Businesses may be comfortable using well-known open source products. But how will they take to more modest efforts? Martin Brampton looks at one commercial wannabe. Is the arrival of Acquia an indication of changing times for open source?

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Open source developers need to guard their intellectual property rights if they want to compete with the big boys, says Martin Brampton. Intellectual property rights (IPR) are usually associated with large software or music companies. This impression can easily obscure the critical connection between open source and property rights. Just because software is given away, it does not mean all property rights are thrown out of the window. In fact IPR is critical to the health of the open source movement.

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For open source software to achieve its full potential, people's perceptions must change. Yet how can that happen when open source is so woefully neglected by analysts, asks Martin Brampton. Industry analysts can play a valuable role. But their shortcomings are particularly evident in their coverage of open source software. And, apart from analysts, what viable alternative information sources exist?

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Confused IT skills policies in schools and colleges are part of the problem. But they're being combined with a widespread failure to tap into existing talent, says Martin Brampton. The perennial skills shortage seems nowadays to have been transformed into a training crisis. Schools are boring IT students to death, and it's the fault of universities that computer games companies are struggling to recruit. How do we get it so wrong?

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Software piracy may well be a very bad thing. But does it justify inflicting misery on legitimate software buyers, asks Martin Brampton. A phrase often crops up in connection with housing - "peacefully enjoy". It nicely captures the expectation of someone who has bought or rents a property.

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The open source brotherhood prides itself on its collaboration and community spirit. The reality is sadly very different, says Martin Brampton. Open source has become a powerful force. The internet depends on it, as do many commercial operations. But despite the successes, I have a sneaking suspicion that the open source movement could do better.

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Despite the rhetoric, most large firms are simply poor at innovating. Microsoft is no exception and its bid for Yahoo! just emphasises its route to success, argues Martin Brampton. "Innovative" is one of those words that always seems to have a positive ring. Rather like "new" or "modern". The assumption is always that any successful IT company has to be innovative.

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A £500m prisoner-tracking project failure barely causes a ripple these days. We're so hardened to government IT problems we no longer see the underlying causes, says Martin Brampton. I've been feeling sorry for the government. Well, perhaps not very sorry. But it is easy to criticise government attempts at implementing major IT systems. If anything, things seem to be getting worse, with frequent reports of disasters. So it seems worth thinking again about the problems facing government IT.

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Hardware prices may have fallen over the years but software costs have always headed in the opposite direction. Now experts are saying that may be about to change. Martin Brampton has his doubts. The Gartner Group assures us software costs will fall over the next decade. The analyst group says buyers will find ways of cutting costs much in the same way they have done with hardware and services.

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From cheap laptops to budget routers, China's low-cost products have helped bolster economic stability in the West. So, Martin Brampton asks, what's really fuelling the wave of criticism against the current workshop of the world? For the past decade, Chinese workers have toiled away creating cheap goods for the world, not least in the IT sector. There's even a sneaking suspicion that the relative economic stability of the period may owe more to Chinese low prices than to politicians, or to whatever virtues we wish to claim for ourselves.

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Microsoft is a pioneer in pushing anti-competition laws to their limits, argues Martin Brampton. The real lesson of this week's EU decision is that it is pointless issuing a court ruling 10 years too late. Commentators are saying Microsoft has suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the European Union's second highest court.

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The many schemes pioneered by Western tech powers to spread hardware and software into emerging markets appear to be well-meaning. But what are the deeper motives - and the best approaches? Martin Brampton takes a closer look. Suddenly activity is heating up to provide low-cost computing to developing countries. But questions about the participants' motives are never far from the surface. And is development best achieved by charity or by self-interest?

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Although technology has long been touted the saving grace of government services, it has yet to prove true. What is needed, says Martin Brampton, is some more original thinking. As Gordon Brown heads for 10 Downing Street it is worth having another look at his old claim that IT expenditures would drive down government costs - especially with Richard Granger, the leader of the troubled NHS IT programme, heading for the public sector exit door.

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Ageism in IT is much like other kinds of prejudice, says Martin Brampton - most of what we assume is untrue. And the solutions require the overcoming of deep-rooted ideals. Prejudice is a strange thing. Hardly anyone admits to it, yet what people say is often indicative of entrenched attitudes. So perhaps ageism is a typical example of prejudice. It is the people who think themselves free of prejudice that alarm me the most.

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As businesses rush to roll out converged networks, few are taking the time to consider whether it's really the right move for them. Martin Brampton considers the subtler elements of convergence. Talk of network convergence is pretty odd when so much is said about IT needing to be business-oriented. Naturally, using the most cost effective technology is a business issue but it is hard to see how deployment of any particular technology can ever be a business issue. Sometimes convergence provides a good solution, sometimes it doesn't. Often other issues are more important.

