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Cheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…

By Larry Cafiero on October 30, 2015 |

Community, Hardware and Software

Cheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…

FOSS Week in Review

Before I start, a friendly reminder: You have until midnight tonight to submit a presentation to the Southern California Linux Expo SCALE 14X. The first-of-the-year Linux/FOSS show — on Jan. 21-24, 2016, at the Pasadena Convention Center — already has Cory Doctorow and Jon ‘maddog’ Hall lined up to speak (as well as our favorite FOSS funnyman, Bryan Lunduke), and if you want to join this list of esteemed speakers, sharpen that No. 2 and get cracking. Don’t make me check with your boss to make sure you’ve submitted…

Laptop keyboard
Psst. Want a cheap Linux laptop? If you’re in Philadelphia tomorrow, you’re in luck. (Photo Mira DeShazer/Pixbay CC0 Public Domain)
Psst, want a cheap laptop? Philadelphia’s Nonprofit Technology Resources wants to save a pile of laptops from the scrapyard. So Ed Cummings, the president of the organization, said the organization is having a “Linux Laptop Pizza Party” on Saturday in the City of Brotherly Love, according to Juliana Reyes writing in Technical.ly.

Continue readingCheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…
A Miracle Comes to Linuxmind

A Miracle Comes to Linux

By Ken Starks on October 27, 2015 |

Community

His name is Morgan, but it hasn’t always been his name. What it was before doesn’t legally matter any longer. What does matter, to us, is the concentric circles by which “Morgan” arrived…came to be. Morgan doesn’t know any better. Many metaphors of consciousness can be applied, but for Morgan, your arguments on his condition fall outside of his realm of concern. Morgan is Morgan, and what Morgan does in the present is all that matters. What might have been his reality, to you, before “the incident,” is simply pabulum to Morgan. To Morgan, you are children trying to complete a puzzle with missing key pieces. You amuse him.

mind

Ken Starks

Ken Starks is the founder of the Helios Project and Reglue, which for 20 years provided refurbished older computers running Linux to disadvantaged school kids, as well as providing digital help for senior citizens, in the Austin, Texas area. He was a columnist for FOSS Force from 2013-2016, and remains part of our family. Follow him on Twitter: @Reglue

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
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Ubucon Slated for SCALE 14X, Bassel Offered MIT Job & More…Ubuntu logo

Ubucon Slated for SCALE 14X, Bassel Offered MIT Job & More…

By Larry Cafiero on October 23, 2015 |

Community, Distros, News, Operating Systems and Politics

FOSS Week in Review

I don’t say enough good things about Ubuntu, so when they give me reason to, I’m on it. I also don’t talk enough about openSUSE either; good, bad or indifferent. Not that I’m turning over a new leaf or anything, but this week’s wrap up contains two items about these distros, and more. Don’t just sit there: Read on&hellip.

Ubuntu logo
Ubucon, a series of Ubuntu-based conferences, brings its traveling salvation show to SCALE 14X in January.
Ubucon at SCALE 14X: SCALE 14X is pleased to announce that Ubucon, a network of conferences focusing on Ubuntu, will take place during the four-day expo at the Pasadena Convention Center.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingUbucon Slated for SCALE 14X, Bassel Offered MIT Job & More…
Saying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next YearAll Things Open 2015

Saying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next Year

By Christine Hall on October 22, 2015 |

Community, News and Software

The 2015 edition of the Raleigh based open source conference, All Things Open (ATO), is now one for the history books. It’s also one for the record books.

We knew going in there would be a record number of speakers this year — 131 according to a count on the ATO website — and we learned on our way out — at the closing ceremonies — that this year’s attendance topped 1,700, much more than last year and nearly doubling the attendance from the first ATO in 2013. Todd Lewis, the master of ceremonies for the event — his official title, chairperson, doesn’t begin to describe what he does — said that next year they’re aiming for 2,500, a number they probably have a good chance of hitting.

All Things Open 2015The odd thing was that if you didn’t know that attendance was up, you might’ve thought that the numbers were actually going down.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingSaying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next Year
Going Gonzo at ‘All Things Open’All Things Open 2015

Going Gonzo at ‘All Things Open’

By Christine Hall on October 20, 2015 |

Community

“Footballs in a basketball state,” I said wryly, looking down on a guy who was sitting across the table, absently playing with some small swag footballs imprinted with a company logo.

He didn’t catch my drift.

“What?”

“This is a basketball state,” I explained.

“You’re right!” He seemed as if this had just dawned on him.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingGoing Gonzo at ‘All Things Open’
Cory Doctorow at SCALE & CAH Linux-Style…

Cory Doctorow at SCALE & CAH Linux-Style…

By Larry Cafiero on October 16, 2015 |

Community and Copyright

FOSS Week in Review

What could be a better combination than one of the world’s foremost digital freedom advocates and Cards Against Humanity? Read on.

Cory Doctorow at SCALE 14X: While the Call for Presentations for SCALE 14X is ongoing and closes in two weeks — on Friday, Oct. 30, at midnight Pacific, so at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday morning the 31st, your unsubmitted proposal turns into a pumpkin — the SCALE team has announced it has chosen one of the keynoters for the four-day, first-of-the-year Linux/FOSS event.

