The latest and greatest Raspberry Pi 400 no longer looks like a hacker board for the DIY crowd, but like a full-fledged desktop. We take it through it's paces to see if it lives up to its promise.
Posts published by “FOSS Force Guest Writer”
The founder of the privacy respecting version of Android, /e/, says the time is right for phone makers to adopt an operating system that isn't dependent on a single company.
An act of Congress that was supposed to level the playing field for performers and songwriters seems to do little to upset the status quo. As The Who once said, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Ed Matthews
A grandson was happy with the flame throwing hot rod Linux gaming computer that his grandfather had built — until peer pressure came into play.
It’s Sunday evening and I’m in my daughter’s kitchen. My grandson and I have taken over the table with the computer I built for him, the family’s desktop, his laptop, and my laptop.
I have read multiple sources in the alt.os.linux.mint newsgroup saying that Windows is much, much easier to install and configure than Linux. Some people say those guys are trolls. Whatever. I need one of those sources to meet me in my daughter’s kitchen in the lower left corner of Missouri, USA, to show me how to finish installing Windows 7 on my grandson’s computer.
Jim Hall
The founder and coordinator of the FreeDOS Project writes about FreeDOS 1.2, which is scheduled for a Christmas Day release. There is good news for classic gamers and nostalgia buffs: this one’s got games.
Sure, you know a lot about Linux, but what about other non-Linux free and open source software systems? FreeDOS is an open source implementation of DOS. While DOS isn’t as old as Unix, it has a rich history. Let me tell you about how FreeDOS came about, and what’s coming up next.
Rob “drtorq” Reilly Combining steampunk with Linux and single board computers like the Raspberry Pi automatically seems like an idea fraught with cool possibilities. So…
Tatiana Kochedykova If you’re looking for a free and open source replacement for the convenience and functionality offered by the likes of Google Docs and…
Jesse Smith
There’s an old cliché that promises “big things come in small packages.” Our reviewer takes a look at Tiny Core Linux and finds a lot of wallop in its 16MB size.
Most software grows and expands, taking on new features over time. While this can make software applications more useful, it also means more resources are required to run our programs. However, there are some software projects which strive to become ever more lean, more efficient and use fewer resources. One such project is Tiny Core Linux, a minimalist distribution which packs a lot of functionality into a very small system. The project’s website states:
Gina Dobrescu and Jim Hall
“Thou shalt make thy program’s purpose and structure clear … for thy creativity is better used in solving problems than in creating beautiful new impediments to understanding.”
~ “The Ten Commandments for C Programmers” by Henry Spencer
How easily can you use your computer? Today, the graphical desktop is our primary way of doing things on our computers; we start there to run web browsers, music programs, video players, and even a command line terminal. If the desktop is too difficult to use, if it takes too many steps to do something, or if the cool functionality of the desktop is hidden so you can’t figure out how to use it, then the computer isn’t very useful to you. So it’s very important for the desktop to get it right. The desktop needs to be very easy for everyone to use.
Whenever we think of how easily you can use a program, we’re really talking about the usability of that program. Developers sometimes discount usability and think of usability as making things look nice instead of adding new, useful features. Other times, developers assume usability is too difficult, something that only experts can do. But usability is a very important part of software development.
Robin ‘Roblimo’ Miller
Our guest writer offers his views on why you should support FOSS Force with your contribution to our Indiegogo fundraising campaign.
We are blessed with a good number of online news outlets that cover free and open source software. Why, then, should we care about FOSS Force?
For one thing, the more the merrier. The more eyes that are trained upon the development of “the people’s software,” the more its fame will spread, which means not only more users but more developers. And that means more — and more useful — free and open source software, which is good for all of us.
Jim Anderson
There’s been a lot of interesting Linux news of late. Not just GNU/Linux, but all types of Linux, Android, Chrome OS, Firefox OS, embedded (IoT), cloud computing, cars, TVs, just about anything you can think of. But truth be told, I’d like to see more Linux on the desktop — just as Linus Torvalds said he would like to see.
The recent purchase of a Chromebook for my son got me thinking about a new opportunity for Linux on the desktop. This is not an idea for getting a standard GNU/Linux desktop to automagically replace all existing Windows desktops, but to leverage the cloud computing paradigm with a bulked-up Chromebook-like system that would be workable for 80 to 90 percent of personal, school, and business needs.