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Open Source Software Licensing: Why it matters
We've all used open-source software, but licensing is more important than you think.
Open-source software is essential to the functioning of our modern internet. It's essential to all our modern technology. Open-source tools form the simple and functional building blocks that help power everything from TVs to ChatGPT, and it's almost impossible to overstate the importance of the open-source movement in making software development accessible.
Murena One Review: De-Googling your phone, only to replace it... with Google
The Murena One is an interesting privacy-centric smartphone that misses the mark entirely. Casuals won't like it, nor will enthusiasts.
If you're in the market for a new phone and wish to escape the Apple and Google duopoly, there's not much choice left out there. That's why, when a company claims to be able to provide the same experience without either of those, most of the tech world immediately becomes skeptical. The Murena One phone is one such device that claims to be fighting the good fight by providing a de-Googled phone experience, but the catch is that to install any apps on it, you'll be making use of Google anyway.
FreeDOS, the open-source MS-DOS clone, has a new update available
FreeDOS, the PC operating system that is nearly 100% compatible with MS-DOS software, just released version 1.3.
Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) and its competitors reigned supreme in the early days of the IBM PC-compatibles, throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, before Microsoft Windows started to catch on. Even though Microsoft stopped updating MS-DOS decades ago, the FreeDOS project has been keeping the dream alive, and now a brand new update is available.
AiryxOS wants to be an open-source macOS, complete with support for Mac apps
AiryxOS is a new operating system based on FreeBSD and helloSystem, which aims to look like macOS and run Mac software.
There are dozens (or perhaps hundreds) of excellent desktop Linux distributions that can be capable alternatives to Windows or macOS, but there are also a few systems that are outright clones of proprietary software products. One of them is AiryxOS, which aims to combine the interface and software design of macOS with the versatility of FreeBSD, which is currently in the early stages of development.
ReactOS, the open-source Windows clone, has a new update available
ReactOS 0.4.14 is now available, which improves the open-source Windows clone with new interface features and enhanced app compatibility.
ReactOS is a free and open-source operating system that aims to be a full re-implementation of the Windows NT kernel and system, complete with the ability to run applications, games, and drivers designed for Windows. It has been in development since 1996, and now the first new release since last year is available to download.
Signal finally updates public server code after months of silence
After months of radio silence, the source code for Signal private messenger's server component has just been updated on GitHub.
Signal Private Messenger has been a popular messaging platform for years, thanks to its focus on privacy and end-to-end encryption. The project has released the source code for every component of Signal, including the back-end server and client applications, but the public code for the server software was left outdated for months until just today.
Aurora Store, an open source Play Store alternative, gets a major facelift in version 4
Aurora Store v4 is finally out on the stable channel with a fresh UI, new installers, new dark themes and much more.
The Aurora Store, an unofficial Google Play Store client used by many custom ROM users, is getting a major update. This new update has been in development for a while now and brings a revamped UI, easier app discovery, new themes, and much more. We already got a sneak peek of the fresh design through some screenshots last month. And now, Aurora Store v4 is finally out and available for download for everyone on the stable channel.
Here's a sneak peek at Aurora Store v4, a big update to the open source Play Store client
Aurora Store, an open source Google Play Store client, is working on a major update which will bring a revamped UI and improved app discovery.
The Aurora Store is a popular open-source client of the Google Play Store, allowing users to search, download, and update Android apps and games on any device running Android 5.0 and above. The app's main highlight is that it doesn’t require GApps, MicroG, or Google service of any kind. Originally a fork of the Yalp Store, the app was later rewritten from scratch to offer a modern UI with Material Design.
OAndBackupX is a fork of the popular open source backup app for Android
Looking for an open source solution to backup individual apps and their data? OAndBackupX is a handy Android app for the job. Check it out!
Here at XDA, we are all huge fans of custom ROMs, themes, and all other sorts of modifications. Some of us switch between different custom ROMs fairly regularly, and thus need to use app data backup solutions such as Migrate or the almighty Titanium Backup. If the closed source nature of these solutions is a deal-breaker for you, then OAndBackupX might be right up your alley.
Google and The Linux Foundation want to help open source projects manage their trademarks
Google and The Linux Foundation are extending their solutions to help manage trademarks for open source projects and extend technical and legal support.
Google and The Linux Foundation have been two major players in the open-source software community. Now, the two are independently committing to help open source projects manage their trademarks effectively and judiciously. Google has announced a new foundation called Open Usage Commons along with academicians and industry partners, while The Linux Foundation has reiterated its support for fair open source licensing and trademark ownership via its Project Hosting program.
At least 3 Chromium-based browsers may enable extensions support thanks to Kiwi Browser
Kiwi Browser recently went open-source, extending extension support to other Chromium-based browsers. Now, at least three of them will be gaining support.
One of the advantages of open source software is the ability to allow forks of the main projects to exist. These forks can then take a different form to gain different features. If things go right, these changes and bug fixes can also make their way back upstream to the original project and then passed on to all other projects downstream that rely on it. Such is the beauty of open-source, and we are likely to see an example play out in a noticeable manner on our phones very soon. The code submitted upstream by the developer of the recently open-sourced Kiwi Browser will now make it easier for Chromium forks to enable extension support on mobile.
COVID-19 Contact Tracing apps: India's Aarogya Setu goes open source, while Switzerland and Italy test Google/Apple's Exposure Notification API
COVID-19 contact tracing apps have begun deployment across the world, with apps like Aarogya Setu and NHS Covid-19 now adopting open-source approach.
