Checklist for Justifying Free Software

In a few years viewing source code within the major components of software infrastructure will probably be a routine way of doing business. In the meantime it seems that the only reason managers want free software is because it is free (as in free of costs). That's not a good reason in itself: in the long run there are compelling reasons that robust, mission critical infrastructure software should be made free software.

Spence, Malcolm D. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Software>Open Source

Format Wars

Real programmers love their applications' source code: the faster and more elegant it is, the better. Users are after very different things: they seem to want simplicity, flashy colors, nice icons and tons of options. In spite of these reasons, or perhaps because of them, programmers and users often forget what lies in the middle of it all: information.

Fioretti, Marco. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Information Design

Hard Passwords Made Easy

In this article, I’ll discuss how to create a strong password, and how to keep track of all your strong passwords, if you have a definite need to keep more than a couple. Don't bother creating and remembering strong passwords for low value systems, and certainly don’t use the same passwords for low value systems that you use in high value systems.

Locke, John. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Software>Security

The History and Future of SMTP: SMTP's Adaptations to a Hostile Internet

SMTP is an abbreviation for 'Simple Mail Transfer Protocol', and is the standard internet protocol for sending email from one system to another. Although the word 'simple' belies the inherent complexity of the protocol, SMTP has proved to be a remarkably robust, useful, and successful standard. The design decisions that made it so useful, though, have given spammers and infectious code an easy way to spread their unwanted messages. Its recent evolution reflects the tug-of-war between those unsavory players and the administrators who want to protect their systems and their users.

Strauser, Kirk. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Communication>Standards>Email

The Content Tail Wags the IT Dog

Without hardware and software, there would be nothing for digital media to be created on, or used with. And yet the content industry attempts to tell the far larger IT industry what it can and cannot do. The content industries have conspicuously failed to create a business model based on paid content over public IP networks, but still cling to the idea that those networks were created for just that use. Any software or system which might interfere with this theoretical paid content business is considered not just heretical, but probably criminal. The music and movie consortia have turned the transition to network distribution into a “with us or against us” battleground, with most of their customers fighting for the wrong side.

James, Daniel. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Technology

Why Free IT Management Tools are Gaining Traction

Free software has penetrated close to three-quarters of all multi-billion dollar corporations and growth continues steadily. Industry research confirms that the primary reason IT organizations purchase free software solutions is the opportunity to reduce costs and improve technology performance. While leading products such as Linux, Apache and MySQL have generated the most attention, free software tools for IT management such as Nagios have matured and are poised for mainstream adoption.

Winkelstein, Will. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Software>Open Source

XML: The Answer to Everything?

This article weighs the pros and cons of XML for some applications (publishing), and explores why it is the best possible solution for many programming and publishing needs.

Ethier, Kay and Scott Abel. Free Software Magazine (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML