Chua, in his speech during the opening of the Philippine Open Source Summit at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) early today, said that despite the existence of FOSS products, many Filipinos still use pirated software.

OPEN SOURCE SUMMIT. The Philippine Open Source Summit at the Cebu International Convention Center. Click on photo to enlarge image.

“Regrettably, however, the more common option for many users is the purchase of pirated copies of proprietary software. There is, therefore, a need to bring open source to the awareness of users as a legitimate option and to provide the required support for its implementation,” Chua said.

Open source software are those released under a license that legalizes sharing of the application and building up on it. It got its name from the requirement of making the source code available with the software.

Unlike some countries that require its government agencies to use open source software, Chua said the policy of the CICT “has always been freedom of choice.”

“We believe that the marketplace should decide the use of proprietary software versus open source software. We just need to make sure that there exists a fair marketplace and that the consumer is fully informed of the available choices,” he said.

Chua said the CICT uses FOSS in several of its projects. He said the eGovernance Center of Excellence in Quezon City “is a showcase of open systems technology and solutions.” The CICT, he said, is also introducing FOSS through education-related projects such as the iSchools and eSkwela. The projects provide students with Internet-enabled personal computers (PCs).

Chua said they decided to use open source software for the projects because of its “cost effectiveness relative to proprietary solutions.”

UBUNTU HEAVEN. This booth at the ground floor of the Cebu International Convention Center gives away free Ubuntu CDs. The Ubuntu shirt at the back, however, isn’t for sale or giving away. Bummer. Click to view larger image.

“Put simply, cheaper computer labs means more computer labs that we can roll out,” he said.

Chua also said that the Nettop ng Bayan, a project that aims to provide low-cost PCs to the public, was able to meet its target of less than P10,000 for an Internet-centric PC because of the use of open source software.

CICT urged members of the open source community to work together to “make Filipinos aware of the many benefits that (open source software) has to offer and that they have a cost-effective alternative to proprietary solutions that does not involve software piracy,” he said.

Ready for prime time

Global Gateway Venture Capital (G2VC) chairman and founder Winston Damarillo, meanwhile, said key indicators show “open source is ready for prime time.” Damarillo is the founder and chairman of Exist Global, Inc. He is also the executive chairman of Morph Labs, a company that offers software as a service.

MORPH, EXIST. The booth of Morph, G2VC, and Exist. Open source in Cebu got a huge boost with the opening of these companies here.

Damarillo said that among these indicators are open source products that have become market leaders, notably Apache, the dominant web server in the market.

Open source products, he said, have also become models for collaboration and drivers of software entrepreneurship. They also boost the compensation of developers by as much as 30% to 40%.

Open source has also been recognized as “de facto point of innovation,” Damarillo said.

Related posts:

1. Philippine Open Source Summit opens
2. Open source Valentine
3. Open Source phone anyone?

The Philippine Open Source Summit is now open at the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City. The two-day summit is

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, speaking for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena, told the delegates that information and communications technology (ICT) should always be guided by the fact that technology is a human creation and should be usd for the betterment of humanity.

He said technology should be used as a tool for nation-building. He urged those in the ICT industry to use technology to be the answer “to what we call global misery.”

In giving an overview of the summit, Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (Cedfit) executive director Bonifacio Belen talked about how open source has taken the world by storm.

He said they decided to hold the summit as a way for companies and organizations to understand the “business value of open source.” The summit, he said, is preparatory to the Asian Open Source Conference that will be held in Cebu in October.

After the overview on the summit, heads of local universities and colleges signed a memorandum of agreement with Kwangwoon University.

10:50 a.m. Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Secretary Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua said Cebu “has again broken ground” in hosting the summit.

Chua said there is still a lack of awareness and support for open source software in the country. He said the prevailing option of most consumers is to install pirated software. He said this shows the need for ICT players to spread the word on open source.

