Edly by Arbisoft acquires the Open edX Distribution Tutor
What does this acquisition mean for the globally active Open edX community and the online learning solution?
What is Tutor?
Tutor is a Docker-based Open edX® distribution which offers a convenient and reliable way to deploy, upgrade or customize an Open edX® platform. Since it is easy to use and to apply Tutor has been used until now for the deployment of Open edX® instances all over the world.
As the whole Open edX® project also this distribution is completely open source. One of the most striking advantages of this distribution is that it allows creating components in Docker containers, which means that they can be separated from the rest of the server. Further it uses minimal server resources which reduces the maintenance costs a lot.
About the acquisition
With this acquisition Edly and Overhang intend to double down their efforts to make the open source software and the Open edX distribution more accessible, to facilitate deployments and to simplify the work of the Open edX community and the service provider. This fosters the installation of Open edX® instances as well as the implementation of customizations, enhancements and further developments.
Régis Behmo, the founder of https://overhang.io/ and Tutor, will join Edly in the role of VP of Engineering. It was with great excitement that Régis announced this news at the Open edX® conference 2023: "Edly has a great team with a huge knowledge about Open edX and I am really thrilled to be joining them."
For the future, he mentioned many meaningful and significant changes and innovations in the Open edX® software that will be possible thanks to the extraordinary platform development experience of the Edly team.
Régis’ motivation to put his company and tutor in Edly's hands and join the team is probably rooted in his philosophy: "Contributing to open source is really contributing to software engineering in a meaningful way and I wouldn’t be there if it were not for education. [...] Open source means trust, because everyone can see your work, people trust you more and this helps to create really meaningful relationships with other contributors.”
We, in Abstract-Technology are excited about the new developments and look to the future with great hope that not only the Open edX® platform will gain in popularity, but also that education will become more tangible for everyone around the world.
Here's a high-level overview of how Tutor works:
Open edX® platform, an open source online learning software solution, has undergone several updates and improvements over the years. The latest version, known as Palm, represents the culmination of these efforts. If you're interested in deploying Open edX® using Docker, Tutor provides a convenient and straightforward solution.
Tutor is a tool specifically designed to simplify the installation and management of Open edX® instances. It leverages Docker to create isolated containers that encapsulate the various components of Open edX®, ensuring a reliable and reproducible setup.
Install Docker:
Before getting started, ensure that you have Docker installed on your system. Docker enables the creation and management of lightweight containers.
Install Tutor: Once Docker is set up, install Tutor by following the installation instructions provided in the Tutor documentation. Tutor is a Python-based command-line tool, which you can easily install using pip, the Python package manager.
Configure Tutor: After installation, you need to configure Tutor according to your specific requirements. This involves specifying details such as the domain name, SMTP settings, and other environment-specific configurations. Tutor provides a comprehensive configuration file that allows you to customize various aspects of your Open edX® instance.
Initialize and Start Open edX®:
Once Tutor is configured, you can use it to initialize and start your Open edX® instance. Tutor automatically downloads the necessary Docker images, sets up the required services, and orchestrates the interaction between them. This process typically involves pulling the relevant Docker images from the Docker Hub and setting up containers for components such as the LMS (Learning Management System), CMS (Course Management System), and various supporting services.
Customize and Manage:
With your Open edX® instance up and running, Tutor provides a range of tools to help you customize and manage your platform. You can easily install additional Open edX® plugins, manage courses, configure authentication options, and perform various administrative tasks—all through Tutor's intuitive command-line interface.
By leveraging Docker and Tutor, the process of installing and managing Open edX® becomes significantly streamlined. The encapsulation of services within Docker containers ensures compatibility and simplifies the overall deployment process.
Please note that this is a general overview, and for detailed instructions and specific configuration options, it is recommended to refer to the official Tutor documentation.