What's New In How Helpful Is Bloclchain Rar) Cesll And Css14? | Technology In Cloud Storage? eet) ‘Volume: 07 | Issue: 01 | Pages: 108 | October 2018 r @) a G THE COMPLETE MAGAZINE ON OPEN SOURCE a) eae TW Cy crn To Tee) SE Pee eanc) ceves Bese) For Oc Src Pecan ne For “Itwasn'tlove at Site STOO LIN U LOT FOSS, but the idea was most appealing” The Preferred Choice Of The Teese cracls eco ‘And Alternative Book Publisher Sere a Ca ee ate a oe Asia's largest conference on Open SourceSRA Censor PrN Ola Sian ele Application Platform Meroe oa io coastal ry Seeds ee tee ela peers toma eso 3 eas or aerlc io rere 2) Acne Seca eC RO eG ee hee ues Cs) Ca as Ny Baskaran Cee ae) eae Sree a Pierre) Nana Ce) Contact Us fore See ard Se gen Dee cy pene acerd +91 9821092160NETWORK SAFE ? CALL US TO FIND NOW.... aii STARTS @ Sense Fig.a09 = Firewall? - Tale and specially designed for SMEs - One time investment and no yearly subscription - Starts with T1Watt power consumption - Free updates forever - More flexible, customizable, reliable and user friendly - Provides all features offered by commercial firewall - and many more... —_— =D officially Partnor With: ue amazon @redhat. Qeiasux hase FCOOS TECHNOLOGIES, BENGALURU Contact : 080-4111 9811, +91 99000 76884, +91 99000 76883 Website : www.fcoos.net Mail ID : sales@fcoos.netCONTENTS. reser: esses FORU & ME 22 Howa Pocket-sized Device Solved Telephony Issues for Diabetes Singapore 24 The Power of Ingredient Branding 29° How Helpful is Blockchain Technology in Cloud Storage 32. How Big Data is Changing Our Lives laaS to Manage Enterprise Computing Resources The Best Open Source Tools eecees infrastructure The Role of Open Source Software and Artificial enagemen Intelligence in Defence Systems Kubernetes: The Preferred Choice of the World's Largest Cloud Service Providers. Installing OpenStack Queens ona CentOS 7 Server DevOps Series Ansible Deployment of Bugzilla Continuous Integration for Hybrid Apps Using Jenkins DEVELOPERS 89 Solving Sudoku with a Simple Algorithm 91 Google Colaboratory: Made for Cloud Based Deep Learning and Big Data Analytics An Introduction to How to Use ownCloud to Set 101 Running a Firebase Machine OpenShift Up a Secure Private Cloud Learning Algorithm in Android COLUMNS 46 Exploring Software: A Case for Electronic Fare Collection of Public Transport Come ee mate 19 CodeSport 4 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCEFOA YOU | www OperSowceFer comEXCITING SUBSCRIPTION OFFERS FOR ALL MAGAZINES iY DISCOUNT ma ORDER FORM Magazine Period |Issues| peo¥"" You Pay], Meu NEE, vat) 190 avis] ass 1920 Electronics For You 200 5 =] 1080 a cote 8000 (Seon) 2400 ne Era 280 1295 2000 Send tis fled form ois plaspy to 586800 ‘rasa ete vt i Foose rem wl joerg tte Calle ees Cyr ec: eta Company MRE CIRBD orpass ss acernsenens 6 | OCTOAER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FDA OU CONTENTS What's New in Celt Understanding Undefined and C++14? Behaviour in C An Introduction to “It wasn’t love at first sight Processing, a Tool for with FOSS, but the idea Graphics Designers was most appealing” Frederick Noronha, journalis vw OperSouceFe com| & asa al(claelity- Bol Cie) maa Digital Age Accounting TaN nlCelayg Healthcare Manufacturing Sales (ert E-Commerce Purchasing Website Projects Education Support www.erpnext.org World’s Best 100% Open Source ERPFOSSBYTES Tidelift exceeds the US$ 1 million that it committed to pay open source software maintainers ‘Tidelift has announced that it has surpassed the USS 1 million that it committed via its platform to pay to open source software maintainers to provide professional assurances for their projects, as momentum behind this new approach to professional open source continues to build. Over 100 packages are already on the Tidelift platform, with maintainers getting paid to provide support for their packages through the Tidelift subscription model, Top packages featured currently include Vue, Material-UI, Babel, Gulp, Fabric, Active Admin, Doctrine, and Standardls. ‘With Tidelift, software development teams receive assurances around ‘maintenance, security, and licensing from a single source. By bringing together maintainers with a global market of customers, Tidelift is making open source work better for everyone. “Reaching the USS 1 million milestone for paying maintainers at sale shifts Us into a whole new gear for open source,” said Tidelift co-founder and CEO Donald Fischer. “And itis only the beginning. We're creating a balanced model that rewards maintainers financially for their hard work, while solving real and immediate problems for professional development teams, speeding up the rate of innovation and increasing the reliability of the software that society depends on,” Fischer added. ‘Tidelift invites all open source project maintainers to start earning by signing Lup 0 offer professional assurances as part of Tidelift Subscription. The company also has pre-approved a select group of open source packages for guaranteed 8 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCEFOA YOU | www OperSowceFer com Compiled By: OSFY Bureau Google’s new search platform is based on open standards Google again hit the headlines by announcing a new search engine that allows you to search for data sets. The new platform is based on the open standard schema.org. Anyone who publishes data can describe their data sets through these open standards. Researchers in the open data and science communities wll clearly benefit from ths platform, Google has also developed guidelines fr data set providers. “The recently launched Dataset Search platform searches through millions of open data repositories available onthe Web for the desired data sets. It scans through publisher sites, digital libraries and on author's personal Web pages, among other places. Buti relies on dataset publishers to correctly label their data sets with the appropriate information, or metadata tags. “To create Dataset Search, Google ovoloped guidelines for dataset providers to describe their data in away that Google (and other search engines) can beter ‘understand the contents oftheir pages. ‘These guidelines include salient information about data set—who created it, when it ‘was published, how the data was collected, ‘on what terms the data can be used, et. ‘The search platform then collects and Tinks this information, analyses where different versions of the same data set ‘might be, and finds publications that ‘may be describing or discussing it. The approach is based on an open standard for deseribing this information (schema. rg) and anybody who publishes data can describe their data se this way. Also, the data set providers, both large and small, ‘can adopt this common standard so that all data sets are part ofthis robust ecosystem, ‘The Google Dataset Search beta ‘website (available in multiple languages) can be found at hups:/toolbox google. comidatasetsearch. ‘You just simply need to enter what ‘you are looking for and Google will help #uide you to the published data set on the repository provider'sminimum payments of USS 10,000 each, ‘There is no cap on earnings. As these packages add subscribers through Tidelift Subscription, payouts will increase, Participating maintainers keep full control of their packages and technical roadmaps, and provide maintenance for their software, not helpdesk or consulting services. Tidelift pays participating maintainers when subscribers use their packages. Maintainers can also get referral bonuses for each subscriber signup, ‘with no cap on referral income. You can check out the list of pre-approved packages and learn more about how Tidelift helps open source maintainers get paid for their work at hetps:/Awww. tidelif.convaboutlifer. Any maintainer can sign up at this link and join Most of the hundreds of thousands of open source components that software development teams in corporations, government agencies and educational institutions ely on lack any form of professional support. Meanwhile, the ‘maintainers who work on these projects are rarely paid directly for their efforts. ‘This can limit ce time they devote to critical maintenance and innovation. Tidelift surveyed over 1,200 developers and users to understand current and predicted demand for professional support for open source software. Based (on that feedback, Tidelit has stated that itis initially focusing on support for packages in the JavaScript, Java, Python, PHP and Ruby programming language ecosystems. Most packages in these ecosystems have no other professional support options available. “While open source has made dramatic gains in market share within the enterprise, and is used heavily at all layers of the stack, a relative minority of that ‘open source software is commercially supported and professionally maintained,” said Stephen O’Grady, co-founder and principal analyst at RedMonk. “To date, ‘most efforts at funding development outside single ecosystem models have been inconsistent and difficult to scale. What enterprises and open source alike would benefit from is a model that provides businesses with high quality, dependable support for a much wider range of products and developers with the incentive to provide it. This is exactly the opportunity Tidelift is focused on,” he added, ‘Top maintainers are already working with Tidelift to verify the security, maintenance and licensing of their packages. SUSE and Microsoft collaborate to deliver enterprise kernel optimised for Azure SUSE has launched the fist enterprise Linux kernel tailored for Microsoft Azure With SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15, on-demand instances now run on a custom-tuned kemel for workloads fon Microsoft Azure. Kt provides enhanced performance and faster boot speeds along with a decreased memory footprint. The Azure-tuned kernel enables faster access to new and upcoming Azure features, helping customers ta be more agile. SUSE is working with Microsoft and other partners to adapt and secure open source solutions that allow customers to ‘manage complexity, reduce cost and deliver business-critical services that power digital transformation ““SUSE's collaboration with Microsoft is based on meeting customers’ evolving needs, enabling innovation and minimising disruption to their business," said Gerald Pfeifer, VP of products and technology programs at SUSE. ux wun OpenSourceFot FOSSBYTES Wanna Be Your Own Boss? DO OPEN SOURCE. 15th Edition PE SOURCE INDIA ‘11th & 12th October, 2018 NIMHANS Bengaluru Asia's #1 Conference ‘On Open Source ‘Meak the Dalles on Your Calbndat Registrations Opan at www.OpenSourcelndiain er Leese ye OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | OCTOBER 20a | 9ma FOSSBYTES Linux users can now eal NordVPN’s security benefits with minimal effot ‘NordVPN has announced a release of an app for Linux users, which is meant to bring VPN (virtual private network) services to a larger audience by presenting a product that combines cease of use and a simple setup with advanced security and privacy. “We have a strong belief that online privacy and security should be accessible to everyone with a connected device, no matter what operating system they are using,” said Marty P. Kamden, CMO of NordVPN. With the dedicated NordVPN app for Linux, users will be able to enjoy access io gec-blocked content, evade censorship and government surveillance, and find the best intemational deal. [Nord VPN will also provide security and privacy features like CyberSec or Kill Switch, which have not been available to Linux users before. More features will be added in the future to bring Linux users the same secure and convenient experience that NordVPN customers can enjoy on other platforms. You can access the Nord VPN service on up to six devices with one account. It caters (0 4901 servers in 62 countries, Instant connection (just type ‘nordvpn connect’) is provided with a single button, Internet protocols are given depending on a user's needs— connection speed (UDP) or level of security (TCP). The service comes ‘with 247 customer support. ‘To connect to NordVPN on Linux, follow the four easy steps shown. blow or visit the download page for more detailed instructions: + Add NordVPN to your apr list of trusted keys + Add NordVEN's repository to your apt repository list + Install NordVPN + Run NordVPN “Optimised SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for Azure public cloud users isa direct result of SUSE’s open source approach to solving real-world customer challenges,” he added, KY. Srinivasan, GM, enterprise open source group at Microsoft Corp, said, “"We've worked closely with SUSE to ensure customers using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server have a frst class experience with Microsoft Azure. The new Azure-tuned kemel allows these customers to quickly take advantage of new ‘Aaure services such as accelerated networking with SR-IOV, Write Accelerator and other functionalities on a cadence that aligns with the Azure engineering team’s release cycle.” ‘Customers can expect SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 to have measurable performance benefits, including a potentially 25 per cent faster network throughput and a 23 per cent reduction in average latency. By default, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 instances on Azure will run oa this custom-tuned kernel, although customers have the flexibility to easily switch back to the standard kemel using