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Happy Birthday Chrome, a New Elementary & More…

FOSS Week in Review

While Larry’s on the West Coast, where it’s never too hot nor too cold, on a brief educational sabbatical, burning the midnight oil while cramming to increase his Linux skills, I’m in North Carolina where it’s not often too cold — at least in my part of the state — but where in summer heat and humidity conspire to make life miserable for homo sapiens. Thankfully, September has arrived, so we’re hopeful that the temps and moisture will soon drop to tolerable levels.

elementary os logoMeanwhile, in the world of free tech…

Elementary OS steps up: Not quite four months after the release of version 0.3.0 Freya, the folks at elementary have announced the release of 0.3.1. Although this is officially a minor point release, it does come packed with changes that should make it a must-install for elementary users. Included in the update: Version 14.04.3 of Ubuntu’s Hardware Enablement stack, improvements to the interface in Files, and the latest and greatest version 0.5.11 of the Midori browser.

Hello, Columbus: Ohio LinuxFest Up Next Oct. 2-3

Ohio LinuxFest logoNext up on Brother FOSS’s Traveling Salvation Show — pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone go — brings the proverbial tent and revival show to Columbus, Ohio, at the beginning of next month.

The 13th annual Ohio LinuxFest will be held Oct. 2-3 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in downtown Columbus. Hosting authoritative speakers and a large expo hall, the OLF welcomes all free and open source software professionals, enthusiasts, and everyone interested in learning more about free and open source software.

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

As Fate & Linux Would Have It

Tell you what…

Go get yourself a beverage of choice, maybe two. I am going to share some things about me that you do not know. Some of them are deeply personal, but they are shared so that the whole story is understood.

I want to tell you a story…a story that has several on and off ramps throughout the coming paragraphs. There are some tight lean-in curves, along with open throttle straightaways. But in the end, this will conjoin nicely. We should all arrive at our destination at the same time. This is a story about family, love and the most amazing twist-of-fate reunions you will never see on Oprah. How does this tie into Linux? Stay with me and you will see.

Royal flushMy oldest daughter is my child from the most intense relationship I could ever imagine. While many would construe that as a good thing, I will remind you that there are two poles to every magnet. Should one be of greater strength or impact than the other, theoretically anyway, havoc will reign. Trust me…we proved that theory without doubt. Unfortunately, and by my own hand and taking full responsibility; that relationship imploded, which in itself is ironic, since my military occupational specialty was precision-drop demolitions. We separated and she did the smart thing by returning to Germany. My life had become emotionally unstable, to the point of being chaotic, so she took our baby home and I lost contact with her. Along with that, I lost contact with my oldest daughter. She was less than two years old the last time I saw her.

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

Kickin’ Back at Texas Linux Fest

It’s the one show I am most certain to make in a year’s time. The Texas Linux Fest (TLF). The only one I’ve missed was held in San Antonio, and being in the worst part of both chemo and radiation therapy, I wasn’t in the mood to travel across the street that year, not to mention to take a two hour drive each way.

Texas Linux FestBut this year was okay as far as travel went. It was held in San Marcos Texas, the home of Texas State University. You can’t get more “in between” Austin and San Antonio than that. Personally, I think the miracle-working staff for TLF should think about making this their permanent home. Being between two of the four largest cities in Texas, people from each don’t think twice about making the drive, as opposed to those that would have to drive to Dallas or the Metroplex.

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

Everywhere a Linux Fest, Linux Gaming Good to Go & More…

FOSS Week in Review

Steam logoFirst things first: When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town down around San Antone, it’ll mark the start of Texas Linux Fest, the sixth annual two-day Linux/FOSS hoedown deep in the heart of the Lone Star State, this year about halfway between Austin and San Antonio. Lots of great speakers with lots of great sponsors give this show a more local feel than the one earlier this week in the Pacific Northwest, so if you’re in the neighborhood, you should give the fest a visit.

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

Deep in the Heart of Texas Linux Fest 2015

While the rest of FOSS Nation oooohs and ahhhhs with all the developments currently coming out of LinuxCon in Seattle, the end of the week’s attention — and attendance — shifts to San Marcos, Texas.

