An article at Techopedia introduces MariaDB and describes its important to other FOSS projects. The project is a fork of MySQL, which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 2008, which was in turn purchased by Oracle in 2010. Community concern over the latter for-profit company controlling such a crucial piece of free software infrastructure led to the split.
Proton VPN Tops CNN List of Small Business Solutions
Proton VPN, a fully open source service, came out on top of a short list of VPN providers for small businesses by CNN. It’s free version is fully featured and advertisement free, although it’s limited to a single device. The article recognizes the option for Proton VPN’s proprietary VPN protocol (called Stealth), which can be useful in circumventing some bans on VPN use (such as trying to stream out-of-region video). However, the review also calls out Protons small number of servers and countries, as well as “poor support” for Linux, although it provides no commentary on the latter (and Proton provides a dedicated Linux app as well as support for open protocols like Wireguard).
Business News This Week on Git vs. GitHub
An article published by Business News This Week explains the difference between Git and GitHub.
This is not so much an apples-to-apples comparison, as an explanation why the two terms shouldn’t be used interchangably. Git is a program (developed by Linux creator Linus Torvalds) that allows for decentralized version control for code, although in recent days Git is being used to manage much more. Unlike older applications such as Subversion, which rely on a central repository and allow only one user to work on a file at any given time, Git allows many users to make changes in parallel, which are all “merged” into a main copy before deployment. GitHub offers a platform that can serve as this main copy (this is an oversimplification, but sufficient for a basic understanding) while adding features such as discussions, code review, and task management.
An Explanation of Linux Containers
OpenSourceForU published a rundown of “Linux containers,” which in this context means the container platforms that are available to run with Linux as the underlying OS. It’s a good overview that demonstrates there are other platforms available for running containers, and includes some of the solutions higher up the stack (e.g. Red Hat’s OpenShift, which supports multiple underlying runtimes with Kubernetes performing orchestration). This is a good follow up the headline from BizTech Magazine in our March 10th, 2023 newsletter, which goes over the concept of containers.
Computerworld Details DIY Mobile Device Management and Its Open Source Options
An article at Computerworld looks at the question of do-it-yourself mobile device management (MDM).
One of the primary questions is precisely what platforms need to be included, with open source comprising good options beyond Apple-only environments. While it doesn’t detail their features, the piece does end with a list of five open source MDM vendors, including Fleet, which we highlighted last month.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Fleet Updates Open Source Device Management Solution
An article at Tech Day examines the new release from open source mobile device management vendor Fleet. In addition to enabling open APIs for all of its endpoints, the piece highlights some of the benefits of FOSS, especially preventing vendor lock-in for sensitive systems like MDM.
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