the package manager, Zypper. In addition to the Azure- tuned kernel, customers using SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on Azute benefit from a numberof tools and resources for cloud-native deployments that are part of the SUSE Public Cloud Module, such as the ability to manage Azure resources through a Linux command prompt. SUSE Linux Enterprise Server withthe Microsoft Azure-tuned kemel is now available inthe Azure Marketplace with standard pricing and suppor. SUSE OpenStack Cloud powers the TCS Enterprise Cloud Platform SUSE has announced that Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the global IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, has selected SUSE OpenStack Cloud as the standard foundation fr the TCS Enterprise Cloud Platform. ‘The TCS and SUSE teams have worked closely to architect a robust and flexible enterprise cloud platform, This has been achieved by integrating technologies like Cisco ACI for software-defined networking, “VM, and VMware as hypervisors, and EMC as the storage backend ‘with SUSE OpenStack Cloud. TCS and SUSE have jointly ym» developed this powerful and openSUSE: sirsssicstin» it can be rapidly deployed to meet customer demands. ‘The enterprise-ready SUSE OpenStack Cloud supports a wide range of hypervisor and will provide TCS customers with flexibility and choices, combined with high availability. TCS offers the TCS Enterprise Cloud Platform as part of its strategic roadmap to help customers transform their IT. infrastructure. It isa platform that allows organisations to develop and launch business applications quickly and easily. “As enterprises move to adopt the hybrid cloud, TCS Enterprise Cloud Platform, supported by SUSE OpenStack Cloud, provides an easy, fast and secure way to spin up business applications in the cloud and migrate workloads between cloud environments, seamlessly,” said Dr Rajesh Srinivasan, global head, cloud sales and solutions, the TCS Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure business unit. COCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www.0penSourceFarl comFOSSBYTES Ha Ronald de Jong, SUSE’s president of sales, said, “SUSE serves customers “Blockchain as a technology ‘worldwide who are looking to fuel growth and gain a competitive advantage is @ powerful tool to combat the by transforming their IT infrastructure, Our collaboration with TCS will issue of spam calls and fraud risks, expand that reach and bring the open source innovation in SUSE OpenStack to protect user information, as Cloud to a much broader set of customers. The needs of current and future ‘well as the integrity of the telecom customers drive our strategic partnerships with companies like TCS and sector. This DLT based solution will determine the direction of our innovation.” ‘enable enterprises to stop financial ‘With SUSE OpenStack Cloud, customers gain a flexible, customisable frauds and the spread of misleading, and scalable cloud, accelerating the deployment of software-defined financial information by unregistered infrastructure, delivers better interoperability, scalability and flexibility telecom marketers who make to enable the future-proof IT that enterprise customers need to compete in rampant use of the SMS service today’s competitive market, TGS’s future solutions roadmap will embrace of telcos,” said Rajesh Dhuddu, SUSE products such as SUSE Cloud Application Platform, including its global practice leader, blockchain, containerised SUSE Cloud Foundry distribution. Tech Mahindra “The DLT based solution brings Blockchain based ecosystem to fight spam calls in India all the relevant parties in the ‘Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital technology, consulting and business ecosystem onto the blackchain, re-engineering services and solutions, has announced its collaboration with, helping telecom service providers Microsoft to create a distributed ledger technology (DLT) based solution to and telemarketers take care of build a robust ecosystem in line with the regulations issued by TRA (Telecom preference registration, consent Regulatory Authority of India). Based on blockchain technology and built acquisition, dynamic preference ‘on Microsoft Azure, the solution aims at mitigating the issue of unsolicited setting, stakeholder onboarding, commercial communication (UCC) in the country. header registration, eemplate registration, scrubbing services, as well as complaint handling and tracking, inline with the tenets of the TRAI regulation. The solution will be a shared, secured ledger of UCCs distributed across a network of computers, which will ensure a transparent and verifiable system to help companies mitigate UCG on their networks. It conforms to the recently passed TRAI regulations and will enable all ecosystem players to comply with it. “The intersection of the cloud and blockchain will ensure new way of monitoring and enforcing compliance throughout the ecosystem. Through this solution we will be able to help ‘The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAN) has stated that UCC or service providers be compliant spam calls are a major nuisance (o telecom subscribers across the country and it _with the new regulation. With has been working with stakeholders to curb this menace. TRA had established Microsoft Azure blockchain- ‘Do not disturb’ (DND) registry in 2010; however, while the registry has powered solution, we will ensure ‘more than 230 million subscribers, unregistered telemarketers continue to that we mitigate loopholes used spam customers, obtaining their consent through fraudulent tactics. Tech by fraudsters and spammers Mahindra and Microsoft have been jointly working with TRAI on this issue to reach end users, Microsoft since this regulation was in the process of being formally structured, and have believes blockchain has significant designed this solution after a series of collective sessions with the regulator and potential to eliminate waste, fraud multiple stakeholders in the value chain, and abuse from markets of all wn OpenScurceForl.com | OPEN SQURCEFOR YOU | OCTORER 2018 | 14ma FOSSBYTES types. Our ambition is to provide blockchain technology that drives real, long-term and sustainable business, economic and social value for the world,” said Prashant Shukla, national technology officer, Microsoft India, TechMNxt is a global programme rolled out by Tech Mahindra, designed by pre-empting and anticipating customers’ evolving and dynamic needs, Iti all about ‘enhanced intelligence and collaborative disruption’ and focuses on leveraging next gen” technologies like blackchain Nyoka — an open source library for standards-based Al, ML and predictive analytics Software AG has announced the availability of Nyoka, an open source library that enables data scientists to transform artificial intelligence (Al), predictive analytics and machine learning models into the Predictive Model Markup Language (PMML) industry standard Nyoka is @ Python library that provides comprehensive support for the latest PMML standard as well as extensions for data pre-processing, script execution and deep neural networks. The library underscores Software AG's commitment to open industry standards and complements its Zementis predictive analyties for enterprise-grade, operational deployment of AL PMML is an XML-based predictive model interchange format and the leading standard for statistical and data mining models. The Data Mining Group (DMG), an independent, vendor-led consortium that develops data mining standards, spearheaded the development of PMML for nearly 20 years in support of the data science community Dr Michael Zeller, senior VP, AL strategy and innovation, Software AG, said: “To address the challenges that organisations face with complex AI solutions, frequent model updates, cross-platform execution as well as data integration, Software AG emphasises a vendor neutral approach that provides users plug-and-play simplicity with a wide range of components. Nyoka streamlines the work of data scientists, reduces the complexities of deploying machine learning models, and gives them more time to focus on creating new models that deliver increased business value,” In its initial release, Nyoka provides a wealth of classes and functions that are designed to make the data scientist’s life easier. For example, it enables developers to create a PMML file for a Random Forest model from an existing Scikit-learn object. Nyoka comes with extensive HTML documentation and a growing number of Jupyter Notebook tutorials, which demonstrate how it supports the use of PMML as a transport file format for data science models With Zementis, Software AG delivers a common predictive analytics strategy across the entire IT ecosystem. In supporting the PML. industry standard, Zementis provides an efficient process for instant operational deployment of models exported through Nyoka as well as many other data science tools, thus addressing the highest execution requirements for batch processing, in-memory computation and streaming data. Zementis is {an integral part of the Digital Business Platform and is a strategic part of Software AG's Cumulocity oT solution ARM delivers open source Bluetooth Low Energy software stack Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) is quickly becoming the Internet of Things (loT) connectivity protocol of choice for a variety of use cases, including smart lighting, smart cities and asset tracking, where low cost power consumption and a small footprint are fundamental requirements According to the 2018 Bluetooth Market Update, there will be more than 5 billion Bluetooth device shipments by 2022, with 97 per cent of them containing Bluetooth Low Energy technology. The advances 42 | OCTOAER 2018 | OFEN SOURCE FOR VOU | www DpenSouceFer comin Bluetooth 5 technology, along with the introduction of Bluetooth Mesh, are driving new market opportunities across building automation, sensor networks and other IoT solutions. However, the industry still needs to make it easier and more secure for organisations and developers to add BLE to their 1oT devices to drive adoption levels to new heights. ‘The ARM Cordio BLE. stack enables developers to build-in the right [oT connectivity solution for their application and market. To enhance developer support, the Arm Mbed Gordio Stack was recently launched at the Bluetooth World. This is supposedly the world’s first ‘open source, fully-qualified and production-ready Bluetooth Low Energy software stack, and gives developers even more flexibility in developing new IoT solutions with BLE connectivity. ARM has stated that Bluetooth 5 supports 2x the data rate, 4x the range and 8x the broadcast capability compared to the previous version, Bluetooth 4.2. The ARM Cordio BLE stack has been integrated with Mbed—the free, open source embedded operating system. The company claims to have a 350,000+ Mbed developer ecosystem that can initially innovate through a full Bluetooth 5 stack as well as get forthcoming access to Bluetooth Mesh through the Mbed OS. ‘The solution gives silicon partners access toa full-featured, production ready Bluetooth 5 stack as part of their Mbed OS offering, and the ability port to additional platforms. Having complete open source access tothe stack removes the risk of relying on a stack vendor, and allows them to meet changing requirements where full source code availability is critical. ‘The addition of Bluetooth 5 to an already robust set of Mbed OS connectivity options (Thread, Wi-Fi, 6LoWPAN, LoRa, cellular, etc) enables developers to build the flexible, secure and connected ToT solutions best suited for thei markets. These devices can then be securely connected and managed through the Pelion IoT platform, further reducing the complexity of implementing and driving value from loT. Por more news, visit wnweopensourceforu.com FOSSBYTES Open Source Professionals Get Paid Much More Than Others! DO YOU DO OPEN SOURCE? Asia's #1 Conference On Open Source ‘Mankthe Datesion Your Galonciar Registrations Open at ‘werw.Opensourceindia.in ato Engage with Inds Best www OpenScurceForl.com | OPEN SOURCEFORYOU | OCTOAER 2018 | 13,Open Journey Frederick Noronha (54) is a journalist and alternative book publisher. He has also been an early supporter of FOSS. in India, since the late 1990s. When the country was building a network of ILUGs (india Linux User Groups) and FSUGs (Free Software User Groups), Noronha’s information-sharing activities were visible on many mailing lists across the country, Here are a few edited excerpts of his exclusive chat with Rahul Chopra, editorial director, EFY Group. “It wasn’t carawet {and share your first encounter with FOSS (or love at first in desktop with Linux (which I sig ht with nope ei late 1980s. That was at the Centre for Education and Documentation (CED), in Colaba, Bombay, as it , vas still known, What were your initial ‘thoughts when you came across this technology? ‘The GED was a lovely centre that collated and shared information, and journalists like me found it very useful. But it definitely 44 | OCTORER 2018 | OFEN SOURCE FORVOU | www OpenSourceFar com‘wasn’t love at first sight with FOSS; it seemed too geeky for me, and while the idea (of sharing) was great, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. Put simply, I was too technically illiterate 10 experiment with it More than the technology, I then ‘gradually got impressed by the ideology of sharing