OSBconf 2014: Bareos - Open Source Data Protection by Philipp Storz
Bareos is a reliable network open source software to backup, archive and restore files from all major operating systems. The fork was founded in 2010 out of the Bacula project. The fork has...
By: NETWAYS
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OSBconf 2014: Bareos - Open Source Data Protection by Philipp Storz - Video
Deadlines and guidelines for all InfoWorld Bossies candidates
InfoWorld staff (InfoWorld) on 30 September, 2014 07:21
InfoWorld's Best of Open Source Software Awards
Each year, InfoWorld's Bossies (Best of Open Source Software awards) recognize the best open source software for businesses and professional users. InfoWorld's central mission has always been to identify the most innovative products available to developers and IT organizations. Increasingly, those products -- ranging from application development tools to platforms and infrastructure software to CRM and ERP applications -- come from open source projects. Bossie winners are chosen by InfoWorld editors and reviewers.
To nominate your favorite open source project for the 2015 awards, email Executive Editor Doug Dineley by July 31, 2014. In addition to the name of the specific software project you're nominating, please provide links to the project's main page and repository. A few sentences on why the software is important and award worthy would be welcome but is not required. The winners will be announced Sept. 2, 2015.
Previous InfoWorld Bossie winners
Promotional materials for Bossie winners
Marketing/PR: Congratulations on winning our award! Look here for all the information you'll need to tell the world.
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InfoWorld Bossies
Discover the best: 130 open source projects in six categories, chosen by InfoWorld editors and contributors
If you hadn't noticed, we're in the midst of an incredible boom in enterprise technology development -- and open source is leading it. You're unlikely to find better proof of that dynamism than this year's Best of Open Source Software Awards, affectionately known as the Bossies.
Have a look for yourself. The result of months of exploration and evaluation, plus the recommendations of many expert contributors, the 2014 Bossies cover more than 130 award winners in six categories:
The best open source applicationsThe best open source application development toolsThe best open source data center and cloud softwareThe best open source desktop and mobile softwareThe best open source networking and security softwareThe best open source big data tools
This year'sBossies were more exciting to pull together than ever, simply because we had so many new candidates to choose from. Why the embarrassment of riches? Because open source has become the preferred way to bring innovation to market.
The business motivation for this is clear: Once software becomes entrenched in an organization, it's hard to dislodge -- particularly proprietary software, where sales reps and contracts do everything to maintain the status quo. One way to get customers to consider switching vendors is to offer production software under an open source license -- not just demos, but even pilot programs can be conducted at low risk.
When you're talking about individual user adoption, the open source evaluation process is downright pain-free. Take the biggest chunk of this year's awards, the application development tools section. Thanks in part to the social coding trend, developers have become viral marketers, creating a constant churn of open source recommendations from peer to peer. It's safe to say that open source now absolutely dominates application development tools.
As a consequence of this hive mentality, when great open source solutions surface, they spread like wildfire and quickly inspire swarms of add-ons that pile on value -- many of them built by engaged developer-customers. The Docker ecosystem is a prime example and figures prominently in this year's Bossies.
Clearly, open source is changing the way software is procured. In the era of monster contracts and a few monster software vendors, upper IT management called all the shots and passed down applications and tools the rest of the organization had to live with. Open source is helping to crack that monolith, so businesses and individuals can make their own software decisions.
Make no mistake: Although open source incurs less capital expense, it's not free -- nor even necessarily cheap compared to proprietary software. Generally speaking, at scale, open source solutions require a higher level of effort and expertise to implement and maintain. Open source's rapid pace of innovation often results in more frequent updates, which means a closer eye on dependencies. In addition, professional services and commercial open source contracts result in significant cost.
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Bossies 2014: The Best of Open Source Software Awards
ITM BLOCK ONE
Description of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, computer hardware, and open source software.
By: Greta Gustafson
Originally posted here:
ITM BLOCK ONE - Video
Linux -- the free open source operating system for enterprise, small business and home computing use -- is not used everywhere yet. However, its user base crosses nearly every industry.
Linux is in many places today. It's in consumer products like TVs and computer networking gear. Linux drives services that users do not even know run Linux. Think in terms of servers, Big Data farms and cloud storage facilities. The analytics and Big Data marketplaces host and run platforms and applications on top of Linux in data centers and in the cloud.
The Linux OS certainly is evolving in the connected car space, for example. Linux also is embedded in many appliances. It often controls the sensors in industrial machines, navigational gear and medical instruments.
"Increasingly, I see Linux used in a wide range of industries and quite a wide range of use cases. As companies continue to become aware and comfortable enough with it, Linux adoption will continue," said Kerry Kim, open source software marketing and product management professional at Suse.
Often people in enterprise are more familiar with the concept of open source technology -- but they are less informed about the power and greater flexibility that the Linux operating system brings compared to other platforms.
The word is spreading about the reliability of open source. Many of the early concerns about Linux and open source have subsided, as companies have learned about the successes others had in using them to improve their competitive position, Kim told LinuxInsider.
