a way to by-pass the legal costs of entering a commercial relationship. In this way it very much acts like a Creative Commons license, as it provides a free tool for creators to specify their rights and demands. In that sense one can call it a Commercial Commons License.

The contract designs an agency relationship but does not constitute legal advice.
If you have any questions or concerns about how to use this license, or why it might be useful for you click here to read the FAQs.

OS Architecture or Katamari Damacy?

Open Source Architecture Experiment

Architecture may be thought of as a combination of static 'hardware' and dynamic 'software'. Pushing the analogy further, architecture could be considered an 'operating system' within which people write their own programmes for spatial interaction. One model of operating system that is particularly relevant to architecture (since the design of space is always collaborative) is an open source system.

[...] Main ideas brought into the mix were: locative media (Andrew), which provides control structures that one allows oneself to be part of; open choreography (Ophra) in which a set of instructions can be modified by those who interpret them; play and people-centered design (Margot) where open systems place emphasis on users as designers; low-tech media architecture (Adam) in which existing technology and spaces are re-appropriated; architecture as an open source operating system (Usman) where a collaborative framework is provided within which people create their own social space.

For background information please refer to "Hardspace/Softspace" and "Logical Conflicts: architecture and open source design" under Papers.

See also:
PingMag Podcast Vol.1 - Usman Haque

wikilaw

Wikilaw's goal is to build the largest open-content legal resource in the world. To accomplish this goal, Wikilaw needs your help! We encourage all law professors, practitioners, and students to share their knowledge.

Currently, there are roughly 1,000,000 lawyers in the United States. If every lawyer in America contributed a fraction of their legal knowledge to this site, Wikilaw would become one of the largest libraries of legal information in the world.

Jetzt sagt einem sogar der Marketing Sherpa*, dass man auf den Firefox umstellen soll. Peter, was macht Ihr jetzt eigentlich für Screenshots?

* Why You Should Consider Budgeting a Site Redesign for Firefox 1.5 Now (Yes Firefox)

Patrice ist ja jetzt am ISPP Diego Thompson in Peru.

Da lohnt es sich doch einmal den Schlussbericht von Matthias Stürmer: Open Source Software-Einführung und -Kurse am ISPP Diego Thomson (PDF) durchzulesen. Ich sage nur: Kudos to Matthias and Patrice!