A new report by Technavio (by way of Yahoo! Finance) lists the breadth of software and services offered by open source vendors as a challenge constraining growth for the market. While the newswire announcement doesn’t provide any details, the report nevertheless forecasts a 15.72% CAGR to add $138.38 billion to the segment through 2028.
Slashdot Examines the Question of DIY Routers
A post on Slashdot considers the question of do-it-yourself routers for home users.
The question of trust is key among the contributors, as device firmware such as what’s used by routers is even more “closed” than proprietary software solutions, where you may be able to get some sense of what makes them up. Many of these same arguments apply to business as well, especially those that rely on the firmware bundled with their router that will likely go out of date far before the hardware stops working. This is where solutions like the OpenWRT One routers (see the details here, courtesy of Tom’s Hardware) may come in handy for SMBs.
Use of Open Source Provides Hope for Canadia Healthcare System
The Canadian healthcare system has been under pressure in recent years, but an article at The Conversation details a study on how open source can help. The piece elaborates on common core values of FOSS, including avoiding vendor lock-in and accelerated innovation. However, it also focuses on the latter, and its impact on total cost of ownership in the absence of ongoing costs such as licensing fees.
The idea that using open source can also free up funds to be usefully applied elsewhere, and the impact that may have, is sometimes lost when discussing the private sector and maximizing monetary shareholder return. But in government, where the budget needs to be spent one way or the other, open source can help maximize value return.
Discover Details How Open Source Helps It Serve Customers
Discover Financial Services’ payback on its investment in open source is detailed in an article at CIO Dive. By focusing on constantly improving the ways it helps customers manage their money, the company cited the combination of “code, community, cultuer, and people” as a key driver of innovation. In addition to adopting inner-source programs, Discover also collaborates with projects such as The Linux Foundation and the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS).
TechHQ Reviews CentOS Alternatives as End-of-Life Approaches
This piece from TechHQ looks at alternatives to CentOS, the former Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) clone that was purchased, then scheduled to transition into a rolling-release distribution. Since businesses rely on the stability of a more regular (and often conservative) release schedule, the change in CentOS signaled the end of an alternative server OS that was both free and compatible with RHEL. Coupled with a change by Red Hat making RHEL source code available only in customer portals rather than a publicly-available GitHub repository, a number of companies including SuSE, Oracle, and CIQ formed the Open Enterprise Linux Association (OpenELA) to create a new enterprise Linux platform.
SD Times Highlights Open Source Climate Platform
The Open-Source Project of the Week from SD Times is ClimateTriage, a collaboration between Open Systainable Technology and the Ecosyste.ms platform. It provides an independent index of open source sustainability projects. Developers and organizations working on climate-related issues can find FOSS projects using data collected from software repositories, container registries, vulnerability databases, and operating systems, among others.
Red Hat Revamping Partner Program
Red Hat announced an overhaul of its channel program, according a piece by Channel Daily. Key among the new initiatives is the Red Hat Partner Practice Accelerator Program, which will provide incentives for mid-market customers. Added to new programs including training and a new demo platform, the updates can help increase the uptake of open source in the small- to medium-sized business (SMB) segment.
Small Business Trends Showcases 3 FOSS Employee Scheduling Systems
An article on employee scheduling solutions from Small Business Trends highlighted three open source alternatives. TimeForge, focused on the hospitality and retail markets, and TimeTrex, whose Community Edition provides a more customizable FOSS option, both provide focused scheduling tools. These were joined by OpenHRMS, a complete HR management system that complements scheduling with features such as payroll, timesheets, and leave management.
Ubuntu 23.04 Reaches End of Life
The spring 2023 release of Ubuntu, version 23.04 or the “Lunar Lobster,” has reached the end of its support period. As a non-Long Term Support (LTS) release, it’s supported for a shorter timeframe. Linux Insider published a useful how-to as machines running 23.04, especially servers, should be upgraded as soon as possible. Generally a non-LTS release will be upgraded to a subsequent non-LTS release, as the closest LTS version will always be a downgrade (in this case, 22.04), which may affect package support.
Open Source Solutions Feature in Top 7 Affordable ERP List
Two open source entries appear in Software Advice’s list of top seven affordable ERP applications. Popular option ERPNext appears, with a focus on its asset and process management capabilities, as does OneHash, which features a breadth of functions and capable reporting.
foss4biz.com 