Chua also talked about how his department uses open source software for projects ranging from e-government centers to school computer laboratories. He said, however, that government agencies have the option of going either with an open source or proprietary solution.

Chua said the policy of CICT “has always been freedom of choice.” He said their task is to make sure that there exists a fair market place for open source and proprietary software. He said the CICT’s choice of open source software is driven by costs: cheaper computer labs means more computer labs in schools in the country.

—Free wi-fi in the CICC plenary hall gets cut off.

Related posts:

1. Despite existence of open source products, many still use pirated software: CICT secretary
2. Open source Valentine
3. Open Source phone anyone?

The meeting is preparatory to the Joomla Day that will be held in UP Diliman on June 14. During the meeting, members of the Joomla community in Cebu are scheduled to plan activities for a year and consider participation in a coming Open Source summit in Cebu on June 23 to 24 at the Cebu International Convention Center. The Open Source summit will have a track on Drupal, another popular open source CMS.

The “Panag-abot sa Cebu” (Cebu meet) on June 7 will start at 8 p.m. Lawyer Magdalena Lepiten and Guilliam Roque will be holding a lecture on “Copyright and Creative Commons, License on Open Source Application.”

During the meet, Roque will brief attendees on Joomla and its history. He will also talk about Joomla Philippines.

I am not a Joomla user but I am an open source CMS fanatic. The last time I tried Joomla, it was still Mambo. My CMSes of choice are WordPress and Drupal but I’ve long been meaning to try Joomla although I still haven’t found the time to try it out, what with my full-time schedule at the Sun.Star Cebu newsroom.

For those who want to attend the Joomla “Panag-abot sa Cebu,” here’s a map to the venue:

Related posts:

1. Going to school—Drupal school
2. Philippine Open Source Summit opens
3. Trying out Drupal as content management system

With the service, you can write short (140 characters) updates about yourself and have these published in your Twitter account or your website and blog. These updates can also be sent as text message or instant message (IM) notifications to your friends and anyone “following” you.

I signed up for a Twitter account last year but never got around to using it regularly. I sent a few messages to the account as a demonstration on the use of various media during a seminar for Salesian priests.

The main reason I wasn’t using it regularly was the price for each message you send via SMS. To use Twitter via SMS, you send your update as a text message to an international phone number. For each Twitter update, you are billed one international SMS charge.

The ability to update from your phone means many of Twitter’s posts are personal. Most users update their accounts to tell friends what they’re up to, at the very moment when they’re keying in messages in their phones. It’s the 21st century’s take on the telegraph.

It’s SMS escribitionism and I’m beginning to love it (talk about late adopters).

But when I started using Fring with my phone, I finally had a cheaper way of updating my Twitter account. Fring is a software that allows you to use your phone as an IM client for Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Skype etc. It also allows you to update your Twitter account.

What’s good about Fring is that it can use Wi-Fi to connect to the Internet when it is available or the telco network when it’s not.

Using Fring, I could update my Twitter account without having to pay for an international SMS for each post.

If Wi-Fi isn’t available, I can use Fring with Smart Internet and pay just P10 for every 30-minute block of connection. For that time, I can send multiple Twitter updates at a fraction of the cost had I been sending it through SMS.

With Fring, I’ve been using Twitter to update both my Twitter account and my blog (check the sidebar) on my ongoing efforts to map the free Wi-Fi hotspots in Cebu. Anytime I go into a shop, I scan for free Wi-Fi and if I find one, log in to my Twitter account and then post a short update.

I’ve enjoyed using Twitter for mobile blogging. I’ll be using it more to blog about my tech experiments—seeing as the “daily drafts of a deadline chaser,” which used to be my tagline, has dropped “daily.”

Twitter, according to the video by Common Craft below, is life “between blog posts and emails.” That’s how I’ll use my Twitter account: tech updates between blog posts.

