Userland

• The Dashlane password manager has made its Android and iOS versions open source (available in their GitHub repository), per coverage by The Hindu. With the recent breaches of other password managers, one advantage is that it’s Zero Knowledge, i.e. your data in storage such that not even Dashlane employees (or hackers who attack the company) would have access to it decrypted.
• Details on the new versions of WINE and DXVK are available from The Register. WINE, which is a compatibility layer that allows users to run software written for Windows on other operating systems (such as Linux), has reached version 8.0. Similar in the sense that it translates Windows-specific (or in this case, DirectX-specific) instructions for the host operating system, DXVK has released v2.1.
• KMWorld’s overview of the v7.5 release of LibreOffice focuses as much on its value versus proprietary solutions (e.g. it will make 5-7 releases in the same time MS Office will make 2-3) as it does on new features. On the other hand, The Register does a more detailed run-down of enhanced functionality.
• If you want to reduce your reliance on Google, MakeUseOf walks through the process of using Nextcloud to house your files, calendar, contacts, and tasks. While their instructions involve registering for a free Nextcloud account online, you can also self-host it.
• For note-taking enthusiasts, this article on notionzen lists five open source alternatives to prominent free-form note platform Notion.

Server Closet

• datanami reports that iXsystems has broken $100M per year in revenue. The company develops the TrueNAS series of solutions consisting of both hardware and software, although their server software is available through their community site.
• The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation, which provides an alternative platform (Rocky Linux) to the now Red Hat-owned CentOS distribution, added notable open source leaders to its board, per Open Source Watch. Individuals such as Greg Kroah-Hartman (Linux kernel maintainer) and Chris DiBona (formerly a leader of open source at Google) will help strengthen the project’s community relationships.
• On the topic of CentOS alternatives: per Business Wire TuxCare, a provider of Linux support services, has launched AlmaCare. This offering includes services such as security patching (e.g. to keep users compliant with popular security standards) and support for common components such as databases, container platforms, and system automation.
• While it’s written in the context of home users, the compelling reasons to use Linux and FOSS in this ZDNet article apply to SMBs as well. It also includes some notable alternatives to proprietary solutions, such as the aforementioned Nextcloud for file sharing and OpenProject (mentioned in the Jan. 20 edition of FOSS4Biz) for project management.

Board Room

• An article by CRN highlights the top ten open source companies to watch for the coming year. While usual suspects such as Red Hat, GitHub, and Google appear, other standouts include builder.io (Content Management System) and Vercel (which maintains the Next.js JavaScript framework).
• Forbes published this look at the future of open source, which touches on the pervasiveness of open source in the overall technology landscape, how the perception of FOSS has changed, and the strength of open source relationships.

Userland

• OnlyOFFICE, an office productivity suite, launched version 7.3 of its editors. The company also offers a free community edition of its complete system for SMBs including collaboration, document management, project management, and CRM,
• In response to the announcement of BharOS, an open alternative to Android developed with support from IIT Madras in India, Indian Express listed five other alternative mobile operating systems.
• TechCrunch covered the announcement that PenPot, an open source design platform (not unlike Figma), closed a $12M round of financing.
• HashiCorp, developer of a platform touching many parts of IT infrastructure, announced the open-sourcing of their document management system called Hermes. This solution allows users to design workflows around documents created using by Google Workspace users.
• Version 7.0 of elementary OS launched on Jan. 31, ZDNet reports. The distribution, which focuses on unifying what can sometimes be a disjointed Linux desktop UI, has added features including menu entries for web apps (thanks to GNOME Web), simpler installation, and a redesigned Welcome App.

Server Closet

• This article on TechCrunch highlights ToolJet, an open source project providing low-code tools. This is a particularly interesting space for SMBs, who in the absence of a dedicated engineering department often need to choose between off-the-shelf applications and costly custom development.
• If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of low-code, this article from TechBullion does a good job of outlining its benefits by way of providing an overview to Mendix.
• For those just starting out with Docker and struggling to get their favorite app running, TechRepublic outlines an easy way using the “Template” feature of Portainer.

Board Room

• The Enterprisers Project (a Red Hat site) published a list of four of its best FOSS articles from 2022.
• For those who develop open source software, this article on Forbes by the creator of TDengine argues that providing their product via SaaS is a better way to monetize than selling “enterprise” or “premium” versions.

