Open Source News Digest by Utopian.io [15/08 - 22/08/2018] - Steve Wozniak Joins Crypto Startup, The World's Smallest (Open Source) Computer, Hope for Linux Gaming & More

 My main job on the Utopian.io Open Source Radio Show on MSP Waves (aired live weekly on Wednesdays at 6PM UTC) is causing mayhem is bringing in the freshest and most interesting news from the open source world, and (when possible) adding some commentary to each new item.

When on the air, I usually find myself rushing through the news items on my list and leaving many of them out in the chaos that is live radio. To ensure you still get your weekly dose of what's moving and shaking in the open source ecosystem, I post a weekly digest of open source news included or (unfortunately) left out in my news segment on the show.

 This week's digest includes:

• Valve lets you play (some) Windows games on Linux
• Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak  Joins Crypto Startup
• Microsoft and Salesforce release more open source software
• A tiny open source computer to fit in a USB port
• Los Angeles okays open source election system
• SUSE and Microsoft collaborate to deliver first enterprise Linux kernel optimized for Azure

Valve Launches Wine-based “Proton” To Let You Play Windows Games On Linux

One of the main reasons I always had Windows installed on my machine is the fact I still consider myself a gamer, even though I barely play Hearthstone anymore. Now, I really have no excuse go keep running Windows - Valve has launched an open source WINE-based project to run Windows-based games on Linux - Proton. Currently it supports only a short list of games, but I am hoping to see it grow. Oh, and it runs on MacOS too.

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Flip-Flops on Blockchain, Joins Crypto Startup

It's pretty interesting to see so many tech leaders get with the program and understand the value of blockchain technology. This week, it was "The Woz" who revealed in an interview that he is involved with blockchain startup Equi. According to him, "Our approach is not like a new currency, or something phony where an event will make it go up in value. It’s a share of stock, in a company.” Would you invest in a crypto startup if Wozniak is involved?

Microsoft and Salesforce Release More Source

The tech giants do love to make their code open to make use of the contributor community. This week we had two releases from Microsoft: Open Network Emulator and Open-Source Driver Module Framework, and another from Salesforce. As always - it's not so much for the community as it is for the giants who want to let you fix the bugs in their software.

SUSE and Microsoft Collaborate to Deliver First Enterprise Linux Kernel Optimized for Azure

An interesting collaboration between Microsoft and SUSE is another sign of Microsoft's attempts to get cozier with the enterprise market, after purchasing GitHub earlier this year.

Tomu Is A Tiny, Open Source Computer That Easily Fits In Your USB Port

Once upon a time, computers took up whole rooms. Now, you can have a computer you can swallow by accident. And of course, it's open source. The tiny Tomu includes a fancy Silicon Labs Happy Gecko EFM32HG309 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller that runs at 25 MHz. It sports 8 kb of RAM and 60 kb of flash onboard. In spite of the small size, it supports two LEDs and two capacitance touch buttons.

LA County OKs Open-Source Election System

Digitizing the democratic process is a slow and tedious process, often filled with hurdles and issues with security, reliability, and often usability. So it's nice to hear that a country in California is officially adopting an open source solution for their election management. Sure, having the source open can make it easier to hack, but it also makes it open to the public who want to see election software made better for the benefit of all.

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