Related posts:

1. It isn’t just ringing, it’s Fringing
2. Zyb goes social with new version
3. Back up your mobile phone data online

The software works on devices running the Symbian operating system—smartphones like the Nokia N series, E Series, S60 devices and the Sony Ericsson P series—and Windows Mobile devices.

FRING ON P1I. The Fring mobile application running on the sony Ericsson P1i. Click on photo to view larger image.

Fring does not only offer IM and VOIP capabilities, it also offers Wi-Fi connectivity management. The application automatically logs you into Wi-Fi hostpots so that you don’t have to deal with setting up your connections.

What’s also good about Fring is that it will automatically use free Wi-Fi, when available, instead of your phone’s data plan to save on cost.

I got wind of Fring from a comment by Mike Schmeisser in a previous post.

I tried Fring on the Sony Ericsson P1i and found the application very easy to use and set up. Less than two minutes after installing it, I was already chatting with a Gtalk contact. To work with Sony Ericsson phones, though, you need install two files. The Fring website will guide you into installing the application.

Yes there are other IM applications that work on the mobile phones and many of these are official versions released by IM providers.

But anyone who uses and application like Pidgin to chat in the PC instead of just Gtalk or Yahoo Messenger can tell you how convenient it is to just use one application to chat with your Yahoo Buddies, Gtalk contacts, and AIM, ICQ and MSN friends.

Not all of us use the same IM service and it doesn’t make sense to run several IM applications in your PC—much more in your phone or mobile device—just to keep in touch with people you know.

Applications like Pidgin break this digital Balkanization by being able to communicate with users of various IM services. Fring takes this convenience into the mobile phone.

Instead of exchanging text messages, you can just choose to chat with Fring and get the added convenience of being able to communicate with your friends who are online with their IM accounts.

But more than just chatting, Fring allows you to send and receive files. I still have to test this capability though.

This feature is great especially if you are on a Wi-Fi connection. If you’re using a data plan, Smart’s charging of P10 for each 30-minute block of usage is a great deal. I use Fring with my Smart Buddy account and I’m able to chat without lags or connectivity problems using the company’s mobile Internet service.

Related posts:

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2. Windows Live services coming to Nokia phones
3. Escribitionism with Twitter and Fring

The Sony Ericsson K850i comes with a 5-megapixel camera and a slew of standard Cyber-shot features that distinguish the line among camera phones.

Sony Ericsson K850i. The latest in the Cyber-shot line comes with a built-in 5-megapixel camera and a lot of features that distinguish the line from other camera phones. The phone, however, no longer has the small mirror that helps you position yourself when taking self-portraits. Click on photo to enlarge.

It has a dedicated camera button and does away with the active lens cover of previous versions of the product line. I’ve gotten used to the active lens cover–a sliding cover that activates the phone’s camera when you expose the lens–and had to stop myself a few times from using my fingers to slide a non-existent cover. But doing away with the moving parts that make up the active lens cover makes the phone more compact.

The K850i, however, does not have the small self portrait mirror that had been a fixture in its phones. The small round mirror, which helps you align the phone to make sure that you get yourself inside the photograph, is very useful for taking self portraits, preferably beside belly dancers (darn, I missed them during the launch). I can’t understand why the company removed it.

Camera features

The built-in camera comes with auto focus; Xenon flash, which helps you get good shots even in badly-lit environments; 16x digital zoom; and image and video stabilizer. It also comes with BestPic, a feature that lets you take nine successive shots on a single press of the camera button. You will then be asked to choose which image you want to save. BestPic is great for taking photos of fast moving subjects although I wished it will just save the entire set instead of having to force you to choose a single image.

IMPROVED PC SUITE. The Sony Ericsson PC Suite that comes with the K850i is a massive improvement compared to the software. It is now more integrated and comes with tools for sending and receiving text messages; managing files, contacts, and calendar entries; and connecting to the Internet.

