Otto Kekäläinen
banner
ottoke.bsky.social
Otto Kekäläinen
@ottoke.bsky.social
Posts on open source software, technology, business and the environment. More at https://optimizedbyotto.com/
#MySQL played a key role in the 1995-2010s Internet infrastructure. It has however declined in popularity since Oracle acquired it and many have said goodbye to it 👋👋

In 2026, anyone still using MySQL should plan to switch away from it.

➡️Read why at optimizedbyotto.com/post/reasons...
January 13, 2026 at 6:38 AM
Still using #MySQL? Stewarded by Oracle, MySQL has been in decline for years. Stop using it in 2026, especially if your care about the #opensource #FOSS methodology and not just the license.

👉 optimizedbyotto.com/post/reasons...
Stop using MySQL in 2026, it is not true open source
If you care about supporting open source software, and still use MySQL in 2026, you should switch to MariaDB like so many others have already done.\n
optimizedbyotto.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Energy startups form Europe 🇪🇺 to follow:
- Donut Labs: first solid state batteries on market
- Perovskia: first perovskite solar panels on market
- Nordic Nano: soon first nano-carbon solar panels
January 10, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Nice to see Donut Labs from Finland get so much visibility for their solid state battery at CES! 💪
Finally this superior #battery tech is available in an actual product!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGw-...
EV Battery Breakthrough! Donut Lab Solid-State Battery & CEO interview!
YouTube video by The Electric Duo (Patrick & Liv)
www.youtube.com
January 9, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Check out OpenRouter's 2025 report on LLM usage stats, and in particular how many new open-weight #opensource #AI models rapidly gained massive popularity, diversifying the landscape: openrouter.ai/state-of-ai
December 28, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Can stop-loss automation save your investment account if there is a stock market crash? Check out my latest post on experimenting with Python and YFinance to see if this strategy would have worked in past financial cycles.
optimizedbyotto.com/post/backtes...
Backtesting trailing stop-loss strategies with Python and market data
In January 2024 I wrote about the insanity of the magnificent seven dominating the MSCI World Index, and I wondered how long the number can continue to go up? It has continued to surge upward at an ac...
optimizedbyotto.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Git is the industry standard for software development, but I thasn't been fully adopted in #Debian packaging yet. I believe that #Git workflows could enhance collaboration, transparency, and productivity for one of the world's most vital #opensource projects.
optimizedbyotto.com/post/debian-...
DEP-18: A proposal for Git-based collaboration in Debian
I am a huge fan of Git, as I have witnessed how it has made software development so much more productive compared to the pre-2010s era. I wish all Debian source code were in Git to reap the full benef...
optimizedbyotto.com
November 30, 2025 at 6:12 PM
I had an interesting discussion about software supply-chain security with @josh.bressers.name in the Open Source Security podcast last week: opensourcesecurity.io/2025/2025-11...

#opensource #security
Detecting XZ in Debian with Otto Kekäläinen
In this episode, Josh and Otto dive into the world of Debian packaging, exploring the challenges of supply chain security and the importance of transparency in open source projects. They discuss Otto’...
opensourcesecurity.io
November 12, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Subscribe to the Open Source Security podcast (opensourcesecurity.io) on your favorite platform and check out the latest episode where I am talking about how I did the XZ Utils analysis in Debian.
November 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Big shoutout to @anarazel.de for spotting the XZ backdoor in March of 2024! 🙌
My new post explores how the malicious changes showed up in Debian’s import of the upstream version and if the Debian maintainer could have seen them: optimizedbyotto.com/post/xz-back...

#Linux #OpenSource #Cybersecurity
Could the XZ backdoor have been detected with better Git and Debian packaging practices?
The discovery of a backdoor in XZ Utils earlier this year shocked the open source community, raising critical questions about software supply chain security. This post explores whether better Debian p...
optimizedbyotto.com
October 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Otto Kekäläinen
#Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka” Is Now Available for Download, This Is What’s New 9to5linux.com/ubuntu-25-10...

