After a rough 2025, Jack Wallen maps out five practical resolutions for 2026, from covering BSD more seriously to actually speaking up when people complain about Windows.
Another turn around the sun is coming to an end, which means it’s time for everyone who plays along to come up with their New Year’s resolutions. To some, it’s a way to make a vow to improve their lives, health, finances, or just general way of being. To others, it’s a point of reflection on life itself.
I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions, but after the year that was 2025, I’ve made a few exceptions.
It was the worst of times, it was the worstest of times.
With that in mind, let’s talk about some New Year’s resolutions that center around one of our favorite subjects, open source.
Are you ready for this?
Drop the ball.
- Give more love to BSD: For years, I’ve ignored the BSDs… all of them. The only explanation I have is that they aren’t Linux, and Linux is my main beat as a writer. I have, on the rare occasion, reviewed a BSD here and there, but beyond that, not much else. I’ve not written about BSD news, BSD tutorials, or BSD opinion pieces.
That ends in 2026. I plan on covering the BSDs much more this coming year. It doesn’t mean I’m going to go whole-ham on them, but I’m certainly going to seek out more BSD flavors to cover, some how-tos to write, news to cover, and opinions to share.
I’ll make sure to cover this from both server and desktop angles because I know there is keen interest in both.
- Rebuild my open source test lab: For the past few years, I’ve spun up and destroyed more apps and services than I can remember. Oftentimes, I’ll go to use something, only to remember that I deleted it to make room for something else.
In the coming year, I plan on building a new test lab of all open source apps and services, and keeping it running. By doing this, I won’t have to spend the time to re-deploy something I was previously using but got rid of either by accident or on purpose. This will start with several Docker containers, a NAS, and a few Google alternatives. Once I have this open source home lab up and running, it remains.
- Seek out new open source developers to cover: I don’t want to just cover the software open source developers create, but the developers themselves. So often a piece of software gets plenty of attention, but not those behind the app. Why should those who spend the time and effort to create a piece of open source software have to always stand in the shadow of their creation?
If there’s one thing I understand as a writer, it’s that exposure can lead to bigger and better things. It’s all fine and good for someone to focus on something I’ve created, but that doesn’t give them any insight into why I created it, what I can do, and what I plan on doing in the future.
It’s time to give the open source developers some love.
If you’re an open source developer with a new project coming up, send me an email or contact me through the Contact Us link at the top of this page. Let me know who you are and what you’re doing.
- Gentoo: It’s been a while since I installed Gentoo, but this year Ima gonna do it. I need to, even if only to stretch those muscles. Over the years, I’ve opted to use Linux distributions that are easy to install and use, simply because I have too many deadlines to meet to worry about spending time on overly-complicated software and operating systems.
My mantra has become, “I only have time for things that work on the first try.”
Well, the coming year it’s time to shrug off that mantra and challenge myself again. The first challenge I plan on meeting is Gentoo. Because… why not?
- Evangelize more: Every day, I see people complaining about Windows. Most of the time I don’t bother saying, “You should try Linux!” For so many years, I worked exhaustively to spread the love of Linux, and most of the time found it to be pointless. People simply didn’t want to try anything new, and the general consensus was that Linux is too hard.
Well, that’s all changed now. People are starting to warm up to the idea of trying a new OS, and Linux is easier than ever.
Now, when I see someone bemoaning Windows, I’m going to jump in and say, “Linux is not only better, it’s easier to use.” When they want to know more, I will happily take the time to chat with them about our favorite subject. At the same time, I’ll share with them the benefits of using open source software.
I’m trying to be optimistic about 2026, but the lingering taste of 2025 makes it a challenge. However, with these resolutions in mind, I think the coming year can be a better one… at least for Linux and open source.
Have a joyous, kind, and wonderful New Year, everyone.
Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, ZDNET, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He’s covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. Jack is also a novelist with over 50 published works of fiction. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website.
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