The hottest Open Source Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Introducing Masked-AI, An Open Source library that enables the usage of LLM APIs more securely

Adam’s Notes • 58 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Open Source APIs Data security Python Machine Learning
  1. Use Masked-AI to securely access LLM APIs by replacing sensitive data with placeholders.
  2. Be cautious of sharing sensitive data with third-party APIs like OpenAI and consider privacy risks.
  3. Consider alternative models like Meta's Llama while waiting for self-hosted options to run large language models.

Secure Machine Learning

Gradient Flow • 199 implied HN points • 16 Jun 22
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Data Privacy Open Source Business Intelligence
  1. Data privacy and security are crucial in machine learning, especially while data is being used; a new open-source library is making Secure Multi-Party Computation more accessible.
  2. Business Intelligence tools help non-programmers analyze data for strategic decisions, with modern tools allowing for advanced analytics and modeling capabilities.
  3. Identifying data startups with real market traction is essential; choosing companies founded post-2006 coincides with the rise of big data technology like Hadoop.

“Off” the newsletter break

Bold & Open • 39 implied HN points • 10 Dec 23
💼 Business Newsletter Content creation Community Building Consulting Open Source
  1. The author is returning to writing newsletters after a two-year break and is excited to share new content with subscribers.
  2. During the break, they explored various projects, like coaching and writing, to find out what they were passionate about and what would benefit their audience.
  3. The focus for the new newsletter phase will be on open organizations and communities, showcasing success stories and providing insights for readers.
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Google Goes Small and Open Source with Gemma

TheSequence • 84 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Open Source Generative AI ML Research AI Tech Releases
  1. Google released Gemma, a family of small open-source language models based on the architecture of its Gemini model. Gemma is designed to be more accessible and easier to work with than larger models.
  2. Open-source efforts in generative AI, like Gemma, are gaining traction with companies like Google and Microsoft investing in smaller, more manageable models. This shift aims to make advanced AI models more widely usable and customizable.
  3. The rise of small language models (SLMs) like Gemma showcases a growing movement towards more efficient and specialized AI solutions. Companies are exploring ways to make AI technology more practical and adaptable for various applications.

TinyLlama Is An Open-Source Small Language Model

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 19 implied HN points • 15 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Software Open Source Mobile Language Models
  1. TinyLlama is a small but powerful language model that's open-source. It can be used on mobile devices and is great for trying out new ideas in language processing.
  2. This model is trained on a huge amount of text, around 1 trillion tokens, which helps it do a good job with various tasks. It performs better than other similar models.
  3. TinyLlama aims to keep getting better and more useful by adding new features and improving its performance in different applications.

The Secure Software Self-Attestation Saga Continues

Resilient Cyber • 79 implied HN points • 12 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Software Development Government Policy Supply Chain Open Source
  1. The U.S. government is focusing on improving software security and has set deadlines for software suppliers to prove they follow secure practices. Agencies now have more time to collect necessary confirmations from their software producers.
  2. Software suppliers are responsible for the security of all parts of their software, including third-party components. They need to understand where these components come from and how safe they are.
  3. Free software provided by vendors is not required to meet security standards set by the government. This creates challenges since free software can still have vulnerabilities that might put agencies at risk.

BharatGPT’s Hanooman Coming Soon

Sector 6 | The Newsletter of AIM • 19 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Open Source Language Software
  1. The new AI model, Hanooman, aims to promote ethical use of technology, inspired by the character Hanuman, known for using his power responsibly.
  2. Hanooman will have four different versions with various sizes and will support conversations in 11 Indian languages at launch.
  3. Future plans include expanding language support to cover all 22 official languages of India, enhancing accessibility for many users.

Why we archived a 5k+ Stars GitHub Open Source project

The Open Source Expert • 3 HN points • 21 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Open Source Software Development Community Management Product Management SaaS
  1. Sometimes, despite a lot of hard work and support, a project just doesn't succeed as hoped. It's important to recognize when to let go.
  2. Managing a community project and running a business can be very different. The needs of the community may not always align with business goals.
  3. Feeling overwhelmed by notifications and contributions can lead to burnout. It's key to balance community engagement with personal well-being.

