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by Sheila Lennon
'Bottom-up' journalism from the pros

June 6, 2002 • Today's weblog

Mozilla 1.0 released: After four years, this baby is finally born. "Mozilla is quick, stable, and virtually free of the default links to manufacturers' products that feature so prominently in commercial browsers," writes the BBC. There's a rush on it today, so you might want to download the free, open-source* browser from one of the alternate sites. Here's the Start Guide.

*"Open source" explained by the BBC: "Mozilla is a high-profile example of open source software. Developers of open source software give the public access to the hundreds of thousands of lines of instructions used to build their product. Anyone with the right skills can change or improve the way the software works. This way of doing things undermines the traditional way companies make money from selling licences to use their software. But it does not stop firms making money from installing, supporting and configuring the software, and, its supporters argue, leads to higher quality software. Opponents like Microsoft's Bill Gates say open source software deprives companies of intellectual property and governments of tax revenue."

Which leads in to the next item...:

"Did MS Pay for Open-Source Scare?" Wired reports, "Authors of a new report on the perils of open source software are being very closed-mouth about their funding sources.

"Opening the Open Source Debate," a white paper slated to be released Friday by the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution, indicates that open-source software is inherently less secure than proprietary software. The report warns governments against relying on open-source software for national security.... A Microsoft spokesman confirmed that Microsoft provides funding to the Alexis de Tocqueville Institution. Advance story on the report.
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