The phone also comes with a lot of preset configurations that manipulate how the camera processes images. On the first day of my test, I had a hard time figuring out why photos I took indoor and at night were very dark, even with the flash firing. It turned out I forgot to change the settings to one of the “twilight” presets, a setting that improves photo quality in poorly-lit environments.

When I turned it on, the images were better. If you want to check the quality of images taken by the k850i, check my Zooomr set here, click on “all sizes” if you want to view the actual size of the photographs.

Mobile Internet

I used my Smart Buddy account with the K850i demo unit and for good reason: I am a satisfied and frequent user of the company’s mobile Internet. Smart charges an affordable P10 for every 30-minute block of mobile Internet usage.

Using the K850i as modem. The Sony Ericsson PC Suite simplifies management of the phone as an HSDPA modem. Above, the suite said I was connected to Smart’s GPRS network. When I tested the K850i, I did not activate the 3G settings.

The K850i is a multi-band phone and has HSDPA connectivity, a wireless connection that offers blazing download speeds. I wasn’t able to surf sites or test other applications but my experience in using Google Maps for Mobile indicated great downloading speeds. I also tried using it to connect my PC to the Internet and the PC suite indicated I was connected through GPRS although speed tests showed I was having a connection in excess of 500 kbps (and yes, I unplugged the LAN cable that was connected to the router).

Another great thing about the phone is that it works with the My Location feature of Google Maps for Mobile.

Sony Ericsson PC Suite

One of the best things about the phone isn’t with the unit itself, it’s with the CD that comes with it. The Sony Ericsson PC Suite that comes with the K850i is a massive improvement to the software. It is a great piece of application that makes connecting the phone to and using it with your computer such a wonderful experience.

It wasn’t always like this. I used to just skip the PC Suite installer that comes with a Sony Ericsson phone and just use its drivers. After installing the drivers, I would then connect my phone to the PC and use Float’s Mobile Agent, an open source software that allows you to manage contacts and files, send and receive text messages, make and receive calls from your PC.

FILE MANAGER. The file manager tool in Sony Ericsson PC SUITE. Click on photo to enlarge.

But the PC Suite version that comes with the K850i makes Float’s Mobile Agent, which works with the phone, superfluous. The new application suite is an even better piece of software. It’s a centralized phone management application that will allow you to send and receive text messages, manage contacts, files, and calendar entries, update your firmware and use the phone as Internet modem.

New keys layout

The K850i has a new navigator keys layout. This is the biggest adjustment for someone using older Sony Ericsson phones. The OK or selection key is no longer contained within the four navigator keys. Instead, you have to press somewhere above the keypad and right below the screen. But the interface is cool, though. It’s “semi” touch screen. The keys were engineered in such a way that it almost feels that the bottom part of the display is touch screen.

The first few minutes of using the navigator and alpha-numeric keys were a bit awkward. But pretty soon, I got used to it and was pressing buttons at my usual speed. Come to think of it, I’ve gotten used to using the K850i layout that when I returned to using my dependable (albeit now ancient) K750i, I found myself pressing the bottom part of the screen.

FLOAT’S MOBILE AGENT. While FMA works with the Sony Ericsson k850i, it has become superfluous because the PC Suite that comes with the phone can now send and receive text messages as well as manage files, contacts, and calendar entries.

The K850i is a great phone, no doubt about it. The suggested retail price is at the P20,000 level. But you can get the phone for free with Smart Gold’s P3,500 plan. If you’re frequently out of the office but still need to regularly connect to the Internet, the K850i will do well as an HSDPA modem for your laptop or as standalone mobile browser, e-mail client, and RSS reader.

Related posts:

1. Sony Ericsson K850i test: Google Maps for Mobile with My Location works
2. Upgrading to Sony Ericsson K800i
3. Sony Ericsson unveils K770

If you have one of the recent phones that report cell sites, Google Maps will draw a blue circle on the map to represent your approximate location, as determined through the use of cell sites.