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Ever been infuriated by a hardware maker or IT service provider who just didn't seem to care about you? Martin Brampton shares two recent tales of customer service woe - and ponders what they mean for IT users everywhere. For homes and small businesses, highly sophisticated technology is incredibly cheap. Sadly when things go wrong, support is likely to be abysmal. It's two sides of the same coin - larger organisations forever cut customer service costs in the name of 'efficiency'. The result is a good experience if things go well and an awful one if they don't.

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Martin Brampton sounds off on the ways Windows Vista fails to live up to its promise - and what it tells us about the stagnant state of software engineering today. Windows Vista has arrived and if you buy an off-the-shelf PC you will almost certainly get a copy. Vista has been described as the biggest software development ever attempted. I've been puzzling over what that might imply.

vista software brampton arriv development certainly describ ways factor engineering sounds imply stagnant state copy nwindows windows shelf live puzzling

CIOs and IT directors are typically concerned with how an organisation carries out its business goals - not in debating whether those aims are worthwhile. Martin Brampton asks: is this really the way it should be? For some time now, I've been puzzling over the ideology of the CIO. Ideology is the thinking that is presented as common sense yet from sufficient distance turns out to be geared to particular interests. Gartner, among others, has consistently promoted the view that the CIO should aspire to an ideology in line with that of the CEO. But is this ideology really working against the interests of society?

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Telecoms companies may like the idea of providing customers with multiple services - fixed-line, mobile, broadband and data. But, asks Martin Brampton, is this really what customers want? The season of goodwill seems to have passed by call centres. Maybe that is not surprising, with so many of them located in a distant continent. Or perhaps the whole philosophy of call centres is alien to the idea of goodwill to all men (and presumably women). Ho hum. It all contributes to my policy of digital divergence.

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Data theft is rampant, we've heard again and again. This shouldn't be too surprising, says Martin Brampton, but more importantly it may be telling us something about the state of our society. Talk of data theft has often focused on faceless criminals grabbing credit card details or emptying bank accounts. But the recent conviction of a couple who made £140,000 per year selling personal data points to the institutional tendency in misuse. And it raises deep questions about the kind of society we want.

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What can we expect from BT's next-generation network? New IP services for cheap? Not so fast, says Martin Brampton. It may well fail to deliver, as BT repeats past mistakes. The BT programme to roll out a national IP network is moving towards fruition. A pilot scheme begins in Cardiff at the end of this year and national implementation is planned to start in January 2008. It's a big project but do we have cause to be excited by it?

brampton network national fail hopes factor implementation fast generation towards begins says mistakes year expect past start plan programme repeats

Martin Brampton tallies up the organisational and financial missteps that have put the NHS IT overhaul in dire straights - and surveys what solutions could be put in place at this juncture. Attacking NHS IT may seem like shooting at sitting ducks. But the issues are so important for us as a society that they cannot be ignored. Those who are tied to the project continue to defend it but other opinions range from doubtful to contemptuous. The aspect that I want to consider most is the financial one. Before coming to that, though, what are the main reasons for pessimism with regard to NHS IT?

brampton project financial nattacking tally regard ignor organisational seem before sitting important dire surveys range opinions issues shooting aspect coming

Martin Brampton discusses the complex relationship between humans and computers - and how to create reliable systems when we can't put complete faith in either. People love automating things and there are some obvious benefits to be gained. One example is Network Rail implementing remote monitoring of trackside equipment. But systems of this kind have to overcome deep-rooted problems. They relate not only to technology but to the complex behaviour of human beings.

systems brampton complex relate deep relationship network monitoring discuss technology npeople problems equipment beings trackside overcome remote benefits gain obvious

Computers and other IT hardware aren't being recycled and use up loads of energy - and there appears to be no end in sight to this inefficient behaviour, says Martin Brampton. While most of us enjoy long hot summers, the overall impact of global warming is a serious concern. And there is little sign that we will deal with it until we are faced with disaster. IT is by no means an innocent bystander in all this.

brampton nwhile deal serious impact summers enjoy warming friend sign means behaviour environment hardware says bystander overall concern face martin

Martin Brampton debunks the idea that we live in an information society - and even if we did, he says, it wouldn't provide all the benefits everyone keeps saying it will. We are often told that we now live in an information society. This claim is highly suspect, and depends on a technical, and largely meaningless, definition of 'information'. And what about the often cited corollaries - the claims that information is power or that information is immensely valuable?

information society brampton often live keeps factor provide idea martin highly saying debunks definition valuable benefits claim largely wouldn cite

What's the most effective way to crack down on cyber crime? Martin Brampton has a few ideas - and they're not about making an example of the occasional hacker. For all the tough talking, there is no sign of an early end to e-crime. In fact, if we look more broadly at the ethical issues around e-crime we find ourselves in a very grey area. The 'e' in e-crime seems to simply add yet further obscurity to a muddled picture. And it is not clear that 'professionalising' IT would make a difference.

crime brampton ethical ourselves making fighting broadly tough sign further obscurity crack martin effective issues difference cyber crimewhat seems factor

silicon.com is proud to introduce a new monthly column by long-time contributor and Devil's Advocate Martin Brampton. The Brampton Factor will seek to dig deep on the big issues in IT. Today he looks at the rivalry between Google, IBM and Microsoft. People talk a lot about a clash of the titans between Google and Microsoft. Perhaps surprisingly, Microsoft dismisses this and says instead that IBM is its main rival. The reality is more complex and more interesting than the bare headlines suggest.

