01/16, 11:10am
Microsoft to insist on Windows 8 only for ARM
Microsoft's Secure Boot feature will be mandatory on ARM-based Windows 8 tablets, according to a discovery in Windows hardware certification documents just found this weekend. While it will be optional on x86, disabling Secure Boot "must not be possible" on ARM. As described, it would prevent any unsigned operating system from running on the resulting hardware, including Linux and variants on it, like Android.
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08/26, 10:40am
Dell Streak to fit in with GPL rules
Dell's official blogger Lionel Menchaca late last evening promised that the Streak's approach to be Android would be open-sourced. Following criticism that Dell wasn't giving out source code for the tablet's device drivers, Menchaca stressed that the company would adapt to "all applicable requirements" and post details. A timetable wasn't available, but more information was coming "soon."
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06/04, 5:55pm
Google separates WebM patents from copyright
Google today changed the license for its WebM video standard to help shelter users against possible patent lawsuits. It's now been reworded to only deny access to the patents themselves in the event of a lawsuit shutting them down. Previously, the license would have cut off all rights, locking any patent users out of use altogether.
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05/27, 6:20pm
Apple removes GNU Go game app, makes no comment
The FSF -- Free Software Foundation -- has raised an issue with the iTunes terms of service relating to the game GNU Go, which uses GPL code. The foundation suggested that the terms of service 'fundamentally conflict with the terms of the GNU Public License' according to arstechnica, and resulted in Apple's removal of the game from the store. The foundation had warned Apple that it was liable to comply with GPL terms that allow free sharing of code, stating that Apple's usage rules were in violation of the terms in regard to GNU Go.
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