WHERE AM I? Anywhere from Fuente Osmneña to the middle of the Cebu harbor, according to this location data provided by Google Maps for Mobile running in the Sony Ericsson K850i. I was inside the Sun.Star Cebu office on P de. Rosario St. when I ran the application. Click on photo to enlarge image.

I previously tried the service with the K750i and K800i but both units don’t report cell sites they are using to connect to the network My Location won’t work with them. Last week, I tried it with a K850i demo unit lent to me by Sony Ericsson Philippines for testing and got it working in no time.

I used my Smart account in testing the K850i so its cell towers were the ones being used to plot the phone’s location.

It isn’t GPS, which is accurate up to a few meters, and the blue circle that indicates my general location covers an area that seems more than a kilometer wide.

While eating my usual after-midnight dinner in Chowking on the highway in Mandaue City near the San Miguel plant, My Location drew a circle that would have placed my general location as far apart as the intersection in Wireless, the area near the Cebu International Convention Center and right before the old Mactan-Mandaue bridge.

When I tried My Location in Lapu-Lapu City, near the two intersections that have recently become cesspools near Mactan Doctors’ Hospital, Google Maps said I was somewhere in Taguig City. Imagine that. Sitio Kagudoy, Taguig City. I don’t now how Google Maps gets geographical data on the cell sites but it got this one really wrong.

When I tried Google Maps at the Sun.Star Cebu office on P. del Rosario St., I was given a general location that, according to the software, was within 1,700 meters. It’s a pretty large area (check the photo).

I asked my wife to locate me using Smart’s Person Finder service and the service said I was “near Sacred Heart Church, D. Jakosalem St, Bgy. Cogon Ramos, Cebu City.” It’s pretty much the same wide area.

Do I hear a collective male sigh of relief? You can be looking at hookers on Junquera St. and the system will say you’re near a church.

The area used to be smaller. I remember being reported as somewhere near University of San Carlos when I was inside Sun.Star Cebu. Maybe cellphone towers have become stronger and gotten wider coverage that they are now farther apart.

Using Google Maps for Mobile with the K850i and my Smart account was such a joy in a geeky sort of way. But unless you’re a frequent traveler, you won’t find much use of it. My daily commute is such a routine I could probably tell you what size of potholes are in which part of the the main highway connecting Cebu City to Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City.

Related posts:

1. New Google Maps for Mobile tracks your position using cell phone towers
2. Sony Ericsson K850i impressive
3. Sony Ericsson unveils the K660: ‘engineered for mobile Internet’

I’ve read about mobile maps applications before, including the earlier Google versions, but I never bothered trying it out because I don’t travel much. In fact my daily travel is such a routine I can tell you what size of potholes are located in which part of the highways in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu Cities.

GOOGLE MAPS FOR MOBILE. A satellite photo of Fuente Osmena rotunda as seen through the Google Maps for mobile application running in my Sony Ericsson K750i. Click on photo to enlarge.

But what caught my interest in last week’s announcement is a new feature in Google Maps: it can now plot your location using the cellphone towers of your mobile network. The application then displays a blue dot showing a bigger light blue circle to display your approximate location. That feature is called My Location.

Previously, you can plot your locations in mapping applications if you have a GPS (global position system) device or module. With the new Google application, the software can plot your location via triangulation of your position using the cellphone towers that connect your phone to your mobile network.

Phone models

The My Location feature, however, works only in more recent phone models. I tried it with the Sony Ericsson K750i and it didn’t work, which I expected. I tried it in the K800i and it still doesn’t work. For the feature to work, your phone must be reporting cells it is using. You can check in the application itself by going to Help, then About then read the settings listed there. If the screen says “myl: N/A,” it means My Location will not work with your device.

I don’t know on which phones the feature will work but I suspect it will work with the Sony Ericsson K660i, a fabulous phone that’s making me drool.

I don’t know if Google will ever allowing you to share locations but it would be a good application. If it is able to get position data without the application running (but is is this even possible?), it would be helpful in tracking the general area of the unit when it gets stolen or lost.