knowledge (technology, in this case) generously and freely. As 2 journalist, it didn’t take me long to appreciate what benefits this could bring in, Sharing has its own power ~ not only in the case of code, but also sharing information, knowledge and so many other things. So, Isub-consciously made up my mind to get into it somehow. But that took some years to happen. At that time, what had you foreseen as the future of FOSS? We all expected FOSS to take over the desktop. We were wrong, Clearly ‘wrong, But we were more than right in that FOSS took over the server space, influenced smartphones, and also so ‘many other fields. You can check out a study, which [ contributed to, way back in 2004 (headed by Niranjan Rajani of Finland), which looks atthe impact of the POSS way of thinking on different spheres of our world. It's at http:// wivw.itu.intned/wsis/docs/background/ themes/access/free_as_in_education_ niranjan.paf. ‘And, by the way, I’ve just set up a free and open library for my village in Goa Any individuals or platforms Qin played a significant role in strengthening your belief and connect with FOSS? Very many... We managed to invite Richard Stallman over to Goa. Atthe international level, I managed to meet up with the Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth, on a moonlit African night on the banks of Lake Victoria, over dinner. The UNDP-APDIP got convinced about the need to promote FOSS as a tool for development in the ‘developing’ countries ‘There were so many others who contributed immensely In India, there was Dr G. Nagarjuna of TIER-Mumbai, ‘whose dedication inspired me. Atul Chitnis of Bengaluru was a great organiser (even ifa bit difficult to get along with a times), who unfortunately passed away very early. There are so many unknown developers, Indian too, who have contributed a lot. It was Inspiring to meet these young people and lear from them. “6 It is essential to sustain the 'movement that let FOSS come about in the first place, help it grow, and reach new areas. ” Has FOSS affected your rofessional life in any way? Do share the details. ‘Yes, vety much, But notin the technics ‘ways you might think of. Rather, in very non-technical ways. Itspilled over into my media work, and the FOSS way of thinking allowed me to work for many happy and meaningful Years as an ‘open source journalist’ and ‘crowd-sourced altemative publisher’. Italso deepened my interest in technology. With a team of up to 15 volunteers from six different South Asian countries, we could run BytesForall for nearly a decade, without a paisa in funding, (BytesForAll was a site that promoted ideas on how IT and the Internet could help in social development. Its archives are still online at hup://groups.yahoo. com/group/bytesforall_readers). FOSS encouraged me to take my information-sharing to new levels. For instance, | have 62,000+ photographs shared on Flickr. It pushed me to get involved with Wikipedia, since way back {in 2004, Itenabled me to learn from bright 19 year olds, which, among other things enabled me to get a two-letter Twitter usemame (@n). Hit wasn’t for rubbing shoulders with them, I would Microsoft, le, Adobe, Facebook, IBM..All of them do Open Source. DO YOU DO OPEN SOURCE? SOURCE INDIA ‘1th & 12th October, 2018 NIMHANS Bengaluru Asia’s #1 Conference On Open Source Marthe Dates on Your Calendar. Registrations Open at www. OpenSoureelndia.in oe ene ers edge vow OpenScurceForlcom | OPEN SOURCEFORYOU | OCTORER 2018 | 15have never got to know what Twitter ‘was, 0 early on, It also helped me meet so many interesting people, write so many (hopefully, some interesting) stories, and take up new challenges. It helped me write on topics which few Journos in India do, and also visit some ‘charming parts of the globe ~ mainly in Asia and Africa, which I really loved. Asa by-product, since nearly two decades, I've been using some FOSS distro or the other (Red Hat, Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, etc) without losing a byte of data Has FOSS also affected any sspect of your personal life? At one stage, my friends were surprised to see my wife use command line GNU/ Linux to type and submit her articles (he is also a joumalist). My son, aged 15, saved thousands of dollars using FOSS to create the electronic music he loves. My daughter, too, contributed to creating kids tutorials for TuxMaths, etc, when she was young, FOSS helped me understand technology ~to network with real people, make alot of frends and to visit countries like Uganda, Cambodia, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Bangladesh, ‘Thailand and more. It gave me a chance to write on what was happening in these parts of the world. And [loved the work I ‘was doing asa result. How do you see the current status of FOSS? Has it met ‘the early expectations? Yes and no, We have a lotto do to build the movement, We need to build skills. Some techies who have been inthe movement fora long time tend to believe that not much needs to be done to promote it now, since it has {got momentum of its own, But this is obviously wrong. There are new people entering every day, and they need to be treated with kindness and encouraged to take up this path seriously. The rate of acceptance could be speeded up vastly. ‘Accountry like India has a huge stake in promoting this kind of sharable, easy- to-studly-andl-master technology: 46 | OcTOAER 2018 | OFEN SOURCE FoR VOU How do you see the future of FOSS from here? Getting accepted in the industry is only part ofthe story. It is essential to sustain the ‘movement’ that let FOSS come about in the first place, help it grow, and reach new areas. Let’s face it ~ the FOSS movement could have grown much faster. In fact, without as much emphasis on ‘building the movement’ as there once was, there is less ‘evangelisation’ taking place now. No movernent can grow on aut pilot, without ‘rouble being taken to make it grow. How do you see the role # India (and Indians) with respect to FOSS? First, much of it is unrecognised. This is where magazines like OSFY have a big role to play; our expectations are ‘great. Second, the Indian techie needs to ‘communicate better — in writing and orally — with counterparts across the globe. Third, ‘we should not be shy to donate — code, documentation, whatever. Indians can make ‘or break FOSS at the global level; if only ‘we believe in ourselves Do you see India gaining }ore importance in the global FOSS ecosystem? Most definitely, yes, but only if it knows hhow to package its talent, get noticed for it, and! links up with the best in the world, to collaborate and co-code with them, Your favourite authors or books related to FOSS? Richard M. Stallman’s biography, a video series from Ubuntu on FOSS developments ‘worldwide (though not a book), and a report from Finland, which {contributed a chapter {0 and mentioned earlier, ae al favourites. If you were fresh out of college Qietsy would you do anything ferent from what you did with your team (with respect to FOSS) all those years ago? No. Except not take such a long break from writing about it (because I wanted to do some locally-relevant work in book publishing in Goa). But then, one can't do everything | wau-OpenSourceFo cam Earlier, many firms and luminaries dismissed FOSS as a fad. Now, almost all greet it with open arms. What's your take on this? Of course, it takes time for something really {ood to get noticed. By contrast, gimmicky computer products can become bestsellers im no time. This is why one feels that the early adopters sometimes pay a price (they put in the hard work, and don’t get sufficiently recognised, at times). What would be your advice fo youngsters who may be considering a career in FOSS-telated technology? ‘This isnot just a different technology; i's an entirely new way of doing things that could indeed change your life. 1 would tell ‘them to go for it. You have nothing to lose, but a world to gain. It can shape your life — itdid that to mine, Any advice for academicians? iknow that FOSS sounds counterintuitive, but do have faith. Try i Ie works. You'll be amazed at how many different spheres of life and work its principles can be applied to. ‘any advice for the media? fake FOSS seriously. There are a great many good stories out there just waiting to be reported on. Don’t dismiss everything done by the Indian ech, He (an, increasingly, she) might not be very articulate, But many are very deeply knowledged. ‘Any advice for entrepreneurs ywho are doing business around FOSS, or would want to? Go for it. Be innovative, Make sure you get recognised and written about. I'm not saying so just because it’s in my interest, but good work becomes good work only if it gets noticed, FOSS can make a difference tothe very real lives ofthe very real (and neglected) millions. Look at technology as your mission. As I've argued in 2003 [hitps:/Avwwlinuafournal ‘com/article/5925], I see this asa form of Liberation Technology (with due apologies to those who coined the original erm —no disrespect meant). SQ}Why do eters OEMs and Stan Gistrioutors of components love IEW? ee staan r eS Its co-located naa boar ral good. with IOTshow in. lOT is the NEXT BIG thing inalectronics hence i's a UNIQUE show ‘where you 2 ileract watt ign engineers pie and Ter bosses. - 2 “This year 26-28 Feb 2019 epseehesce'any INDI. ELECTRONICS KTPO Whitefield Been WEEK Bengaluru toe of ent Basie loTSHOWIN Test; ©om NEW PRODUCTS , High power outdoor wireless access point from Digisol Digisol has released its new 1.2Ghps high power outdoor wireless access point —the DG-WA7910P. The device comes with the 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard and 2x2 MIMO technology. Ithas dual-band AP of 2.4GHz, (B0OMbps) and SGHz (900Mbps), and a Gigabit WAN/LAN port. As per company sources, its fast data rate of Lup 0 1.2Gbps enables users to perform hhigh bandwidth intensive tasks such as seamless HD movies, streaming, wireless security, online gaming, etc ‘The access point is protected from dust and water with an ABS waterproof and dustproof shell that also offers protection from the sun. ‘The device offers easy installation at a low cost with integrated active Power over Ethernet (PoE), enabling installation in areas with no power cutlets eliminating the need of altering the existing network infrastructure It works with WLAN controllers in wireless AP operation mode, and accesses advanced network settings through PCs for tasks like checking the AP status monitor, IP address and password changes, upgrading of firmware, etc. ‘The Digisol DG-WA7910P is available online and at retail stores Address: Digisol Systems Ltd, 215, Atrium Building, 2nd Floor, B Wing, Courtyard Marriot Compound, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East, Mumbai - 400093 Samsung launches NVMe based solid-state drive in India ‘Samsung has launched its first non-volatile memory (NVMe) based solid-state drive (SSD) — the portable SSD XS in India. Available in three variants ~ 500GB, 1TB and 2TB, the SSD is designed to enable the super-fast transfer of large ‘multimedia and data files, saving luable time for users ‘The SSD XS is perfect for professionals working with heavy ‘multimedia files as the device assists them in editing 4K videos, creating 3D images or compiling hnigh-resolution pictures. It delivers good performance levels, durability and reliability, company sources claim. ‘The SSD can transfer a 20GB sized 4K UHD video in just 12 seconds with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity and the NVMe interface, company sources state, The 40Gbps bandwidth of Thunderbolt 3 is said to be four times faster than USB 3.1, enabling a read speed of up to 2.8Gbps along with a 2.3Gbps write speed. ‘The device is supposedly 5.2 times faster than portable SSDs with the SATA interface and up to 25.5 times fastor than extemal HDDs. On the design front, the device features a full-metal body with a glossy finish and a non- slip mat at the bottom. It comes ‘with Dynamic Thermal Guard technology and a heat-sink that safeguards against overheating by maintaining optimal operating temperatures, The device also offers data protection with Samsung's portable SSD software that’s based ‘on the AES 256-bit hardware data encryption, with optional password protection and easy configuration of security settings. ‘The Samsung SSD X5 % 27,999 Eon Address: Samsung India Electronics Private Limited, 20th to 24th Floors, Two Horizon Centre, Golf Course Road, Sector-43, DLP PH-V, 48 | OCTOAER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR OU | www DpenSouceFer com rugram, Haryana 122202Ben@Q launches the successor to its flagship home cinema projector ce) Sy Digisol launches GEPON ONU router A subsidiary of Smartlink Holdings Ld and 2 leading provider of networking products Digisol has launched its mini GEPON routing ‘ONU modem ~ the DG-GR1010, Portable and with a compact design, the router is ideal for PITH ultra-broadband access for home and SOHO users. It is based on stable and mature GEPON technology andl offers 1 PON (SC Pon) and 1 Giga Port (RI-5). Company sources claim thatthe device is reliable, easy to maintain, with guaranteed (QoS and is compliant with IEEE 802.3ah EPON standards. With a high performance’ One of the top global DLP ‘The projector comes price ratio, the router supports NAT/Firewall projector brands, Ben has with a 14-element lens array, and Layer 3 routing functions as well launched the successor ofits