Cory Doctorow will give the Friday morning keynote at SCALE 14X in Pasadena, Calif., in January.
Cory Doctorow will give the Friday morning keynote at SCALE 14X in Pasadena, Calif., in January.
Science fiction author, activist, and journalist Cory Doctorow has been tapped as one of the keynote speakers for SCALE 14X. Doctorow, the co-editor of Boing Boing and an author with a wide portfolio, works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the UK Open Rights Group. Born in Toronto, he now lives in Los Angeles.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingCory Doctorow at SCALE & CAH Linux-Style…
Linux Text to Speech Tool Reaches BetaTTS wiring

Linux Text to Speech Tool Reaches Beta

By Ken Starks on October 13, 2015 |

Accessibility, Community and Software

Although the numbers behind the name do not reflect it, the currently-named “SpeechLess” front end for MaryTTS is now being released as beta software. I was able to assemble a three man team to create a GUI and to my way of thinking, it has come along nicely. Although the demo is web-based, these guys have been able to construct it so the entire thing is local. That means little to no latency between hitting enter and having the text replicated to speech.

I’ve talked at length about how TTS in the Linuxsphere is less than user friendly at about every turn. Our goal is to create a front end that makes MaryTTS easy to use for everyone. We’re getting there.

Ken Starks

Ken Starks is the founder of the Helios Project and Reglue, which for 20 years provided refurbished older computers running Linux to disadvantaged school kids, as well as providing digital help for senior citizens, in the Austin, Texas area. He was a columnist for FOSS Force from 2013-2016, and remains part of our family. Follow him on Twitter: @Reglue

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
Continue readingLinux Text to Speech Tool Reaches Beta
Good Software, Bad BehaviorLinus Torvalds talking

Good Software, Bad Behavior

By Larry Cafiero on October 12, 2015 |

Community

In last week’s wrap-up, I posted an item about both Sarah Sharp and Matthew Garrett ceasing their contributions to the Linux kernel, and I was going to leave it at that and let those who read their blogs, as well as reports here and elsewhere, draw their own conclusions.

But giving it some thought over the weekend — not dwelling on it, of course, because the baseball playoffs are currently in progress — it occurred to me that many of the issues are not being addressed, and that’s going to continue to fester. The result of that remains to be seen and, sadly, this is par for the course in FOSS circles. That has been mentioned on many occasions elsewhere, so we won’t go into it here.

Linus Torvalds talking
Linus Torvalds
To recap, Sarah is out — a long-time contributor who is no longer contributing. This, of course, led to Matthew being out as well, for somewhat related reasons.

Inside the Linux Kernel Mailing List where this drama transpired, my guess is that it’s business as usual: Square One at frat-boy central is moving along as usual, with caustic feedback to those participating. That is, when they’re not giving each other digital wedgies and noogies.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingGood Software, Bad Behavior

Is Microsoft Wooing Canonical & Important Departures…

By Larry Cafiero on October 9, 2015 |

Business, Community, Distros and Operating Systems

FOSS Week in Review

Ubuntu plus Microsoft
…sitting in a tree…?
It always makes for an interesting week when the first thing right off the bat, without reservation, comes a speculation piece from Linux Journal dealing with that company from the Isle of Man.

Grab some popcorn — make two bowls — and get comfortable.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingIs Microsoft Wooing Canonical & Important Departures…
Red Hat CEO & Others to Keynote at ‘All Things Open’All Things Open 2015

Red Hat CEO & Others to Keynote at ‘All Things Open’

By Christine Hall on October 8, 2015 |

Community, News and Software

Last week I told you about a few of the more than 130 speakers scheduled for this year’s All Things Open (ATO) conference in Raleigh, to be held October 19-20. Today, we’ll talk about the impressive lineup of keynote speakers who’re on tap this year.

Actually, it’s something of a miracle that the event is still good-to-go. IT-oLogy, the organization behind ATO, is headquartered in Columbia, S.C., which was subject to massive flooding last week in the wake of hurricane Joaquin. In fact, the organizations headquarters are located only blocks away from the Congaree River, the source of much flooding.

All Things Open 2015Thankfully, the organization’s infrastructure came through just fine, according to Todd Lewis, who is both the chair person for ATO and IT-oLogy’s Executive Director-Columbia.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingRed Hat CEO & Others to Keynote at ‘All Things Open’

Bassel Khartabil Safadi Moved to Court; Fate Uncertain

By Larry Cafiero on October 3, 2015 |

Community, News and Politics

Bassel Khartabil
Bassel Khartabil Safadi
Photo: Joi Ito, CC-BY-2.0
Several posts on Saturday morning, mostly on social media, report that Bassel Khartabil Safadi has been moved from Adra Prison in Damascus, Syria, and may have been transferred to the civil court of the military police area in Qaboun, Syria.

Mediaoriente gave this report, and the Free Bassel Safadi Facebook page has also been active on Saturday, though details have been sketchy.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingBassel Khartabil Safadi Moved to Court; Fate Uncertain
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