Reversal on Google vs. Oracle Case, Microsoft Open Sources WSL for Linux Distro Maintainers, New Acer Chromebook Tab 10 and More
The US Court of Appeals has reversed a 2016 jury decision on Google's use of Oracle's Java APIs as fair use. The damages could amount to nearly $9 billion for Google. According to The Register, Corynne McSherry, legal director for the EFF, claims the reversal bodes ill for small software companies, saying "This entire case has been a travesty start to finish."
Microsoft announced it has open-sourced a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) sample for Linux distro maintainers, which allows them to "build WSL distro packages for the Microsoft Store and developers to create custom Linux distro packages for sideloading". Microsoft hopes that "open sourcing this project will help increase community engagement and bring more of your favorite distros to the Microsoft Store." The distro launcher repo is available on GitHub.
Google announced the new Acer Chromebook Tab 10 this week: "It's the first education tablet made for Chrome OS, and gives schools the easy management and shareability of Chromebook laptops." In addition, "These new Chromebook tablets are lightweight and durable, allowing students to collaborate, create and learn from anywhere. They come with a low-cost Chromebook stylus inside that doesn't require charging or pairing."
The future of the automobile is open source. Tin Han Liu, founder and CEO of Open Motors, describes his company's objective as creating the best vehicle for "mobility as a service", saying "Open data, open source and APIs play a huge role in this, because we believe that the cars of the future will be like computers on wheels." See his interview with Fernanda Marin of GreenBiz for more details.
netdata, the open-source real-time performance and health-monitor, has released a new version 1.10. See the GitHub release page for the details. If you use netdata, update now, as this release improves stability and security has a huge number of bug fixes.
An AT&T and Verizon lobby group plans to sue states that enact net neutrality laws, according to a report in Ars Technica yesterday. See the USTelecom lobby group's blog post, which claims that states' rights don't apply to net neutrality: "we will aggressively challenge state or municipal attempts to fracture the federal regulatory structure that made all this progress possible."
Jill Franklin is an editorial professional with more than 17 years experience in technical and scientific publishing, both print and digital. As Executive Editor of Linux Journal, she wrangles writers, develops content, manages projects, meets deadlines and makes sentences sparkle. She also was Managing Editor for TUX and Embedded Linux Journal, and the book Linux in the Workplace. Before entering the Linux and open-source realm, she was Managing Editor of several scientific and scholarly journals, including Veterinary Pathology, The Journal of Mammalogy, Toxicologic Pathology and The Journal of Scientific Exploration. In a previous life, she taught English literature and composition, managed a bookstore and tended bar. When she’s not bugging writers about deadlines or editing copy, she throws pots, gardens and reads.
Recent Articles