Top 10 OSS Risks

Resilient Cyber • 99 implied HN points • 13 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Software Security Development Open Source Risk management
  1. Open Source Software (OSS) is widely used, making up a large part of many software applications. However, it's essential to be aware of the risks it poses, as vulnerabilities in OSS can impact many users simultaneously.
  2. One major risk is the compromise of legitimate OSS packages, where attackers can hijack code or repositories to insert malicious elements, which can then spread to organizations using that software.
  3. Another concern is outdated or unmaintained OSS, which can lead to security issues if the software isn’t updated regularly. Organizations need to keep track of the OSS they use and ensure it's actively maintained.

Episode 29: Better Built By Burkhard

burkhardstubert • 139 implied HN points • 01 Nov 22
🕹 Technology Software Licensing Open Source Embedded Systems Business
  1. You can use Qt for free under the LGPLv3 license. This means many businesses can create products without paying for a commercial license.
  2. When making products for businesses (B2B), you have fewer requirements than for products sold to consumers (B2C). For B2B, you don't need to let customers modify the Qt version, while you do for B2C products.
  3. Deciding whether to pay for a Qt license should depend on what specific features your business needs, and comparing the costs of using Qt under LGPLv3 versus commercial options can help with that decision.

🎅🏻 Konfig’s Open-Sources Gift, GitHub Copilot Free Plan, Fake Stars on GitHub, & More

HackerPulse Dispatch • 2 implied HN points • 24 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Tools Open Source Development Workplace Wellness
  1. Konfig has shared its entire codebase for developers to learn from, even though the startup didn't succeed. It's a chance for others to see what works and what doesn't.
  2. GitHub Copilot now offers a free plan, making coding easier for everyone. You can get up to 2000 code completions a month, which can really help you with your projects.
  3. Fake stars on GitHub are becoming a problem, as they can mislead developers about the popularity of projects. This issue can even lead to security risks, so always check the authenticity of repositories.

Open Source: Another Value Proposition

Systems Approach • 117 implied HN points • 12 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Open Source Software Networking Cloud Services Education
  1. Open source software is integral in today's tech marketplace and has a quantifiable value proposition in business settings.
  2. Understanding complex systems like cloud networks or 5G is enhanced by open source software, allowing for deep conceptual learning.
  3. Open source software not only provides educational value but also leads to innovation and empowerment, even though its funding can be challenging.

Which Llama-2 Inference API should I use?

LLMs for Engineers • 39 implied HN points • 31 Oct 23
🕹 Technology AI Development Open Source APIs Machine Learning Cloud Computing
  1. TogetherAI was found to perform the best overall in terms of cost, speed, and accuracy, closely followed by MosaicML.
  2. It's important to understand your specific needs when choosing an API, like cost and speed requirements, to find the best fit.
  3. Experimenting with system prompts can lead to major improvements in performance, so don't hesitate to try different settings!

It was never about LLM performance

Technically • 41 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Open Source Developer Tools Machine Learning User Experience
  1. It's not just about the performance numbers of large language models (LLMs). The real value lies in the experiences built on top of these models for customers.
  2. The ChatGPT interface demonstrates the importance of the overall experience over just the underlying model technology in LLMs.
  3. When considering open source LLMs, it's crucial to focus on the holistic experience that model providers offer, not just the performance metrics in comparison to closed source models.

Building Applications with LLMs

Sunday Letters • 79 implied HN points • 19 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Software Development Engineering Open Source
  1. GPT-4 can do amazing things, but it has limitations because it mainly rearranges data. That makes it hard to create complex programs with just one function.
  2. The Semantic Kernel was developed to add more features like memory and procedural control, allowing for better application building with LLMs.
  3. There's a focus on creating a library of common skills and connectors for tools, which can help developers build richer experiences using familiar services.

Don't count Google out just yet

John’s Contemplations • 39 implied HN points • 25 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Innovation Infrastructure Open Source Tech industry
  1. Google has a strong position in AI with exceptional talent, massive datasets, AI compute, infinite resources, and diversified AI portfolio.
  2. Google's current challenges in AI are not insurmountable, and the company has the potential to lead in various AI subfields.
  3. Google should focus on building AI tooling, open-source platforms, and infrastructure to stay relevant and capitalize on the AI revolution.

Twitter open-sourced their recommendation algorithm

MLOps Newsletter • 39 implied HN points • 09 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Algorithms Machine Learning Open Source Neural Networks Data science
  1. Twitter has open-sourced their recommendation algorithm for both training and serving layers.
  2. The algorithm involves candidate generation for in-network and out-network tweets, ranking models, and filtering based on different metrics.
  3. Twitter's recommendation algorithm is user-centric, focusing on user-to-user relationships before recommending tweets.

