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Study: Open, closed source equally secure
News Under the analysis, Anderson found that his ideal "open-source" programs were as secure as the "closed-source" programs. The decision to adopt a closed-source policy is typically driven by other motivations, such as foiling competition or...
[June 21, 2002, 8:57]
MySQL backtracks on closed-source plan
News We are working on the idea that plug-ins — for encryption and compression, for instance — will be closed source," said Axmark. Until MySQL adopted the GPL licence in 2000, the whole database had been closed source since its origins in 1995, and...
[May 8, 2008, 15:17]
MySQL co-founder clarifies closed-source strategy
News MySQL's move to begin offering parts of its namesake database as closed source only will apply only to plug-ins, according to co-founder David Axmark. Responding to a question about the closed-source reports, Axmark said they were "partially correct".
[April 25, 2008, 16:54]
Live Webcast: Open or Closed? Why you need a strategy for open source in your organization
White Papers Companies need help understanding when open source is a better solution than traditional closed technology. Open source is the answer - much faster time to value, all the benefits of an on-demand business model, and speed of innovation.
[May 24, 2008, 16:42]
Skype increases desktop integration
Talkback Skype's got two strikes against it, being closed source and using a closed protocol. The closed source aspect is enough to put a cramp in those concerned about eavedropping or backdoors. Call me back when Skype has gone open source (like MySQL) or...
[March 24, 2005, 10:06]
Linux guru argues against security liability
News Alan Cox, one of the leading Linux kernel developers, has told a House of Lords hearing that neither open- nor closed-source developers should be liable for the security of the code they write. Cox, who is permanently employed at Red Hat, told the...
[January 18, 2007, 13:02]
Delay hits open-source .Net project
Talkback One of the curiosities of open source is that many of the articles written about ope source are influenced by a strong tradition of writing about closed source products. This is typical of open source software, and while I wouldn't recommend...
[December 4, 2003, 3:01]
Virus writers need a new order
Leader According to F-Secure's antivirus research team, open-source viruses can generate nearly as many variants in a day as the closed-source ones do in a month. It is with some trepidation that we report on the rise of the open-source virus.
[November 26, 2004, 12:30]
Firms urged to use unauthorised Windows patch
Talkback In what way is this un-disclosed patch beter that any closed-source "solution" MS can deliver ? In other words : closed-source is "bad", but we should trust a closed-source patch from an un-known source ?
[January 4, 2006, 0:23]
UnitedLinux responds to licensing concerns
News Conectiva, one of the four members contributing to the upcoming UnitedLinux operating system distribution, has moved to reassure developers that the consortium is following standard open-source practices, despite the introduction of a "closed...
[September 23, 2002, 16:23]
Major bug in MS Excel 2007
Blog Comment With closed source, you're dependent on decisions made by a company with different priorities to yours. With open source, that comes for free. This is another angle on the open/closed question. I've left a request for more info on the MSDN blog in...
[October 11, 2007, 13:16]
Red Hat CEO: Vista marks end of 'planned software'
News Speaking at a forum in Singapore on Friday, Whitehurst said the proprietary, "top-down, planned" software-development model, characteristic of closed-source companies, is coming to an end. Whitehurst explained his position in an interview with...
[October 20, 2008, 8:25]
Diffie defends open-source security
News During his keynote, Mundie had labelled as a "myth" the idea that open-source software can be more secure than closed, proprietary software. Open-source products have steady streams of vulnerabilities, Mundie continued, arguing that closed-source...
[October 9, 2002, 9:02]
Everyone needs stronger Java
Leader This isn't about closed source versus open source, proprietary versus free or even corporate giants versus the little guy. The Apache Foundation has announced that it's going to do what Sun has sworn never to: produce an open source version of Java.
[May 10, 2005, 11:15]
Microsoft: 'We should learn from open source'
Talkback Many "closed source"-software makers would happily see all opensource-software as a public domain, because then they could "take best from the both worlds" (even those they cannot buy), use them in their own "closed" products and keep having their...
[November 12, 2003, 18:54]
Another survey rates Microsoft cheaper than Linux
Talkback Others are multi closed source application deployment zones - they see an application as an unbreakable link to the OS. In the long term however, many would agree that the advantages of moving to the open platform "cost + benefit wise" would be...
[September 16, 2003, 9:31]
Ballmer: We are winning on server and desktop
Talkback It used to be closed source. Cheap, but closed source. Technology innovation has happened much more from commercial companies than open source. Open source has just been trying to do clones of commercial software"
[July 13, 2004, 20:54]
Trend Micro: open source is more secure
News Genes said open source developers "openly talk about security", so patches are "immediate - as soon as something happens", whereas proprietary vendors with closed code have to rely purely on their own resources to push patches out.
[June 13, 2006, 15:40]
Enterprise-level Ubuntu Linux due this week
Talkback After that, as post debate entertainment, we'll wander into totally unrelated territory by disussing the pros and cons of open or closed source, including the definitions of open and closed source and even a few communist or capitalist comparisons...
[May 31, 2006, 12:10]
Open-source lobby group lambasts Gartner's analysis
News After two decades of closed-source's failure to address rampant piracy, open-source provides the only credible and successful solution to the problem. Open source lobby group Open Source Industry Australia (OSIA) has lashed out at Gartner analyst...
[October 4, 2004, 13:25]
