November 5th, 2009

New Epic 3D game engine toolset: Fabulous, fun, and free!

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 12:05 pm

Categories: Commercial, Community, Games, General, Licenses, Programming, Scripting

Tags: 3D, EPIC, Epic Games, Unreal Engine, Games, Personal Technology, Ed Burnette

This is big: Epic Games just announced the release of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), a free edition of the Unreal Engine 3. It’s available to anyone interested in using 3D game engine technology, including game developers, students, hobbyists, researchers, creators of 3D visualizations.

The Unreal Engine is the technology behind popular PC and console games such as Gears of War, Unreal Tournament, Bioshock, Medal of Honor, Army of Two, and Batman: Archam Asylum. It’s one of the best game engines available today. See the UDK features page for more details on all of its capabilities.

Previously, if you wanted to use the Unreal Engine in your programs you had to enter into a very expensive agreement with Epic for access to the technology. A few years ago, Epic reportedly asked for up-front payments of as much as $8 million before your game was even developed! Now anyone can download the PC version of the UDK and immediately try it out without paying a cent or signing anything. As a former professional game developer, this is just amazing to me.

The Unreal community was going nuts this morning after the announcement. Some were shocked that Epic chose to release the entire engine and not just a crippled subset. As one poster put it,

“Man, one thing I hope you guys realize is that this is almost EXACTLY the engine build that we’re using here at Epic! You get every single feature that we’ve been using here that aren’t even in any games yet! We only got some of these features last week!”

Use of the new UDK is free for noncommercial purposes, but it can be licensed cheaply for commercial uses. For example you can use it to write a commercial PC video game and pay nothing up front and no royalties until your sales go over $5,000. See the licensing page for all the details. Currently, the free kit is only offered to PC users but Epic says console support is “under consideration”.

“Unreal Engine 3 has been used to create games in a wide range of genres, as well as military simulations, 3D architectural walkthroughs, animated movies and more,” said Epic VP Mark Rein. “Users are only limited by their imaginations. Go ahead, make something Unreal!”

Related articles:

• Epic Offers Free Unreal Engine 3 Dev Kit, New Licensing Deals
• North Carolina’s Research Triangle–“the hub of East Coast video games?”
• Never mind the recession, the Triangle computer gaming industry is booming

November 3rd, 2009

Skype open source? Ain't gonna happen

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 10:37 am

Categories: Commercial, Community, General, Licenses, Linux

Tags: Skype Technologies S.A., Linux, Open Source, Internet, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Burnette

The blogosphere was all a-twitter yesterday when rumors surfaced that Skype, the popular internet telephony application, would be released as open source “in the nearest future“. It turns out that Skype’s plans are not so grandiose, and even if they were, questions about who owns the code would prevent it from happening.

In a clarification posted today on Skype’s Linux blog, developer Stanislav Karchebny (aka berkus) wrote:

Yes, there’s an open source version of Linux client being developed. This will be a part of larger offering, but we can’t tell you much more about that right now. Having an open source UI will help us get adopted in the “multicultural” land of Linux distributions, as well as on other platforms and will speed up further development. We will update you once more details are available.

The key words here are “open source UI”. Oliver Faurax, who initially broke the story Monday, posted a Q&A on his site which explains:

Q. Will the protocol be open?

No. Berkus commented on my blog and on the Skype Linux blog that they will open the GUI code, and not the library. The most likely outcome is that they will provide a libskype closed binary library that will allow someone to communicate with a GUI.

One reason the library will not be open source is that Skype doesn’t, um, have the source. According to a lawsuit filed in September over Skype intellectual property,

An executable-only object code form of the GI Software was licensed by Joltid to Skype, a well-known Internet-based company that provides users throughout the world with free or low-cost telephone services over the Internet. Skype did not obtain a license to the GI Software source code, however, and the license it did obtain was terminated based on Skype’s breaches of the license agreement.

In other words, Skype doesn’t own their own core technology. If you believe Joltid, Skype is not even supposed to have the source code. Unless copyright holders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom (founders of Joltid) agree, Skype cannot change the license on that code and release it as open source. And given that Skype recently sold for $2 billion it’s not likely they’re going to hand it over for free.

Related articles:

• Skype plays footsie with open source

October 22nd, 2009

Stallman admits GPL flawed, proprietary licensing needed to pay for MySQL development

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 12:14 am

Categories: Commercial, Community, General, Licenses, Linux

Tags: GPL, MySQL, Richard Stallman, Stallman, Tools & Techniques, Open Source, Databases, Management, Enterprise Software, Software

Software freedom activist Richard Stallman and others are trying to block Oracle’s acquisition of MySQL. Why? Because MySQL is covered by the GNU Public License (GPL), and the purchase has exposed a flaw in the GPL that Stallman says will cause a “major setback” to the development of the free database if the acquisition is allowed to go through.

