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May 19, 2005
New podcast from Software Garden - Linda Hamel
I've started a new podcast aimed at people interested in software licensing, open source, and similar issues. It's called "Dan Bricklin's Sofware Licensing Podcast". I will be posting recordings of interviews and other material in MP3 format suitable for listening on a music player (like the Apple iPod and its ilk) or directly on your personal computer (if it's sound-enabled with MP3-playing software, as most newer ones are).
You can learn about new "shows" by reading this weblog, or by subscribing to the podcast's RSS feed using software such as iPodder, iPodderX, Doppler, etc. A list of shows is also available on this page. The main Software Garden podcast page is www.softwaregarden.com/podcast.
The people I hope to interview are deeply involved in legal issues or software development. The first show is an interview with Commonwealth of Massachusetts Information Technology Division General Counsel Linda Hamel. For over 30 minutes she discusses her experience as a lawyer of the Commonwealth's move to encourage the use of Open Source in the mix of software they buy and commission. She talks about how government entities, like the State, have a different risk profile when it comes to Open Source than many commercial entities. She goes over some of her own learning experiences. Some of what she says fits in very nicely with the theories presented in another podcast (on ITConversations) of Geoffrey Moore's "Open Source Has Crossed the Chasm...Now What?" which describes situations when Open Source is the appropriate choice for companies. Linda ends with: "...[with respect to Open Source Licensing] the culture is reflected in the legal documents and if you don't understand the culture it's going to be very hard for you to understand the legal documents."
Linda has posted a lot of useful material on the ITD website, www.mass.gov/itd, especially in the "Policies, Standards & Legal" section.
Posted by danb at May 19, 2005 11:51 AM