PRESS RELEASE
http://tinyurl.com/cloudleft
Major Vendors and FSF Announce Instigation of Cloud Alliance and New Open Source License
CLOUD 9, THE CLOUD®, April 1 2009 (CCT): Today, major cloud vendors, in
conjunction with the Free Software Foundation (FSF), announced the
imminent creation of the Free™ and Open™ Cloud Alliance™ (FOCA), an
industry-wide trade marketing association supporting Free™ and Open™ Cloud
Computing™ (FOCC). The group also pre-announced the release of a new
license for cloud computing, the "CloudLeft Public License (CPL)". The
event coincides with the close of the Cloud Computing Expo in New York
City. Full details will be available next Monday.
The major vendors describe the effort as a vehicle for promoting
interoperability of ALL information technology (IT) systems, ensuring
they are Free™ and Open™. In support of the first marketing and
outreach program - "FOCC: IT in 2009" - FOCA is sponsoring a technical
oversight group, the ZOMG!, which will create a Technical Committee to
deliver the CloudLeft Reference Application Platform, a Reference Model
for the Management of Free™ Cloud™ Management Systems for Management of
Clouds™.
"In the past, I've said that 'cloud' is complete gibberish, but while
discussing fashion during my weekly squash game with Stallman he
convinced me that this was a great opportunity. It's not often that a
vendor group devoid of products can so easily and quickly get the
marketing upper hand, and by partnering with the FSF, we should be able
to get the free software community completely on board with us" said
Larry Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Oracle™. "I'm really excited about
working more with Stallman, " he added. "I've always been a supporter
of the Free™ software movement, and being able to play a key role in
the creation of a new license is very important to me. This should be
a great way to level the playing field -- even small players like
retail booksellers can get involved."
This new license, the "CloudLeft Public License (CPL)", is the logical
extension of the Free™ software philosophy to The Cloud®. It is based
on two fundamental ideas; that data wants to be Free™, and all your
Cloud™ are belong to us. Building on these core tenets, the license
ensures that software running on as well as data passing through a
CloudLeft platform will be Free™ and made available to anyone connected
to the internet, whether via REST, web services or SOA - even over IPv6.
"Clouds want to be Free™", said Richard M. Stallman, Founder of the
Free Software Foundation. "While I've said that cloud computing is
'worse than stupidity', we found that licensing was lax due to the
so-called "user data loophole", even after plugging the "service
provider loophole" last year. I'm proud to introduce the "CloudLeft
Public License (CPL)", under which both the source code for, and data
passing through, a CloudLeft platform will be Free™. This license also
reintroduces the advertising clause, requiring you to use the name
'GNU/Cloud'. I'm tired of haranguing the GNU/Linux community about
this."
The analyst community has been quick to embrace FOCC.
"Finally someone gets what we've been saying for years. Subscription
models suck. Data wants to be free." said James Governor, analyst at
Redmonk, "Except for our reports". According to Gartner, "CloudLeft
renders five of the seven main security risks void by making all data
available for everyone to see, while simultaneously dispensing with the
number two concern by appropriately setting users' expectation of
privacy."
FOCA is holding events this week all over New York City, in multiple
secret locations to be revealed on Monday. Working to unify and
harmonize the cloud computing community, FOCA will bring together
representatives from the various cloud standards and alliance efforts
in a one day workshop, "Go FOCC Yourself", dedicated to achieving
semantic, taxonomic and ontological consistency amongst all
stakeholders. FOCA is also sponsoring "Free™Camp", an un-conference for
people interested in Cloud™, Free™dom and related topics. Admission is
Free™, and Free™ as in beer refreshments will be provided. Dial
1-800-FOCC-ME to find one near you.
###
Free™
is a trademark of the Free Software Foundation. "The Cloud®" is a
registered trademark of The University of Georgia. Cloud Computing is
not a trademark of Dell Computer, Inc.