San Marcos is an exciting, historic community in the heart of Central Texas midway between Austin and San Antonio. It is home to Texas State University (the alma mater of Lyndon Johnson), and — as the Chamber of Commerce likes to boast — home of the famous San Marcos outlet malls, the largest in the Southwest.

Texas Linux Fest LogoThis year, San Marcos is home to Texas Linux Fest 2015, which is being held Friday and Saturday of this week at the San Marcos Conference 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

The Wages of Online Disrespect

To some, I am a Linux Guru because I have been using Linux as my only operating system since 2005. To others, I’m the oh-so-adorable-cheek-squeezing newbie who thinks his basic bash skills are a massive achievement. For those who first installed Slackware via a Dagwood sandwich pile of floppies, then I suppose the latter is right. I think we all carry a bit of each within us. But in the end, it doesn’t matter at all — that isn’t even in play. But let me tell you what is in play.

Tux skeletonRespect.

I’ve been a member of the Slashdot community since 2002. My sig line for helios17 is, if I may say so myself, pretty cool. Wanna know what it is? I mean without having to go look it up? Sigh…if you insist.

“Windows assumes you are an idiot…Linux demands proof.”

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

Is Bassel Nearer to Freedom?

Last October, FOSS Force published a story on the 2012 imprisonment — without charges — by the Syrian government of Bassel (Safadi) Khartabil, a 31-year-old Palestinian-Syrian computer engineer specializing in open source software development. Bassel has become known worldwide for his strong commitment to the open source paradigm, teaching others about technology, and contributing his experience freely to help the world.

Bassel (Safadi) Khartabil
Bassel (Safadi) Khartabil has been under arrest in Syria since March 2012. (Photo: Joi Ito, CC-BY-2.0)
Earlier this year and up to a fortnight ago, the Syrian government has been systematically releasing hundreds of prisoners. However, so far Bassel hasn’t been one of them.

Jon Phillips, a digital activist living in the U.S. who has collaborated with Bassel on projects in the past and is currently working to help free Bassel, took a few minutes with FOSS Force to update Bassel’s plight.

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

Confusing Treasure for Junk in Linuxland

Growing up in a rural farm and ranch environment, life was a bit different for us kids. Attending school outside the rural lifestyle was nothing if not uncomfortable. Often times, it was close to humiliating. We wore Levi 501s before it was cool to wear Levi 501s. They were considered “farmer pants” or “idiot jeans.” That reference was a jab at those who needed to button their pants because zippers were too complex to figure out. When we were old enough, we would drive our old pickup trucks to school. Everyone else was driving sleek or stylish cars. More than one farmer’s kid was suspended for dental displacement to someone who decided to make fun of their vehicle or choice of attire.

Loading hay
Photo courtesy Rootstock Corp.
But we knew those who made such remarks wouldn’t last ten minutes in our boots. Shoveling hay to feed livestock from the back of a slow moving pickup truck was tough. Doing so when it was twelve degrees was the norm for us. Breaking the ice in our stock tanks so the cattle could water was treacherous, to say the least, but most times a stick of well-placed dynamite was a better solution than walking onto the ice.

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

LibreOffice Hits Prime Time, Bug Bites KDE Plasma 5 & More…

FOSS Week in Review

LibreOffice 5 Ready for Prime Time: LibreOffice, the office suite of choice of yours truly and others in the FOSS field, is now in the starting blocks to take on the proprietary office suites. The Document Foundation announced this week the release of LibreOffice 5.0, with a significantly improved user interface, with a better management of the screen space and a cleaner look. In addition, the latest LO release offers better interoperability with proprietary office suites such as Microsoft Office and Apple iWork, with new and improved filters to handle non standard formats.

libreofficsplash-300x85“In 2010, we inherited a rather old source code, which had to be made cleaner, leaner and smarter before we could reasonably develop the office suite we were envisioning for the long term,” said Michael Meeks, a director at TDF and a leading LibreOffice developer. “Since 2010, we have gone through three different development cycles: the 3.x family, to clean the code from legacy stuff; the 4.x family, to make the suite more responsive; and the 5.x family, to make it smarter, also in terms of user interface.”

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

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