Under the GPL, the copyright holder (usually the author) has special privileges that no one else has: they can use the code in a proprietary product. In an open letter to the European Commission, Stallman admits that revenue from this proprietary licensing is necessary to fund development for the free version (emphasis added):

MySQL uses the parallel licensing approach to generate revenue to continue the FLOSS development of the software. If Oracle acquired MySQL, it would then be the only entity able to release the code other than under the GPL…. As only the original rights holder can sell commercial licenses, no new forked version of the code will have the ability to practice the parallel licensing approach, and will not easily generate the resources to support continued development of the MySQL platform.

The letter was signed by Richard Stallman and representatives from Knowledge Ecology International and the Open Rights Group.

Stallman’s position is exceptional when viewed against his long history of evangelizing Free (as in speech) software as the “morally correct choice” that trumps all other considerations. Compare the letter above with this sermon on his gnu.org web site:

Proprietary software developers have the advantage of money; free software developers need to make advantages for each other. Using the ordinary GPL for a library gives free software developers an advantage over proprietary developers: a library that they can use, while proprietary developers cannot use it…. Proprietary software developers, seeking to deny the free competition an important advantage, will try to convince authors not to contribute libraries to the GPL-covered collection…. But we should not listen to these temptations, because we can achieve much more if we stand together.

We free software developers should support one another. By releasing libraries that are limited to free software only, we can help each other’s free software packages outdo the proprietary alternatives. The whole free software movement will have more popularity, because free software as a whole will stack up better against the competition.

Even if MySQL were owned by Oracle because of its purchase of Sun, the database would still be Free Software. Anyone could use the source code, build their own version, and distribute it to others. But finally Stallman has recognized that may not be good enough because somebody has to pay for this stuff. Score one for pragmatism over purity. Hallelujah.

(Photo illustration by Zack Whittaker)

October 16th, 2009

First pics of Motorola Droid with Android 2.0 build (maybe)

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 1:00 pm

Categories: Android, Commercial, Community, Eclipse, General, Google, Programming

Tags: Multi-touch, Motorola Inc., BGR, Ed Burnette

The Boy Genius report has just posted a series of screenshots showing Android 2.0 running on what appears to be the upcoming Motorola Droid phone (also known as Sholes). The source is credible and the pictures look real, though it’s unclear how close it all is to being finished. Pricing and availability was not announced.

Small visual changes can be seen in several of the shots when compared to the stock Android 1.6 image. For example, some of the home screen icons are different, and the browser has a redesigned address line with space for the site’s “favicon”. The key lock screen looks quite different too. But it’s hard to tell whether these are due to Verizon customizations or changes in Android 2.0. The phone dialer looks different, but it also looks different on the Acer Liquid A1 phone which appears to be running 1.6. The only thing that screams “2.0″ is the Firmware version shown on one of the screen shots. You can see another view of it here. If it had said “1.6″ there I would believe it, chalking up the minor changes in the screen shots to vendor mods.

Read the rest of this entry »

September 3rd, 2009

Planet Android and the terrible twos

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 8:52 am

Categories: Android, Community, General

Tags: High Tech Computer Corp., T-Mobile, Sprint Communications, Ed Burnette

I created Planet Android over a year ago to bring together blog feeds from Android developers and enthusiasts from around the world. Since its inception it’s been a great success, far surpassing my expectations in terms of the number and quality of feeds and followers. Thousands of people use the Planet as their primary source of Android information. If I’ve heard any complaint at all it’s that sometimes it’s all a bit overwhelming. As Planet Android enters its second year, I’m looking for your input on the direction we should take the site.

[ Now on twitter: Follow @eburnette and @droidfeed ]

Originally the idea was to just have individual contributors–mostly developers and teams working to bring the best content to the Android platform. Then something I didn’t expect happened: dozens of Android news and information sites sprouted up, sites like Android Guys and Phandroid. When the first one asked to be added to the Planet I said no, but then I got another request, and another, and pretty soon I opened the floodgates and let them in as well.

Lately, I’ve noticed that the content from those news sites is threatening to drown everything else out. For example, here are the first 15 articles on the Planet as I write this:

1. Sprint HTC Hero announced
2. Sprint HTC Hero announced
3. Sprint HTC Hero announced
4. Sprint HTC Hero announced
5. Sprint HTC Hero announced
6. T-Mobile UK Pulse announced
7. T-Mobile UK Pulse announced
8. Sprint HTC Hero announced
9. T-Mobile UK Pulse announced
10. T-Mobile UK Pulse announced
11. Samsung Behold 2 spotted
12. Samsung Galaxy Lite info
13. Sprint HTC Hero announced
14. Webkit WebView Plugins
15. HexageGames TOTEMO preview

And so forth. As you can see, there’s a lot of duplication when it comes to the hot stories, with a few golden nuggets sprinkled around. That’s the first problem, or at least I think it’s a problem. Solving it is tough. If we removed all the news sites, then Planet Android would be a lot less interesting. If we remove some and leave others, how do we decide which to keep?

