Hi all!
We continue to review the news of free and open source software and hardware (and a little coronavirus). All the most important things about penguins and not only in Russia and the world. We continue to cover the role of Open Source developers in the fight against COVID-19, GNOME launches a project competition, there were changes in the leadership of Red Hat and Mozilla, several important releases, Qt Company disappointed again and other news.
Full list of topics in issue #11 for April 6-12, 2020:
Open Source AI to help identify coronavirus
COVID-Net, being developed by Canadian AI startup DarwinAI, is a deep convolutional neural network designed to screen patients with suspected coronavirus infection by identifying tell-tale signs of the disease on a chest x-ray, ZDNet reports. While testing for coronavirus infection is traditionally done with a swab on the inside of the cheek or nose, hospitals often lack testing kits and testers, and chest x-rays are quick and usually have the necessary equipment in hospitals. The bottleneck between taking the x-ray and interpreting it is typically finding a radiologist to report on the scan data - instead, if the AI reads it, it could mean that the scan results will come back much faster. According to DarwinAI CEO Sheldon Fernandez, after the COVID-Net sources were open sourced, “the answer was just amazing". "Our mailboxes have been inundated with letters from people recommending improvements and talking about how they use what we do."He added.
FOSS Promotion Project Competition
The GNOME Foundation and Endless have announced a community FOSS project competition with a total prize pool of $65,000. The objective of the competition is to actively involve young developers in order to ensure a sustainable future for open source software. The organizers do not limit the imagination of the participants and are ready to accept projects of various types: videos, educational materials, games... The concept of the project must be submitted before July 1. The competition will be held in three stages. Each of the twenty entries that pass the first stage will receive a $1,000 award. Feel free to take part!
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Alternatives to Zoom's proprietary video conferencing system
The mass transition of people to remote work has led to a jump in the popularity of related tools, such as the proprietary Zoom video conferencing system. But not everyone likes it, some because of privacy and security issues, some for other reasons. In any case, it's good to know about the alternatives. And OpenNET gives examples of such alternatives - Jitsi Meet, OpenVidu and BigBlueButton. And Mashable publishes a short tutorial on how to use one of them, Jitsi, where it talks about how to start a call, invite other participants, and gives other tips.
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Analysis of the main FOSS licenses
If you're confused by the many FOSS licenses, open source security management and compliance platform provider WhiteSource has released a complete guide to understanding and learning about open source licenses, writes SDTimes. The following licenses have been dismantled:
- MIT
- Apache 2.0
- GPLv3
- GPLv2
- BSD3
- LGPLv2.1
- BSD2
- Microsoft Public
- Eclipse 1.0
- BSD
Will Open Source solutions conquer the drone market?
This question is raised by Forbes. In the high-tech field, Open Source has been one of the most important organizational models of the last 30 years. Perhaps the most successful of these solutions was the Linux kernel. But when it comes to drones, today we are still in a world of proprietary systems where companies like Waymo and Tesla TSLA are investing in their own capabilities. In general, we are at an early stage in the development of standalone technologies, but if a truly independent open source organization (like Autoware) could gain momentum so that fully functional solutions could be built with minimal resources, the overall market dynamics could quickly change.
