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Software development is a game of creativity and intellectual property in which developers use their knowledge of coding, logic, algorithms and systems to solve complex problems.

This sometimes results in proprietary, or closed source, tools. Other software is open source: released openly to the global developer community, which can change, refine, build upon and reuse its code in other projects.

For decades, these two models have been the main approaches to software availability and licensing. But today, the open core software model -- which shares attributes with both open and closed source -- is also gaining ground. In this article, we explore the use cases, benefits and limitations of open source vs. open core software for developers and business leaders.

Open source is a general distribution and licensing model that makes code freely available for use, modification and redistribution within the terms of the open source license.

The Open Source Initiative uses 10 criteria to define open source software:

Under the open source model, individual developers and organizations can create software and release it into the open source domain, where it can then be used, modified and combined with other software. Any resulting work can itself be redistributed as open source software.

The following are examples of open source software:

Anyone can create open source software, from enthusiastic individuals hoping to contribute to the development community to large enterprises that decide to release a tool or platform as open source code.

While open source software can be distributed and used without direct costs or specific agreements with the creator, its code is governed by formal licenses that define it as open source and outline the specific terms for its use and redistribution. There are numerous open source software license models, including the following:

Open source code is pervasive across the software development industry -- it's increasingly difficult to find an application or platform that does not include at least some open source components. The following are some of the many use cases for open source software, with examples in each category:

Before adopting open source code or platforms, organizations should carefully consider the pros and cons of the open source model.

The central advantage of open source is savings. Software is built from modules and algorithms, and finding existing code that fills specific needs can accelerate a project and free developers to focus their efforts on other areas. Similarly, using an open source platform can reduce the costs associated with acquiring and licensing a software platform.

However, the downsides of open source software can be significant. First, freely distributed open source software has no official support beyond documentation and community response. Although paid support options are often available, open source tools generally don't have dedicated technical support. This can make adopting open source code and platforms difficult and time consuming, and organizations need experienced IT staff to integrate and maintain open source code.

Open source software can also present compliance problems for developers and businesses. Open source code might contain vulnerabilities that are only caught at the review and static testing stages or might fail to meet the organization's coding standards. Similarly, open source platforms can contain exploitable flaws that are challenging to fix, and patches or updates might be too infrequent to meet the organization's code quality needs.

Finally, open source licensing typically demands continued open source treatment of the original code as well as any code derived from open source components. Consequently, a business developing proprietary or tool-specific software might not be able to meet the obligations imposed by open source licenses.

In such a scenario, using open source software is impossible or would put the business at risk of violating open source licensing terms. Thus, adopting open source elements must be consistent with the terms and conditions of the components used.

Open core is a hybrid software distribution and licensing model that combines the characteristics of the open source and closed source approaches.

Open core software typically follows the guidelines of the open source model for the core features and functionality of a component or platform, while making other advanced features and functionality proprietary and limiting access using a fee-based structure, such as a paywall. This is also called the freemium model, common in many subscription services and applications.

There are three main differences between the open source and open core models:

Alternatively, open core tools and platforms might not develop or deploy proprietary modules at all, instead providing the code necessary to combine two or more open source projects into a cohesive package -- an approach dubbed glue code. Glue code offers a proprietary way to process data or facilitate interactions among several open source modules.

Open core software companies include Docker, Elastic, GitLab, MongoDB and Redis. Examples of this monetization style include Kubernetes or a Linux kernel modified to serve cloud providers, who then charge users a fee to use that uniquely modified codebase within their cloud services.

Because the open core model is relatively new in software development, its benefits and disadvantages are still emerging.

In general, open core software has the advantage of clear differentiation between free and paid features and functionalities. This helps users make informed choices about corresponding costs and capabilities. With the revenue generated by paid features and functions, developers can provide technical support and reinvest revenue back into the project for more frequent updates and fixes.

However, rules and limitations around open core projects can become murky, especially if multiple licenses are involved. Adopters must consider how to access the open source part of the code, if desired. Paid or proprietary licensed code must be clearly delineated, as any uncertainty can make open core software challenging to adopt in traditionally open source environments.

The open core approach can also limit the size of the software's developer and user community. Open core adopters are more dependent on the original developers, as they must defer to the developers for consultation and support. This, in turn, can translate into higher risk and make adopters less likely to modify and redistribute the core software.

It's handy to compare open source and open core against two other standard software distribution models: closed source and source available.