The novel coronavirus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, has wreaked havoc across the world. A few nations have managed to control the spread of the virus, but many others have struggled and are still trying their best to contain it. One of the strategies being tested for its containment is contact tracing, ie. tracing all the people who have recently come into contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and then undertaking steps to isolate these individuals. Contact tracing is a crucial task to get right as it impacts an individual's privacy and liberty in the greater interest of public health. The threat to personal privacy was big enough for Google and Apple to come together and collaborate on a contact tracing API and Bluetooth spec, one that is designed to have minimal impact on user privacy and security. While these efforts are commendable and some countries have adopted these, a fair few nations have also undertaken work on their own similar solutions. In this piece, we attempt to list some of these contact tracing solutions, with a focus on those that have their source code open and available to the public for inspection and feedback.
[Update: Unity Plugin] Google open sources Cardboard so developers can build educative VR experiences in their apps
Google Cardboard was a quirky low-tech approach to VR, and it was probably more successful than Daydream. Google is now open-sourcing Cardboard.
Last month, Google announced a handful of new products at the annual "Made by Google" event. However, one product was quietly discontinued: Daydream VR. The VR platform was not mentioned on the Pixel 4's specification sheet and Google later confirmed the absence. Today, the company is making moves in VR to open source the once-popular Google Cardboard.
The ProtonMail Android app goes open source
The ProtonMail app on Android is now open source and you can access its code on the company's GitHub page.
ProtonMail is an email service that's known for being privacy-conscious, which makes it popular among users who seek more secure alternatives to Gmail. Thanks to the success of its email service, Proton has since branched out into different verticals, including encrypted contacts, a VPN service, and, most recently, an end-to-end encrypted calendar called ProtonCalendar. In a bid to give users more confidence in its services, Proton has now announced that its ProtonMail app on Android has gone open source and has passed an independent security audit.
Kiwi Browser goes open source, allowing other Chromium-based browsers to add Extensions
Kiwi Browser for Android is a popular Chromium-based browser like Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. It is now fully open source.
The open-source Chromium project, based on the Blink engine, serves as the basis for dozens of web browsers. There's the most popular, Google Chrome, along with others like Microsoft Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, and more. Most Chromium-based web browsers offer a handful of additional features not found in Google Chrome, but there are some that radically change the experience. Kiwi Browser by XDA Senior Member arnaud42 is one such web browser, and for the browser's second anniversary, the developer has fully open-sourced the web browser and all its features.
OpenMTP is an open source alternative to Android File Transfer for macOS
OpenMTP provides a hassle-free way to transfer files between your Mac computer and Android phone. It works on any Mac device running macOS v10.10 or higher.
Transferring files between Android and Windows is pretty straightforward. But for Mac owners, it’s a bit of a different story. Unlike Windows, Mac doesn’t let you access the file system of your Android phone when you connect it over USB. Google’s own Android File Transfer tool does let you browse and transfer files off your Android device but it's severely limited in terms of functionality. For example, you can’t transfer files that are larger than 4GB. The tool also lacks basic features such as search bar, the ability to rename files and folders, and frequently disconnects in the middle of the transferring process. There are tons of other third-party services out there as well such as CommanderOne, Handshaker, Pushbullet, and more. But most of them are paid or offer very limited functionality in their free version. This is where OpenMTP comes into play.
Android 10 source code is being uploaded to AOSP
Following the stable release, Google has now released the Android 10 source code to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
Earlier today, Google released stable Android 10 to the Google Pixel family. Before it was called "Android 10," we've been testing Android Q in developer builds for several months. This update brings big features like a system-wide dark mode, full gesture navigation, revamped permissions, and more. Google is now in the process of uploading the Android 10 source code to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
Google open sources I/O 2019 app and Live Transcribe's speech engine
Google has open-sourced the Google I/O 2019 app and the Speech Engine underneath the Live Transcribe app. Read on to know more about these apps!
Google as a software company is constantly working on new apps as a means to achieve certain goals. Most of these apps are closed-source in nature, meaning that you cannot really take a look under the hood to see how those goals are achieved. But every now and then, Google also lets interested users do exactly that by open-sourcing its apps and underlying technology, giving everyone an opportunity to take a look at the science and the code behind some popular and innovative services. Google has now open-sourced the Google I/O 2019 app and the speech engine used in the Live Transcribe app.
Microsoft's open source Windows 10 calculator gets ported to Android and iOS
Microsoft open-sourced the Windows 10 Calculator and developer took the available source code of the app and ported it to Android and iOS.
This may come out as surprising, but Microsoft is one of the biggest players in the open-source community. You can take a look at their GitHub account to get an idea of how much they contribute. Just a couple of weeks ago, they open-sourced yet another one of their applications: the Windows 10 Calculator. The developers at Uno Platform decided to take advantage of the available source code of the app and port it to other platforms. Though, it was not as easy as some would imagine.
Sony’s Open Devices program now supports the Xperia XZ2 and XZ3
This week it has been announced that Sony is officially adding the Xperia XZ2 and the Xperia XZ3 to the Open Devices program.
Sony Mobile may not be making as much as other OEMs like Samsung, but they have worked with the open source community quite a bit. In the Android community, we have seen this in a number of ways with the company's Open Devices program being one of their popular contributions. Sony ends up adding a number of their devices to this program with the which can really help boost the developer community support for said devices. This week it has been announced that Sony is officially adding the Xperia XZ2 and the Xperia XZ3 to the program.