which is structured into The GR1010 is capable of converting flagship X 12000 projector six groups to provide 4 fibre optic signals into electric signals, which the X12000H. This has intensity, colour performance, ‘enables reliable fibre optic Ethernet services been designed to allow users clarity as well as sharpness. to business and residential users through to enjoy theatre-like image ‘The Ben projector can fibre-based network infrastructure. quality adjust focus automatically The router supports dual-stack IPv4 and with regardless of screen size 1Pv6, ensuring compatibility with the next technology, the projector variations, by using the ‘generation Internet technologies and an offers optimal colours True Zoom system, which improved user experience tachieve super wide optimises the zoom ratio, Some of the additional features of DCI-P3 colour space and The projector comes with the device include compatibility with contrast quality with over a Colorspark HD LED light IEBE802.3ah, a 20km transmission distance, 8.3 million pixels. The source and the capability NAT support, firewall functions, and being device uses DLP 4K UHD to reproduce colours in plug-and-play with auto-detection and auto- DMD's 4.15 million micro- superwide DCI P3 cinema configuration mirrors, and is powered by spaces. The Digisol GR1010 is available on the DLP 4K UHD chipset ‘The BenQ X12000H can various websites and at retail stores to achieve CT's 4K UHD be purchased online and at specifications retail stores. Address: Digisol Systems Ld, 215, Atium Building, 2nd Floor, B Wing, Courtyard Marriot Address: BenQ India Pvt Ltd, 3rd Floor, 9B Building, DLE Cyber City Compound, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East, DLE Phase 3, Gurugram, Haryana 122002 Mumbai - 400093 Tho pees, fates and spectcations aro based on infomation provide 10 Us oF 36 avatatie on various webstes ara porals OSFY cannot vouch fr Pe accra Compiled by: Aashima Sharma vow OpenScurceFrlcom | OPEN SOURCEFORYOU | OCTOAER 2018 | 19DISCOVER THE LATEST IN SOURCE lm Open Source.An www.OpenSourcelndia.in EFveReyt Asia's #1 Conference On Open Source 15th Edition OPEN SOURCE INDIA 11th & 12th October, 2018 * NIMHANS + Bengaluru Mark the Dates on Your Calendar. Registrations Open at www.OpenSourcelindia.in \Wiant to Engage wth incia's Best Software Developers & IT Managers? Exit at OSL wane OpenSourceindia.in | osi@etyin | +91-98111 55935 |How a Pocket-sized Device Solved Telephony Issues for Diabetes Singapore Why did Diabetes Singapore deploy an open source powered Crux LX to tackle its telephony challenge, and what can we learn from this experience? jabetes Singapore (DS) is a Singapore-based non-profit organisation, Its mission is to raise awareness and to provide education, counselling and support {0 people with diabetes, and to their families and the community, in order to empower them to lead a healthy and productive life. Its headed by Venkatesh Narasiah, executive the non-profit motto alive. The symptoms Like most health organisations, the telephony setup of Diabetes Singapore (DS) included a mix of PSTN lines (cight phone numbers), one mobile number across three branch mobile van. As indi rector, whose vision is to run this organisation fal principles while keeping and one Jually numbered phone Lines were difficult ro advertise and remember, managing this telephony infrastructure was a challenge at times. Customers would often get confused between multiple lines and locations, The tes at Diabetes Singapore For Internet access, Narasiah’s team ‘was using isolated digital public Internet lines, which were distributed by a router to the team members’ different devices in their branch offices. There ‘was no voicemail or auto attendant/IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system for support. Calls between branches required placing external calls. Previous Solution The diagnosis Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone lines was an option DS was looking at to unify the telephony across locations (for a single call-in number, internal dial-in across branches, and DID or Direct Inward Dialling for key external-facing staff members). Diabetes Singapore approached the large SIP line providers in the country but none of them were willing to take up an end-to-end solution based approach, They ‘were willing o only supply the SIP, while the implementation needed to be done by any vendor of DS's choice. But there ‘weren't many implementation providers. to choose from and the cost implications ‘were also very high. Besides, these vendors too were not willing to provide one-stop solution but wanted 0 implement the solution in phases, starting with the headquarters and going onto explore how the branches could be linked to the headquarters” telephony system, The medication Around this time, Narasiah happened tomeet Rohit Gupta, who was heading (Crux Labs. Gupta was seeking customers dese belotnbevee igi etal Figue 1: nial setup 22 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | wiw.0penSourceFarl com &dom h (is chart nd datas povided by Crue 1X) ‘who would try out his innovation ~ Crux LX, a device smaller than 7.6em (3 inches) and powered by Raspberry Pil Gupta’s pitch to Narasiah was that Crux LX would cost les than half of what other veridors had quoted, and more importantly, he would ensure an end- ‘o-end integrated solution with minimal disturbance tothe team, Gupta offered that in case the setup did not deliver, Grux LX would be decommissioned and taken back, and the telephony instruments would be redeployed. ‘To seal the deal, Gupta shared a chart (Table 1) comparing his solution with others in the market. For voice communication, Crux LX acts like a SIP server. To connect with this server and start speaking, you can download any SIP client application I: 8 comparison of Crux LX with other telephony sltions or Softphone application that allows ‘you to input three key data points— extension numbers, passwords and the IP address of Crux LX. The people at DS preferred to use desk phones at their centres; hence, they installed additional switches to connect wired IP phones. ‘These three data points allowed a SIP client to register with Crux LX, and employees could then call one another. Grux LX uses open souree software and hardware components for its prouet development. It is capable of forming 2 closed loop communication amongst a group of trusted devices over the Internet, DS used this to connect its centres at different locations across ‘Singapore—Boon Keng, Jurong and Bedok, Multi-location interconnections involving a large number of users at each location were done via an Inter- Asterisk Exchange setup that was supported by this system. When deployed in this configuration, a company’s New York office can call its London office as though making 2 cal within the office, though it will be routed over the Internet, This can be made secure by using VPN software. DS employees can now connect 10 the Crux LX device in their office even ‘when they are notin the office but are connected to the Internet. They can make and receive calls even from outside the office, a though they are in the office. With this device, the staff at DS can now enter three-digit numbers to call colleagues across locations and mobile ‘vans without incurring call costs The side effects ‘The deployment at Diabetes Singapore ‘was the frst end-to-end implementation bby Crux Labs in Singapore. Hence there ‘were some specific issues since the network setup was new. Al ofthese were debugged —the setup was complete in two days and went ive across all locations. New installations withthe chosen SIP provider now take just 15 minutes! Challenges also emerged when the setup went live. DS's Internet subscription didnt provide the company with a static IP address; hence, whenever the router got restarted, the IP address would change— and require a reconfiguration ofthe setup. [Narasiah is now getting a static LP address toeliminate this issue, Plus, whenever the Intemet bandwidth atthe branches fluctuates, it causes a temporary dip in the quality ofthe calls Hale and hearty ‘Currently, Narasiah's eam is processing about 400 to 500 calls a week, and delays resulting from calls having to be routed through an operator are gone. Narasiah expects the investment in Crux LX to pay back in 12 t0 18 months, depending on the usage! =a} ‘leawes ard mble vor comaced'o Cea at ong Conte, alsnngunlad cal drouion ond nonsenes (USSSA nr Figure 2 Overall DS setup with Crux LC ‘The authors technology journalist at OSFY. ‘waw.OperSourceFarl com | OPEN SQURCEFOR YOU | OCTOBER 2018 | 23The Power of Ingredient Branding The electronics industry is the pioneer when it comes to ingredient branding. There have been many great and iconic cases of this practice, and there is a lot to learn from them. This article analyses two such cases in the first part of this two-part series. sabes the computer industry really T brought ingredient branding to the forefront. Assembling desktop ‘computers using branded components, was a viable way to save money for the end user. An assembler could take «a Seagate hard disk, Intel processor, Samsung monitor, Logitech mouse and, like magic, you had a computer as good as an HP or Compaq desktop, ‘The slow shift to the laptop is what eliminated the ability to ‘assemble’ However, by then, the industry was operating with well-known ingredient brands for the processor, hard disk, ‘monitor and mouse. Although the assembling industry was not threatening the computer brands, the result ofthis ingredient branding was that there was not much difference between an HP, @ Compaq or an IBM product ‘What is an ingredient brand? ‘When a component maker builds a brand, it is called an ‘ingredient brand ‘An ingredient brand is not built with the component maker's customer as the target audience; rather, itis built with 24 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | the end user in mind, When the end user knows you well, it creates a ‘pull’ for your brand Many component makers feel that if their customers know them, and these ‘customers are also well-known in the industry for providing quality products, they have built a brand. But [beg to differ. The end user, to0, needs to know them and their products. And these ‘component makers need to have created some “pull” for their products in order to truly call themselves brands. Commoditised category Till the first company in the component category takes the step to build a brand, the category remains largely commoditised. And the players remain largely unknown tothe end user. ‘Because of that, no one player can command a price premium in every sale it makes, Players often build relationships with their customers by providing good quality at the best possible price and look at increasing sales based on that, rather than om the strength oftheir brand. wu OpenSourceFarUcom Benefits of ingredient branding + For the finished product OEM: Finished products comprise components, Let's assume one of those components is branded “Tha maker ofthe finished product leverages the ingredient brand to sell. It hopes to give the impression that ‘this is a high quality finshed product, because the ingredients used are also of high quality’. This adds credibility tothe finished product and allows the makers 00 charge a premium, * For the ingredient brand: The single biggest advantage of investing in brand building is the ability to-charge a promium. Once the ingredient brand has builta name for itself, the end user desires finished products that contain tis brand, This allows the ingredient or component maker to charge a premium, which the finished product maker passes on to the end user. ‘Another critical benefit for the ingredient brand is ‘not being substicuted’, Once the finished product starts relying on the ingredient’s brand equity to make a sale, it also reduces the ability ofthe finshed product maker to substitute the ingredient with another component, Some might argue that this is even more important than business continuity Be the first mover Bat one critical factor for a component to become an ingeedient brand is that itneeds to be the first mover. The first player tends to become the market leader and remains so, provided of course, the company doesn’t make a hhash ofits marketing efforts.