6 Open Source AI Frameworks You Should Know About
Artificial intelligence is gradually becoming more commonplace as companies accumulate large amounts of data and look for the right technologies to analyze and use it. That's why Gartner predicted that by 2021, 80% of new technologies will be AI-based. Based on this, CMS Wire decided to poll AI industry experts why marketing leaders should consider AI and compiled a list of some of the best open source AI platforms. The question of how AI is changing business is briefly analyzed and small reviews of the following platforms are given:
- TensorFlow
- Amazon SageMaker Neo
- scikit-learn
- Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit
- Theano
- Hard
6 Open Source Tools for RPA
Gartner previously named RPA (Robotic Process Automation) as the fastest growing enterprise software segment in 2018 with 63% global revenue growth, writes EnterprisersProject. As with many new software implementations, there is a build-or-buy choice when using RPA technologies. As far as builds go, you can write your own bots from scratch, as long as you have the right people and budget. From a purchasing perspective, there is a growing market for commercial software vendors offering RPA in a variety of flavors and overlapping technologies. But there's a middle ground between build vs. purchase: there are several open source RPA projects currently underway, giving CIOs and professionals the ability to explore RPA without having to start from scratch on their own or make a deal with a commercial vendor before how to actually build a strategy. The publication provides a list of such Open Source solutions:
- TagUI
- RPA for Python
- Robocorp
- Robot Framework
- Automagica
- Taskt
Paul Cormier becomes CEO of Red Hat
Red Hat has named Paul Cormier as president and CEO of the company. Cormier succeeds Jim Whitehurst, who will now serve as president of IBM. Joining Red Hat in 2001, Cormier is credited with pioneering the subscription model that became the foundation of enterprise technology by porting Red Hat Linux from a freely downloadable operating system to Red Hat Enterprise Linux. He was instrumental in the structural combination of Red Hat with IBM, focusing on scaling and accelerating Red Hat while maintaining his independence and neutrality.
Mitchell Baker Takes Over as CEO of Mozilla Corporation
Mitchell Baker, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mozilla Corporation and leader of the Mozilla Foundation, has been approved by the Board of Directors as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mozilla Corporation. Mitchell has been with the team since her days at Netscape Communications, including leading the Netscape division that coordinates the Mozilla open source project, and after leaving Netscape, she continued as a volunteer and founded the Mozilla Foundation.
Ten-year activity of a group of attackers to hack vulnerable GNU/Linux systems discovered
Blackberry researchers detail a recently uncovered attack campaign that has successfully worked against unpatched GNU/Linux servers for nearly a decade, according to ZDNet. Red Hat Enterprise, CentOS and Ubuntu Linux systems were scanned in order not only to obtain confidential data once, but also to create a permanent backdoor to the systems of victim companies. According to BlackBerry, this campaign has been around since 2012 and was linked to the interests of the Chinese government, which used cyber espionage against a wide range of industries to steal intellectual property and collect data.
Qt Company considers moving to publishing free releases of Qt one year after paid releases
The developers of the KDE project are concerned about the shift in the development of the Qt framework towards a limited commercial product developed without interaction with the community, according to OpenNET. In addition to its earlier decision to ship the LTS version of Qt only under a commercial license, the Qt Company is considering moving to a Qt distribution model where all releases for the first 12 months will be distributed only to commercial license users. The Qt Company has notified the organization KDE eV, which oversees the development of KDE, of this intention.
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Firefox 75 release
The release of the Firefox 75 web browser, as well as the mobile version of Firefox 68.7 for the Android platform, reports OpenNET. In addition, an update to the long-term support branch 68.7.0 has been generated. Some innovations:
- improved search through the address bar;
- stopped displaying https:// protocol and subdomain "www." in a drop-down link block displayed in the address bar during typing;
- adding support for the Flatpak package manager;
- implemented the ability not to load images that are outside the visible area;
- added support for binding breakpoints to WebSocket event handlers in the JavaScript debugger;
- added support for parsing async/await calls;
- improve browser performance for Windows users.
Chrome Release 81
Google has unveiled the release of the Chrome 81 web browser. At the same time, a stable release of the free Chromium project, which is the basis of Chrome, is available, OpenNET reports. Thus, the publication recalls that the Chrome browser is distinguished by the use of Google logos, the presence of a system for sending notifications in case of a crash, the ability to download the Flash module on demand, modules for playing protected video content (DRM), an automatic update installation system and transmission when searching for RLZ parameters. Chrome 81 was originally scheduled to be published on March 17, but due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic and the shift of developers to work from home, the release was delayed. The next release of Chrome 82 will be skipped, with Chrome 83 scheduled for May 19th. Some innovations:
- disabled support for the FTP protocol;
- for all users, the tab grouping function is enabled, which allows you to combine several tabs that are similar in purpose into visually separated groups;
- Google Terms of Service has been amended to include a separate section for Google Chrome and Chrome OS;
- Stabilized and now distributed outside of Origin Trials, the Badging API, which allows web applications to create indicators that are displayed on the panel or home screen;
- improvements in tools for web developers;
- disabling support for TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 protocols has been delayed until the release of Chrome 84.
