Userland
- As reported by Bakersfield.com, Mattermost (a secure instant messaging and collaboration platform) has announced new integrations with GitLab. The integration of GitLab activities (such as mentions or merge requests) into Mattermost will help streamline communication channels for technical organizations.
- The 3D printing site ALL3DP published a comparison of FreeCAD and LibreCAD. Though they have significantly different uses (FreeCAD works in 3D, while LibreCAD works in 2D), the article compares some things such as usability and compatibility. A great takeaway here is that there is an open source alternative for each type of application readily available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- The Vtiger CRM showed up in Bollyinside’s list of top CRMs for small business, noting its flexibility and usability. While there are plans for subscribing to Vtiger as a service, its open source version is easily downloadable and installable as well.
- ZDNet presented an overview of KDE Neon, which pairs a stable (LTS) Ubuntu base with the latest stable releases of the KDE Plasma desktop. KDE Neon is the author’s preferred daily driver, as it brings both the stability of long-term support for the underlying system and the best and brightest of new (but still stable) desktop goodness.
Server Closet
- Open source voice assistant developer Mycroft.ai has announced that it will not be able to deliver its Mark II smart speaker to some of its Kickstarter backers, per Opensourceforu. Furthermore, the project is in danger of shutting down. Consumer device aside, this means the market might also lose active development on the open source Mycroft software component. Mycroft can be and is used by other solutions (such as the KDE Project’s recently launched Plasma Big Screen television interface) to provide a voice assistant function that also respects users’ privacy.
- Canonical released a real-time version of the Linux kernel for the 22.04 Long-Term Support (LTS) version of its Ubuntu operating system, per TechRepublic. This is an important update for companies involved in extremely time-sensitive applications such as financial trading, telecom, and robotics.
- Once Red Hat acquired the CentOS server OS and switched it from stable to rolling releases, competitors AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux quickly came forward to fill the gap for an independent alternative compatible Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL). UbuntuPIT published an extensive comparison of the two platforms for those looking to migrate away.
- Opensourceforu provided a thorough rundown of Podman, an alternative to Docker for managing and running containers. Although it’s designed to be a “drop-in” replacement for Docker down to the command level, as the default for Red Hat and its adjacent distributions, it’s good for business users to know its ins and outs.
Board Room
- ComputerWeekly.com interviewed Per Poug, the open source lead at Spotify, who elaborated some of the pros and cons of using open source software for businesses. Key advantages such as eliminating vendor lock-in, filling capability gaps, and collaborating with the community, must be weighed against the less stable nature of volunteer projects and the effort required to manage the open source software supply chain.
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