Radioss

Siemens is shutting down the open-source Radioss project, a finite element crash and structural simulation code that had drawn interest as a promising open engineering tool. The move effectively closes the door on community development of the software, and technology commentators are criticizing the decision to pull back a capable simulation package from open availability.

Siemens is ending the OpenRadioss open-source project, the crash-simulation code it had released to the community. The public source code repository is no longer accessible, and the company is replacing the open model with a closed research and development program. Observers are questioning what this means for the reliability of corporate-backed open source, with some seeing it as a warning that open-source commitments from large vendors can come with an expiration date.

Discussion is growing around claims that OpenRadioss, the open-source crash and structural simulation code originally released under the Radioss solver, is no longer openly available. People are pointing to a Siemens Simcenter page for Radioss, suggesting access to the source has been restricted, and questioning what this means for the open-source engineering community.

Siemens has discontinued the OpenRadioss open-source project, pulling the crash-simulation solver's public source code and replacing it with an internal research and development programme. The move by the engineering giant has drawn criticism from developers who see it as a warning sign for corporate open-source commitments, with observers questioning whether openly licensed industrial software can be relied upon long term when companies can withdraw access at will.