There's also an update to Chrome OS that comes with simple navigation gestures and a new Quick Shelf dock, according to CNet.
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Telegram desktop client release 2.0
A new release of Telegram Desktop 2.0 is available for Linux, Windows and macOS. The Telegram client software code is written using the Qt library and distributed under the GPLv3 license, according to OpenNET. The new version has the ability to group chats into folders for easier navigation when there are a large number of chats. Added the ability to create your own folders with flexible settings and link an arbitrary number of chats to each folder. Switching between folders is done using the new sidebar.
Release of the TeX distribution TeX Live 2020
The release of the TeX Live 2020 distribution kit, created in 1996 on the basis of the teTeX project, has been prepared, OpenNET reports. TeX Live is the easiest way to deploy a scientific documentation infrastructure, regardless of the operating system used.
Release of FreeRDP 2.0, a free implementation of the RDP protocol
After seven years of development, the FreeRDP 2.0 project has been released, offering a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) based on Microsoft specifications, OpenNET reports. The project provides a library for integrating RDP support into third-party applications and a client that can be used to remotely connect to a Windows desktop. The project code is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license.
Simply Linux 9 distribution release
Basalt SPO has announced the release of the Simply Linux 9 distribution kit, built on the basis of the ninth ALT platform, OpenNET reports. The product is distributed under a license agreement that does not transfer the right to distribute the distribution kit, but allows individuals and legal entities to use the system without restrictions. The distribution comes in builds for x86_64, i586, aarch64, mipsel, e2kv4, e2k, riscv64 architectures and can run on systems with 512 MB of RAM. Simply Linux is an easy-to-use classic desktop system based on Xfce 4.14, providing full localization of the interface and most applications. The release also contains updated versions of applications. The distribution is designed for home systems and corporate workstations.
LXC and LXD 4.0 container management tool release
According to OpenNET, Canonical has published a release of the LXC 4.0 isolated container toolkit, the LXD 4.0 container manager and the LXCFS 4.0 virtual file system for simulation in /proc, /sys containers and the virtualized cgroupfs view for distributions without support for cgroup namespaces. The 4.0 branch is classified as a long-term support release, for which updates are generated over a period of 5 years.
In addition, Habré came out with a description of the basic features of LXD
0.5.0 Kaidan messenger release
If existing messengers are not enough for you and you want to try something new, pay attention to Kaidan, they just recently released a new release. According to the developers, the new version has been in development for over half a year and includes all new tweaks that aim to improve usability for new XMPP users and improve security while reducing additional user effort. In addition, you can now record and send audio and video, as well as search for contacts and messages. The release also includes many small features and fixes.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux OS became available in Sbercloud
Cloud provider Sbercloud and Red Hat, a provider of open source solutions, have signed a partnership agreement, CNews reports. Sbercloud has become the first cloud provider in Russia to provide access to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) from a vendor-supported cloud. Evgeny Kolbin, CEO of Sbercloud, said:Expanding the range of cloud services offered is one of the key areas of development for our company, and partnership with a vendor such as Red Hat is an important step along this path.". Timur Kulchitsky, Regional Manager of Red Hat in Russia and the CIS, said: “We are pleased to start cooperation with Sbercloud, the leading player in the cloud market in Russia. As part of the partnership, the service audience gets access to a full-featured RHEL enterprise-class operating system, in which you can run any type of workload».