Sharing location information is also helpful for families. I, for one, don’t mind sharing my location info with my wife. If something happens to me, virtual knock on digital wood, I’d like her to be able to track my general location. I know I shouldn’t do it but I also know I’ll have the urge to track my sons when they are already in high school or college.

Tracing a cellphone’s location

Locating a person using his or her cellphone is already possible with both Smart and Globe. The two companies have person finder services that triangulate the phone’s location based on cell towers.

The accuracy of positions in the mobile version of Google Maps, according to the company, depends on how wide the telecom cell is. Google said areas with denser mobile towers will have more accurate position data.

An article on Smart’s person finder service earlier said that in urban areas, cellsites are within 1 kilometer of each other. In the provinces, the average distance ranges from 1.5 to 3 kilometers. I don’t know whether this is still the case right now considering the rapid expansion of the Smart network.

But a few months back, I asked my wife to get my location via WIS when I was near Queensland, a motel near the reclamation area. When she checked my location, the system said that I was near White Gold, which is a department store about 50 meters away. It’s pretty close. (After I wrote about this in my column, an editor “gently” scolded me, saying it will give wives an idea on how to track their gallivanting husbands.)

If you’ve been able to get My Location working in your phone, do send me word. I’d like to know how accurate the position data is in the Philippines.

But even if I couldn’t get My Location working, I still enjoyed using the Google Maps mobile application. It is as easy to use as the Gmail for Mobile application, which I consider the gold standard in third-party mobile software.

Installation

Navigating maps and zooming into details is easily done in the application. In the photo above, you can see the application zooming into a satellite image of Fuente Osmeña rotunda.

The free application works in most Java-enabled phones, all color BlackBerry devices, Windows Mobile devices with Windows Mobile 2003, 5.0 and above, and Symbian Series 60 3rd edition devices.

Installation is very easy. Just go to www.google.com/gmm in your phone to download the application. The screen will prompt you to download the correct version for your phone. I tried and had it working in a K750i and K800i using a Smart connection. I tried it with a colleague’s K800i using a Globe account but the application couldn’t connect to the Internet to download map data. She tried it a few more times in a couple of days and still couldn’t get it to work.

There still isn’t a map for Cebu but you can choose satellite view to zoom into areas in the metro. The quality and sharpness of the images are scaled-down versions of those you get using the PC application or the website.

Here’s a video introduction to My Location posted in the Google Maps for Mobile website:

Related posts:

1. Sony Ericsson K850i test: Google Maps for Mobile with My Location works
2. Sony Ericsson unveils the K660: ‘engineered for mobile Internet’
3. It works: Gmail mobile app on SE K750i and Smart connection

After the beta was released, I started preparing to upgrade. I downloaded a disk image of the installer via Bittorrent while backing up files in my laptop. Since there were many seeders, the download took less than two hours.

RESTRICTED EXTRAS. Among the packages in the repositories of the next Ubuntu Linux version is “restricted extras,” which comes with Microsoft fonts, MP3 playback support and the Flash plugin. Click on photo to enlarge.

You can upgrade to Gutsy Gibbon from Feisty Fawn, the version prior to it. I chose to do a fresh install partly because I was reared in a Windows world and that’s how I installed new operating system versions—starting from scratch.

The installation was easy and went without a hitch. The installer detected my built-in dial-up modem, which I haven’t used since I bought the laptop, and informed that “restricted drivers” were available for it.

Gutsy comes with the latest version of Gnome: 2.20. The latest Gnome version comes with a lot of new features, among them assisted codec downloading in the Totem movie player; note synchronization via WebDAV or ssh for the note-taking application tomboy; and syntax highlighting (yay!!!) in the gedit text editor.

GEORGIA ON MY MIND. Microsoft’s True Type core fonts being installed via the restricted package. I prefer Georgia on my screen. Click on photo to enlarge.