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Despite the UK government's reluctance to embrace open source, Martin Brampton points out the many ways they're suited to each other - the least of which is cost. The government regularly claims it will reduce the cost of administration through the use of IT. Such a claim is inherently implausible, given the sector's track record in IT projects. Quite apart from that, government appears to be going about things in entirely the wrong way.

government open cost source embrace reluctance least advocate reduce inherently record points devil martin ways projects appears wrong regularly claims

If rights holders put too stringent demands on how we can use digital information, we may well see people move back towards the analogue experience of books and the outdoors, says Martin Brampton. Digital rights management (DRM) is a curious area of technology. There are doubts about whether the rights holders are deserving of such generous treatment. More immediate, though, is the question of whether the whole issue will deter consumers from buying new technology at all.

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If companies truly put principles ahead of profits, you might be surprised at the number of issues that would be affected, says Martin Brampton. It is not often that I feel sympathy for the likes of Microsoft and Cisco. But reading of attacks on them by politicians over complicity in Chinese censorship, I almost shed a tear. These companies have been putting profit ahead of principle. How extraordinary!

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After resolving a longstanding dispute with an online grocer, Martin Brampton wonders whether either IT or the business ever spares a thought for the customer. It is lucky that we still have a few legal rights left to us as consumers. You may recall my problems with getting a few groceries delivered. While 'customer services' declined to help, we eventually achieved a solution of a kind.

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The opening up of the telecoms market highlights the deficiencies of economies run by bean counters, says Martin Brampton. The unbundling of the local loop is gathering pace. AOL has now joined other high-profile ISPs who want to put their own equipment into telephone exchanges. These moves are sparking competition with BT at a level not seen before. But they also raise some darker issues.

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Finding a simple solution to a complex problem is never going to be quick or easy, says Martin Brampton. There are some perennial topics in IT and one of them is complexity. One feels that King Canute would have been at home with many of the arguments. We hear that chief executives will no longer tolerate complexity, as if it were something introduced by the self indulgence of delinquent techies.

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As more and more regulations are put in place to crack down on corporate wrongdoings, Martin Brampton questions whether this will really bring about any changes in how we do business. Is the phrase 'business ethics' an oxymoron? Two recent quotes from silicon.com's CIO Forum particularly made me wonder.

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In its bid to expand, Google appears to have no choice but to take on Microsoft, says Martin Brampton. But will it be able to succeed where so many others have failed? Google is the latest company to be seen as a possible block on Microsoft's road to world domination. With possible moves to link with both the wounded AOL and the up-and-coming Opera browser firm, 2006 will be a critical time for Google's ambitions.

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Discriminating against programmers and other IT workers on the basis of age doesn’t make sense, says Martin Brampton. So how might that situation change? The government is planning to outlaw age discrimination in employment. Should I expect a rush of recruiters seeking my services as a result? Somehow I doubt it but there are some interesting opportunities around. Open source is one of the most interesting.

interesting opportunity expect programmers basis nthe situation employment martin somehow result against says seeking doubt advocate rush recruiters outlaw brampton

A chronic work avoider, Martin Brampton examines the practises that actually lead us to accomplish the most - and they don't include chaining yourself to your desk. I'm going to make a public admission this week. The reason for making it is that I'm puzzled by the obsessive behaviour of very many people these days. So here we are - whenever I get the chance, I'm inclined to avoid work, and always have.

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Martin Brampton weighs in against national ID cards in the UK once again - this time because the music industry appears to be getting involved. It was not my intention to return to the issue of ID cards so soon. But despite my cynicism I was a little shocked to find that at this early stage there are already plans to use government data for dubious commercial purposes.

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There is a bifurcation taking place within companies clamouring over conflicting ideas of best practice. The trend towards outsourcing on the one hand, the requirement to align IT with the business on the other. Martin Brampton stands at the crossroads and tries to make sense of this contradiction. It is odd how the received wisdom often points in conflicting directions. Currently, outsourcing remains a preoccupation, as does talk about aligning IT with organisational goals. Yet the two concepts are awkward bedfellows.

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The EU should stand firm on advocating independent, open standards for software - despite the new offence Microsoft appears to be raising across the pond, says Martin Brampton. Microsoft is apparently organising a campaign against European regulators. It wants other US companies who may suffer from regulation to back its fight against EU penalties. And all this comes just at the time when a fresh battle over Office file formats is brewing.

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