Category: Latest News
Enterprise open-source is on the up and proprietary software on the way down – It is no longer about cost savings either
The use of proprietary software in enterprise organizations is expected to decline eight percentage points over the next two years, while the use of enterprise open-source software is expected to increase five percentage points.
So say 1,296 IT leaders around the world, according to Red Hat’s fourth annual “The State of Enterprise Open Source” report. Currently, report respondents say 45 per cent of their software is proprietary and they expect that figure to drop to 37 per cent in two years.
But if there’s anything in this report to warm the heart of Red Hat and like-minder sellers of enterprise open source it’s that price is no longer among the top reasons enterprise IT leaders cite for using enterprise open source; in fact, lower total cost of ownership now sits near the bottom of the list of perceived benefits, in ninth place.
See https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/02/red_hat_open_source/
#opensource #survey
Feedback from Feb 2022 Meeting
Italian Courts Find Open Source Software Terms Enforceable
The issue was that the software was redistributed without including acknowledgment of the original work, including information about changes the defendants had made to the software, and with no mention of the software’s copyright holders.
“They also proceeded with the unlawful behavior [of] ignoring the formal termination notice,” the company added, “which is the first protection tool implemented to safeguard the developers who decide to share their code in a free form.”
From http://ifthisbetreason.com/2021/12/italian-courts-find-open-source-software-terms-enforceable/
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs launches open source toolbox to fight disinformation
On the occasion of the 2019 European elections and ahead of France’s 2022 presidential elections, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched in 2019 a toolbox of open source software and open resources to fight disinformation. As of December 2021, Internet users can access software to detect fake Twitter accounts, assess the legality of political advertisement on Facebook, and use multiple further resources on good practices to counter disinformation. Further work is ongoing to develop and deploy additional online resources.
Fake news, disinformation, misinformation: in the past decade, the manipulation of publicly available information on online platforms and social media soared tremendously in Europe and beyond. In 2018, 83% of respondents to a Eurobarometer survey indicated that fake news represent a danger to democracy.
Feedback from Dec 2021 Meeting
Swedish Government report for digital collaboration platform technologies for the public sector puts Nextcloud front and centre as the key solution in this space
The report was put together by 8 Swedish government agencies, including the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, the Swedish Transport Administration, the Swedish Companies Registration Office and the Försäkringskassan. The report gives an exhaustive definition of digital collaboration, noting the important components needed for teams to work together.
Nextcloud is already in use at the Swedish Transport Agency and the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, while Försäkringskassan offers authorities Nextcloud as a service.
See https://nextcloud.com/blog/swedish-government-nextcloud-premier-digital-collaboration-platform/
#technology #opensource #sweden #government #nextcloud
Congratulations to the new German government coalition for their open source strategy!
The new German ‘traffic light’ coalition from SPD, Greens and FDP released the results of weeks of negotiation: their coalition agreement. A key component of this extensive agreement are commitments to furthering the digitalization of the German government, in particular through the use of open source and with an eye towards Digital Sovereignty of the German government.
Some relevant quotes:
„We want to increase the strategic sovereignty of Europe.“
„Municipalities must benefit from federal funds and be able to adopt solutions developed within the framework of the One-for-all principle. (Public Money Public Code)“
„We require open standards for public IT projects. Development contracts should typically be commissioned as open source, the corresponding software is generally made public. On the basis of a multi-cloud strategy and open interfaces as well as strict security and transparency requirements, we are building a public administration cloud.“
„Government data from all administrative levels are to be made available in standardized formats in the future. The agricultural data room in Gaia-X as the basis of a European data infrastructure with clear usage rights for farmers to the farm-specific data, which they helped to create, is being further developed with standardized interfaces. Open source formats are expressly supported.“
See https://nextcloud.com/blog/congratulations-to-the-new-german-government-coalition-for-their-open-source-strategy/
The north-German state of Schleswig-Holstein plans to switch to open source software, including LibreOffice, in its administration and schools
In doing so, the state wants to reduce its dependence on proprietary software, and eventually end it altogether. By the end of 2026, Microsoft Office is to be replaced by LibreOffice on all 25,000 computers used by civil servants and employees (including teachers), and the Windows operating system is to be replaced by GNU/Linux.
The necessary steps for this are specified in the planning of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament (German), as digital minister Jan Philipp Albrecht explains in an interview with c’t.
In the spirit of open government, France dumps 9,067 repos online with public sector open-source code, to show off its FOSS credentials
The release happened as a result of a decree of Open Government from 30 October 2019 after the French government joined the Open Government Partnership in April 2014. After two years of work, the site hit version 1.0 on Wednesday.
This really allows further re-use of publicly funded code, and also serves as a boost for their own small businesses who want to make use of it for themselves or to serve their customers.
See https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/11/french_government_foss/