Another thing that concerns me is unsubstantiated rumors and speculation. In moderation, rumors can stir up interest in the platform and create anticipation. But as we saw with Cupcake, there’s a risk that when the rumors don’t pan out, all that pent-up anticipation turns to anger and blows up in the face of the Android developers. So the question is, should sites that post irresponsible rumors be filtered out and who decides what is responsible? Or is there no such thing as too many rumors?

This is where you come in. I need your feedback on all these issues and more. Please provide your thoughts in the talkback area below.

August 11th, 2009

SpringSource, VMware, and the death of the independent software vendor

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 7:23 am

Categories: Commercial, Community, General, Java

Tags: Developer, On2 Technologies, ISV, VMware Inc., Virtualization, Hardware, Ed Burnette

Larry Dignan writes that VMware’s purchase of SpringSource (formerly Interface21) has “sparked a fair amount of head scratching among analysts”. It’s mystifying developers as well. Purchases like this call into question the whole nature of the “independent software vendor”, or ISV.

Compare this with Google’s recent purchase of On2. On2 was struggling, having lost over $50 million last year. The company created valuable proprietary technology but didn’t seem to have the resources or the marketing savy to really take that technology to the next level. They made a big impact in their day, but were in danger of fading into obscurity. You could consider Google’s act a rescue, with a prospect for opening up their technology for others to use.

SpringSource, on the other hand, was an accidental and ongoing success. The Spring Framework developed around a book that Rod Johnson wrote in 2002 called “Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development”. With Juergen Holler and others, Spring Version 1.0 came out in 2004 and quickly became the de-facto standard in the Java server framework space. Rod recognized a success when he had one, and he formed the company Interface21 in 2004 to monetize the open source project. The name was changed in 2007 to SpringSource, as Spring exploded out into a number of other areas such as rich clients.

Thanks to its open source license, Spring will live on. The creators have cashed in to the tune of $420 million. So what’s the problem? In a word: independence.

The beauty of Spring is its simplicity and vendor neutrality. Developers turned away from J2EE because it too complicated and fraught with vendor lock-in. If you developed a J2EE application under WebLogic, chances are it wouldn’t work under WebSphere, and vice-versa. With Spring, you just programed with plain vanilla objects, totally devoid of any vendor-specific keywords and logic.

Spring was close to perfect the way it was. The base framework is mature, and didn’t need an infusion of cash for new development. Will that change with the VMware acquisition? What if somebody acquires VMware - will it change then? What if Rod or other key visionaries retire with their new-found wealth? Who represents the interests of Spring users in all this?

If you ask me, the industry needs a way for developers to cash in without selling out.

June 24th, 2009

Eclipse Galileo release train now arriving at gate 3.5

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 9:04 am

Categories: Community, Eclipse, General, Java, Programming

Tags: Eclipse, Eclipse Galileo, Java Development Tools, Open Source, Development Tools, Software Development, Software/Web Development, Ed Burnette

Besides death and taxes, there is one other certainty in the life of a software developer: slipping schedules. Every year, though, Eclipse continues to defy that expectation by releasing a major new version in late June. Today, the Eclipse Galileo release train arrived exactly on time, for the 6th year in a row.

Galileo is a synchronized release of 33 separate projects all under the umbrella of the Eclipse Foundation. Over 380 committers from 44 different organizations participated to make this release possible.

Many of the projects in Galileo are tools for developers, for example the Java Development Toolkit, C Development Toolkit, Memory Analyzer, Web Tools, Subversion, and of course the Eclipse Platform (version 3.5). Others are more oriented towards end users such as the Business and Reporting Tools.

For 2009, a new category of projects has coalesced under the name “Eclipse Runtime Technology”. This includes Equinox (Eclipse’s implementation of the OSGi standard), the Eclipse Communication Framework, Rich Ajax Platform, Riena (modular business application platform), Swordfish (SOA framework), and EclipseLink (persistence services).

Another major focus of the 2009 release is modeling tools. New innovations in Galileo include Xtext (for creation of domain specific languages) and Connected Data Objects (distributed shared models with transactions).

