Swift added a new set of Linux distributions officially supported by the Swift project. Swift.org now offers downloadable toolchain and Docker images for Ubuntu 20.04, CentOS 8, and Amazon Linux 2.

Swift CI has moved to use Docker to build and qualify the new Linux distributions. A Dockerfile has been created for each one of the supported distributions, and CI jobs have been created to build, test and create a signed toolchain.

Additional details are available here.

Databricks University Alliance launched
Databricks University Alliance gives students access to free data science and machine learning tools. 

“As data analytics continues to explode and the technology used to find value from that data advances further each year, the demand for data scientists, engineers and analysts will accelerate. Over the last five years,” DataBricks wrote in a post.

Students will have access to tutorials, content and training materials on open source tools, including Apache Spark, Delta Lake, and MLFlow.

MemSQL receives $50 million funding
MemSQL, provider of the no-limits database for operational analytics and cloud-native applications, signed a debt facility that provides up to $50 million of new capital to expand its products and services. 

According to the company, MemSQL delivers breakthroughs for modern data workloads spanning transactions, analytics, and AI for leading businesses undergoing digital transformation. 

Additional details are available here.

Apache updates
Apache released CouchDB 3.0.1 with improvements in documentation and defaults, and a fix in which JavaScript will no longer corrupt UTF-8 strings in various JS functions. Meanwhile, the 3.1.0 feature release, which includes support for Java Web Tokens, support for SpiderMonkey 68, which includes binaries for Ubuntu 20.04, and up to a 40% performance improvement in the database compactor. 

Apache also provided updates for other projects including Apache ZooKeeper 3.6.1, Apache Syncope 2.0.15 and 2.1.6, and Apache Qpid Dispatch 1.12.0.

Additional details are available here.