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Article: 5 Open-Source Software Options You Should Know About

Free, Libre, Open Software

5 Open-Source Software Options You Should Know About

In a world seemingly dominated by a few tech giants and closely kept company secrets, open-source software bucks the trend. Encouraging the sharing of knowledge and collaboration on tech projects, some companies are proving that giving everyone the opportunity to improve and innovate can accelerate progress.

Open-source software is where users are able to view, access, and edit source code. This can be carried out by an individual or as a collaborative project among users working towards a common goal. The ability to call upon the knowledge and experience of people from a variety of backgrounds can often lead to more effective solutions and greater innovations.

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Article: Open Source’s Strengths During A Global Crisis And How To Fully Leverage Them

Free, Libre, Open Software

Open Source’s Strengths During A Global Crisis And How To Fully Leverage Them

What do Airbnb, Dropbox, Pinterest, Square, Uber and Venmo have in common? First, all these dynamic digital brands got their start during the last global crisis, the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Second, open-source software is at the heart of what they do.

Flashback further to another time of upheaval, the post-9/11 downturn, and that’s when I saw Linux and other open-source software cross the chasm to acceptance as an enterprise-grade technology that would eventually power a countless array of today’s apps, devices and systems.

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Article: The Benefits of OpenAPI-Driven API Development

API, Open Infrastructure

The Benefits of OpenAPI-Driven API Development

As industries mature, standards are bound to appear to allow for better engineering and usage.

This has been the case from time immemorial. Be it the geometrical intricacy in Roman canals, the triangular symmetry in Egyptian pyramids, or the spatial harmony in Indian monasteries, standards and specifications have helped engineers set unique rules for sustainable engineering.

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Article: A City Is Not a Computer

Cities, Innovation, Open Space

A City Is Not a Computer

“What should a city optimize for?” Even in the age of peak Silicon Valley, that’s a hard question to take seriously. (Hecklers on Twitter had a few ideas, like “fish tacos” and “pez dispensers.”) 1 Look past the sarcasm, though, and you’ll find an ideology on the rise. The question was posed last summer by Y Combinator — the formidable tech accelerator that has hatched a thousand startups, from AirBnB and Dropbox to robotic greenhouses and wine-by-the-glass delivery — as the entrepreneurs announced a new research agenda: building cities from scratch. Wired’s verdict: “Not Actually Crazy.” 

Which is not to say wise. For every reasonable question Y Combinator asked — “How can cities help more of their residents be happy and reach their potential?” — there was a preposterous one: “How should we measure the effectiveness of a city (what are its KPIs)?”

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