Each episode of Open Channels News brings coverage and analysis of the biggest stories. Here’s a roundup of this week’s news:
- r/OpenSource Draws a Line Against AI
Moderators of the r/OpenSource subreddit announced rules excluding projects that use AI, were made with AI, or are intended for AI, including AI-adjacent tools written by humans. Some members have moved to a new AI-friendly subreddit, r/TrueOpenSource. The split raises the question of whether openness is about how software is made or about the freedoms people have once it’s released.
Resource: Gizmodo - GridCraft Takes Aim at Excel
GridCraft is a free, open source spreadsheet app written in Rust. It runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and FreeBSD, and supports Excel-style files, formulas, charts and pivot tables. Testing found it fast and familiar, but it’s still in alpha, so backups are a must.
Resource: ZDNet, Jack Wallen - Tesco Plans a Move from VMware to Proxmox
A job posting suggests Tesco plans to migrate its retail edge systems from VMware to the open source Proxmox platform. Tesco is also in a licensing dispute with Broadcom over a proposed 175% price increase. The posting isn’t confirmation that the migration has happened, but it’s meaningful validation for open infrastructure at scale.
Resource: The Register - Linux Foundation Research on AI and Open Source
AI can cut code authoring time by about 52%. However, maintainers estimate roughly a quarter of incoming pull requests are low-quality AI submissions, rising to 31% for larger projects. Only 35% of projects have a formal policy on generative AI. The takeaway: AI-assisted contributions should arrive with tests, context and disclosure.
Resource: Linux Foundation research - Denmark Ends Its Open Source Office Pilot
A Danish government ministry ended a pilot to replace Microsoft Office with Collabora after less than six months. The pilot involved 38 employees and ran into problems with styles, formatting and tracked changes. The lesson is that migrations need to be designed around real workflows, interoperability and change management.
Resource: Tom’s Hardware - Ben Thompson on “The End of the Internet”
Thompson argues that gatekeeping platforms, unlimited content and AI have changed the economics and security of the open web. He suggests the next wave of creation may be smaller: private groups, specialized communities and software built for one team or household.
Resource: Stratechery - Mistral Previews Mistral Large 4, aka LeChonk
Mistral introduced a preview of a trillion-parameter model it calls its strongest open-weight model yet, aimed at coding, cyber defense, finance, manufacturing and engineering. Those are the company’s claims, not an independent verdict. The bigger shift is that ownership and control are becoming part of the AI buying decision.
Resource: Wired - Open Source Tools Put Windows Users Back in Control
Projects like Windhawk, Explorer Patcher, NileSoft Shell and Celine UI let users customize the taskbar, Start menu, right-click menu and more, going further than Microsoft’s PowerToys. Deep system mods can break after updates, and open source makes inspection possible but doesn’t make every download safe.
Resource: How-To Geek - Wired Essay: “Please Let the Internet Die”
Miles Klee’s essay draws on John West’s book The Internet Will Die and So Will You. It argues that much of today’s web is engineered around engagement, advertising, outrage and AI filler. Withdrawing attention from the biggest platforms could make room for smaller, more human communities.
Resource: Wired, Miles Klee
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The thread
Across the week, one question kept coming back: who gets to control the software and platforms we depend on? Businesses want control over their AI models, users want control over their desktops, and enterprises are looking to open infrastructure to regain control over costs. At the same time, the stories showed that making something possible isn’t the same as making it sustainable. Cheap code still needs maintainers, open alternatives still need to fit real workflows, and an open web still needs people willing to own their sites and support independent communities. Open tech isn’t automatically better, but having the option to inspect, modify, move or walk away is what makes it valuable.
Summing it up in four words:
Control, Sustainability, Choice, Smaller Communities