“The release train continues to be a great achievement of the Eclipse community,” explained Mike Milinkovich, Executive Director of the Eclipse Foundation. “Galileo demonstrates that large distributed software development can be done on a predictable schedule. This predictability makes it possible for our user and adopter community to quickly adopt new releases from Eclipse.”

Eclipse Galileo with Eclipse Platform 3.5 is available immediately from the eclipse.org download site. This year, downloads should fly thanks to a partnership with Amazon Web Services. Package sizes range from 79MB to 367MB depending on what components you need.

Related articles:

• Java in the trenches, the Eclipse Way
  
• The Eclipse Way: Processes that Adapt (2005)
  
• Eclipse 2008 release train arrives at Ganymede
• NetBeans vs. Eclipse, this time with attitude (2007)
• Eclipse Europa on track for June 29th (2007)
• Countdown to Callisto: An Eclipse singularity (2006)

May 22nd, 2009

Google I/O 2009 opens next week

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 7:52 am

Categories: AJAX, Android, Commercial, Community, General, Google, IO2009, Java, Programming

Tags: Developer, Google Inc., Conference, Google I/O 2009, Ed Burnette

For two days next week, developers and press will converge on the Moscone Center in San Francisco for the second annual Google I/O Developer’s Conference. I will be covering the conference as a member of both groups. This year the conference is broken out into 8 tracks:

• Ajax + Data APIs
• Client
• Google Web Toolkit
• App Engine
• Enterprise
• Mobile
• Social
• Tech Talk

I’ll probably be spending most of my time in the Mobile track, but some of the other talks and press events look interesting so I’ll be skipping around a bit.

In addition, there will be a hall for what Google calls the “Developer Sandbox“:

The Developer Sandbox is a new addition to Google I/O. Comprised of “pods” - demo station areas grouped by product theme - the Sandbox will feature a wide range of developers who have built applications based on technologies and products featured at Google I/O. Representing large and small companies, individual developers, and a diverse group of apps, these developers will be on hand at the Sandbox to demo their apps, answer questions, exchange ideas, and meet you in person. Members of the Google product and engineering teams will also be on hand.

Want to keep up to date on the conference usingTwitter? Google has an account (@googleio), and so does Planet Android (@droidfeed). And don’t forget to follow mine (@eburnette)!

May 13th, 2009

Eclipse Ajax Tools Framework faces termination

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 12:44 pm

Categories: AJAX, Community, Eclipse, General, Java, Programming

Tags: Termination, Eclipse, Mailing List, Tool, Termination Review, Java Development Tools, Workforce Management, Open Source, Development Tools, Software Development

The Ajax Tools Framework (ATF) project at Eclipse was started with much fanfare in early 2006, but now it looks like the effort will be shut down due to lack of interest. In the formal Termination Review document (pdf), Web Tools Platform project leader David Williams writes:

There were some successes and influences from that early work, and that work still shows up in improvements in the Eclipse Platform’s browser support, and WTP’s JavaScript support.

For various (business) reasons, the earliest Project Leads and committers ceased work on ATF at which time there was a Continuation Review in February 2008, as a new Project Lead took over.

Since that time, there has not been any progress to move any closer to a release, very few cvs commits, and very little newsgroup or mailing list activity, and the code has not kept up with changes in the Eclipse Platform and other pre-req projects. The code has apparently been being used some and worked on some, but not in an open and transparent way as is required of Eclipse Projects.

The Termination Review is scheduled for May 20th. It’s possible the project could still escape termination but that would require a new project leader and concrete interest from new committers. If you’re interested, post a message to the atf-dev mailing list.

So what does “termination” mean for an Eclipse project? According to Williams, source directories will be archived and removed from CVS, open Bugzilla bugs will be marked “won’t fix”, and the web site and wiki pages will be archived.

May 6th, 2009

Live MOTODEV podcast with Ed Burnette and Rylan Barnes

Posted by Ed Burnette @ 8:00 am

Categories: Android, Community, Google

Tags: Ed Burnette, Rylan, Podcasts, Internet

Today Randy Ksar from MOTODEV interviewed Rylan Barnes and me in an Android podcast broadcast live by BlogTalkRadio.

Rylan is the co-founder of Big In Japan, creators of the super-popular ShopSavvy application for Android. I write part time here at ZDNet and have a new book on Android programming called “Hello, Android”. I also manage a site called Planet Android where you keep track of everything going on in the Android community.

[ Follow Ed Burnette or Planet Android on twitter ]
[ Follow Rylan Barnes or ShopSavvy on Twitter ]

Topics included all things Android. Listeners from the Android community joined in and asked a number of thoughtful questions. If you missed the live show, the archived version is now available.

Be sure to catch other weekly MOTODEV Android podcasts via RSS or iTunes.