"Companies are becoming more willing to try Linux and open source technology. We still see companies that have never tried Linux. Some are just very conservative. Some companies do not think they need it," he said.
Other companies just need more time and exposure to discover the power of Linux. Often that happens slowly and in partial migrations.
Kim recalled a recent technology gathering in Boston, where he met with the CIO of Welch's, the company that makes all those juice products. The CIO mentioned that he was thinking about trying Linux.
"We were all surprised that he had not tried it yet," Kim said, but "seeing a company like Welch's get to that step is encouraging."
Originally posted here:
The Power of Linux (Almost) Everywhere
Learn about Project MarilynDNAutics
Isaac Yonemoto is a chemist, but he's been writing software code since he was a kid. He calls himself a "semi-recreational" programmer, and now, he's running an experiment that combines this sideline with his day job. In short, he's using open source software techniques to kickstart the world of cancer research.
Patent-free and crowd-funded by the bitcoin digital currency, Yonemoto's project seeks to resurrect work ona promising anti-cancer compoundcalled 9-deoxysibiromycin, or 9-DS. Early tests indicated it could provide a treatment for melanoma, kidney cancer, and breast cancer, but then, for various reasons, research on the compound was abandoned. So Yonemoto stepped in and restarted the project online, as if it was an open source software project, raising money for additional research through an online fundraising campaign.
Although the stakes are different, Yonemoto compares his gambit to previous efforts to resurrect abandoned video games such as the classic versions ofCommand and Conquer-- one of his favourites. "Here we have this abandonware compound," he says, "and open-sourcing is a way of resurrecting abandonware."
9-DS was developed by Barbara Gerratana, a professor with the University of Maryland, College Park. Back in the 1970s, Russian scientists thought that its parent compound might be useful as a cancer treatment, but they found that it stressed the heart and shelved their work. Decades later, Gerratana discovered that by loping off an oxygen molecule, she could not only avoid the coronary side-effects but also create a more effective drug.
The rub is that Gerratana took a job with the National Institute of Health and was unable to pursue the work. And because she had already published her research without patenting it, drug companies were unlikely to sponsor the work. The good news is that because it was never patented, it's in the public domain. Anyone can work on it, kinda like open source software. Yonemoto, who had worked on the project under a grant, jumped in.
Last week, he launched a fund-raising campaign for the research, and so far, he has taken in $12,000 (7355) of the $50,000 (30646) he'll need to test the compound on mice. About $2,000 (1226) of that comes from bitcoin donations. He calls the campaign Project Marilyn, and it's just one fundraising up and running on his websiteIndysci.org, which you can think of as a kickstarter platform for open scientific research that will publish its data openly. "We're going to push the data to a decentralised server -- possibly GitHub," he says, referring to the popular service for hosting open source software projects.
His fundraising technique that's very much at odds with the way that most drugs are researched these days, but in a sense, it's also a return to the roots of mid-century drug research, when the polio vaccine, for instance, was developed and distributed patent-free. "I've never been a big fan of patents and this seemed like good opportunity," says Yonemoto, who unlike most chemists, constantly nods to things like bitcoin and free software pioneer Richard Stallman in the course of conversation.
What we're seeing here is the result of a decade long cross pollination between the biology and computer science, kicked off by the computerised sequencing of the human genome. The computer science world's open source ethos is starting to rub off, Yonemoto says. "Biology is becoming more like a computer science discipline," he says.
The question is whether this will actually work. Yonemoto may be able to continue the research. But turning this into a mass produced drug would take some serious money -- more than you can likely raise online. The hope is that his small project can attract more researchers -- and larger investors -- to the problem. "Biological processes are primarily stochastic, and computer processes are supposed to be deterministic," he says. "But I think there is going to be a convergence to some degree."
Original post:
Chemist's crusade for open-source cancer research
Nate Swanner
Android is open source software, but if you want to run Googles version of it, there are rules. Now it sounds as if those rules are getting a bit more stringent, as Google aims to tighten their grip on the platform just a bit. A new report details just how much more Google your Android handset might be.
When an Android OEM signs on to produce an Android handset that runs google services, there are certain rules they must follow. The search bar must be on the home screen toward the top, and Googles apps must have upfront placement on the home screen. Thats why, when you get a new handset, there is typically that Google folder of apps on the home screen.
There are about 9 apps in that folder now, but soon there could be 20. The Information claims to have viewed documentation outlining these changes, which seem to be for all OEMs across the board.
The other change noted was a more prominently placed Search, though its not exactly clear what that means. Its not known if that means a stagnant Search bar up top, or one on every screen. It could also detail a pop-up screen detailing how to use Search when you fire up a new device.
More Google-y apps and a featured Search sounds like Google is ready to take the reigns of their open source offering and run. The only problem wed have is if these 20 apps cant be removed. Currently, Google makes it next to impossible to take their apps off a device, and some like Google+ just go unused for most Android users.
