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Posts published by “FOSS Force”

IRS Targets Open Source, Android Outprices iPhone & More…

By FOSS Force on July 13, 2013 |

Hardware, Mobile and News

FOSS Week in Review–Part 1

We’re making up for lost time. We took last week off to celebrate the Fourth (any excuse for a party), so this week you get more bang for your buck. To paraphrase the Doublemint Twins, you get two, two, two weeks in one!

Windows 8 now used by more people than Vista

Something tells us this is a milestone Steve Ballmer wishes we’d keep quiet about, but last week we learned from CNET that Windows 8 is now on more computers than Vista. It took eight months, but as of June, the installed base of Redmond’s latest has now passed that of Vista, probably the least popular operating system in Microsoft’s history.

Continue readingIRS Targets Open Source, Android Outprices iPhone & More…
CentOS Tops Our Web Server PollCentOS web server winner

CentOS Tops Our Web Server Poll

By FOSS Force on July 12, 2013 |

Distros, Internet and Polls

The polls are closed. The votes have been counted. CentOS hands down wins our Web Server OS poll.

About six weeks ago we offered-up a list of six GNU/Linux distros and asked which you’d choose for your web server if you were limited to the distros on that list. The list was composed of what we’ve found to be the most frequently offered Linux OS choices by web hosting companies for their virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated server customers. We offered each of the six in both their 32 bit and 64 bit implementations, which is also usually the case with web hosting companies.

CentOS web server winnerMissing from the list were two distros that are almost exclusively associated with server environments, Red Hat and SUSE Linux Enterprise. They were not included in our list because they’re rarely offered without additional cost by hosting companies because they’re not freely available to download and install.

Continue readingCentOS Tops Our Web Server Poll
Are You Making PRISM or Other NSA Changes?

Are You Making PRISM or Other NSA Changes?

By FOSS Force on July 8, 2013 |

Internet, Politics and Security

If you’re a regular visitor to free software sites like FOSS Force, the recent revelations regarding the NSA and PRISM were probably not news to you. Probably most of us who are concerned about such luxuries as civil liberties understood from the first time we went online that we might as well assume we’re being watched and that there might one day be personal legal consequences, even if we never do anything illegal.

Continue readingAre You Making PRISM or Other NSA Changes?
What’s Your Take on the GPL?GPL Version 3 logo

What’s Your Take on the GPL?

By FOSS Force on June 30, 2013 |

Copyright and Polls

Most of us come to GNU/Linux and FOSS for reasons other than the GPL. Some, perhaps, first installed Linux only as a way of tinkering or just to have a look at a PC running something other than Windows. Others, maybe, grew tired of Microsoft or constantly dealing with the “blue screen of death.” The need to breathe new life into a computer that had grown obsolete by Redmond’s standards brought others to discover Linux. Then there are those who came for the free beer.

Continue readingWhat’s Your Take on the GPL?
RMS Inducted, Nook Tablet RIP & More…

RMS Inducted, Nook Tablet RIP & More…

By FOSS Force on June 28, 2013 |

Desktops, Hardware, Internet, News, Politics and

Friday FOSS Week in Review

Texas stands up for email rights

Texas? Did you really say Texas? The state that leads the world in the number of executions–that Texas? Well, la-di-da, who would’ve ever thought the folks down there in the Lone Star State would be the first to stand up and protect our inboxes? Does this mean that the spirits of Ann Richards and Maury Maverick, Jr. are looking over the Texas legislators?

Continue readingRMS Inducted, Nook Tablet RIP & More…
‘Who Don’t You Trust’ Poll – The Biggest Loser Is…Windows logo

‘Who Don’t You Trust’ Poll – The Biggest Loser Is…

By FOSS Force on June 28, 2013 |

Business and Polls

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone that Microsoft topped the list in our “Who Don’t You Trust” poll. That’s the poll, launched on May 27th and closed on June 20th, in which we asked the question, “What tech company would you least trust to manage a FOSS project?” 411 people took the poll, which might be characterized by it’s lack of surprising results. In fact, we have to go to nearly the bottom of the list to find some small surprises.

Continue reading‘Who Don’t You Trust’ Poll – The Biggest Loser Is…

Army Blocks Access to The Guardian

By FOSS Force on June 27, 2013 |

Internet, Media and News

According to a story posted by Phillip Molnar at the Monterey County Herald, the U.S. Army is blocking access to parts of The Guardian, the UK based news website which broke the story about the NSA’s surreptitious data collection programs. When the Herald’s story was first posted last night, it was unknown how widespread the outage was or who was behind it, only that employees at the Presidio of Monterey, California were unable to connect with certain pages of the UK website:

Continue readingArmy Blocks Access to The Guardian
Microsoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson

Microsoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…

By FOSS Force on June 21, 2013 |

Internet, Mobile, News, Obits, Politics and Security

Friday FOSS Week in Review

We may be paranoid but they are out to get us

In week three (or is it week four?) of the Spy vs. Spy scandal, the Obama folks keep saying things like “what’s the big deal?” while trying to convince us that the secret oversight court called FISA (we prefer “the Star Chamber”) has nothing but our constitutional rights in mind when it rubber stamps requests to secretly steal our privacy. Obama likes to talk about transparency. Indeed, he becomes more transparent by the moment; we’re beginning to see right through him. The 22nd amendment should now be seen as a face saver for Mr. Obama–as we would think no self respecting liberal or progressive would vote again for this man who once represented our best hope. Pity.

Continue readingMicrosoft Nemesis Dies, SCO Lives & More…

Do-over for Linux Community Distro Poll

By FOSS Force on June 17, 2013 |

Distros and Polls

Last week’s FOSS Force poll was only up for a few hours before we had to take it down.

It dealt with the issue of community distros. If you’re interested, you’re welcome to take a gander at the article that accompanied the poll. Mainly, it sought to determine what you considered to be a community GNU/Linux distro. There had been quite a bit of discussion on the subject here on our site, so we decided to put it to you in a down and dirty poll, just to see if we could come to any kind of consensus.

Continue readingDo-over for Linux Community Distro Poll