GNOME 3.8 to drop fallback mode It's official: the GNOME project will be dropping the GNOME 2-like fallback mode in the 3.8 release. "We've come to the conclusion that we can't maintain fallback mode in reasonable quality, and are better off dropping it."
Phipps: Stop patent mischief by curbing patent enforcement
At InfoWorld, Simon Phipps responded to Richard Stallman's WIRED essay on limiting the effects of software patents, via a counterproposal that he says will "adjust the system so that these patents cannot be used to harm the software industry, which to date hasn't needed patents to drive innovation." Phipps' proposal is to "make software patents only enforceable against implementations of standards where the patent was declared in the standards process. All other software contexts should become off-limits for patent enforcement." Nevertheless, he said, there will still need to be other measures to completely fix the software patent mess. (Thanks to Davide Del Vento)
Open Letter from the Hildon Foundation Board to the Maemo Community
Tim Samoff has penned an open letter to Maemo and MeeGo community members on behalf of the Hildon Foundation Board, a new entity hoping to pick up the role vacated by Nokia when the company switched to the Windows Phone platform. "It is the Hildon Foundation that will oversee the transition of the Maemo Community away from Nokia and into the hands of the community. Of course, the Foundation is also
very concerned with ongoing development within both the Mer and Nemo
projects, so facilitating their future is also quite important."