Protester in a head covering faces a line of riot squad law enforcement and places a flower into one of the riot shields
commentary, news

Open Source, AI, and the Global War on Fascism

The author reflects on the trajectory of open source amidst the rise of geopolitical tensions and authoritarian regimes. Initially thriving as a collaborative movement, open source now faces threats from nation-state actors exploiting its communities. Urging for transparency in data and AI models, the author calls for organizations to adapt to these urgent realities.

Diamgram of a supply chain funnel, showing raw materials on the left and finished product on the right. The title is "open source supply chain" with the subtitle "from projects to products"
commentary, supply chain

AI Native and the Open Source Supply Chain

I recently wrote 2 essays on the subject of AI Native Automation over on the AINT blog. The gist of them is simple: AI Native platforms are about to disrupt - and maybe disembowel - what we know today as devops AI Native platforms are about to dramatically increase the scope of open source ecosystems… Continue reading AI Native and the Open Source Supply Chain

commentary, supply chain

The Revenge of the Linux Distribution

The evolution of software methodologies is evident in the shift from Linux distributions to reliance on freely available repositories. However, recent security incidents have exposed the weaknesses of this approach. As risk mitigation measures resemble those provided by Linux distributions, there is potential for their comeback in application development. This could reduce the risk of supply chain attacks.

commentary, mba, syndicate

There is No Open Source Community

  In January, 2006, I published this article on O'Reilly's OnLAMP.com site, which was recently shut down. I've always been proud of this essay, because I think I got a lot right.  I'm republishing it now in the hopes that it will continue to educate others - and perhaps  allow others to critically evaluate where… Continue reading There is No Open Source Community

commentary

TechRepublic: Open Source and Corporate Funding

I have more to say about this. See the original article on TechRepublic. Basic argument goes like this, "individual developers working in their mom's basement no longer drive open source development! Now it's all about the corporate $$$$." My initial thought is "duh". I've always felt that the narrative about a decentralized army creating amazing… Continue reading TechRepublic: Open Source and Corporate Funding

commentary, products, syndicate

Is Open Source More Risky?

There's been a long-running debate over open source and security, and it goes something like this: Pro: Open source is awesome! Given enough eyes, all bugs are shallow. This is why open source software is inherently more secure. Con: Hackers can see the code! They'll look at the source code and find ways to exploit… Continue reading Is Open Source More Risky?