In an effort to help shield the Linux community from patent trolls targeting open-source technologies, Microsoft has joined the Open Invention Network (OIN), an organization that amasses patents and provides legal and licensing support for Linux and other open-source projects. With its joining of the OIN, Microsoft has provided 60,000 of its software patents to … continue reading
When it comes to formal-but-not-formal rules, baseball is king. Don’t talk about a no-hitter in progress, don’t steal a base in a blowout and so on, all getting into the minutiae of the game. But baseball isn’t alone in the world of invisible manuals; the technology industry has their own set of these hidden guidelines. … continue reading
Today’s businesses run on software, but the ways they want to license it are changing. To keep pace with end users’ expectations and to stay competitive, software companies are embracing more types of licensing models, including perpetual, subscription, pay-per-use, hybrid and others. On-premise licenses are being supplemented with or replaced by SaaS alternatives, and more … continue reading
In the beginning, open-source software was meant as a way for developers to scratch each other’s back. If you created a functionality, you released it into open source so that some other developer didn’t have to start from scratch. In the 1960s and early 1970s, “No one thought about rights to the software, let alone … continue reading
The World Wide Web Consortium announced it has adopted a new Software and Document License. The new license updates the process by which relicensed or unfinished software specifications are given permission for use by other developers and organizations. The new license is compatible with the GPL and permits copying and modification of an initial specification, … continue reading
Software licensing models are continually evolving to accommodate new technologies and business models. Over the past 15 years alone, licensing terms have expanded to take into consideration the mobile population, virtualized servers, multicore processors, subscription models, and the digital delivery of products. Metered usage may represent the next wave of change as the number of … continue reading
Purchasing a SQL Server license is now tied to the number of cores, which promises changes for databases … continue reading
