Companies who distribute Open Source software in their products may receive support from OSADL for the introduction of corresponding company processes:

• OSADL Open Spource Policy Template
• CRA compliance support
• Support for training and provision of training materials

The OSADL Open Source Policy Template
The lesson learned from years of supporting OSADL member companies with Open Source license compliance is that most issues can be handled and most problems be avoided by having implemented a company-wide Open Source policy. Such a document provides the guidelines to establish appropriate processes and ensure all employees of a company are safely informed and instructed how to treat Open Source software so that license compliance is achieved.

As different industries and companies have different requirements on content, form and scope of a compliance policy, OSADL has created a template for a policy from which an individual policy can be created. The policy template consists of one main PDF document that can be completed according to a company's requirements. Annexes and supplements are separate static PDF files that are linked from the main document.

More information: https://www.osadl.org/?id=3385

CRA Compliance Support:
The newly imposed obligations by the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) overlap to a large amount with FOSS license obligations. OSADL therefore aims to provide an integrated approach of fulfilling both types of obligations.

Support for training and provision of training materials
An important part of the compliance policy is to ensure that employees who deal with FOSS are regularly trained and instructed.

OSADL members receive access to presentations and video clips produced during OSADL events (e.g. HOT, COOL, Networking Day, OSADL Days). Since these may be copied and distributed internally by OSADL member companies without restriction, such material is particularly suitable for organizing internal training events.

Do you want to learn more about OSADL's support for setting up business processes when dealing with Open Source software? Then please contact Jan Altenberg, Carsten Emde, Caren Kresse, Andrea Ruf or Astrid Spura.

Long-term data monitoring to optimize embedded Linux systems and their real-time performance

Not too long ago even in the Open Source community there was a debate going on whether a general purpose kernel such as Linux could be converted into a real-time kernel. Meanwhile it has become clear and is generally accepted, that this is, in fact, possible and that such an adapted Linux kernel is suitable in a wide variety of industrial real-time applications. To convert the Linux kernel into a real-time kernel was, among others, an important rationale when founding OSADL. After OSADL has provided the requested initial funding in 2016, the Linux Foundation has been taking care of coordinating the real-time development and raising funds for it (Linux Foundation RTL Project). Recently, an important milestone was reached when the previously separate real-time extension has been merged completely into the mainline Linux kernel. OSADL will remain comitted to this project and will continue to contribute to it as a project member representing the automation industry in the consortium.

In order to evaluate and demonstrate the technical suitability of the Linux real-time kernel with respect to the requirements of the automation industry, OSADL has established a test center for embedded systems - the so-called "OSADL QA Farm". More than 200 systems undergo here continuous 24/7 measurements under various stress scenarios, the results of which are inmediately available for the general public. An important part of these measurements is the determination of the real-time capability of the systems and their runtime stability. This helps companies select a particular embedded system that is best suitable for a given purpose and kernel developers to improve the software.

This monitoring and testing facility is included in the OSADL member services, but also non-members are welcome to book a "farm" space for their embedded systems.

For more information on how to optimize Linux real-time and to assess the performance of Linux-based embedded systems, you may directly contact Jan Altenberg, Alexander Bähr or Carsten Emde.

More information: https://www.osadl.org/QA

After successfully completing earlier phases of the OSADL project for OPC UA PubSub over TSN, the open62541 software now provides an SDK that allows to set up a modern OPC UA server certifiable by the OPC Foundation based on the "Micro Embedded Device Server" profile. Certification according to the "Standard 2022 UA Server Profile" is expected in the future. The software uses an Open Source license that allows to smoothly combine it with proprietary components.

In addition and also for the first time, a PubSub implementation was made available allowing Virtual Local Area Network and other Time-Sensitive Networking components to be used to enable real-time communication over Ethernet. Another milestone was the implementation of secure PubSub with encryption and support for TPM.

With the successful completion of project phase #4, further milestones have been reached that make the SDK easier and more flexible to use. The features implemented for this include dynamic loading of the information model at runtime, the option to configure the server via a JSON file and specific recommendations for using the SDK on resource constrained devices.

