Bonum Certa Men Certa

Open Solutions Alliance Defunct?

Bridges to non-Free software

THE Open Solutions Alliance (OSA) has had several heads shuffled over the past couple of years. The latest leadership is Anthony Gold, who was the vice president and general manager of open source business at Unisys. He's embarking some sort of a 'press tour' at the moment. As Glyn Moody rightly points out, the old policy of "keep Microsoft out" is no more and this alliance becomes more similar to the Novell/Microsoft arrangement.



Moody's analysis is right on point, so not much more need be said.

To my mind, that's really a betrayal of the OSA's original purpose. Improving interoperability with proprietary codebases does nothing to promote free software – on the contrary. It means that free software plays by the rules of the closed source world – think of how Microsoft has embraced, extended and extinguished the definition of “open” in order to dilute and pervert the true meaning of open standards (OOXML, anyone?) and open source.

In addition, interoperability with proprietary systems often implies explicitly entering into licensing agreements or implicitly accepting software patents. Both weaken the very basis of free software.

Instead, open source companies should be standing fully behind truly open standards, and pushing for their wider adoption in the enterprise world. Actively supporting proprietary standards simply bolsters them, and makes displacing with fairer alternatives even harder.

[...]

I don't know how the individual company members of the OSA feel about this dramatic policy shift, but I predict that the OSA will dwindle into insignificance unless it returns to its roots as an “Solutions Alliance” based on true openness, and not simply a “Solutions Alliance” that is open to all-comers, including proprietary vendors pushing patent-encumbered closed source solutions to the detriment of free software.


Matt Asay was among the driving forces behind OSA when it was first conceived and created. He wants nothing to do with it anymore.

Broken bridge
Bridges to abyss

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Who really owns Debian: Ubuntu or Google?
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
 
Dashamir Hoxha & Debian harassment
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Maria Glukhova, Dmitry Bogatov & Debian Russia, Google, debian-private leaks
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Keeping Computers at the Hands of Their Owners
There's a reason why this site's name (or introduction) does not obsess over trademarks and such
In May 2024 (So Far) statCounter's Measure of Linux 'Market Share' is Back at 7% (ChromeOS Included)
for several months in a row ChromeOS (that would be Chromebooks) is growing
Links 03/05/2024: Microsoft Shutting Down Xbox 360 Store and the 360 Marketplace
Links for the day
Evidence: Ireland, European Parliament 2024 election interference, fake news, Wikipedia, Google, WIPO, FSFE & Debian
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Enforcing the Debian Social Contract with Uncensored.Deb.Ian.Community
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 03/05/2024: Antenna Needs Your Gemlog, a Look at Gemini Get
Links for the day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 02, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, May 02, 2024
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
Jonathan Carter & Debian: fascism hiding in broad daylight
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Gunnar Wolf & Debian: fascism, anti-semitism and crucifixion
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Take-Two Interactive Layoffs and Post Office (Horizon System, Proprietary) Scandal Not Over
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 01, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Embrace, Extend, Replace the Original (Or Just Hijack the Word 'Sudo')
First comment? A Microsoft employee
Gemini Links 02/05/2024: Firewall Rules Etiquette and Self Host All The Things
Links for the day
Red Hat/IBM Crybullies, GNOME Foundation Bankruptcy, and Microsoft Moles (Operatives) Inside Debian
reminder of the dangers of Microsoft moles inside Debian
PsyOps 007: Paul Tagliamonte wanted Debian Press Team to have license to kill
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
IBM Culling Workers or Pushing Them Out (So That It's Not Framed as Layoffs), Red Hat Mentioned Repeatedly Only Hours Ago
We all know what "reorg" means in the C-suite
IBM Raleigh Layoffs (Home of Red Hat)
The former CEO left the company exactly a month ago
Paul R. Tagliamonte, the Pentagon and backstabbing Jacob Appelbaum, part B
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Links 01/05/2024: Surveillance and Hadopi, Russia Clones Wikipedia
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: FCC Takes on Illegal Data Sharing, Google Layoffs Expand
Links for the day
Links 01/05/2024: Calendaring, Spring Idleness, and Ads
Links for the day
Paul Tagliamonte & Debian: White House, Pentagon, USDS and anti-RMS mob ringleader
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Jacob Appelbaum character assassination was pushed from the White House
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
Why We Revisit the Jacob Appelbaum Story (Demonised and Punished Behind the Scenes by Pentagon Contractor Inside Debian)
If people who got raped are reporting to Twitter instead of reporting to cops, then there's something deeply flawed
Free Software Foundation Subpoenaed by Serial GPL Infringers
These attacks on software freedom are subsidised by serial GPL infringers
Red Hat's Official Web Site is Promoting Microsoft
we're seeing similar things at Canonical's Ubuntu.com
Enrico Zini & Debian: falsified harassment claims
Reprinted with permission from disguised.work
European Parliament Elections 2024: Daniel Pocock Running as an Independent Candidate
I became aware that Daniel Pocock had decided to enter politics
Publicly Posting in Social Control Media About Oneself Makes It Public Information
sheer hypocrisy on privacy is evident in the Debian mailing lists
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 30, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 30, 2024