Closed source refers to commercial or proprietary software that businesses build and license for development. Closed source software is fundamentally a black box: Users rarely have insight into the code, and many closed source licenses deliberately prohibit decompiling or reverse-engineering the code. The software is treated as complete, with ongoing updates and support for installation and troubleshooting.

A source available software approach is a slight modification of the closed source model in which commercial software is developed and licensed for a fee. Source available tools offer a higher level of transparency by making source code available for review and analysis. This benefits software customers that are concerned with security and code quality issues, such as government entities.

Original post:
Open core vs. open source: What's the difference? - TechTarget

Two weeks ago, PayPal shuttered the account of the Free Speech Union, a London-based organization founded by social commentator Toby Young to advocate for free expression. PayPal also closed Youngs personal account and that of his news and opinion website, The Daily Sceptic.

On Tuesday, PayPal reinstated the accounts, but only after sustained public criticism of the companys apparently viewpoint-discriminatory actions.

Forgive me if I dont leap for joy, Young told The Telegraph newspaper. The last two weeks have been a nightmare as Ive scrabbled to try to stop The Daily Sceptic and Free Speech Union going under. PayPals software was embedded in all our payment systems, so the sudden closure of our accounts was an existential threat.

In typically murky fashion, PayPal initially gave Young no reason for the bans other than to say that the accounts violated the companys vague acceptable use policy. However, a PayPal spokesperson told the press, Achieving the balance between protecting the ideals of tolerance, diversity and respect for people of all backgrounds and upholding the values of free expression and open dialogue can be difficult, but we do our best to achieve it. Other reports indicate PayPals decision to close the accounts had to do with alleged COVID-19 misinformation.

As you would expect of any free speech group (including FIRE), the Free Speech Union has defended controversial speakers. After all, it is unpopular and dissenting speech not speech aligned with majority opinion that most needs protection.

The Free Speech Union incident is only the latest in PayPals long history of speech-chilling actions against its users.

One would hope PayPal understands that defending a speakers right to freedom of speech, or defending free speech as a cultural value, is not the same as promoting a speakers underlying views. Or, at a minimum, that PayPal as a payment system shouldnt take it upon itself to be the arbiter of allowable speech.

Even if the Free Speech Union were advocating controversial political views, that shouldnt matter. Whether in the U.K. or the U.S., payment processing companies like PayPal (and its subsidiary Venmo) are not bound by the First Amendment, but there are important reasons these companies shouldnt discriminate against users based on their views, as FIRE explains in a statement issued today:

Access to online payment systems is crucial for the innumerable individuals and organizations that rely on financial support for their expressive activity. Its essential to content creators ability to earn a living, to websites and other businesses ability to raise revenue, to fundraising by political candidates and nonprofit organizations, and to everyday Americans ability to consume content and support causes they believe in. When payment processing services act as political hall monitors or moral arbiters deciding what speech and viewpoints are out of bounds, they present a grave threat to free expression.

As the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes, because a small number of companies dominate the market for online payment processing, they have tremendous power to control the speech environment by turning off the financial spigot for users who express disfavored views or wade into controversial subject matter.

The Free Speech Union incident is only the latest in PayPals long history of speech-chilling actions against its users.

In May, PayPal suspended the accounts of independent media outlets Consortium News and MintPress, both of which have been a source of skeptical reporting about the Russia-Ukraine conflict. One month later, PayPal shut down writer Colin Wrights account shortly after Etsy banned him for selling merchandise that promotes, supports, or glorifies hatred or violence towards protected groups. Wright is a critic of transgender activism, and his merchandise included text like Realitys Last Stand (the name of his Substack site) and Defender of Reality.

Groups like the ACLU and EFF have criticized PayPals lack of transparency and failure to provide due process to users whose accounts are frozen or closed.

PayPals greatest hits on free speech also include suspending WikiLeaks account after the organization released diplomatic cables and warning an ebook distributor to remove certain works of erotic fiction.

Other absurd actions appear to be a result of PayPals reliance on poorly tailored algorithms. For instance, PayPal suspended a user for buying a t-shirt from Isis the heavy metal band (which formed years before the terrorist group rose to prominence).

While PayPal ultimately restored Youngs accounts, there is little reason to believe this would have happened without significant public pushback. What about ordinary users who cannot attract the level of attention and support mustered by the Free Speech Union?

Groups like the ACLU and EFF have criticized PayPals lack of transparency and failure to provide due process to users whose accounts are frozen or closed including giving users detailed notice of the alleged policy violation and a timely and meaningful opportunity to appeal the decision. When Colin Wright sought more information about why he was banned, for example, all PayPal told him was that an attorney or law enforcement officer would need to submit a legal subpoena.

After PayPal reinstated the accounts of the Free Speech Union and The Daily Sceptic, a company spokesman said, PayPal is dedicated to providing safe and affordable financial services to people of all backgrounds with a diversity of views, and we are a strong supporter of freedom of expression and open dialogue.

Thats a welcome sentiment. The question is whether it will actually guide PayPals actions going forward.

View post:
PayPal is no pal to free expression - Foundation for Individual Rights in Education

The opportunities to automate within an organization are broad and deep -- including within IT, finance, HR, supply chain, and customer services, and interest in automation continues to deepen.

Automation remains one of the fastest growing enterprise software categories, with a recent reportby research firm Gartner stating it expects global robotic process automation (RPA) software revenue to increase nearly 20% over last year.

While RPA solutions traditionally focused on automating tasks via screen scraping, todays modern RPA solutions focus on an API-first approach for process automation.

Meanwhile, RPA vendors are continuously enhancing their API integration capabilities to offer both user interface-based screen scraping and API-first integration capabilities to their customers.

Vendors are focusing on evolving their RPA offerings into a broader automation platform with complementary technologies, such as process mining and task mining for process automation, monitoring and improvement, and wide range of integration capabilities, says Gartner senior market research specialist Varsha Mehta.

She explains RPA adoption depends on organization needs and priorities -- if process automation and improvement is one of the initiatives or achieving operational efficiency and productivity improvements, RPA should be considered as one of the potential technology candidates to help achieve these goals.

RPA plays an essential role in driving the trend to hyperautomation, a discipline that helps to combine several technologies in an orchestrated manner to deliver end-to-end, intelligent, event-driven automation, she says.

Mehta notes competitive vendors are increasingly expanding their RPA offerings into a more advanced automation platform that includes various hyperautomation-enabling technologies for growth.

This includes low-code/no-code, process mining, task mining, decision modeling, intelligent business process management (BPM or iBPMS), integration and API capabilities, among others, on top of their existing RPA offerings.

With these continuous additions and technology enhancements, vendors are envisioning to provide an all-encompassing hyperautomation-enabling technology platform in the near future, she says.

Ted Kummert, executive vice president of products and engineering at UiPath, says RPA should be viewed as a long-range capability meant to empower organizations to evolve strategically and increase business value.

It is a journey that can start small, within one division or one department, and grow organically across the business as additional ideas form and the organizations vision for automations potential comes to fruition.

He says RPA can clear backlog, create new capacity, and free up resources, and improve data quality by integrating software robots into workflows.

It is a truly transformative technology that can reduce or eliminate manual tasks and elevate creative, high-value work, Kummert says. Digital transformation is often talked about, but many times can fall short of its goals. Automation is the driver to achieve true digital transformation.

Adam Glaser, senior vice president of engineering for Appian, says many businesses use one automation technology, adding third-party capabilities in patchwork fashion to automate complex end-to-end processes.

It works for the moment and generates some short-term value, but patchwork isnt seamless, and this kind of automation strategy isnt built to last, he says.

When an organization plans to adopt RPA, it should take into consideration all its automation needs and ensure that RPA is considered as a part of a larger strategy.

Generally speaking, the key IT decision makers are leading this effort, but the C-suite should also be on board, Glaser explains. Automation impacts the business as much as technology, and as a result we are seeing RPA being most successful when it is combined with business process optimization and engages both business-line leaders and process owners.

Kummert says that another element organizations should not overlook is training both for RPA practitioners and business users who will engage with automation as it scales across the business.

He says the most successful customers are those who think top down about what they want to accomplish, set bold goals, and identify strong use cases.

A great example is Uber, which implemented automation from UiPath first in its finance division and then within more divisions, he explains. To date, Uber has more than 100 automations in production, which saves the company an estimated $10 million per year. Uber achieved 350% ROI in a single year.

Jesse Coomber, vice president of operations at smart home and small business security specialist ADT, explains that RPA has helped the company reduce manual interactions between their field technicians and operational agents.

Once a technician completes an install, instead of making a phone call to an agent, the technician will use a chatbot to perform all the checks and tests that the agent previously performed, Coomber explains. Once complete, the robot will return the confirmation number to the technician.

Projects are also underway to introduce RPA for customer self-service features, including system checks/diagnostics, system/device reboots and battery replenishments.

Our RPA journey began two years ago with a solution for the purpose of increasing value add time for finance personnel, call center agents and technicians and increasing agent and technician productivity, he explains. We wanted to increase the speed and accuracy of information and improve the quality of identification of exception audits and compliance.

Other goals were increasing operational efficiency and increasing employee engagement due to fewer repetitive tasks, according to Coomber. He also sees additional roles for RPA implementation in the future.

We'll be tapping into the technology to integrate our systems to work together seamlessly, which includes equipping all of our operational agents and technicians with RPA digital assistants that assist in serving our customers throughout the day, he says.

The company then plans on extending those same digital assistant and automation features to their customers as self-service capabilities.

Enterprise Guide to Robotic Process Automation

How to Choose Which RPA/Intelligent Automation Platform Is Right for You

How to Measure Automation Success for the Enterprise

Read the rest here:
Roadmap to Robotic Process Automation - InformationWeek

The latest point-release of Onlyoffice, a free Microsoft Office-compatible suite, is here with multiple small improvements and better support for Asian and African writing systems.

Despite Microsoft's seemingly unassailable hegemony, Office does still have rivals other than Google Docs. There's more than one free-and-open-source productivity suite out there. Onlyoffice has a few points in its favor, and the new version 7.2 increases its appeal.

Onlyoffice 7 came out at the start of the year and this is the second point-release. This version has improved font support, notably for handling ligatures the combined characters created by joining two (or more) letters together. This isn't a big deal in English; it's useful for some words of Latin origin, such as ansthetic. However, for some alphabets, where most or all letters join together, support for this is critical, so this means Onlyoffice 7.2 now has much better support for Bengali ( ) and N'Ko (), among others.

There's improved specification of data-entry fields in forms. Spreadsheets can be inserted into other documents as OLE objects, meaning that they remain live and can be edited and updated. The suite's user interface now can be displayed in Portuguese, traditional Chinese, Basque, Malay, and Armenian. There's also an updated plugin manager.

Not only does it have Dark Mode but now there's a Dark Contrast view. There are other, smaller UI improvements, too, around select, cut, paste, paste special, and linking charts to their source data range in spreadsheets. The Navigation panel has been renamed to Headings, and there are new options for sharing documents, listing co-authors, and more. As well as the normal Edit mode, there are also Commenting and View modes, and the View mode can now show the changes made by other contributors live in real time.

Native builds are available for Linux, Windows, and macOS, free of charge, plus mobile versions for Android and iOS, or check out the AGPL 3.0-licensed source here.

Onlyoffice is relatively new, first appearing just a decade ago. Because it was implemented in JavaScript using the HTML5 canvas element, Onlyoffice can also run inside a web browser. You can sign up for a demo online, and the company's own hosted version is free for up to five users. You can also host your own version, either directly on a Linux server, in Docker, or in a cloud VM, and this edition can interoperate with files held in NextCloud, OwnCloud, Confluence, SharePoint, and various other online file-storage solutions. In this mode, the suite rivals the cloud-based Collabora Online suite.

As such, its competitive position up against the other free office suites is that Onlyoffice has a more modern ribbon-based interface, and claims the best Microsoft Office file compatibility around. The modern user interface, and strong compatibility with Microsoft Office, are both also true of Kingsoft's WPS Office but while that is free for personal use, and even comes pre-loaded in some Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu Kylin Pro, it's not open source.

Onlyoffice's developers pay for all this via their commercial Docs Enterprise and Workspace offerings. Workspace adds considerably more functionality to the suite, including email, calendaring, customer relationship management, and project management.

Here on The Register FOSS desk, we actually prefer the old-fashioned menu-driven UI of LibreOffice and its relatives, but if you prefer something that looks more like Office 365, and perhaps has rather better file compatibility with it, Onlyoffice is shaping up strongly.

PS: Yes, we know it's spelled ONLYOFFICE. But we didn't feel like SHOUTING all the way through the ARTICLE TODAY.

Read more here:
Is it a bird? Is it Microsoft Office? No, it's Onlyoffice: Version 7.2 released - The Register

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