‘The first mover usually is seen as the expert by the end user. Players that follow—and yes, they will follow—will be seen as making ‘me-too” products Of course, there have been exceptions to this rule. And there are ways to get a slice of the pie even when you are not first, but that is for another day. ‘What I have spoken about till now are the advantages of ingredient branding. How to go about doing this is equally important, and the best way to learn is by looking at specific cases cof companies that have done this kind of branding well The way Intel did it This is the case of the century with, regard to ingredient branding, tis one of the most successful cases ever. Let's go back to before Intel was known to the world, By 1990, Intel had already launched its 386 chip, which was being supplied to PC ‘manufacturers like Compaq, IBM and, HP. But things started to turn south, Intel started losing market share to Cytix, another chip maker. The latter ‘was reverse engineering Intel’s chip and selling it for half the price. PC manufacturers were willing to replace Intel chips with Cyrix chips. Afterall, ‘who would not if they were getting similar quality for a lower price. proxluct it was fighting was a ‘me- too” and Intel did not want to battle it Gal 5 lavetng efforts by ntl Figue 1 cout based on price. What it did next changed the computer industry forever. And this is why I referred to it asthe “ease of the century’, Intel did two key things. The first was a business model decision, ‘The company chase to work with its customers differently. It decided to partner with them. And this was not just in name, like many customer- centric programmes are. It was not just smoke and mirrors. Intel actually put its money where its mouth was. took a big risk by deciding to part- fund its customers’ marketing efforts. In exchange, its customers put the “Intel Inside” logo on the machine and carton as well asin their advertising. This was a mutually beneficial relationship to build the PC market. Intel’s second step was an education campaign aimed at the end user. The company realised that end users knew nothing about what ‘was inside the box, and probably found things too technical to make an effort. So Intel decided to educate Figure 2 Wainal way of bracing versus ingot bracing the end user on the importance of the processor, The campaign it developed hhad two objectives—the first was to position the processor as the heart Of the PC (as what is responsible for the speed of the PC), and the second, ‘was to make end users aware of the ‘compatibility of the processor with all {kinds of software. Both these efforts helped build a brand for Intel with the end user, ‘thereby creating a “pull” for the brand, Takeaway: Intel had made the cen user its target audience, even though the end user was not buying 4 processor but buying a computer. ‘This education campaign usurped the importance of the computer. By calling itself the heart of the PC and saying it was responsible for its speed, Intel made itself the most critical ‘component of the PC—and over time, ‘more important than the brand of the PG, It made sure that it did not sign any exclusivity agreement with any ‘one PC manufacturer, That move ended up reducing the differentiation between PCs. IBMs, HPs and ‘Gompags all had Intel processors. Because of that, the focus moved from the PCs to the processor. eS © Figu 3: The ‘Toe Inside campaign ‘waw.OperSourceFarl com | OPEN SQURCEFOR YOU | OCTOBER 2018 | 25Many companies partner and develop products tailor-made to the requirement of their customers. But Intel went one step further than this and. that made it the market leader. Everyone started depending upon its processors, and the rewards were amazing, The brand soon began charging a 400 per ‘cent premium over Cyrix and got back the market share it had los. ‘And it has dominated the PC market ever since. This is what Dolby did When we think of Dolby, we think of incredible sound—in our films, in our “TVs and in our mobile phones, Dolby is everywhere. But there is alot to learn about how a company can get to this ppoint—the things it did right and the things it did wrong, Ray Dolhy, wi died in 2013, was ‘an engineer who dabbled in sound technology even before he founded the ‘company. The initial technology he came Lup with was a “frst in the world?” type. He had figured aut how to reduce the hiss that happens when recording sound. He called that ‘Noise Reduction (NRY. ‘That was the beginning of an incredible journey. He first got sound studios in England to adopt NR. The American sound studios soon followed. He rode the whole wave of cassette tapes and players, and moved into providing INR sound for movie theatres. Atthe very beginning, Dolby trad decided it would manufacture professional products only and license the technologies appropriate for consumers. ‘But the big inflection point came when Star Wars used Dolby to provide sound for the film. Even though state- cof-ant sound was being used in albums and concerts—in movies, it wasa ‘commoditised category. Stephen Katz, the sound consultant from Dolby who worked on Star Wars, said, “The sound was a very important component for Star Wars, and it was a component that Hollywood virtually ignored. People used to tell me, ‘Nobody listens tothe sound!" Well, not until George Lucas INTEL'S 2-PRONGED STRATEGY Figue 4 nts two pronged strategy CORONET © 55226) 7OMM_DOLBY 6 TRACK STEREO “STAR WARS” 1190, 315, 5:35, 8900, 10:20 Figue 5: Star Wars used Dolby to provide sound forte film decided to change things. It is his vision that Dolby brought to life, None of the mavie theatres were fitted with Dolby sound, but Twentieth Century Fox insisted that if they wanted the 70mm print (vs the 35mm), they needed to install Dolby. And because vvery few movie theatres had made that shift, Star Wars was intially released with only 40 prints as against the usual £800 prints. And only three prints had Dolby sound. But the film created so ‘much magic that things took off from, 26 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | wiw.OpenSourceFarl com there for Dolby. Movie theatres were clamouring to have Dolby sound, Without Star Wars, Dolby would not hhave got where it did. But equally, without Dolby, Star Wars would not hhave been as magical as it was. The sound added a lot tothe film. So much so that the industry henceforth looked at sound differently—it was no longer a commoditised product Dolby’s journey did include a speed breaker. The company did not anticipate the impact digital audio would have on cinemas. Sound, till then, although of excellent quality, was analogue. Then an entrepreneur called Terry Beard, along with Steven Spielberg, Universal Studios and other investors, created Digital Theatre Systems (DTS). Dolby lost out and took a few years to gain back its leadership inthe industry. Dolby’s business focus has been innovation and patent protection. It hhas made most of its money through licensing. As of 2018, 90 per cent of its revenues come through licensing and 10, per cent through products and services, Now, Dolby has entered every aspect of our lives, The movie theatre product is Dolby Atmos. This has ‘moved beyond audio, into video, with the addition of Dolby Vision. Its home theatre product is Dolby Digital Plus. Dolby works with companies to provide its products on smartphones, TVs, tablets, games, DTH companies, streaming services, headphones, movie theatres, sound studios and many moreITS A Total Solutions Company 5 ba 4 i 4 tf sj ines Designed to secure business critical servers, VMs, and cloud workloads (for both AWS and Microsoft Azure) without sacrificing performance, Intercept X for Server protects against malicious attacks. It leverages powerful technologies to keep servers safe, including: the abilty to detect never-before-seen malware using deep leaming; block ransomware and roll back affected files; block hacking attempts leveraging the most-used exploit techniques; plus root cause analysis capabilities to help admins better understand how an attack occurred, what its impact was, and how to prevent it from happening again. 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Takeaway: Dolby is a company that has innovated consistently to better its own products, This focus on {innovation has meant that it has rarely needed to rely on buying technology from outside the company. Its decision to focus on top-end professionals and leave the rest to licensing ensured a continuous inflow of funds, so much so that the firm did not feel the need to go public until 2005. Its relentless focus on patenting has resulted in it having 8100 issued patents and 4200 pending in 100 countries, a of 2017, Dolby also works with its customers to ensure there are no design mistakes in its products and that these are of high quality. One of the key decisions that Dolby has taken is to keep licensing affordable so companies would rather use the technology than not, This has made the technology accessible and available everywhere, and largely kept competition out. This approach has prevented Dolby from being substituted by DTS, Even though it did lose out to DTS fora while, it has made a comeback. 15th Edition PE SOURCE INDIA 11th & 12th October, 2018 NIMHANS Bengaluru Asia's #1 Conference On Open Source The bottom line Before Intel and Dolby decided to build ingredient brands, the products of both ‘companies belonged to commoditised categories. It always takes a bold decision on someone's part to make the moves that these companies di Both Dolby and Intel have built brands, Mark the Dates on Your Calendar. Registrations Open at ‘www.OpenSourcelndia.in eee ny Developers & IT Managors? Exhibit at OSL een) 28 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www OpenSourceFarl com which target the end user ofthe finished products that their products go into, so that there is a ‘pull’ for their brand. Intel provided funds to its ‘customers’ marketing budgets, which built loyalty and prevented substitution. And in Dolby’s case, the licensing was affordable and the technology was ‘great. That is what prevented others from dominating and enabled Dolby to ‘make a comeback when DTS had taken the lead with digital audio, The principles followed by these firms can be used by many businesses: = To create partnerships with your customers. * To focus on the products, innovating all the time to make them redundant, so that no one else does that to your products. = To recognise the stage your product is at, and to know whether consumer education or competitive communication is required. To keep a look out for new technologies and to not miss them like Dolby did with digital audio. = To use the big moments in your industry to your advantage, as these can become big inflection points, the way Dolby did with Star Wars. cra} Care The author is executive vice president, Lowe Lintas (part of MullenLowe Lintas Group).lockchain technology is one Bienen today. You would have heard about digital currency, cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, These are possible because of blockchain technology. In this, article, we will frst understand what blockchain technology is and how it ‘works, and then we will look at how we can correlate cloud computing with blockchain technology. ‘The blockchain was invented in £2008 by a person or group of persons called Satoshi Nakamoto, Till date, no ‘ome knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is, and whether he isa person or whether the name represents a group of people. Blockchain has evolved into something very powerful since then. Blockchain technology is built using peer-to-peer networking. Anyone can join the network and there is no central authority to manage it. Ibis operated by people, called miners, who lend their ‘computing power to the network in order to solve complex algorithms, Machines “The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.” —Don and Alex Tapscott, authors of ‘The Blockchain Revalution’ run by miners perform the necessary functions to solve the algorithms, and for that they are rewarded with a fee (for lending their computing power), In the case of Bitcoin, that complex algorithm is SHA-256, Ina blockchain, each block stores the data ofthe transaction, its hash ccode and the previous block's hash code. So whenever a new block is created, itis validated by a majority of the peers or miners on that network. If anyone tries to change the data in one block, the entire blockchain ‘will be invalidated; so it's nearly impossible for an individual to change all other atached blocks—and that’s how a blockchain remains secure and managed. Also, all the data is encrypted for security purposes. eww OpenSourceForcom Bitcoin works on the same technology. Iisa virtual currency that is mined using the blockchain technique and today, the value of one Bitcoin is 458,609. So, as you can imagine, i's virtually like gold ‘This blockchain technology is not just used for cryptocurrencies but can be used in many other sectors also. Potential use cases are video or audio streaming, cloud storage and much more. Today, a lot of research is going on to study how to tap the power ofthis technology and apply it across various verticals, Cloud storage Google Drive, Dropbox, Gmail, etc, are the basic examples of cloud storage. Cloud storage allows users to store their data online and hence | FEN SOURCE FOR YOU | QCTORER 2018 | 28Software... Faster, Better & Cheaper? DO OPEN SOURCE. On Open Source Mark the Dates on Your Calendax. Registrations Open at ‘www. OpenSourceindia.in ‘Want to Engage wth India's Bost Software Developers & IF Managors? Exhibit at O51 wun OparSourcaidain ‘osi@etyin | 191-9611 55335 | Wanna Develop Asia's #1 Conference gu 1: Cu storage access it anywhere and at any time — that’s the biggest advantage. Nowadays, we store all data in the digital format, having moved beyond the stage of managing bundles of physical files. Government agencies are also leveraging the advantages of cloud storage and availing the benefits of public and private clouds to store, manage and manipulate data. All the data stored in the cloud is encrypted and cloud services are available under a range of SLAs, covering data integrity and privacy. Many companies have shifted their entire data centre onto the cloud and enjoy advantages like elasticity, load balancing, redundancy, availability and integrity. This market is expanding at an exponential rate, currently, with the majority of cloud storage being provided by large companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon. You