Userland

• An article on 9to5Linux highlighted a new “undistro,” or Linux flavor that aims to blur the lines between traditional distributions. blendOS is similar to VanillaOS (highlighted in the Jan. 6 edition of FOSS4Biz), except it is based on Arch Linux rather than Ubuntu. But it likewise includes components to allow users to transparently use package formats including Fedora, Ubuntu, and Flatpak via Distrobox (which itself uses Docker and Podman).
• TechRepublic outlined how to create projects in Orangescrum, a long-standing FOSS project management platform. While Orangescrum is naturally available for self-hosting, cloud-based plans are also available.
• Techopedia published a comparison of WooCommerce and Magento, two leading open source ecommerce platforms. While the article found that each had their own “unique features and advantages,” one key consideration is that WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin, while Magento is a standalone system.
• An Inventiva list of top 10 blogging sites includes flexible CMS WordPress as well as the more focused “creator platform” Ghost.

Server Closet

• Canonical, publisher of Ubuntu, is offering free subscriptions to Ubuntu Pro, as reported by 9to5Linux, the company’s enterprise support service bringing longer update support and features such as live-patching for the Linux kernel.
• App Developer Magazine is predicting increased maturity and adoption for low-code solutions in the coming year. An important development for SMBs, low-code tools enables faster prototyping and roll-out of applications, some of which can be done by non-developers.

Board Room

• An article from MarTech Outlook lists some salient benefits of open source solutions, including decreased costs increased security.

Userland

• Red Hat’s Opensource.com highlighted a list of open source healthcare software that includes familiar medical record-related names like Open EMR as well as solutions that target specific conditions, such as Nightscout for glucose monitoring.
• TechRepublic provide an overview of installation for the osTicket help desk solution, an open source option for service-related companies or departments.
• The open source Invoice Ninja (its self-hosted option is available here) made Nasdaq’s top 5 list of invoicing and billing software, named a good choice for smaller organizations or freelancers.
• One of the co-founders of the Magento (now Adobe Commerce) platform has closed a new round of financing. While Magento and other systems are focused on B2C sales, Oro addresses the unique needs of the B2B market.
• Another article by TechRepublic walks through adding a calendar in OpenProject, one of the leading open source project management tools on the market.
• Yahoo reports a beta version of xSTUDIO, a playback and review solution from from VFX studio DNEG, is available. The announcement mentions the Open Review Initiative and highlights one of the big advantages of open source: ease of collaboration using common, compatible formats. In a related announcement via Opensourceforu.com, Autodesk contributed its RV tool to Open Review as well.

Server closet

• ITWire reported on new integrations for Red Hat’s Insights predictive analytics solution, namely ServiceNow and Slack, in addition to enhancements for its own OpenShift and RHEL environments.

Board Room

• An article on Technative re-visits how open source came to be an integral part of business. While more infrastructure-related projects such as containers, it contains useful advice for any business looking to integrate FOSS solutions.

Userland

• TechRepublic’s list of top network monitoring and management software includes the open source OpenNMS, a name familiar to FOSS fans.
• ZDNet did a deep dive into Standard Notes, an open source note-taking app that offers many of the top features of proprietary competitors such as Evernote. And being open source, you can use the company cloud hosting, or spin up a sync server yourself.
• This piece from InformationWeek highlights FOSS as a key strategy to avoiding vendor lock-in.

Server closet

• TechRadar examined OpenConnect, which provides open source alternatives on both the client and server sides and supports multiple VPN protocols including Cisco’s AnyConnect, F5’s Big-IP, and Juniper. It’s available on just about all FOSS OS platforms (including *BSDs), as well as Windows, macOS, and Android.
• Harun Seker posted this list of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) tools on LinkedIn, covering a wide variety of threats.

Userland

• Opensourceforu.com published a nice round-up of open source CRM applications, which complements another list from Forbes from a bit little earlier. Conspicuous by its absence in both lists is SugarCRM however.
• A report from Latam Insurance Review examines the open source ERP market, which it predicts to have solid growth in markets like APAC and Europe over the next ten years.
• ZDNet took a look at version 22.10 of Vanilla OS, released on Dec. 29th. While based on Ubuntu Kinetic and a “vanilla” GNOME desktop, it offers unique features such as an immutable OS core, options to containerize applications, and built-in support for multiple package formats (via Fedora and Arch system containers).
• A list from It’s FOSS looks at open source “kanban”-style task management software. Usual suspects like Taiga and WeKan are present, but Focalboard looks like a nice option that integrates with Mattermost.

Server closet

• ComputerWeekly.com took a look at LAION’s Open Assistant, a competitor to the recently launched ChatGPT bot from Open AI. Open Assistant released a new alpha version on Jan. 4th.
• It’s FOSS included a number of open source options in their list of alternatives to GitHub. Note that some, like GitLab, can be hosted both on-prem or in the cloud.