It's FOSS

Collabora Productivity got into the desktop editor market last year when they launched Collabora Office, an office suite built on the same rendering mechanism as Collabora Online, but focused on offline use. They came up with this so people could get the same editing experience online or offline without needing to re-learn their way around the interface. It is still LibreOffice code under the hood, but instead of the traditional VCL interface, it uses a JavaScript, CSS, WebGL, and Canvas stack.

I recently had a very interesting conversation with a reader who suggested that I should not ignore AI. Because this is the next new normal and we have to adapt. I agree but in the context of local AI. Local AI is the popular term used for the open source models that live on your system, stay offline and don't send data anywhere. Sure, it's not for everyone and not every one would be interested in AI, irrespective of whether it is open source or not.

Microsoft has spent the last few years stuffing Notepad with AI tools, Markdown support, and cloud-tied credits, chipping away at the simple, local text editor it used to be. Basic editing still works without signing in, but the AI features don't. You need a Microsoft account just to check your remaining monthly AI credits. That's a lot for an app whose only job used to be opening text files.

There's no shortage of free backup tools on Linux. The problem is choosing which one to use. The choice of backup tool depends on what you're actually doing. Someone backing up a home folder on a GNOME desktop has nothing in common (backup tool wise) with someone running five servers and a NAS. In other words, different types of Linux users would have different need of a backup software. Let me share you a variety of backup tools you can use in a variety of situations in Linux.

When Lumo (partner link) launched last year, I took it for a spin to see what Proton's foray into AI assistants looked like. I found out that the open source AI assistant ran quite well for a new launch. And a few months later, Lumo 1.3 brought Projects to the assistant, letting me bundle related chats, files, and custom instructions into encrypted workspaces. I tried this out too, complete with Proton Drive integration for pulling files straight in, and it worked well.

The Linux Foundation says that it intends to launch the Agent Name Service (ANS), an open standard that extends DNS to give AI agents a way to prove who they are. In practice, that means being able to look up an agent and check who's actually operating it, what it's cleared to do, and whether anything in its code or history has changed.

Ever since successfully crowdfunding over $500k for the Librem 15, Purism has become a recognized hardware manufacturer catering to privacy and Linux enthusiasts. The company is registered as a Social Purpose Corporation, dedicating its existence to upholding the privacy, security, and freedom of its users, even when that conflicts with maximizing shareholder profit.

Open source software has always been a cornerstone in scientific applications. From supercomputers to CERN labs, handling some of the greatest discoveries of humankind and accelerating particles beyond imagination, open source software has provided the framework for all necessary technological usage.

A few weeks back, I invited Brian from the iodé, a de-googled Android project, to have a quick discussion on the project, its achievements and the futuree challenges. I was meant to be in video/audio format but part of discussion suffered from poor audio quality and hence I switch it to nour usual text format. I hope you enjoy this conversation. It's FOSS: iodé sits at an interesting crossroads of privacy and sustainability.

One of the biggest strengths of KDE Plasma is its customization, and the System Monitor is no exception. I have shown this with KDE Konsole tweaks earlier and now I am here to do the same with KDE System Monitor. Like most other parts of the Plasma desktop, the System Monitor offers plenty of customization options that are easy to overlook. Let me show you how to transform the default KDE Plasma System Monitor into a clean and powerful system monitoring dashboard.