may have observed that even mobile companies like Samsung and Apple now have their own cloud storage offerings, such as Samsung Cloud and iCloud, for end users. Blockchain in cloud storage Blockchain cloud storage solutions take the user's data and break it up into small chunks. They then add ‘an additional layer of security and distibute it throughout the network. This is possible using blockchain Ee ‘comput ‘maulikparekh2, ‘30 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FAR YOU | www. OpenSourceFarl com The author works at Cisco as @ consulting engineer and has an M. Tech in cloud from VIT University, Chennai. He constantly strives to lear, grow and innovate He can be reached at maulikgarekh2@gmail.com. Website: htps,//wwnulinkedin.com/in/ features like the hashing function, public/private key encryption and transaction ledgers. Each chunk of data is stored in a decentralised location. intruders try to hack into it, they first get encrypted data, and then get only a chunk ofthe data and not the whole file-this secures documents in blockchain based cloud storage. ‘Another benefit is that the owner is hidden since the node does not store the owner’s data. The miner only gets a chunk of data; hence, all the sensitive information is protected and secured, Data redundancy and load balancing mechanisms are applied for high availability and quick access. ‘Whenever a user ties to fetch data, all chunks of the data are first validated and if any alteration is found on a data chunk, then the miner who altered the data chunk is removed from the network, and that altered partis taken from another redundant copy. Thus, all users get original and identical copies of the data. Many new companies have jumped into this new blockchain cloud storage market and the entire business is taking on a new shape. Blockchainis the newest and possibly the cheapest way to get cloud storage because many small entities participate in cloud storage by providing their computing power and space to store data. Hence, cloud storage costs are lowered and all the entities that participate can also get pad. ‘Companies like Sia, Amazon and Stor) are creating systems for paying a small amount to such participants for providing the extra storage from their computers, So, in the near future, ‘we can see many more cloud storage providers moving to this technology In the coming articles, we will talk about blockchain based cloud applications and how to create your own eryptocurrency. Gam}pl in India where you can experience the latest for your business? } i | good news. | | 48 repose ie smartiT INDIA 11-12 OCTOBER 2018 NIMHANS Convention Center, Bengaluru KEY THEMES Smart T-nfra Solutions | Cloud & Big Data | Hyperc INVITING ALL IT DECISION MAKERS PRT Pete ecoForUeNe How Big Data is Changing Our Lives There is a profusion of data as a result of how we live today. Data is generated in humongous volumes every moment of the day. The potential of Big Data is just beginning to be realised and is set to change our lifestyles. a» = ANALYSIS INoVATION — crs rer ACTON WEBSITE roan a BUSINESS CONCEPTS we penta: INTERNET TE INTERNATIONAL PEOPLE DATA a C na layman’s language, all the data present in a server, collectively called Big Data, All this data, or some part of it, can be used for analysis to get different types of results or predictions using some specific analysis tools like Hadoop. So basically, Big Data analytics is the process of collecting, ‘organising and analysing large sets of data (called Big Data) to discover patterns and other useful information, Big Data analytics can help organisations to better understand the information contained within the data and also help identify ‘what is most important to the business, Analysts working. 432 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www.OpenSourceFarl com coorinanon CONCEPTS hETWORKGoey =~ BIG HATA wx ACCOUNTING SECURITY, TEAMWORK erat GLOBAL ce PROFIT a FAS Som EFFICIENCY I" = uision sop. tc ARE = HNOLOGY = weiwoRe GROWTH FAH with Big Data typically want the knowledge that comes from analysing the data How Big Data works As the technology that helps an organisation to break down dita silos and analyse data improves, businesses can be transformed in all sorts of ways. Today’s advances in analysing Big Data allow researchers to decode human DNA in mites, predict where erorsts plan to attack, determine which gene i most likely to be responsible for certain diseases and, ofcourse, which ads you are most likely to respond! to on FacebookAsia's #1 website on open source inan all-new avatar! rece) ceed Cee Just at the click of a button. Mee te el eee eae es tablet, PC or Mac. you will enjoy a unified experience across all devices. www.OpenSourceForU.com DU eS ed i eR cle e ee AA ASe ca Ce Er ee et erAnother example comes from one of the biggest mobile carriers in the world, France’s Orange launched its Data for Development project by analysing the subscriber data for customers in the Ivory Coast. The 2.5 billion records, which were made anonymous, included details, con calls and text messages exchanged between 5 million, users, Researchers accessed the data and sent Orange proposals for how the data could serve as the foundation for development projects to improve public health and safety. Proposed projects included one that showed how to improve public safety by tracking cell phone data to map ‘where people went after emergencies; another showed how 10 use cellular data for disease containment. The benefits of Big Data analytics Enterprises are increasingly looking to find actionable insights from their data. Many Big Data projects emerge from the need to answer specific business questions, With the right Big Data analytics platforms in place, an enterprise can boost sales, increase efficiency, and improve operations, customer service and risk management. Webopedia’s parent company, QuinStreet, surveyed 540, enterprise decision makers involved in Big Data purchases ‘to lea about which business areas companies plan to use Big Data analytics to improve operations. About half of all respondents said they were applying Big Data analytics to improve customer retention, help with product development and gain a competitive advantage. Notably, the business area getting the most attention related to increasing efficiency and optimising operations, Specifically, 62 per cent of the respondents said that they use Big Data analytics to improve speed and reduce complexity Big Data in different industries Google, Microsoft, and Facebook all lean on Big Data to build their market share and keep them ahead of the ‘competition. They have leamed from companies that allowed themselves to be overwhelmed by businesses that were better able to fulfil customer expectations. One of the biggest users of data analyties and crowd sourcing is Amazon.com, which has crushed the competition in the online retail sector. So what do a search engine, a software company, a social network and a retail juggernaut have in common? All of them thrive off data. This, more than anything, shows that Big Data can be used to achieve success in many different sectors ‘Arrecent article from the business intelligence research company, Software Advice, suggests there are some industries, that need to use Big Data and data analytics, more than ethers Here's a look at some of those industries. Non-profits Although it may seem strange to jump from the success of Fortune 500 companies to the realm of non-profits, but the ‘34 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www. OpenSourceFarl com techniques that make a for-profit business successful are the same that work for non-profits. One big non-profit to consider is Wikipedia.org, Itis one of the top websites in the world, and so indispensable that the Internet would be a very different place if it ever closed down, “Wikipedia is totally non-profit and depends on donors to operate a tremendous amount of bandwidth,” says Scatt Snyder, a ‘Wikipedia editor who has been working on the site for five vyears. “Guys like me work as editors for free because we love it, but there are still a whole lot af expenses incurred for the high level of use,” he says. Italso has more data at its disposal than any other non-profit company. The things that it could do to cover its costs include boosting fundraising efforts, and adjusting marketing to suit the ‘demographics of its users and then targeting those most likely to renew donations. Richard Becker, president of ‘Target Analytics, seems to agree, suggesting organisations are using advanced analytics to boost fundraising efforts. ‘When non-profits engage Big Data, they “~-can better understand how to acquire, renew, convert and upgrade prospects,” Becker says. Sales ‘The Big Data techniques that work for a non-profit to acquire donations are, if anything, more impressive when applied to sales, In fac, if you are ina sales-supported industry and you are not using Big Data, you are doing yourself a disservice, ‘The challenge of sales is not as much who to target as much ‘as how to present the sales experience, Unlike non-profits, ‘your sales department has goods or services that can only be ‘acquired through financial transactions and most buyers are already motivated. What is needed is a process for facilitating the transaction, and this is where the data comes in. Big Data helps companies to identify valuable ‘opportunities, generate repeat sales, increase conversion rates and predict future sales. It analyses the mood of the market and the customers based on the seasons and areas that are suitable for a particular product, hence leading to better profits and customer satisfaction Insurance ‘The insurance industry is one of the most data driven industries on the planet, so it is amazing how so few ‘of these companies use Big Data solutions to enhance their business. Claims are usually assigned to insurance adjusters based on the limited data available, and there is 1 high possibility of the task being given to someone else in the later phase of the claim process. However, with the help of better data mining techniques, and depending upon the priority and complexity of a claim, a responsible and ‘experienced adjuster can be put on the job. And with the help of data analysis, the claim settlement can also be done in better way. With the help of analytics, the claims settled n a particular interval or period can be assessed, so thatinsurance companies can understand exactly how much money they need on hand to meet future claims. Manufacturing “There are many ways that a manufacturer can use Big Data to get an edge on the competition, but it remains a mystery why s0 few in the business do so. Big Data can be very crucial for achieving better productivity and efficiency in manufacturing. It can help to determine unique demand patterns in a market, so thatthe products are made as per the need. Big Data can also help to increase the supply chain efficiency. With the right data analysis, manufacturers can easily improve ‘operations, which can help them to strengthen relations with customers and suppliers, leading to an increase in profit. Big Data analytics is no longer just a “nice to have” option for ‘manufacturing enterprises. Agriculture ‘The agricultural industry may be one of our oldest but today ithas become a complex interconnected network of farmers and food processors. Charles Linville, Ph.D., is president and founder of Ploughman Analytis, a company that helps farmers and processors with analytics surrounding the value chain. He suggests key analytics for this industry, which include: + Where crops are processed + How much of each crop is processed + Where processing or transportation facilities are located * The price of each crop offered at each of these facilities + The cost of transporting the crop ‘The other key is to analyse this data not as separate sets of data but as a whole. When you combine multiple sets of data like this with a common purpose you can maximise benefits linked to where a facility is located. One model showed that changing an offered price by USS 0.05 resulted in a 50 per cent shift in grain volume, Results like this are significant and show how Big Data and analytics can be used in the planning process of new facilities in any industry, where there is a supply value chain Software and algorithms help refine the interpretation of data, Each industry has different needs but a similar starting point, which is loads of data, However, independent sources of data alone do not tel the whole picture, The more Companies tie this data together and refine the algorithms they use to interpret it, the better off they are when it comes 10 staying ahead in their respective industries, Top open source tools to handle Big Data We are in an ever expanding marketplace! With shorter product life cycles, evolving customer behaviour, an economy that travels at the speed of light, information (which we now have more than enough access to) has gone on to be more about analyties and business relevance. So what do you do with your gold mine of insights? Here are the top 10 open source Big Data tools that harness, analyse and make the most sense out of your information. + Hadoop: You simply can’t talk about Big Data without mentioning Hadoop, The Apache distributed data processing software is so pervasive that sometimes Hadoop has become almost synonymous with Big Data Hadoop is known for the ability to process