Source: The Information
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Report: Google taking tighter control of Android
Isaac Yonemoto is a chemist, but hes been writing software code since he was a kid. He calls himself a semi-recreational programmer, and now, hes running an experiment that combines this sideline with his day job. In short, hes using open source software techniques to kickstart the world of cancer research.
Patent-free and crowd-funded by the bitcoin digital currency, Yonemotos project seeks to resurrect work on a promising anti-cancer compound called 9-deoxysibiromycin, or 9-DS. Early tests indicated it could provide a treatment for melanoma, kidney cancer, and breast cancer, but then, for various reasons, research on the compound was abandoned. So Yonemoto stepped in and restarted the project online, as if it was an open source software project, raising money for additional research through an online fundraising campaign.
Although the stakes are different, Yonemoto compares his gambit to previous efforts to resurrect abandoned video games such as the classic versions of Command and Conquerone of his favorites. Here we have this abandonware compound, he says, and open-sourcing is a way of resurrecting abandonware.
9-DS was developed by Barbara Gerratana, a professor with the University of Maryland, College Park. Back in the 1970s, Russian scientists thought that its parent compound might be useful as a cancer treatment, but they found that it stressed the heart and shelved their work. Decades later, Gerratana discovered that by loping off an oxygen molecule, she could not only avoid the coronary side-effects but also create a more effective drug.
The rub is that Gerratana took a job with the National Institute of Health and was unable to pursue the work. And because she had already published her research without patenting it, drug companies were unlikely to sponsor the work. The good news is that because it was never patented, its in the public domain. Anyone can work on it, kinda like open source software. Yonemoto, who had worked on the project under a grant, jumped in.
Last week, he launched a fund-raising campaign for the research, and so far, he has taken in $12,000 of the $50,000 hell need to test the compound on mice. About $2,000 of that comes from bitcoin donations. He calls the campaign Project Marilyn, and its just one fundraising up and running on his website Indysci.org, which you can think of as a kickstarter platform for open scientific research that will publish its data openly. Were going to push the data to a decentralized serverpossibly GitHub, he says, referring to the popular service for hosting open source software projects.
His fundraising technique thats very much at odds with the way that most drugs are researched these days, but in a sense, its also a return to the roots of mid-century drug research, when the polio vaccine, for instance, was developed and distributed patent-free. Ive never been a big fan of patents and this seemed like good opportunity, says Yonemoto, who unlike most chemists, constantly nods to things like bitcoin and free software pioneer Richard Stallman in the course of conversation.
What were seeing here is the result of a decade long cross pollination between the biology and computer science, kicked off by the computerized sequencing of the human genome. The computer science worlds open source ethos is starting to rub off, Yonemoto says. Biology is becoming more like a computer science discipline, he says.
The question is whether this will actually work. Yonemoto may be able to continue the research. But turning this into a mass produced drug would take some serious moneymore than you can likely raise online. The hope is that his small project can attract more researchersand larger investorsto the problem. Biological processes are primarily stochastic, and computer processes are supposed to be deterministic, he says. But I think there is going to be a convergence to some degree.
See more here:
The Man on a Quest to Open-Source Cancer Research
mitv - Software Freedom Day: Free And Open Source Software Introduced
mitv - Myanmar International.
By: mitv
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mitv - Software Freedom Day: Free And Open Source Software Introduced - Video
By Jack M. Germain 09/24/14 6:04 PM PT
One of the essential draws to open source software should be superior product documentation. Well-written user guidelines are a key strategy that software developers should use to increase an open source project's growth and user adoption.
All too often, programmers finish their last line of code and shove the open source software out the door -- or, more realistically, post it on their website waiting for users to flock to its greatness. Documentation is often an afterthought -- or the software developer does not think about it at all.
A pair of open source entrepreneurs are determined to help software developers solve the problem of poorly done or missing documentation. Dan Allen and Sarah White are coleads of the Asciidoctor Project and cofounders of OpenDevise. Allen is a software developer and community catalyst; White works on the documentation for the Asciidoctor project.
Dan Allen
Asciidoctor is a fast text processor and publishing toolchain for converting AsciiDoc content to HTML5, DocBook 5 (or 4.5) and other formats. Asciidoctor reads and parses text written in the AsciiDoc syntax. It feeds the parse tree into a set of built-in templates to display the content. Asciidoctor is hosted on GitHub and is released under the MIT license.
OpenDevise is focused on providing developers with a strategy and development plan for open source projects. The idea is to help developers and users communicate with each other. The Asciidoctor Project is an effort to bring a comprehensive and accessible publishing tool chain, centered around the Asciidoc syntax, to a growing range of ecosystems, including Ruby, JavaScript and the JVM.
White spoke this summer at the Open Source Conference (OSCON) about the integration of Asciidoctor and OpenDevise and techniques for writing documentation that satisfies users. Her strategies help software developers plan and write documentation without feeling overwhelmed.
Sarah White
In this exclusive interview, LinuxInsider discusses with Allen and White the role these two open source projects play in writing documentation that takes into consideration users needs, backgrounds and environments.
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Dan Allen and Sarah White: Documentation Dearth Dooms Open Source Projects