#Linux #OpenSource
Ubuntu 25.10 "Questing Quokka" Is Now Available for Download, This Is What's New - 9to5Linux
Ubuntu 25.10 "Questing Quokka" distribution is now available for download powered by Linux kernel 6.17 and using the GNOME 49 desktop.
9to5linux.com
October 9, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Awesome to see #Omarchy getting more visibility! 🔥 Fireship’s vid youtu.be/DC2p3kFjcK0 spreading the #Linux desktop to 500k+ viewers is huge!
I don't use this distro myself, but I still cheer for anything that helps motivate Windows users to make the switch.
There's a new Linux distro in town for developers...
YouTube video by Fireship
youtu.be
September 27, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Tired of wrestling with TLS certs and CAs for your database? MariaDB 11.8's zero-configuration TLS requires no manual setup 🚀
Check out security management tips at
optimizedbyotto.com/post/zero-co...
#MariaDB #DatabaseSecurity #OpenSource
Zero-configuration TLS and password management best practices in MariaDB 11.8
Locking down database access is probably the single most important thing for a system administrator or software developer to prevent their application from leaking its data. As MariaDB 11.8 is the fir...
optimizedbyotto.com
September 14, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I got hooked on browsing @openalternative.co's "Most Popular" list.

The list at openalternative.co?sort=pagevie... is an absolute gem in finding what are the trending state-of-the-art open source programs out there 🔥
September 12, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Seeing David Heinemeier Hansson so excited about #Linux on the desktop and building his ultimate #webdeveloper setup omarchy.org is inspiring!
Check out the first 5 minutes of the video on the front page 📽️
Omarchy
An opinionated Arch + Hyprland Setup by DHH
omarchy.org
August 28, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Are you contributing to Debian? Check out my best practices for submitting and reviewing Merge Request on Salsa, #Debian's #GitLab instance.

optimizedbyotto.com/post/debian-...
Best Practices for Submitting and Reviewing Merge Requests in Debian
Historically the primary way to contribute to Debian has been to email the Debian bug tracker with a code patch. Now that 92% of all Debian source packages are hosted at salsa.debian.org — the GitLab ...
optimizedbyotto.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Reposted by Otto Kekäläinen
Debian Linux version 13 has been officially released. Let the celebration begun ...

micronews.debian.org
Debian micronews
micronews.debian.org
August 9, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Debian 13 "trixie" has been released! 🥳
Official release notes at www.debian.org/News/2025/20...

#debian #debian13 #trixie #opensoruce
Debian -- News -- Debian 13 "trixie" released
www.debian.org
August 9, 2025 at 7:01 PM
#DebConf25 started today with 460+ registered attendees in Brest, France. Hoping to see many attendees in all 3 of my talks :)
#opensource #debian #linux
July 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Is your company planning to start contributing to open source? 🚀 My new post shares best practices for corporate upstream contributions, spanning things from legal compliance (CRA is coming!) to reputation & quality: optimizedbyotto.com/post/best-pr...
#OpenSource #SoftwareEngineering #CRA #SBOM
Corporate best practices for upstream open source contributions
This post is based on presentation given at the Validos annual members’ meeting on June 25th, 2025.\n
optimizedbyotto.com
June 30, 2025 at 1:54 PM
If you are integrating LLMs with databases, check out github.com/bytebase/dbh... - a universal MCP server connecting to MariaDB, TiDB, PostgreSQL and more
#opensource #mcp #AI
GitHub - bytebase/dbhub: Universal database MCP server connecting to MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MariaDB.
Universal database MCP server connecting to MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MariaDB. - bytebase/dbhub
github.com
June 21, 2025 at 8:05 AM
MariaDB 11.8 LTS is now officially available. Read about vector support and other new features at mariadb.com/resources/bl...
#mariadb #opensource
MariaDB Community Server 11.8 LTS is Now Available | MariaDB
Learn what’s new in the recently released MariaDB Community Server 11.8 LTS release and tech preview release of MariaDB Enterprise Platform 2026.
mariadb.com
June 5, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Planning to create .deb packages? 🚀

See my recommended workflow for new Debian packages when upstream uses git: optimizedbyotto.com/post/debian-...

#Debian #Git #OpenSource
Creating Debian packages from upstream Git
In this post, I demonstrate the optimal workflow for creating new Debian packages in 2025, preserving the upstream git history. The motivation for this is to lower the barrier for sharing improvements...
optimizedbyotto.com
May 25, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Google Summer of Code 2025 projects announced! Thrilled that 9 students got approved for #Debian. I'll mentor 2 to enhance #GitLab CI for 27,000+ git repos on salsa.debian.org
summerofcode.withgoogle.com/programs/202...
#GSoC #OpenSource
May 13, 2025 at 4:00 PM