extremely large volumes of data in both structured and unstructured formats, reliably replicating chunks of data to nodes in the cluster and making it available locally on the processing machine. The Apache Foundation also sponsots a number of related projects that extend the capabilities of Big Data Hadoop. + MapReduce: If Hadoop is the Big Data mahout, then “MapReduce happens to be is lifeline. As a programming model and software framework for writing application, MapRedluce works (0 rapidly process vast amounts of data in parallel on large clusters of compute nodes. Widely used bby Hadoop and by many other data processing applications, MapReduce was originally developed by Google. * GridGain: GridGain is a Java based middleware for faster in-memory processing of Big Data in real-time. It is compatible with the Hadoop Distributed File System. GridGain requires the Windows, Linux or MacOS X ‘operating systems and is an alternative to MapReduce. + HPCC: This has been developed by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. HPCC (high performance computing cluster) systems deliver on a single platform, and have a single architecture and a single programming language for data processing, Both free community versions and paid enterprise versions are available, HPCC claims to offer a performance that’s superior to Hadoop. + Storm: Storm is different from other tools with its Aistibuted, real-time, fault-tolerant processing system, unlike the batch processing systems of Hadoop. With real- time computation capabilites, Storm is fast and highly scalable, often being described as the Hadoop of real-time Te works with nearly all programming languages, though typically, Java is used. Descending from the Apache family, Storm is now owned by Twitter. * Cassandra: This highly scalable NoSQL database can monitor massive data across multiple data centres and the ‘loud. Apache Cassandra is used by many organisations with large, active data sets, including Netflix, Twitter, Urban Airship, Constant Contact, Reddit, Cisco and Digg Its commercial support and services are available through third-party vendors. Originally developed by Facebook, it is now managed by the Apache Foundation. + HBBase: This isthe non-relational data store for Hadoop. Being a column-oriented database management system, HBase is well suited for sparse data sets and is written in Java, It supports writing applications such as Avro, REST and That. Its features include linear and modular scalability, strictly consistent reads and writes, automatic eww OpenSourceFrl.com | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | OCTORER 2018 | 35failover support and much more. Developed as part of the Apache Hadoop project, HBase runs on top of the Hadoop distributed file system. ‘MongoDB: MongoDB was originally developed by Logon, and was designed ta support massive databases. Ie’s @ NoSQL database written in C++ with document- oriented storage, full index support, replication and high availability, which scales horizontally without ‘compromising on functionality. Commercial support is available through 10gen MongoDB, Ic is literally derived from the term ‘humongous’ and is the most popular NoSQL database system, ‘Neodj: This boasts of performance improvements of Uup (0 1000x or mote in comparison with relational databases, I stores data structured in graphs instead of tables and is a disk-based, fully transactional Java engine, Organisations can purchase advanced and enterprise versions from Neo Technology, which is the world’s leading graph database, ‘CouchDB: CouchDB stores data in JSON documents that ccan be accessed via the Web or queries using JavaScript. offers distributed scaling with fault-tolerant storage. Its key features include on-the-fly document transformation, real-time change notifications, easy-to-use Web administration, etc Challenges in Big Data Data technologies are maturing to a point at which more and more organisations are prepared to pilot and adopt Big Data as a core component of their information management and analytics infrastructure. It’s an area of research that is ‘booming, but still faces quite a few challenges in leveraging the value that data has to offer. Finding a language for Big Data: All sciences like chemistry and mathematics have experienced a tremendous, boost by adopting a specific language. Don’t you think ‘we must follow the same path in the area of Big Data, and invent an algebraic notation and an adapted programming language to better share and facilitate its analysis? ‘Working on reliable data: With the explosion in the volume of available data, the challenge is how to separate the ‘signal’ of data from valuable information. Unfortunately, at this point, @ lot of companies have difficulty identifying the right data and determining how to best use it. Gauging data quality isa crucial challenge. Companies must think out-of- the-hox and look for revenue models that are very different from the traditional varieties. Data access: Data access and connectivity can also be a challenge. A McKinsey survey shows that alot of data points, aren’t yet connected today and companies often do not have the right platforms to manage the data across the enterprise. Embedding increasingly complex data: Initially, data came in simple forms like tables of numbers, graphs, etc. Today, processed data is more complex and varied 36 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www.OpenSourceFarl com images, videos, representations of the living world, etc. Itis, therefore, necessary to rethink and reinvent the Big Data tools and architectures to capture, store and analyse this data diversity. ‘The need to better integrate the time variable: The time dimension is also an important challenge for the evelopment of Big Data, both to analyse causalities in the long term and to treat accurate information in re: time in a large data flow. There is also a problem with regard to storage. The volume of created data will soon exceed the storage capacities and will require careful selection for analysis. IT architecture: The technology landscape the data world is changing extremely fast. Delivering, valuable data means collaboration with a strong and innovative technology partner who can help create the right IT architecture that can adapt to changes in the landscape in an efficient manner. Security: Last but not the least, there are security issues. Keeping such vast amounts of data secure is a big challenge, But if companies limit data access based on a user’s need, make user authentication for every team and team member accessing the data mandatory, and ensure the proper use of, ‘encryption on data, we can avoid a lat of problems, The road ahead Until now, entexprises have dealt with Big Data in numerous different ways and with a variety of infrastructure options “They've stuck with an on-premise setup using their existing, hardware, moved into the cloud, or used a combination of the two with a hybrid cloud infrastructure. ‘But the analytical functions applied to Big Data ‘workloads are set to move decisively towards the cloud. Itis predicted that through to 2020, spending on Big Data analytics solutions will grow 4.5 times faster than spending ‘on comparable on-premise capabilities. So an increasing number of enterprises will be looking for integrated, highly scalable solutions that enable fast and user friendly analysis of virtually any size of data workload from their cloud service providers And it’s scalability tha i likely to act as the deal- breaker for these enterprises. With Big Data growing all, the ime, a solution that does the job today is useless if i ‘can’t suppor the inevitable bigger workloads and more intensive operations of tomorrow. That's why being able to offer and demonstrate that your solution is completely scalable wil be critical. era} Bae ‘The author works with Volkswagen ITS asa senior goftware engineer, a loves to work and research on automation. and emerging technologies. He can be reached at ‘aakashnavodaya@gmail.com.The Role of Open Source Software and Artificial Intelligence NPL agsye: YAN CKO BABU meet emai ian ica es ketene ke cea octane ee eg eee tog Sts iene igen eee 1 uaa hon ges Feet eke Reel ee Nun eer ace Tag oes oe Tae elah eRe eT EO MEe)Your Favourite Website Has 1WTlocworistrucom t icsforu.. INNOVATIONS. Theses aT, Cer eee ayy eet eo oa o Job, Carer. Tecaoloy © CPS IUAFERS entre ® ‘SA About Test & Measurement THANKS TO YOU—OUR ONLINE NETWORK Toa ara EXPERTS * Nine west (wo more coming soon) + You can access al content or FREE + Bers who wantin sare ber + ive ajar Facebook eormunies + You can subscribe to nawstors ledge through articles, + Seven mar Linke crops & pages for FREE ~on most wedstes Diy Projets, et are weeome + Milan pus acive users (money) + Rogster on cur wastes get ree inves + Wealsawelame experts who want share + Will pus reach through Facebook to echnical wetinars and serinars thor knowiedge treugh webinars or sina + Ffyhousand-plus industy connections trough inked + You can contact us at ediop@eyinNow Grown Into Many! Amazing DIY Projects, Latest Tech trends, The hang-out for electronics enthusiasts @ ‘ote sacs ow & rahi eae Tech & Acari, Apiary ren by and mt er ‘nda, Decronics. Dinca, AMONGST THE WORLD’S TOP 5 AND GROWING! Special combo fers for advertises our pint putin ve now Beat Nene CPU asad atvertsng u can adrertsaon te palo oF }0U choice ase on your target suclence) Weinvte ross wieaes a ety adtteama@etyin + Pres releases ae ublshed reo cast, subject to discon ol thee eam‘The departments of defence from across the world collectively make up the largest single employer, Apart from the soldiers who march around with rifles and boots, others work on tasks like report making, briefing the media, data management, managing large numbers of sub-contractors, etc. As such, operating management software is a necessary part of the daily life of those in the defence forces, similar to the data entry and cash handling clerks in @ bank. Increased productivity is one of the many benefits that open source software brings to defence departments. Most adopters of open source code recognise that there are challenges to be overcome. Hence, the security of such open source platforms must always be viewed in the context of the bigger picture ~ the unique requirements of defence departments. Apart from the cost, there are two other factors that influence a military's decision to opt for open source code. First, technology outside the military system simply advances faster than technology within it. By using open source tools, the defence department can adopt those advances almost as soon as the code hits the Web, without going through the extra stage of the procurement process. Second, open source software is more secure than closed source software, by its very nature. The code is continuously scrutinised by countless users across the world and any weaknesses are flagged, shared and fixed immediately. ‘The US Department of Defence has been incrementally adopting open source software to improve efficiency and reduce costs. The Defence Digital Service (DDS) is a part of the US Digital Service. It was started in 2014 under the Obama administration and has been continuing its work since then, Why should open source software be used for defence systems? Some of the benefits of using open source in defence systems are listed below. + Reusability: In defence systems, finding solutions to complex problems rapidly is very essential. Reusing, existing open source code elements can be a significant benefit. Further, open source code reusability helps to reduce the averall cost af owning software operated by defence departments, Several defence departments of different countries spend alot of money on technology and on software development. In such circumstances, ‘open source software can be of great benefit Collaboration and contribution: Open source code also enables collaboration and contibution, both from the general public and those within defence departments Security: Security is critical to defence departments. ‘Open source models can provide great security. On of the misconceptions among the defence forces is 40 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FAR YOU | wiw.OpenSourceFarl com that since the code in open source software is open, it can be accessed by any one and hence be easily hacked. But the opposite is true. ‘Code ownership: When open source code is used for developing defence software, one question that arses is about ownership. Sometimes defence software is made by contractors, Since the defence system pays the software developers, it belongs to the defence department and ‘ownership can't be public. he US government has launched the code.gov ‘website, which has an option called Help wanted in its menu. Here it lists various areas where help is needed for certain defence projects. Open source software is defined by the US Department of Defence as: “Software for which the human readable source code is available for use, study, reuse, modification, ‘enhancement and re-distribution by the users ofthat software.” Open source software is distinct from: = Open source intelligence Open architecture Open data Soine computer specialists today argue that defence departments need to embrace open source. Otherwise the military will lose its technological superiority, The departments of defence need to move past the myths around ‘open source code, and