juin 2011 (7)

mercredi 22 juin 2011

Back from Bilbao

Raise your hand if you like the Open Web! @ Nonick Conference, Bilbao, Spain

Raise your hand if you like the Open Web! Nonick crowd cheering for the Open Web, taken from the stage

Last Friday, I gave a talk at the Nonick Conference in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. I've put the slides on Slideshare.net: [The Open Web approach |http://www.slideshare.net/nitot/the-open-web-approach|en]. I hope to have the audio and/or the video to publish soon, if the organizers can provide me with the files.

I encourage you to view the slides, but here is what I discussed:

  • Cross-platform development (Windows/Mac/Linux) is hard, but Mobile development makes things even harder
  • The Open Web can be a solution especially since HTML5 and related technologies enable developers to build much richer applications, with video, audio, 3D,
  • I gave demos from Web Of Wonders
  • I discussed how cool it would be to have the benefits of App Stores for the Web (discovery, sense of ownership, monetization), without the negative part (centralization, possible censorship, lack of choice), as communicated a few months ago by Jay Sullivan.

I also gave a couple of TV interviews with the EITB (Basque regional TV and Website):

mardi 21 juin 2011

Hypervidéo : un nouvel exemple militant

Tristan Mendès-France et Gaël Bordier ont fait un Web-documentaire tout à fait intéressant reposant sur HTML5 et la technologie Popcorn.js selon le concept d'hyper-vidéo. En gros, il s'agit d'un contenu vidéo, avec des hyperliens sur le coté, qui donnent accès à des ressources complémentaires (exemple : Naypyidaw ou des bonus).

Owni et Boing-Boing en parlent :

lundi 20 juin 2011

En vrac

mercredi 15 juin 2011

Adobe Ditches AIR for Linux

Reminder: as usual, I'm not speaking on behalf of Mozilla here, just expressing my own views.

So it looks like Adobe will no longer be releasing (...) versions of Adobe AIR and the AIR SDK for desktop Linux..

A few questions and remarks come to my mind, which I'd like to share:

  1. Is this going to hurt Linux?
  2. Is this a good thing for Adobe?
  3. Is there a lesson here?

So Is this going to hurt Linux? Well, maybe, but not much. The application ecosystem on Linux is pretty strong, and as Adobe says, "since the release of AIR, we’ve seen only a 0.5% download share for desktop Linux", which tends to show that Linux users are not much interested in AIR at all.

Is this a good thing for Adobe? On one hand, it will enable them to invest more in the Android version of AIR, which is an important market, with enormous potential, Android being a platform that needs more love from Adobe if they want to be able to compete. But on the other hand, this is pretty bad for their cross-platform story. People who have chosen AIR because it enabled them to "write once run anywhere" - recycling the old Java promise - rightfully feel betrayed. AIR is a decent platform, but what made it stand out was the promise of running on all three desktop platforms. And this is now gone.

Is there a lesson here? I guess so. In short: never trust of a proprietary vendor when it comes to running cross-platform, especially when you have a truly open alternative. In this case, the Web. What makes the Web beautiful is the fact that no one owns it. You don't have to make a deal with the VP of Business Development of the Web in order to deploy a large application. You can pick a (modern) browser and switch away from it later on if the vendor you've chosen is taking a path that you don't like. Just make sure it's following Web standards and is Open Source and open to external contributions, so that you can offer patches if needed. Make sure it's extensible, so you can customize it for your needs. You'll see, the Open Web as a platform is making progress daily. It's amazing, really.

You'll have no fees to pay, no contracts to negotiate, just freedom to use and innovate. I know it's a little unsettling at first, but over time it's liberating. So liberating that - once accustomed to freedom - you won't want to go back.

Sunset in Normandy

Free as a bird flying into the sunset in Normandy

mardi 14 juin 2011

Mozilla at the eG8

(I wish I had some time to post this earlier, but vacations got in the way.)