How Hugging Face and Kaggle Bolster the Open Source Machine Learning Community

The Strategy Deck • 39 implied HN points • 26 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Machine Learning Open Source Data science ML models Model Deployment
  1. Open source ML hubs like Hugging Face and Kaggle provide platforms for managing, sharing, and deploying ML models.
  2. Hugging Face focuses on models, datasets, deployment infrastructure, and community engagement.
  3. Kaggle empowers learners, developers, and researchers with educational resources, open source models, and a competitive platform.

Language Models: Size Matters

Fully Distributed by Ori Eldarov • 39 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Open Source Privacy
  1. The trend towards large language models (LLMs) may not be the best approach due to high training costs and lack of optimization.
  2. Research shows that smaller language models can perform better through fine-tuning with human feedback, offering cost-efficiency and hyper-personalization.
  3. The future may see a mix of ultra-large proprietary models and small open-source models, working together to advance artificial intelligence.

Open-source LLMs' harmlessness gap

Democratizing Automation • 90 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Open Source Ethics Community Research
  1. Closing the gap between helpfulness and harmlessness in open-source LLMs is crucial for the sustainability of products and businesses.
  2. Community interest in red-teaming can help assess harmfulness in models and prevent negative impacts.
  3. Sequential engineering workflows and strong community norms are needed to create harmless AI chatbots in the open-source landscape.

Who Gets to Compute?

Technically Optimistic • 19 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Open Source Innovation
  1. The barrier to training large language models (LLMs) has been a challenge due to the high cost of resources like talent, data, power, and computing; this could lead to a situation where only big tech companies control AI, but there's hope for more diversity with smaller models.
  2. Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) is a potential game-changer in training LLMs as it skips the need for a costly reward model, reducing the barrier to entry for creating new models and potentially allowing for more diverse players in AI development.
  3. While DPO may make training large language models more accessible and less costly, it skips an important step involving human feedback that helps iron out biases and improve understanding of how these systems work, possibly hindering explainability efforts.

Three Short Arguments in AI Policy

From the New World • 32 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Policy Machine Learning National Security Open Source Government Policy
  1. Incentivizing open-source development in AI can increase efficiency in training, lower barriers to entry for engineers, and make fixing security issues easier.
  2. Outdated government policies are hindering technological advancements in AI, as highlighted by recent scandals at companies like Google.
  3. Promoting 'dual-use' technologies that have civilian and military applications is crucial for national defense and economic prosperity, restricting them could harm national security and competitiveness.

Lets compile Linux DOOM

Deus In Machina • 36 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Game Development Software Development Open Source Programming Languages Operating Systems
  1. Compiling the Linux DOOM source code requires setting up the source code from the id-software repository and navigating through different build methods like Make and CMake.
  2. Encountering and solving errors in the compilation process involves making adjustments to data types, structure pointers, and handling variables like errno to ensure successful building of the DOOM executable.
  3. To address color depth issues and display errors while running the DOOM game on modern systems, utilizing tools like Xephyr, setting specific environmental variables, and modifying code sections related to color maps and display resolutions becomes critical.

How Meta’s (Facebook) challenge to GPT-3 will affect you [Storytime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 79 implied HN points • 16 Jul 22
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Open Source Tech industry Research
  1. Meta (Facebook) released a language model challenging GPT-3 for free, impacting the AI industry.
  2. This move challenges the traditional big tech practices and could lead to more open-source contributions.
  3. The competition among big tech companies for dominance can benefit consumers and drive innovation in the tech industry.

Speech Data Processing Takes Flight

Gradient Flow • 79 implied HN points • 15 Sep 22
🕹 Technology Data processing Neural Networks Open Source Podcasts Artificial Intelligence
  1. Interest in neural networks and deep learning has led to groundbreaking advancements in computer vision and speech recognition.
  2. Working with audio data historically posed challenges due to various formats, compression methods, and multiple channels.
  3. New open source projects are simplifying audio data processing, making it easier for data scientists and developers to incorporate audio data into their models.

Strengthening security in the Bitcoin ecosystem: the case for improved vulnerability communication

bolt.observer • 19 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Cybersecurity Bitcoin Open Source
  1. Vulnerabilities happen in open source projects, impacting the security of bitcoin and other systems.
  2. Communication with users of open source projects, especially in the financial industry, needs to be improved for quick responses to critical issues.
  3. Utilizing RSS feeds exclusively for announcing critical vulnerabilities in software can enhance security communication and response.