Bitwarden - FOSS password manager
It's FOSS talks about another solution for secure password storage. The article provides the capabilities of this cross-platform manager, a setup and installation guide, and the personal opinion of the author, who has been using this program for several months.
LBRY is a decentralized blockchain-based alternative to YouTube
LBRY is a new open-source blockchain-based digital content exchange platform, according to It's FOSS. It is gaining popularity as a decentralized alternative to YouTube, but LBRY is more than just a video sharing service. In essence, LBRY is a new protocol that is a peer-to-peer, decentralized file sharing and payment network, protected by blockchain technology. Anyone can create applications based on the LBRY protocol that interact with digital content on the LBRY network. But these technical things are for developers. As a user, you can use the LBRY platform to watch videos, listen to music, and read e-books.
Google releases data and machine learning model for splitting sounds
Google has published an annotated database of reference mixed sounds that can be used in machine learning systems used to separate arbitrary mixed sounds into individual components, according to OpenNET. The presented project FUSS (Free Universal Sound Separation) is aimed at solving the problem of separating any number of arbitrary sounds, the nature of which is not known in advance. The database contains about 20 thousand mixes.
Why Linux Containers Are an IT Director's Best Friend
Today's CIOs have many challenges (to say the least), but one of the biggest challenges is the constant development and delivery of new applications. There are many tools that can help CIOs provide this support, but one of the most important is Linux containers, writes CIODive. Container use in production grew by 15% between 2018 and 2019, with 84% of respondents in the CNCF survey using containers in production, according to a study by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. The publication summarizes aspects of the usefulness of containers.
Available FlowPrint, a toolkit for identifying an application by encrypted traffic
The code for the FlowPrint toolkit has been published, which allows you to determine network mobile applications by analyzing the encrypted traffic generated during the operation of the application, reports OpenNET. It is possible to determine both typical programs for which statistics have been accumulated, and identification of the activity of new applications. The code is written in Python and distributed under the MIT license. The program implements a statistical method that determines data exchange features specific to different applications (delays between packets, data flow features, packet size changes, TLS session features, etc.). For Android and iOS mobile apps, app recognition accuracy is 89.2%. In the first five minutes of data exchange analysis, 72.3% of applications can be identified. The accuracy of identifying new applications that have not been seen before is 93.5%.
On the growing position of open source in the Asia-Pacific region
From simply using open source software to providing your own code to the community. Computer Weekly writes about how businesses in Asia Pacific are becoming active participants in the open source ecosystem and features an interview with Sam Hunt, VP of GitHub Asia Pacific.
openSUSE Leap and SUSE Linux Enterprise convergence initiative
Gerald Pfeiffer, CTO of SUSE and chairman of the openSUSE Oversight Committee, suggested that the community consider an initiative to bring the development and build processes of openSUSE Leap and SUSE Linux Enterprise closer together, writes OpenNET. Currently, openSUSE Leap releases are built from the core set of packages in the SUSE Linux Enterprise distribution, but packages for openSUSE are built separately from source packages. The essence of the proposal is to unify the work of building both distributions and using ready-made binary packages from SUSE Linux Enterprise in openSUSE Leap.
Samsung releases a set of utilities for working with exFAT
With support for the exFAT file system included in the Linux 5.7 kernel, the Samsung engineers responsible for this proprietary open source kernel driver have released their first official release of exfat-utils. Release of exfat-utils 1.0. is their first official release of these userspace utilities for exFAT on Linux. The exFAT-utils package allows you to create an exFAT file system with mkfs.exfat, as well as set the cluster size and volume label. There is also fsck.exfat to check the integrity of the exFAT filesystem on Linux. These utilities, in combination with Linux 5.7+, should provide good read/write support for this Microsoft filesystem intended for flash storage devices such as USB sticks and SDXC cards.
