And here comes the backlash, mild though it may be... Only one day after Apple announced that it was making portions of its new Mac OS X Server operating system "open-source," some advocates of the open-source movement are expressing concern over certain portions of Apple's Public Source License. According to a Wired News article, Bruce Perens (co-founder of the Open Source Initiative) has "serious misgivings" about clauses in the license that might cripple any chance of a true open-source collaboration.

Allowing people to download the source code for Mac OS X Server is meant to encourage developers to make their own changes to the operating system, allowing it to become faster and more secure at a quicker rate than if Apple were working on it alone. But Perens and others have posted an open letter to Apple that notes several points in the license that he feels are deal-breakers; among them are clauses that potentially allow Apple to "suspend use of the whole system," which would leave developers in the lurch. There are also points in the contract that would apparently make life tough for those using Apple's source code in the unlikely event that Apple goes out of business.

Is this a case of Apple trying to keep a grip on its software even while claiming to back the open-source movement? We doubt it. For their part, Apple claims the license concerns raised by Perens are a simple misunderstanding, they've "gone into the open-source arena with pure hearts," and they "want to do what's best for the community." We expect Apple will tweak their license's wording so that Berens and others will be satisfied, and the open-source development of Mac OS X Server will succeed. Whether this all works out or not, one thing's for sure: Apple's certainly getting its money's worth in the media hype department. It seems like everyone's buzzing about Darwin and what it could mean to Apple, its customers, the competition, and the entire computing industry.

By the way, we suppose this whole Darwin thing puts an end to the speculation about just what the heck was up with Apple's registration of the "mammals.org" domain name. Darwin, as you probably know, is Apple's publicly-available open-source operating system that is based on Mac OS X Server's foundation layers. Meaning, any developer can download the guts of Mac OS X Server and change it to his or her liking. Those changes get reported back to Apple, and the best ones-- security patches, speed boosts, stability improvements, etc.-- get rolled into the next "official" version of Apple's new server operating system. It's software evolution in action; only those software changes beneficial to the survival of the operating system are retained in the virtual "gene pool."

And so, as pointed out by several faithful AtAT viewers (including Dan Brown, Masson, John Stansel, and Keith Lim), mammals are currently the evolutionary pinnacle of life on this planet, and hence the name fits. The ".org" designation of the domain name indicates a not-for-profit enterprise, and we wouldn't be at all surprised if mammals.org soon became something like an online forum, hosted by Apple, for outside developers to discuss the use of Darwin. Or a repository for third-party shared code. Something like that. (At last check, it still just points to Apple's home page.)

Incidentally, faithful viewer Deacon raises a very interesting point about Apple's choice of the whole evolutionary motif: "Remember many moons ago when a toaster Mac was attacked by religious types because its retail price was $666.00? Well, wait till news spreads to those still living in the 14th century that Apples "evolution" (mammals.org) to a better OS will be based on an Open Source initiative codenamed Darwin. Macintosh computers will be burned in huge open pits by the faithful as a warning to the heretical Apple engineers. Mark my Words!!! It's the End I tell you, The End!!" Oh, the very notion of piles of burning Macs just brings a tear to our collective eye... So when can we expect the fundamentalist backlash?

Addendum: Faithful viewer Robert Fernando points out that, in fact, the "diabolical" Mac price listed above "was actually the price of the original Apple '1' computer, a price proposed by Jobs to get attention. And the actual price if I remember correctly was $666.66. I guess it worked though, since people remember it as just another part of Apple lore to this day." Nifty!

Ah, St. Patrick's Day-- the day on which everyone's Irish and the green beer flows like a mighty river. Personally, it doesn't rank as one of our favorite holidays of all time-- after all, we don't drink, we look terrible in green, and no one even gets any presents. We'd much rather celebrate Ireland on Bloomsday by curling up with some Joyce and reading indecipherable fiction until our brains liquefy and dribble out of our ears-- but that's just a matter of taste. And that's not to say that we don't enjoy watching green-clad celebrators getting drunk and having fun every March 17th. Plus, St. Patrick's Day couldn't escape the commercialism of our culture any more than Christmas or President's Day could, which means that lots of companies roll out the green carpet and offer St. Patty's Day Specials.

Take Apple, for example. Who better to offer a St. Patrick's Day promotion than the only company who produces a bright green computer? If you surf on over to the Apple Store, you'll notice a green banner in the middle of the page that advertises a St. Patrick's Bundle, consisting of a Lime iMac and an Epson Stylus Color 740 inkjet printer (complete with USB cable kit) all for $1399. That's not a bad deal, and we think it's a clever way to reduce inventory on Lime iMacs, which are apparently not the most popular color (though we don't know why-- we think it's a lot cooler than the most-sought-after Blueberry).

Given the ill will borne towards Apple following the massive layoffs in its Cork plant once all iMac production was outsourced to a third party, Jobs and company could probably use a little Irish luck. Hopefully the leprechauns will grant them good fortune after seeing such a burst of St. Patrick's Day spirit. If you're interested in saving some green by taking advantage of Apple's Lime bundle, you'd better act quickly-- the offer ends on Sunday, March 21st.