Cloud services are the actual infrastructure. Open source is the blueprints and building materials of our digital infrastructure. Infrastructure should be built from open source, but it is important to understand the difference between software and a service, because there is a person in the middle, the one operating the service. There will be no digital sovereignty just with open source, only with transparent services. The combination creates the necessary infrastructure and resulting sovereignty.
Continue reading “Open Source is Not The Infrastructure of Modern Society…”How to Fund Your Startup (Using Public Grants, in Germany, 2022 Edition)
In this short video, I provide an explanation of how anyone with a team and an idea can get public funding to kick off their venture. I appear to be speaking to my students, but the funding is really available to anyone (with a German address and work permit). If this is you, feel free to get in touch! Happy 2022!
Continue reading “How to Fund Your Startup (Using Public Grants, in Germany, 2022 Edition)”A Simple Fun Example of How a Computer Reads Intent Wrong
I read an article about India and wanted to know how much money “2 lakh” is in Euro. The search engine responded as follows:

Who to Blame for the log4j Vulnerability?
So far, nobody. Not the open source developers, who responded fast and professionally, and not the companies who handled the risk within a day or two.
Eventually, however, we will have to blame (or complain) about those companies who got cracked because they did not remove the vulnerability in time.
Continue reading “Who to Blame for the log4j Vulnerability?”Upcoming Talk on Scaling Agile with SAFe® by Oliver Diller of Siemens
We will be hosting an industry talk on “Scaling Agile with SAFe®”. The talk is free and open to the public.
- by: Oliver Diller of Siemens
- about: Scaling Agile with SAFe®
- on: January 27th, 2022, 10:15 Uhr
- on: Zoom (link after registration)
- as part of: AMOS speaker series
The Success of log4j
log4j (2) demonstrates the tremendous success of the open source development model (and not the opposite, as some might believe because of the recent vulnerability).
A huge number of companies use log4j in their products. What else spells success better?
However, what those companies failed to do is to properly manage their risk, here the dependency on open source. That’s on the companies, and not on the open source model, which works just fine, thank you.
Continue reading “The Success of log4j”Upcoming Talk on Agile Methodologies in Data Analytics by Dr. Michael Schrapp of Siemens Healthineers
We will be hosting an industry talk on “Agile Methodologies in Data Analytics”. The talk is free and open to the public.
- by: Dr. Michael Schrapp of Siemens Healthineers
- about: Agile Methodologies in Data Analytics
- on: December 16th, 2021, 10:15 Uhr
- on: Zoom (link after registration)
- as part of: AMOS speaker series
The Open Source Distributor Business Model [Computer Magazine]
I’m happy to report that the 18th article in the Open Source Expanded column of IEEE Computer has been published.
Title | The Open Source Distributor Business Model |
Keywords | Open source distributor, open source distribution, open source business model, open source sustainability |
Authors | Dirk Riehle |
Publication | Computer vol. 54, no. 12 (December 2021), pp. 99-103 |
Abstract: This article defines and discusses one particular commercial open source business model, called the (open source) distributor model. It can attract significant venture capital, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of open source.
As always, the article is freely available (local copy, as PDF).
Also, check out the full list of articles.
Upcoming Talk on Using Agile Methods in the Development of Medical Software by Dr.-Ing. Thomas Göthel of BIOTRONIK
We will be hosting an industry talk on “Using Agile Methods in the Development of Medical Software”. The talk is free and open to the public.
- by: Dr.-Ing. Thomas Göthel of BIOTRONIK
- about: Using Agile Methods in the Development of Medical Software
- on: January 20th, 2022, 10:15 Uhr
- on: Zoom (link after registration)
- as part of: AMOS speaker series
Upcoming Talk on Challenges to Agile Software Development by Philip Rauwolf of itestra
We will be hosting an industry talk on “Challenges to Agile Software Development.” The talk is free and open to the public.
- by: Philip Rauwolf of itestra
- about: Challenges to Agile Software Development
- on: February 3rd, 2022, 10:15 Uhr
- on: Zoom (link after registration)
- as part of: AMOS speaker series