dispel all the misconceptions. “Today, open source software is used in the Pentagon, ‘hich clearly means that open source isnot insecure. Open source licensing tens do not require that any changes to code have to be shared publicly. ‘A few examples of open source defence systems Every country has its own policies regarding the use of ‘open source in the defence sector. Many local, regional and national governments are engaged with open source software communities. ‘The National Resource Center for Free and Open Source Software (NRCFOSS) is an initiative of the Department of Information Technology in India. It was set up in Chennai in April 2008 with the twin objectives of bridging the digital divide and strengthening Indian industry as well as its ‘defence and space sectors. A report on the use of FOSS by the US Department of Defence was published in 2003, by the MTRE Corporation. ‘This report helped to end a debate about whether FOSS should be banned from US defence systems. FOSS offers many compelling benefits toa nation, especially one with limited resources ‘Today the US Department of Defence uses open source software successfully but not frequently, and mostly on a need! basis. A tool that automates aviation mission planning tasks uses open source software. Databases to manage the holdings of the US Army Historical Collection also use POSS. In fact, the National Security Agency of the US© | inSynu ITs A Total Solutions Company Unifying Data Protection Across Office 365, Google, Box & Endpoints o © inSynu e6---- tretooints : + \\ — }) . Microsoft Azure }}}) ~~ i a — e- Secure, Scalable Cloud Platform Dotice 365 Today's digital transformation has significantly impacted the location and visibility of critical corporate data, often residing in endpoints and cloud apps, such as Office 365, Gmail and Box. Without an adequate protection and backup strategy, companies often find that data is lost after a failure or exposed to risk. nat will you do in the case * Goin access to mision cecal data during and ara ransomware atack of a rarvsomwore atiack? + Receive automated alts fr potential ransomware treats Once fles are encrypted, there are only + Protect data cistibuted across endponts an cloud apps two cheiees for an orgaizalion: restore + Protocton ofall end-aser's data souroas, inuding laptops and mobile dowcas ‘fem backup of pay up. There's no guarantee + Ful seservce data recovery ater accidental deletion or ransomware thal you wil get your company’s data back, + Centralized data governance, legal helé and archiving Io octure a business contrat, + Miniriza Spotaien sks by rot having ta copy data and ramne the chance ‘hit to Orava inSyne to: of accidental deeton o purging when employees leave the company enna iit UTS. serssamorconoon — SSS ose rcoron mcr Movatoutoncensony Spree MUMBAE: Pratik Vyas (pratk ryse@itepl.com) {INPUR: jor Mathur (tclaione aki. com) ‘ChandigarsAcichKurar (tis urar@itpLcom)created its own GitHub page and DARPA developed its own, ‘open source catalogue. Using platforms such as operating systems, databases, middleware and toolkits allows the US Department of Defence to develop and maintain software ‘mare quickly and flexibly than other types of proprietary software. For example, the Persistent Close Air Support System developed by DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) runs on Android. General Atomic drones, including Predator and Reaper, and ground stations operate on Linux. US defence projects such as Forge.mil and DARPA's Memex and xDATA are excellent examples of the use of open source platforms, Betting big on using Al in defence Artificial Intelligence (Al) isan emerging field that could fundamentally change the character of warfare, resulting in 2 transformation from today’s “informative” ways of warfare to future ‘intelligent’ warfare, in which AI can be used to enhance defence capabilites inthe following areas: * Intelligent and autonomous unmanned systems ‘Al enabled data analysis, information processing and intelligence analysis| ‘War gaming, simulation and waining Defence, offence and command information warfare Iovelligent support to command decision making Recently, the US has developed an AI based program to track hidden nuclear missiles developed by North Korea and other countries ofthe world For analysing drone footage, Google has partnered with the US defence department for Project Maven, This is a fast track Pentagon project, also known as Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional ‘Team (AWCPT), and was established in ‘April 2017. Its main mission is o use Big Data and machine Tearing for drones in military operations. In total, the defence department of the US spent USS 7.4 billion on AI in 2017. With Maven, drones now have automated detection and identification capabilities with full motion cameras and improved computer vision hina and USA are the leading counties using Al in defence systems. In June 2017, China Electronics ‘Technology Group Corporation, a state-owned defence conglomerate, successfully flight tested a large group of 119 drones. This is @ new record, China could use this large ‘group of drones to cheaply target high-value US weapons platforms such as aircraft carriers. AL was even used in the Gulf War of 1991 when ‘American forces used smart bombs. But that was just the beginning of the era of AI. Anifical intelligence is extensively used presently for diffusing bombs, detection of explosive devices, carrying equipment to the war front, etc With the help of unmanned vehicles like drones, intelligence can be gathered and planning can be done, Drones can learn ‘human languages, face enemy threats and give support to other robots to perform particular tasks 42 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | wi. OpenSourceFarl com ‘The DARPA Virtual Machine Reality (VMR) system aids intelligence analysts in searching for, filtering and exploring visual media through the use of advanced computer vision and reasoning techniques. Al can be used to enhance the defence of critical military networks and information sectors, to counter offensive cyber attacks, and to improve command decision-making in cyber warfare. Cyber attacks can be detected and made less serious through pattern matching, statistical analysis, ‘machine learning and Big Data analysis. The extensive use of Al in militaries around the world has given rise to fears of a Terminator-ike situation, ‘There is a need for accurate AI based weapons end their ability to distinguish between friend and foe. Currently, the South Korean University has developed a Killer Robot in partnership with a leading defence company. South Korea is also developing AI based mega scale unmanned under sea vehicles, AI based smart aircraft training systems, et It has also developed an AI based fully autonomous combat robot which is capable of detecting targets up to 3km away. North Korea is one of the seven nations generally regarded as a cyber power. It is capable of messing around with the information systems of other counties. In September 2016, North Korea Intelligence Services stole «a huge batch of classified US and South Korean military plans — including a plan to assassinate North Korea's leader ‘Kim Jong Un and other top government officials. So itis necessary forthe defence department of a nation to keep its defence sources safe from cyber attacks with the help of AI. Some military vehicles use the same software and electronic architecture as commercial vehicles; so they can bbe hacked easily. In such cases, Al based intrusion defence systems that can protect against and face cyber attacks on military vehicles are required. Military vehicles also need the software to detect any malware that has creeped in, It isn’t difficult for a country's defence system to adopt changing technologies as long, as there is the intent and commitment to do so. The government of any country today cannot afford to ignore the important role open, source software and Al can play in defending its people from aggressive foreign powers. Coc [1] ‘Open Source Software and the Department of Defence! by Ben FitzGerald, Peter L. Levin and others. 2] ‘Miltary Applications of Alby Deepak Kumar Gupta, [3] Several other Web pages have been referred to EDAD "The author is a BE, in Industrial production. He has worked in three different polytechnics over the past ten years and can be contacted at karnatakastory@gmail com.15th Edition GROUP! OPEN! SOURCE INDIA ya Reet) es 11-12 October, 2018 [NIMHANS Convention Center, Bengaluru SS I Ea You Are Invited! 2 DAYS. MULTIPLE WORKSHOPS 7} - @ G Open souce &Yeu [N)_veb 8 Mobie op Database Day Derope Day re) Developmen 4 & o me © PE cpersickinia [BP coud ane goat UP cytersecury bay) anagem Sra Preeti Se ee es HE Microsoft hasten ORACLE “aptTEGs Was Creator a } vo Musat’ 4 cerge: | ganar ventwiey rors rrovevens contr \crOss FesAriner, ,ae are several other advi rail and bus services, here was a big and prominent warning on the door T of the bus in Fiji, when I visited the islands recently $1000 fine for paying in cash.” It seemed that a couple of months earlier, all buses in Fiji had switched to payment by card only. I could buy a prepaid card for visitors fr occasional users. This was a surprise and I wondered couldn't the public transport services in Indian cities also benefit from electronic payment systems? I knew Delhi was planning to use the Metro card for buses as well. I googled ‘and found some surprising results! More Card Wikipedia showed up a result for More Card, launched in 2012 in Delhi, initially acting as a common card for the Delhi “Metro and its feeder buses. More Card is a rechargeable smart card fr paying transportation fares in public transport systems in India. The brand name More has been chosen to signify the national bird peacock. But this was a surprise since Thad never heard of it, and it was clear that this card was not the same as the Delhi Metro card ‘The Wikipedia article contained one more surprise. In January 2007, the multi-application ‘Go Mumbai’ cards had been made available to the commuters in the city. The purpose ‘of the “Go Mumbai card was to have a uniform currency for various kinds of transactions like paying tolls, paying for fuel, payments at railway canteens, etc. Sadly, I had never heard of this either. A further online search led to the announcements ‘of the card in the newspapers and silence after that! ‘There seem to be other examples in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, etc, but itis not very clear if the usage is ‘widespread, In Delhi, it appears that the conductor needs to carry an additional reader and the passengers have the ‘option to pay by the Metro card. This can make the life of the conductor harder. The motivation {In the developed countries, the motivation for the card systems is clearly co save operational costs. Buses in these countries do not have conductors, Also, the cost of counting ‘44 | OCTORER 2018 | OPEN SOURCE FOR YOU | www. OpenSourceFarl com A Case for Electronic Fare Collection of Public Transport London has a cashless bus and rail system. On boarding a bus, the commuter swipes a card on a reader that is placed beside the driver, and both of them greet each other. How human an impersonal city can become with this simple experience! There antages of a cashless card payment for which are outlined in this article. ‘and handling cash is itself huge. Hence, the move towards ‘card payments. People can be encouraged to use smart cards by offering a discount on the use of these cards, as is done by the Delhi Metro. In many US cities, payment by cash in buses is very painful as the exact change has to be deposited in the cash collection boxes. The driver has no ‘cash to prevent (armed) robberies. ‘The motivation for introducing card payments in Rwanda ‘and Fiji has been the lack of transparency in the earnings of the ‘bus companies. In Rwanda, the bus operators were concerned about whether there was a leakage of funds in the collections, made by the conductors. In Fiji there was a concern about the suibsidy due to the bus operators, given that the government ‘was subsidising the fare of students and senior citizens. Hence, in both these cases, the option to pay by cash could not and did not co-exist with electronic payments What does this have to do with open source? ‘A are collection system is not merely the hardware card and payment processing system. It makes it possible to innovate with fares. For example, the bus route I took in Fiji charged me $1.11. Imagine having to pay such an amount by cash, In some cities, you can get a transfer ticket, which allows you to continue your journey without having to pay for the next ride as well. This is easy to implement using electronic payments, even across multiple private and public bus operators Software modules can be created for computing fares, ‘which should be open source so that each municipality does not reinvent the whee! but improves upon the experience of other cites. Since the central government subsidises the development of public transport, open source can help it achieve mare with the same funds. (Open source can ensure that the data of each rider is used asa statistical data point and cannot be used as a surveillance tool, Data can be open, and additional services can be created for the convenience of the riders. (For example, the data from Indian Railways is used to give information on the