Apertus AI is one of the most transparent and technically mature efforts to build a fully open-source large language model. Developed in Switzerland and released together with its source code, training documentation and model weights, it offers an unprecedented level of reproducibility and independence from closed ecosystems. This makes it ideal for researchers, public-sector institutions … Read more
With a heavy heart Debian mourns the passing of Ian Murdock, stalwart proponent of Free Open Source Software, Father, Son, and the ‘ian’ in Debian. Ian started the Debian project in August of 1993, releasing the first versions of Debian later that same year. Debian would go on to become the world’s Universal Operating System, … Read more
The Europeana Space project is exploring different ways of reusing digital cultural heritage by running pilots in six thematic areas (TV, Photography, Dance, Games, Open and Hybrid Publishing and Museums). From 22-24 January 2016, the Open and Hybrid Publishing Pilot is organising the Hack the Book Festival in Athens, Greece, inviting designers, artists, publishers, programmers, authors, poets, … Read more
Apache Spark When it comes to open source big data processing, Hadoop is no longer the only name in the game. Apache Spark is a general purpose distributed data processing tool that allows users to process gigantic datasets across many nodes, coordinating the processing so that users can concentrate on writing their queries in their language … Read more
Image: Jack Wallen Let me just put this out there for your consideration. All platforms are insecure. They can all be exploited in one way or another. At some point in time, it will be announced that no operating system is invulnerable and every single one of them has their kryptonite. Every. Single. One. Windows. … Read more
Here I am, almost 20 years into my own crazy open source story, and it shows no sign of abating. And my problem is that I like to know how things work and to fix things. I started fixing TVs, ours and the neighbors’, when I was nine or 10. In those days every TV … Read more
Adopted by the San Francisco Elections Commission (6-0) on November 18, 2015. [Supporting Open Source Voting Systems — Encouraging the Mayor and Board of Supervisors to Initiate a Project to Develop and Certify an Open Source Voting System] Resolution to support the development and certification of an open source voting system running on commercial off-the-shelf … Read more
The Random Walk theory: The efficient markets hypothesis (EMH), popularly known as the Random Walk Theory, is the proposition that current stock prices fully reflect available information about the value of the firm, and there is no way to earn excess profits, (more than the market over all), by using this information. The Private Eye of … Read more
Open source software has emerged as the driving force of technology innovation, from cloud and big data to social media and mobile. The Future of Open Source Survey, sponsored by Black Duck and North Bridge, is an annual assessment of open source industry trends that drives broad industry discussion around key issues for new and … Read more
The council of the Swiss capital of Bern on 12 November ordered the IT department to end its dependence on proprietary software. The council halved the city’s request for a six-year licence contract, and insisted on an exit plan. A majority of councillors wants the city to replace proprietary software by open source solutions, such … Read more