A couple of weeks ago, Mitchell Baker and I have been invited to participate to the eG8 forum, an event which took place in Paris, led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, known for his "three strikes law" that kicks citizens out of the Internet if they share copyrights content and get caught three times:

The two-day e-G8 gathering was an opportunity for debate and collective reflection on a wide number of key themes involving the Internet. They included support for innovation; future development of the Internet; freedom of networks; protection of personal data from cybercrime; protection of minors; and, more broadly, the practical impact of virtual and digital applications on fields as varied as economic growth, job creation, democracy, government administration, education, news and health.

President Sarkozy takes a question from the crowd during the opening session of the eG8 forum

President Sarkozy takes a question from the crowd during the opening session of the eG8 forum

The speaker line-up was quite impressive, including Eric Schmidt (Chairman, Google) and Mark Zuckerberg (CEO, Facebook) and many other CEOs. The fact is that the event was mostly focused on the economic value of the Internet, and therefore missed what is probably the biggest part of the Internet: users, the civil society. In short: us, the people who make the Internet what it is. While participating to the eG8, I had the impression that the attendees were entrepreneurs looking for business opportunities in an Internet that was perceived as a sea of customers. But Internet users are much more than customers. We're participants. Citizens. Human beings.

Mozilla, along with a handful of participants of the civil society, was here to bring a different perspective, following the 9th and 10th principles of the Mozilla Manifesto:

9 - Commercial involvement in the development of the Internet brings many benefits; a balance between commercial goals and public benefit is critical.

10 - Magnifying the public benefit aspects of the Internet is an important goal, worthy of time, attention and commitment.

Mitchell Baker (Mozilla) at the privacy workshop during the eG8 - Paris

Mitchell Baker (Mozilla) at the privacy workshop during the eG8 - Paris

Mitchell as she participated to a workshop on privacy, has taken the side of the users. The eG8 has also been an opportunity to meet with the press in order to explain what makes Mozilla a special organization, competing on a market against large commercial organizations, while being mission-driven.

Mitchell Baker (Mozilla) being interviewed by OWNI.eu reporters at the eG8 Forum- Paris

Mitchell Baker (Mozilla) being interviewed by OWNI.eu reporters at the eG8 Forum- Paris

Links to other articles, talks and interventions related to civil society at the eG8:

Manifestation moto et autres véhicules le 18 juin

Ascension du col du Galibier en Harley Road King Classic

Ma dernière promenade à moto

Le dernier CISR (Comité Interministériel pour la Sécurité Routière), réuni début mai 2011 a été une source de contestation sans précédent, car imposant une série de mesures dont beaucoup sont inacceptables et/ou inapplicables.

Une en particulier vise à exiger le port du gilet fluorescent et réfléchissant à tous les deux-roues de plus de 50cc. Pour moi, c'est tout simplement humiliant de me voir imposer un tel déguisement.

Qu'on s'entende bien : je roule tel un père de famille sur des motos que je choisis pour qu'elles donnent des sensations aux vitesses légales[1], que je respecte scrupuleusement, au point que cela fait ricaner les motards qui roulent avec moi. Je n'entre pas dans le détail des mesures et des aberrations qu'elles représentent, ce document le fait très bien !

Suite à ce CISRComité Interministériel pour la Sécurité Routière, j'ai décidé d'agir, et je vous encourage à faire de même. Voici quelques pistes :

  1. adhérer à la FFMC, la Fédération Française des Motards en Colère ;
  2. participer à la manifestation du 18 juin prochain, dans toute la France
  3. s'informer sur nos droits et ne pas se contenter de on-dits :
    1. Plaques, avertisseurs, gilets… : le point juridique sur les mesures du gouvernement. On y apprend par exemple qu'un simple décret peut décider de la façon dont je m'habille à moto...
    2. Sécurité routière : le gouvernement resserre l’étau répressif ;
    3. Dossier de presse du CISR du 11 mai 2011 (Format PDF) ;
  4. participer au sondage monté par les médias motards ;
  5. Parler de cela autour de vous.

Les titres qui participent à l'action et au sondage :

Notes

[1] Je possède une Moto-Guzzi 850 T3 California de 1979, une Harley Road King et une Royal Enfield Bullet, qui sont toutes reconnues pour leur caractère placide, et ça n'est pas un hasard !

dimanche 12 juin 2011

En vrac