Open+Source+Ipad

Open Source Ipad []

http://www.walkingrandomly.com/?p=3240 ==**Open Source Software for iPad and iPhone** ==  March 2nd, 2011 | Categories: [|Free software], [|Open Source] , [|iPad] , [|iPhone] | Tags:  Apple make a big deal out of the fact that their app stores for iPhone and iPad contain thousands upon thousands of apps (or applications for relative oldies such as myself). Some of them are free of change, many of them cost money but I got to wondering how many of them were open source. When I say ‘open source’ here I mean ‘The source code is available’. If there is a recognised license attached to the source code (such as [|GPL] or [|BSD] ) then all the better. So, what do we have? Possibly the the best list of iOS open source software I have found is [|available at maniacdev.com] which, at the time of writing, includes 42 different applications complete with iTunes links and the all important links to source code. Another useful resource is [|open.iphonedev.com] which is a regularly updated directory of open source apps and libraries for iOS. There’s some great stuff available including [|Battle for Wesnorth], [|SCI-15C Scientific calculator] and [|TuxRider] (based on [|Tux Racer] ). One of the things you’ll notice about iOS open source apps is that they often cost money and sometimes quite a lot which is in stark contrast to what you may be used to. For example, [|Battle for Wesnorth] can be had for no money at all on platforms such as Linux and Windows but the iPad version costs $5.99 at the time of writing. The more serious, SCI-15C Scientific calculator costs $19.99 right now which is rather steep for any iPhone app let alone an open source one. Charging money for open source software may upset some people but doing so is usually not against the terms and conditions of the underlying license. The Free Software Foundation (inventors of the GPL, one of the most popular forms of open source license) has the following to say on the matter ( [|original source] ) // ** “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer. ** // Personally, I am happy to pay a few dollars for the iPad version of an open-source app if the developer has done a good job of the port. What does surprise me, however, is that it seems like no one has taken the source-code of these apps, recompiled them and then released free-of-charge versions on the app store. This wouldn’t be against the license conditions of licenses such as the GPL so why hasn’t it been done? I wouldn’t do it because I feel that it would be unfair to the developer of the iOS version but I would be surprised if everyone felt this way. There are many open source applications that I’d love to see ported to iPad. Here’s my top three wants: Over to you….What do you think of the state of open source software on iPhone and iPad? Which applications would you most like to see ported? What are your favourite open source apps?
 * Free as in Speech but not always Free as in Beer **
 * What’s next? **
 *  [|FreeCiv] (An [|Android port] is on the way!)
 *  [|Gnuplot] (This was done for Windows Mobile ages ago – see my [|review of it here] )
 *  [|Octave] (The iPad is more powerful than the laptop I did my PhD on. Plenty for basic Octave use)

** Update: 9th March 2011. **Apparently, many of the open source applications currently available on the App store today violate the terms of licenses such as the GPL. [|The Inquirer has more details].

=**Most open source Android and Iphone apps violate licences** = Could mean apps get pulled from Itunes App Store or Android Market By ** [|Asavin Wattanajantra] ** Wed Mar 09 2011, 11:38

 **NEARLY THREE QUARTERS** of Android, <span style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border: 0px !important none !important transparent !important; bottom: 0px; color: blue !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: 0px; text-decoration: underline !important; text-transform: none !important; top: 0px;">[|Iphone and Ipad] apps using open source software fail to comply with the most basic licence requirements, research shows. Enterprise open source firm OpenLogic found that 66 out of 635 mobile apps it scanned contained Apache or GPL/LGPL licensed code. Of those, 71 per cent failed to comply with the key obligations of the licences. There are different obligations for developers depending on the type of open source code they are using. For example they will often need to provide a <span style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border: 0px !important none !important transparent !important; bottom: 0px; color: blue !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: 0px; text-decoration: underline !important; text-transform: none !important; top: 0px;">[|copy] of the licence and the source code to the users, or at least notices and attributions. Mobile apps are a big business now, and the results show that companies bringing out new mobile and <span style="background-attachment: initial !important; background-clip: initial !important; background-color: transparent !important; background-image: none !important; background-origin: initial !important; background-position: initial initial !important; background-repeat: initial initial !important; border: 0px !important none !important transparent !important; bottom: 0px; color: blue !important; cursor: pointer; display: inline !important; font-family: inherit !important; font-size: inherit !important; font-variant: normal; font-weight: inherit !important; left: 0px; margin: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding: 0px !important; position: static; right: 0px; text-decoration: underline !important; text-transform: none !important; top: 0px;">[|tablet] software often don't know much about the licencing issues if they are using open source code. Often executives and the legal team might not even know that an app was using open source. This could have implications. "The Free Software Foundation has stated that the GPL and iTunes licence are not compatible, and Apple has already pulled several apps from the store that were determined to be under the GPL," said Kim Weins, SVP of products and marketing at OpenLogic. "Google has also received takedown requests for Android market apps that violated the GPL. App developers need to pay attention to open source licence compliance to ensure their apps are not impacted by legal actions." µ

Read more: [] The Inquirer - Computer hardware news and downloads. Visit the download store today.