All articles tagged with #open source
On its 35th anniversary, Linux is celebrated as a humble hobby project started by Linus Torvalds, who briefly considered naming it Freax; through early collaborative development, GPLv2 licensing, and growing corporate involvement, Linux has become the backbone of the internet, cloud infrastructure, Android, and supercomputing, with Torvalds continuing to guide its development and embracing AI for bug finding.
Engadget’s review praises the Pebble Time 2 as a retro-styled, open-source smartwatch that functions as a focused second screen for your phone, delivering excellent battery life and snappy performance while sacrificing first-party features and polish in the app UI; priced at $225 and aimed at a niche audience seeking a minimal, customizable wearable.
ReactOS merged initial kernel support for Windows Job Objects, enabling groups of processes to be managed as a single unit and paving the way for running modern Windows software (like browsers) on the open-source OS, with pre-Windows 8 functionality implemented and more features to come.
Guillaume Meyer’s open-source project Watermarks Remover, created in response to Anthropic’s announcement of invisible AI watermarks, went viral after a few hours of work and now has contributed contributors and millions of impressions. Meyer argues the watermark approach can cause false positives and mislabel non-AI content (like Grammarly-generated text), highlighting regulatory and trust concerns. The tool demonstrates a broader tension between attributions, AI regulation, and practical use, and Meyer says he may turn it into a business while plans to adapt as detectors evolve.
Nintendo filed seven DMCA anti-circumvention notices with GitHub in a single day, wiping out more than 400 Switch emulator repositories—including suyu, Yuzu forks, and Skyline—by arguing the emulators decrypt game ROMs without authorization. GitHub removed many repos, though forks often resurface, underscoring the ongoing tension around Switch emulation and enforcement.
Pixel 11 Pro's HiLight LED is restricted out of the box, but the open-source HiLight Studio app expands it into a configurable notification LED with custom colors and patterns (e.g., comet, pulse, rainbow), per-app rules, presets, and a Quick Settings toggle. Setup requires sideloading the APK and using Shizuku for wireless debugging to grant necessary permissions; the LED has built-in safety limits (auto-dimming after 10 seconds, default 30-second off for app-triggered lighting, max 5 minutes per activation, and a global 5 minutes per 10-minute window). Some testers report stability caveats or occasional interference with the base HiLight functionality, but the app showcases how Google could have offered more control from the start.
GIMP is developing a new zip-XML project file format for future releases (GIMP 3.x) to replace XCF after nearly 30 years, aiming for faster file operations, auto-saving, and better handling of large or multi-page projects, while keeping backward compatibility with XCF. The update also notes improvements in brushes, non-destructive filters, PSD support, and a native file chooser, with animation features in 3.6 enhanced by the new format.
Debian marks 33 years since its 1993 founding by Ian Murdock, remaining one of the oldest maintained Linux distros and the basis for Ubuntu and many derivatives, with Debian 14 Forky in development for next year’s release.
To escape the noise of modern feeds, Khamosh Pathak tests two minimalist Android RSS apps—Read You (free, open-source, highly customizable, not on the Play Store) and FeedFlow (mature, cross‑platform with OPML support and a home‑screen widget). He prefers Read You for the reading experience but uses both, concluding these lean options offer more control and a calmer feed than Feedly.
OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar told investors that enterprise customers now account for the majority of revenue, surpassing the ChatGPT-driven consumer business, with a $40 billion annualized run rate and rapid enterprise growth; executives addressed leadership changes, open-source competition, and a growing advertising business while signaling pricing efficiency and continued focus on monetizing enterprise use.
Tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg and peers publish long-form essays arguing AI will unlock vast opportunities and urging openness, while critics warn of job disruption and the risks of powerful models; the manifestos also serve as positioning tools in a rapidly evolving AI landscape.
Meta released Muse Spark 1.2 with open weights and unveiled Muse Glimmer, while Nvidia introduced Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, all as free, downloadable open-source AI models. The moves are part of a broader US effort to keep open-weight AI competitive with Chinese labs and avoid premature restrictions, signaling a shift toward transparent, customizable on-device AI. Industry voices see potential for increased competition and innovation, though adoption and ecosystem development remain uncertain amid concerns about distillation, security, and access for government or large institutions.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg advocates a democratized, open-source future for AI, arguing it boosts security and broad access with personal agents; critics say the stance serves Meta's interests, calling for pro-human oversight and regulatory pause as industry leaders push open-source AI forward.
Nvidia released Nemotron 3.5 Lightning, a lightweight open-source AI model that can run on a single GPU and is free to download and modify, marking the company’s first open-source model since backing openness; Nvidia also rolled out NeMo Switchyard to help pick the best model for a task.
Mark Zuckerberg outlines a long-form vision to democratize AI, announcing Meta’s Muse Glimmer as an open-source rival and urging open-weight models with lighter regulation, while vowing more AI infrastructure and community funds. He envisions a future where highly capable personal AI agents assist users across devices, including smart glasses, and argues for user-controlled values over centralized gatekeeping, even as the piece highlights ongoing debates about safety, jobs, surveillance, and global competitiveness in AI.