Due to the interest of external SDK users and project participants, it was decided to launch phase #5 of the project. To cover the needs of the community in this phase as well, a questionnaire campaign was carried out. The topics that received the most votes were:

• open62541: Full XML datatype de-/encoding
• open62541: Implementation of a Binary / ROM based nodestore
• Creating up-to-date and easy-to-use PubSub over TSN examples and building a demonstrator
• open62541: Enhancement and improvement of the PubSub FastPath
• open62541: UA-Nodeset based data type processing for the nodeset compiler

After the questionnaire campaign was completed, a letter of intent for project phase 5 was prepared and published in February 2024. The call for participation is open until December 31, 2024.

If you would like to learn more about the current situation and the planned software enhancements of the OPC UA SDK, or if you would like to know the conditions for participating in the project, please contact the staff members responsible at OSADL, Jan Altenberg or Alexander Bähr.

Further information: https://www.osadl.org/OPCUA

Companies receive comprehensive support from OSADL for FOSS license compliance:

OSADL FOSS Legal Knowledge Database
"Develop once for the use of many" is the FOSS development principle. Following this spirit, OSADL members may submit questions from their everyday's routine when dealing with FOSS licensing. Once anonymized and answered by OSADL's General Counsel, they are added to OSADL's collection of legal FAQ and assements. Topics are among others: GPL, copyleft, derivation, copyright law, source code disclosure.

-> https://www.osadl.org/?id=3461

OSADL Open Source License Obligations Checklists
Obligations of more than 120 FOSS license texts have been translated into a common language and qualified by a lawyer: The OSADL checklists. They facilitate fulfilling license obligations and can be integrated into build pipelines to help automate the compliance process.

-> https://www.osadl.org/?id=2525

OSSelot - The Open Source Curation Database
Most FOSS licenses require to convey license texts and copyright notices when such software is distributed. Since many software packages are used unchanged, this material may be extracted only once and provided for the use of many. The OSSelot project has done exactly this for more than 300 packages in more than 500 versions. The data are provided in various formats so they can generally be used for license compliance.

-> https://www.osselot.org

OSADL Container Base Image
The use of containers often leads to considerable licensing efforts. This is simplified by the OSADL container base images that can be copied and distributed immediately as they contain the required licensing material ready for use. The disclosure obligations, if any, are fulfilled by providing either source code or written offer.

-> https://www.osadl.org/base-image

OSADL License Compliance Audit (LCA)
Want to show that the Linux kernel and system libraries in your embedded systems are licensed compliantly? If so let OSADL do a License Compliance Audit (LCA). If successful, a certificate is issued and the audited product can be marked with the LCA hallmark.

-> https://osadl.org/LCA

FOSS tooling support
OSADL supports companies when selecting and installing licensing tools such as FOSSology. In addition, OSADL maintains and provides own licensing tools to automate and optimize compliance processes, such as a program to create dependency graphs (Callgraph).

-> https://www.osadl.org/?id=3747

OSADL contacts: Jan Altenberg, Carsten Emde, Caren Kresse, Astrid Spura

Companies who distribute Open Source software in their products may receive support from OSADL for the introduction of corresponding company processes:

• OSADL Open Spource Policy Template
• CRA compliance support
• Support for training and provision of training materials

The OSADL Open Source Policy Template
The lesson learned from years of supporting OSADL member companies with Open Source license compliance is that most issues can be handled and most problems be avoided by having implemented a company-wide Open Source policy. Such a document provides the guidelines to establish appropriate processes and ensure all employees of a company are safely informed and instructed how to treat Open Source software so that license compliance is achieved.

As different industries and companies have different requirements on content, form and scope of a compliance policy, OSADL has created a template for a policy from which an individual policy can be created. The policy template consists of one main PDF document that can be completed according to a company's requirements. Annexes and supplements are separate static PDF files that are linked from the main document.

More information: https://www.osadl.org/?id=3385

CRA Compliance Support:
The newly imposed obligations by the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) overlap to a large amount with FOSS license obligations. OSADL therefore aims to provide an integrated approach of fulfilling both types of obligations.