According to the beta announcement, in Gutsy “several drivers, including ones for ATI, nVidia, and Intel graphics chips now support the X Resize and Rotate Extension (xrandr). This enables dynamic monitor detection, and resizing and rotating of video output, for no-fuss support for projectors and external monitors.”

Gutsy also includes the latest Linux kernel and “allows the processor to use less power and produce less heat.” This is particularly useful for laptops as it extends their battery lives.

What’s good about the Ubuntu 7.10 installer is that it includes in the packages “Ubuntu restricted extras,” which comes with it Microsoft fonts, MP3 playback support, Flash plugin, Java runtime environment, LAME, and DVD playback. These packages are not included in the Ubuntu package by default because of licensing issues.

Gutsy also enables Compiz Fusion by default to give users with compatible hardware stunning 3D desktop visual effects. You can enable the effects by going to System > Preferences > Appearance.

The Compiz Fusion configuration manager, however, isn’t installed by default but can be easily added via the package manager by going to System > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager.

PROPRIETARY DRIVERS. The Gutsy installer detects my laptop’s modem and installs proprietary drivers for it. Click on photo to enlarge.

Gutsy also comes with an “improved plugin finder wizard” for Firefox and you can now also add Firefox extensions from the Ubuntu application installer.

I still haven’t tried adding a dock although I’ve read in the forums that Avant Window Navigator will be added to Gutsy’ repositories.

On the server installation side, Gutsy includes among the pre-configured installation options: mail server, file server, print server, and database server options. The previous option was for a LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) server environment.

Since it’s still in beta, there are tons of updates daily. A few hours back I had to download about 60 of them and these came a day after I downloaded more than 300. This provides a peek at the rapid development of parts of the Ubuntu system as it moves toward releasing the final Gutsy version.

Related posts:

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ActiveCollab is a clone of the popular Basecamp project management application. The main difference is that while Basecamp is a hosted service with various account levels, activeCollab is something you install in your own server and on which you have full control.

PROJECTPIER. The ProjectPier installation that replaced activeCollab in my webserver. I’m using the goCollab monochrome theme that came it.

The project management application appealed to do-it-yourself type geeks who wanted to host the data on their own and deal with less restrictions on accounts. Plus, it was free.

When it was first released, activeCollab came with an open source license and that was what attracted me to the project. I thought it held promise of being a very powerful and useful project management application if developed by an active community of users.

But the developer has decided to stop open source development on the project. Development will now be closed source, at least on the core features. The next release, version 1.0 due out next week, will also not have a free version. Your only options for activeCollab 1.0 are SmallBiz ($199) and Corporate ($399).

I do not begrudge the developer of his choice in taking the closed source path and releasing the product on a commercial license. It is within his rights and I hope he makes a lot of money out of it.

But for those who can’t or don’t want to pay for the new activeCollab version, a new group has forked the project’s last open source release, version 0.7.1. The group, ProjectPier, already has a release and development, based on activities in its site, seems to be already starting.

I’ve long been waiting for an activeCollab fork ever since the announcement on the change of license. When I spotted the link to ProjectPier, I immediately downloaded its release and installed it in my server—replacing the activeCollab 0.7.1 running in it.

Since ProjectPier is still basically a rebranded activeCollab, the installation is just the same. After you upload the files, an online installer will guide you into setting up your account. What’s good about ProjectPier is that it comes with several themes that you can use to customize your site’s design.

ProjectPier offers you a way to upgrade from activeCollab to its first release but I chose to start fresh, copying the remaining pending tasks in the system and then deleting my old installation.

I have high hopes for ProjectPier. I hope more people will start using it and getting involved in the development process. I also hope that web hosting companies like Dreamhost will replace their one-click activeCollab installs with that of ProjectPier.

Related posts:

1. Use activeCollab to manage your projects online for free
2. Using activeCollab to manage blog posts, article ideas
3. Manage your tasks with Accomplice