Linux Foundation will support SeL4 Foundation
The Linux Foundation will provide support to the seL4 Foundation, a non-profit organization created by Data61 (the digital technology arm of Australia's national science agency, CSIRO), writes Tfir. The seL4 microkernel is designed to ensure the safety, reliability and reliability of real life critical computer systems. "The Linux Foundation will support the seL4 Foundation and the community by providing expertise and services to increase the engagement of the community and its members, helping to bring the OS ecosystem to the next levelsaid Michael Dolan, Vice President of Strategic Programs for the Linux Foundation.
Linux exec system call should be less prone to deadlocks in future kernels
Constant work on exec code on Linux should make it less prone to deadlocks in future kernel releases. The current exec functionality in the kernel is "extremely deadlock prone", but Eric Biederman and others have been working to clean up this code and bring it into a better state to avoid potential deadlocks. The Linux 5.7 kernel fixes were the first part of the exec refinement, which makes it easier to spot more complex cases, and it is hoped that for Linux 5.8, code to solve exec deadlocks may be ready. Linus Torvalds accepted the edits for 5.7, but was not very flattering about them.
Sandboxie released as free software and released to the community
Sophos has announced the open source of the Sandboxie program, designed to organize isolated application execution on the Windows platform. Sandboxie allows you to run an untrusted application in a sandbox environment isolated from the rest of the system, limited to a virtual disk that does not allow access to other applications' data. The development of the project has been handed over to the community, which will coordinate the further development of Sandboxie and maintain the infrastructure (instead of curtailing the project, Sophos decided to hand over the development to the community, the forum and the old project site are planned to be closed this fall). The code is open under the GPLv3 license.
Windows 10 plans to enable Linux file integration in File Explorer
Soon, you will be able to access Linux files right in Windows Explorer. Microsoft previously announced its plans to release a full Linux kernel in Windows 10, and now the company plans to fully integrate Linux file access into the built-in File Explorer. The new Linux icon will be available in the left navigation bar in File Explorer, giving access to the root file system for all distributions installed on Windows 10, according to The Verge. I don’t know how, but it worries me more than it pleases me. Previously, GNU/Linux was isolated and you could safely run Windows on the same computer without fear for your files in another OS due to Windows' susceptibility to viruses, but now you have to worry.
Microsoft proposes a Linux kernel module to check the integrity of the system
Developers from Microsoft presented the IPE (Integrity Policy Enforcement) integrity check mechanism, implemented as an LSM module (Linux Security Module) for the Linux kernel. The module allows you to define a general integrity policy for the entire system, indicating what operations are allowed and how to verify the authenticity of components. With IPE, you can specify which executable files are allowed to run and ensure that these files are identical to the version provided by the trusted source. The code is open source under the MIT license.
Debian is testing Discourse as a potential replacement for mailing lists
Neil McGovern, Debian Project Lead in 2015 and now Head of the GNOME Foundation, announced the start of testing of a new discussion framework, discourse.debian.net, which may replace some mailing lists in the future. The new discussion system is based on the Discourse platform used by projects such as GNOME, Mozilla, Ubuntu and Fedora. It is noted that Discourse will allow you to get rid of the restrictions inherent in mailing lists, as well as make participation and access to discussions more convenient and familiar to newcomers.
How to use the dig command in Linux
The Linux dig command allows you to query DNS servers and perform DNS lookups. You can also find the domain the IP address leads to. Instructions for using dig are published by How to Geek.
Docker Compose is preparing to develop the corresponding standard
Docker Compose, a system created by the Docker developers for defining multi-container applications, plans to evolve as an open standard. The Compose Specification, as it was named, should allow Compose applications to work with other multi-container systems such as Kubernetes and Amazon Elastic CS. A draft version of the open standard is now available, and the company is looking for people to contribute to supporting it and creating related tools.
Nicolas Maduro has created a Mastodon account
The other day it was discovered that the President of the Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, got himself an account in Mastodon. Mastodon is a federated social network that is part of the Fediverse, a decentralized counterpart to Twitch. Maduro feels quite free, and actively participates in the life of the community, adding several posts a day.
That's all, until next Sunday!
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Source: habr.com