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Open source software exists today as the dominant force within the technology industry. From VMware and Dell to Nordstrom and Home Depot, every company in the world relies on open source software. And if you’ve ever surfed the web using Google Chrome or texted on a Samsung phone, you depend on it, too. But what exactly is open source? It’s a category of software, of course, but it’s also a vibrant community and, in many ways, a way of thinking and acting as well. Here, we’ll dive deep into the world of open source and explore why companies like VMware are strong and active participants. Defining Open Source Software Let’s start with a basic definition: open source software is software that can be inspected, modified, enhanced and redistributed without restriction. To go more in-depth, the Open Source Initiative lists 10 criteria for determining whether software is open source, and though we won’t delve into all 10, the main points are as follows: Open source s...

Here are five of my and their favorite articles from that update. How developers will work in 2020 Developers have been spending an enormous amount of time on everything *except* making software that solves problems. ‘DevOps’ has transmogrified from ‘developers releasing software’ into ‘developers building ever more complex infrastructure atop Kubernetes’ and ‘developers reinventing their software as distributed stateless functions.’ In 2020, ‘serverless’ will mature. Handle state. Handle data storage without requiring devs to learn yet-another-proprietary-database-service. Learning new stuff is fun-but shipping is even better, and we’ll finally see systems and services that support that. The impact:  A lot of forces are converging to give developers superpowers. There are ever more open source building blocks in place; thousands of geniuses are collaborating to make developer workflows more fun and efficient, and artificial intelligences are being brough...

Apple , this week, released an update to its augmented reality (AR) tool –  Quick Look  – that enables iPhone and iPad users preview AR avatars of physical goods before buying them. Quick Look has hitherto allowed retailers to offer previews of their products by uploading three dimensional product models or flat stickers that give them a realistic impression of how a particular product might look in real world conditions. Apple launched Quick Look in 2018 as a part of ARKit 2. With the recent update, retailers can now add a button into their apps that enables an AR preview, which in turn, will guide the customer to completing the purchase. Quick Look supports Apple Pay, making it easier for iOS users to preview and buy products seamlessly, akin to trying out clothes in a trial room and directly proceeding to the payment counter. Some retailers that support Quick Look include  Wayfair , Home Depot, and 1-800 Flowers. It is likely to pick up with other online retaile...

A printable paper phone which helps you take a break from your digital world. A lot of people feel that they spend too much time on their phones and struggle to find a balance with technology. Paper Phone helps you have a little break away from your digital world by printing a personal booklet of the key information you’ll need that day.  An app lets you choose what to include such as favorite contacts, maps and meetings and then prints them directly to a sheet of paper. Customization “paper apps” like recipes, phrasebooks and notepads let you get things done or unwind in a more focused way.  We hope this little experiment can help you try a digital detox from technology and help you focus on the things that matter the most. Paper Phone is an experimental open source Android app which is available to try right now. All of the code is available on GitHub for people to play with and hopefully adapt and evolve!  Source:  https://experiments...

How to Send Push Notifications to the iOS Simulator As of Xcode 11.4 beta, you can! Push notifications are one of the most popular ways for developers to keep users engaged in their apps. In iOS applications, push notifications can be incorporated by using the Apple Push Notification service (APNs). However, it’s not as easy as it sounds since there is a long list of things to do for setting this up. Plus, what’s worse is that we have to use a real device to test if push notifications are working or not since push notifications aren’t supported in Xcode’s iOS Simulator. But I have some good news for you. Xcode 11.4 beta is out and the best part about this release for me is that we can finally test push notifications in the iOS Simulator! The  release note  of Xcode 11.4 beta consists of a section that says: “Simulator supports simulating remote push notifications, including background content fetch notifications. In Simulator, drag and drop an APNs file...

With the new iOS 10.3 release from Apple, the headline for developers is clear: You finally have a voice. The new release finally allows developers to chime in on customer reviews. Developers have been able to do his on Android for a while, but the iOS move is new. TechCrunch  reports that “Apple’s ratings and reviews system has felt antiquated, and has been a source of frustration for developers and users alike. When a customer leaves a negative review, developers couldn’t respond to the criticism – which is sometimes unwarranted – in a way that other App Store customers could see. For example, a customer may be misunderstanding a feature, or may have complained about a bug that’s been fixed in a later release.” Additionally: “Being able to quickly clarify the situation in a public manner could help to encourage other potential customers to give the app a try.” This is an issue that developers (and those who support them) have felt strongly about. The  M...