Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Distros”

Open APIs, Microsoft Loves Red Hat & More…

By Larry Cafiero on November 6, 2015 |

Community, Distros, News, Operating Systems and Software

FOSS Week in Review

It has been a busy week in the FOSS world, with a lot of buzz about developments in the larger sectors of the FOSS realms. So let’s jump in, shall we?

Linux Foundation LogoLinux Foundation looks to Open APIs: After corralling the widely divergent world of containers, the Linux Foundation now sets its sights on the API economy and making application program interfaces, or APIs, easier to find, according to a report from InfoWorld. For the uninitiated, open APIs, sometimes called public APIs, describes an application program interface providing developers with programmatic access to a proprietary software application.

Continue readingOpen APIs, Microsoft Loves Red Hat & More…
Release Dates: It’s On-Time When It’s ReadyFedora logo

Release Dates: It’s On-Time When It’s Ready

By Larry Cafiero on November 2, 2015 |

Distros

Over the last week or two, several folks in the wider FOSS realm have taken the Fedora Project to task, mostly if not entirely on social media, for not releasing Fedora 23 on time.

Actually, the release of the next Fedora release is on time — tomorrow, if you want to go over to the Fedora Project site and give it a download — but even if it was released “late,” the standard by which a distribution is released on time depends on one thing and one thing only.

Fedora logo
Fedora is releasing Fedora 23 tomorrow — on time, as far as we’re concerned.
It depends on whether it is ready.

Continue readingRelease Dates: It’s On-Time When It’s Ready

Solved: The Case of the Missing SteamOS Icons

By Hunter Banks on October 28, 2015 |

Distros, Gaming and Operating Systems

Over the last week, many Linux users on Steam were left in a state of confusion when noticing that some Linux games have had their SteamOS icon removed. For those unaware, the SteamOS icon certifies that a title is playable on Linux, including SteamOS, and soon, on Steam Machines.

A reddit user, mykro76, took note of this in a post last week:

Continue readingSolved: The Case of the Missing SteamOS Icons
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.

Continue readingUbucon Slated for SCALE 14X, Bassel Offered MIT Job & More…
Linux: When Uniformity is GoodCinnamon

Linux: When Uniformity is Good

By Ken Starks on October 20, 2015 |

Desktops, Distros and Operating Systems

We’ve been in this bid’ness for ten years now. The business of giving Linux-powered computers to kids who cannot afford this technology, or any technology for that matter. And so far so good. There have been some lessons learned along the way. Some of those lessons small but valuable. Some of those lessons so painful that we had no choice but to change the way we do things. And never doubt…there were uh, spirited discussions about this change. Yeah, we’ll stick to “spirited”. I’ve been to football matches in Great Britain and Germany that couldn’t come close to such levels of “spirit.” So which thing could bring about this measure of “spirited” discussion?

KDEThe Linux desktop environment. Environments such as Unity, KDE, Mate, Cinnamon, etc.

These environments all have their strengths and their weaknesses, just like any number of things you might put up for comparison. But this business of desktop environments, well…there are a lot of moving parts here. A lot of things to consider, and most importantly, the mechanics that lead us to our decision to use one environment over the other.

Continue readingLinux: When Uniformity is Good
Linux Users, Start Your Engines

Linux Users, Start Your Engines

By Larry Cafiero on October 19, 2015 |

Distros and Operating Systems

Unless you’re a motorhead to a varying degree — and an older one at that — you probably don’t know who John Cooper is. His contributions in racing circles — putting the engine behind the driver in his Cooper racing cars in the 1950s — would normally cement his place in automotive history, but he didn’t stop there.

The thing for which Cooper is more widely known is modifying the British Motor Corporation’s Mini in the 1960s, adding his name to make it the Mini Cooper while adding a higher degree of performance that won the little-car-that-could a warehouse full of rally trophies and Sports Car Club of America club racing victories.

Continue readingLinux Users, Start Your Engines

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.

Continue readingIs Microsoft Wooing Canonical & Important Departures…
Raspbian Jessie Lives Up to the HypeRaspbian Logo

Raspbian Jessie Lives Up to the Hype

By Isaac Carter on October 7, 2015 |

Distros and Operating Systems

Keeping in rhythm with using names from Toy Story characters, Raspbian Jessie was released this past week for Raspberry Pi users. This latest release marks many improvements and updates that Raspberry Pi users have been longing for. After using and experimenting with Raspbian Jessie for the past week, I have to say that I’m very pleased with the update.

Raspbian LogoWhat follows is a walk through of my first experiences with Raspbian Jessie and what I feel are the points that stand out the most. For this test, I used a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B and a SanDisk 16g micro SD card.

Continue readingRaspbian Jessie Lives Up to the Hype
FOSS Hits & Misses on a Monday Morning

FOSS Hits & Misses on a Monday Morning

By Larry Cafiero on October 5, 2015 |

Distros, News, Operating Systems, Politics and Software

The day has changed, but the commentary remains the same: In a minor FOSS Force shuffle, I’ve moved from giving commentary on Wednesdays to giving it on Mondays. And while there is no one item that stands out in a grand way to start the week, there’s no reason we can’t begin the week with several smaller items, right?

LibreOffice_logoLibreOffice has won, get over it: Last week, I innocently posted an article on Facebook about LibreOffice’s fifth birthday — yes, it has been five years, surprisingly — and for some reason it ran into some resistance from one friend who isn’t exactly too fond of the name “LibreOffice” — “Libre isn’t English” (huh?) — and he seems to think that the remnants of OpenOffice are better served if the LibreOffice folks just fold up their tent and rejoin OpenOffice. Yeah, I laughed too. That’s not going to happen because, for all intents and purposes, OpenOffice was fatally poisoned as soon as Oracle got a hold of it, making the LibreOffice fork necessary. If anything, OpenOffice developers should drop OpenOffice and join LibreOffice. Anyway, happy 5th, LibreOffice.

Continue readingFOSS Hits & Misses on a Monday Morning

FOSS Training Campaign, Red Hat Aims At $2 Billion & More…

By Larry Cafiero on September 25, 2015 |

Business, Community, Distros, Hardware, News and Software

FOSS Week in Review

Highlighting the week’s activities in the FOSS realm is, say it with me, money. You know, the thing that we all want but that most of us never have enough of. Some have it and some need it — making it a good thing we’re about to tell you who is who with this weekend’s wrap up.

Open FOSS Training Indiegogo Campaign: Back home again in Indiana — Martinsville, Indiana, to be exact — