News Roundup: Free Software/Open Source Software
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-10 09:33:39 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-10 09:33:39 UTC
Summary: Reverse-chronological news summary with headlines of interest about Free/Open Source software
-
Deb Cinkus is the CEO of Polished Geek, a Raleigh, NC-based Joomla CMS web development company. Opensource.com community manager Jason Hibbets interviewed Cinkus about project management tips and open source project management tools during the 2013 All Things Open conference in Raleigh, NC.
-
Kickstarter just passed $1 billion in pledges. While it's great that Kickstarter corralled 5.7 million people to help fund a heck of a lot of documentaries, tech startups, and more, $1 billion isn't what it used to be.
-
The applications and benefits of open source will continue to evolve and grow. Educators are using open source programming as a way to interest, involve and inspire up and coming technologists. It enables students to learn by doing and to become more engaged. With a next generation of minds focused on next-generation technology challenges, open source will continue to revolutionise the way we overcome obstacles and create new opportunities.
-
ThoughtWorks has recently open sourced their Continuous Delivery (CD) tool, called Go, having its origins in CruiseControl and providing a pipeline process that covers the entire code development process: continuous integration, testing and deploying.
-
I am aware of situations where Open Source companies based out of US can’t offer free software to those countries which are in US’s embargo list, but something interesting popped out today when FESCo debated the issue whether Fedora should allow ‘contribution’ from such countries. Fedora’s sponsor Red Hat is a US based company and thus has to adhere to US laws so it’s tricky whether they can use the free software contribution from embargoed countries or not.
-
People should be asking why states didn’t partner up on this using an open source model of development. Why do states and cities have to purchase systems for 10s or 100's of millions of dollars? How many water billing systems are out there in the United States? Can't we collaborate and come up with a couple good ones? What did Kentucky do right? These are the questions we should be asking.
-
The Moodle community has a tool called “code checker” which is packaged as a Moodle plugin, and allows developers to analyse their code to ensure it meets the project’s coding style. This allows them to quickly identify and fix any issues before submission, and allows reviewers to quickly direct them to instructions on how to fix any discrepancies.
-
This week during Mobile World Congress 2014, Buffalo Americas launched three high speed AirStation Open Source DD-WRT wireless routers: the AirStation AC 1750 WZR-1750DHPD, the AirStation N600 WZR-600DHP2D, and the AirStation N300 WHR-300HP2D. The AC 1750 model is on sale now, while the other two won't arrive until early March.
-
Cisco has released open source security software designed for building secure corporate Internet firewalls called OpenAppID.
-
Since the OpenNI work was published as open source, it can still be distributed, and as I Programmer notes the files will also be available on GitHub. It's also feasible that other backers of the project will revive it in some form.
-
Getting started with new software can be overwhelming. It's even more frustrating when you transition from one tool to another, because you have to unlearn some habits in order to make room for new ones. But, there are huge benefits to switching from closed software to open source alternatives.
-
Having acquired the security firm Sourcefire last October, Cisco is using this week's RSA Conference as the showcase for how Cisco's security products are being integrated as well as detailing how it will cut an open-source path for the next-generation application-layer firewall/IPS.
-
Graylog2, based on Java and Elasticsearch, provides a increasingly useful alternative to commercial log analysis tools
-
Intrusion detection software is meant to monitor network traffic or host activities for malicious actions, such as successful or unsuccessful intrusion attempts, hostile traffic (i.e., malicious scans and denials of service), unauthorized configuration changes, malware symptoms, and user policy violations. An intrusion detection system (IDS) typically can produce reports describing the details of the potentially hazardous activity which generated alerts. OSSEC is particularly useful in this context for many reasons. First, it is an established, reputable product with a proven track record (OSSEC was first released in 2004 and has been owned by Trend Micro since 2009). Second, it is free and open source. Third, it is compatible with most modern operating systems such as Linux, Windows (Server 2008, Server 2003, 7, Vista, XP, 2000) BSD (Free/Open/Net), Unix (Solaris, HP-UX, AIX), and MacOS.
-
In January 2013, I started exploring open source solutions to help implement my business idea. I used Wordpress, Joomla, and OpenShift to create FilmBoxFestival, a platform for streaming documentary films. Note: It is still in the testing phase.
-
One alternative to buying expensive storage-area networks or other hardware-based dedicated storage is to deploy open source storage software on existing server hardware. For this test, we evaluated three such open source storage products, GlusterFS 3.3, Ceph 0.72 and Apache Hadoop 2.2.0.
-
Open source software in healthcare has been instrumental for sharing common tools and increasing adoption of emerging medical information technology (IT) standards. By leading the effort to digitize health data, imaging informatics has set the precedent for the adoption of the technology industry's best practices and subsequently open source software.
-
What opportunities does Open Source provide if you’re really looking to go big? Aiming to become “the next Red Hat” is an idea flawed from the start, as former XenSource CEO Peter Levine explains in his recent TechCrunch article. So what’s left if business models focussing on selling support and services all have a relatively low limit to their growth?
-
Open Source Security Information Management (OSSIM) updates alongside its commercial cousin for better security visibility.
-
My introduction to open source software began when I was sitting on a server room floor, with my head in my hands, completely frustrated with a Windows 2000 server. Every night there were some services that would crash. Every morning I would get yelled at by my over-bearing boss. I was new to the company, it was my first IT job fresh out of Network Admin college, where I graduated at the top of my class, but I couldn't fix this problem because it was a "known Microsoft issue," and I just had to wait for the update.
-
Imagine what Puerto Rico would be like, if free software could become a movement for social justice on the island. Well, on Tuesday, February 11th, 2014, the Institute for a Free Puerto Rico planted the seed for this movement. In honor of Aaron Swartz, and in conjunction with the world-wide campaign to end mass surveillance, the Institute is happy to announce the creation of the Libre Planet Puerto Rico team.
-
Facebook looks and feels like a single application, like Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. But behind the scenes, in the company’s data centers, you’ll find that the world’s most popular social network is really a multitude of different applications working in concert.
-
A few years ago, a global analyst firm went so far as to describe open source as the ‘hype du jour’ and some people even labelled it as something destined for the student and hobbyist market.
-
Lead developer Gavin Andresen chided the commercial bitcoin community for not getting involved enough in core bitcoin development and testing this week. In a mail to the bitcoin developers list updating the community on some bug fixes in the code, he called companies out for not giving back.
-
There are many open source software projects out there today and any list of open source licenses alone shows you how much project diversity is out there. Just take a look at Github, Apache, Eclipse or The Linux Foundation and you’ll find thousands of developers collaborating on the software that literally runs the world.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Linux Kernel Needs Diversity and Diversity of Good Code, Not LLM Slop
- Linux (and Linus) are kicking a can down the road
- Techrights Was Right About a Fake Security Model Built Around Lies or Built Upon Trust in "Certificates" and "Authorities" (like Microsoft)
- We have begun to amass some media reports and blog posts from technical sites
-
- Links 22/10/2026: eBay to Lay Off a Tenth of Staff (Again), Node.js and PHP Security Crises, Climate News
- Links for the day
- Red Hat Layoffs Still Going on This Week (Whilst IBM's Debt Grows in Spite of Mass Layoffs)
- IBM is bluffing/cheating the shareholders again
- IBM's Debt Continues to Increase While the Company Rapidly Shrinks
- This is what a dying company looks like
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part XI - Losing Over a Million Pounds (Borrowed Money) to Try to Silence Critics of Restricted Boot With Microsoft-Controlled "Certificates"
- Garrett is also very jealous of Daniel Pocock
- Microsoft Shrinks Every Year
- Microsoft will try to spin or twist this as "efficiency"
- Gemini Links 22/10/2026: Holiday Inn and Emacs
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 21, 2026
- IRC logs for Wednesday, October 21, 2026
- Windows Monopoly is No Longer Sustainable (the Case of Oceania)
- This is why Microsoft layoffs are happening all the time
- Some Downtime Possible Shortly (Router Work)
- We don't use PHP in the site anymore
- Mass Layoffs at Microsoft This Week and/or Next Week
- Cannot pull a bunny out of some hat
- With Its Future on the Line, EPO Management (Dictatorship) Resorts to Further Escalations to Fake 'Production' and Curtail Industrial Actions
- It's clear that with a yearlong campaign of industrial actions - including strikes - Campinos cannot save face anymore
- Gemini Links 21/10/2026: Summer Day in Tokyo (30c in Late October) and Whole Food for the Whole World
- Links for the day
- Links 21/10/2026: "Zelensky Took the Gloves Off This Time With Convicted Felon" and "Cellebrite iPhone Radio Zero-Day"
- Links for the day
- Reuters is Becoming Slop, Not a News Agency (Treat Reports From Reuters Sceptically)
- In their own words
- Disclosure/s Crisis at The Register MS (Promoting a Ponzi Scheme for Money)
- So now they sell several schemes/scams at the same time, not limited to the slop
- Links 21/10/2026: "The Tragic Death of the Republican Party" and "No War But Data Center War"
- Links for the day
- Internet Relay Chat Still Growing
- The numbers go up, not down [...] Don't believe the doomers
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part X - American Back Doors Inside Our Computers, With Transatlantic Swatting Against Critics Thrown 'Into the Mix'
- "If your Windows PC's Secure Boot certificates are out of date, your system is vulnerable to malware like rootkits."
- Gemini Links 21/10/2026: A Walk Through Amsterdam and Pythagorean Theorem
- Links for the day
- More Mass Layoffs at Microsoft Weeks From Now, Then Again Months From Now
- Microsoft's crisis is not limited to XBox
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 20, 2026
- IRC logs for Tuesday, October 20, 2026
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: The Brothers Who Fought Mussolini and a Dying Main Laptop
- Links for the day
- Brett Wilson LLP Has Almost Zero Litigation Clients This Year (in the Area They Specialise in)
- The silence on the financial front, combined with the lack of new clients, is deafening
- Where to Celebrate the 20-Year Anniversary
- let us know in IRC
- Cheapening of the Workforce at IBM and Microsoft, Typically Without Even Announcing Any Layoffs
- from leadership to compelled "retirement"
- Help Us Improve Techrights
- The site relies on teamwork in a growing community; even readers are part of it
- Links 20/10/2026: $100 Million ICE “Intelligence” Program and France Riots
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: GAFAM GCP Outage in the UK and New Oddμ Release
- Links for the day
- Articles in The Register MS Composed by Employees of the Companies They're About
- The Register MS is the place to be
- Intercontinental Brigading - Part IX - Swatting is Not Funny, Swatting is a Murder Attempt
- “Swatting is not harmless. It is a serious crime that can lead to dangerous situations and divert law enforcement away from someone facing an actual emergency. What callers may believe to be a ‘joke’ actually risks the public safety of our communities and can carry lifelong consequences for those responsible”
- Links 20/10/2026: Facebook Scraping and Plagiarising News Sites, Copyright Act Turns 50
- Links for the day
- Microsoft's XBox Leadership and Strategy is Slop
- XBox sales are already worst in the entire history of XBox
- 81% Voted in Favour of EPO Strikes Until End of This Year
- Who's in the line of succession at EPO?
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 19, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, October 19, 2026
- Gemini Links 20/10/2026: Old Movies, Bandera Hike, and Mongolian
- Links for the day