Google launches source code hosting program

Search giant Google has launched a new project hosting service for open source software. Designed to leverage the robust Subversion version control system, the new service provides repository hosting and support for issue tracking. With extremely limited functionality and plenty of rough edges, the nascent open source project hosting service is noticeably inferior to most other Google betaware. Despite the deficiencies, the project has potential, and it will probably become more useful as it continues to evolve. The main page bears the common open source meme "Release early, release often," a principle that Google seems to have embraced with great enthusiasm given the raw status of the system.

The service is far from ready for production use. With the exception of the issue tracking feature which has a very nifty (albeit buggy) filtering list view widget, the interface is plagued with an uncharacteristic lack of useful ajax flourishes.

The project search feature isn't particularly useful yet. The issue tracking search feature is much better, but like most of the rest of the system, it still falls short of functionality offered by alternative software development project management solutions. The web-based repository view is extremely simplistic, and it doesn't seem to provide a means of viewing earlier revisions. Source code display is also very simple, and syntax highlighting is not yet supported.

With only a fraction of the features available in competing technologies, gaining dominance in the open source project hosting field will present Google with an uphill battle. Sourceforge, a widely used open source project hosting service operated by VA Software subsidiary OSTG, is widely recognized as a leader in the open source hosting niche. With over 100,000 registered projects and over 1 million registered users, Sourceforge has a tremendous following and broad community recognition.

Nokia Tests Cellular Wi-Fi Phones

Nokia, the world largest handset maker, has begun testing technology in a Finnish city that lets users to make calls on both cellular and Wi-Fi networks and switch between networks without interruption.

Nokia's new 6136 phone automatically transfers voice or data connections from GSM networks to Wi-Fi when the device recognizes a compatible wireless network, Doug Dawson, a spokesman with Nokia, says. And, vice versa, when users make a call or data transfer via Wi-Fi and step out of the Wi-Fi network's coverage area, the connection is transferred to a GSM link without interruption.

Around 50 people in Oulu, Finland, are testing the new service as part of a two-month pilot initiated by Nokia in cooperation with Finnet and the City of Oulu. The city has been offering free access to Wi-Fi hot spots since last year as part of a project to spur wireless Internet service.

GPLv3 draft tones down DRM language

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) unveiled a second draft of the GNU general public license version 3 (GPLv3) Thursday which adopts a different, more measured tone than the initial take released in January.

The biggest change is the replacing of strident language around the issue of DRM (digital rights management).

The variations in the two drafts reflect different levels of involvement in the process. "Draft 1 was exclusively the work of the FSF," said Eben Moglen, an FSF board member and one of the authors of the draft. "The second draft is reflective of broader opinion, of the FSF and thousands of other people around the world." After bringing out Draft 1 at the start of the year, the organization initiated a period of public debate on the proposed license.

Created by Richard Stallman in 1989 for the GNU free operating system project, the GPL was last fully revised 15 years ago. The license gives users the right to freely study, copy, modify, reuse, share and redistribute software, and govern a good deal of free and open-source software (FOSS) including the Linux operating system, MySQL AB's database and the Samba file and print server project.