Support for training and provision of training materials
An important part of the compliance policy is to ensure that employees who deal with FOSS are regularly trained and instructed.

OSADL members receive access to presentations and video clips produced during OSADL events (e.g. HOT, COOL, Networking Day, OSADL Days). Since these may be copied and distributed internally by OSADL member companies without restriction, such material is particularly suitable for organizing internal training events.

Do you want to learn more about OSADL's support for setting up business processes when dealing with Open Source software? Then please contact Jan Altenberg, Carsten Emde, Caren Kresse, Andrea Ruf or Astrid Spura.

Long-term data monitoring to optimize embedded Linux systems and their real-time performance

Not too long ago even in the Open Source community there was a debate going on whether a general purpose kernel such as Linux could be converted into a real-time kernel. Meanwhile it has become clear and is generally accepted, that this is, in fact, possible and that such an adapted Linux kernel is suitable in a wide variety of industrial real-time applications. To convert the Linux kernel into a real-time kernel was, among others, an important rationale when founding OSADL. After OSADL has provided the requested initial funding in 2016, the Linux Foundation has been taking care of coordinating the real-time development and raising funds for it (Linux Foundation RTL Project). Recently, an important milestone was reached when the previously separate real-time extension has been merged completely into the mainline Linux kernel. OSADL will remain comitted to this project and will continue to contribute to it as a project member representing the automation industry in the consortium.

In order to evaluate and demonstrate the technical suitability of the Linux real-time kernel with respect to the requirements of the automation industry, OSADL has established a test center for embedded systems - the so-called "OSADL QA Farm". More than 200 systems undergo here continuous 24/7 measurements under various stress scenarios, the results of which are inmediately available for the general public. An important part of these measurements is the determination of the real-time capability of the systems and their runtime stability. This helps companies select a particular embedded system that is best suitable for a given purpose and kernel developers to improve the software.

This monitoring and testing facility is included in the OSADL member services, but also non-members are welcome to book a "farm" space for their embedded systems.

For more information on how to optimize Linux real-time and to assess the performance of Linux-based embedded systems, you may directly contact Jan Altenberg, Alexander Bähr or Carsten Emde.

More information: https://www.osadl.org/QA

After successfully completing earlier phases of the OSADL project for OPC UA PubSub over TSN, the open62541 software now provides an SDK that allows to set up a modern OPC UA server certifiable by the OPC Foundation based on the "Micro Embedded Device Server" profile. Certification according to the "Standard 2022 UA Server Profile" is expected in the future. The software uses an Open Source license that allows to smoothly combine it with proprietary components.

In addition and also for the first time, a PubSub implementation was made available allowing Virtual Local Area Network and other Time-Sensitive Networking components to be used to enable real-time communication over Ethernet. Another milestone was the implementation of secure PubSub with encryption and support for TPM.

With the successful completion of project phase #4, further milestones have been reached that make the SDK easier and more flexible to use. The features implemented for this include dynamic loading of the information model at runtime, the option to configure the server via a JSON file and specific recommendations for using the SDK on resource constrained devices.

Due to the interest of external SDK users and project participants, it was decided to launch phase #5 of the project. To cover the needs of the community in this phase as well, a questionnaire campaign was carried out. The topics that received the most votes were:

• open62541: Full XML datatype de-/encoding
• open62541: Implementation of a Binary / ROM based nodestore
• Creating up-to-date and easy-to-use PubSub over TSN examples and building a demonstrator
• open62541: Enhancement and improvement of the PubSub FastPath
• open62541: UA-Nodeset based data type processing for the nodeset compiler

After the questionnaire campaign was completed, a letter of intent for project phase 5 was prepared and published in February 2024. The call for participation is open until December 31, 2024.

If you would like to learn more about the current situation and the planned software enhancements of the OPC UA SDK, or if you would like to know the conditions for participating in the project, please contact the staff members responsible at OSADL, Jan Altenberg or Alexander Bähr.

Further information: https://www.osadl.org/OPCUA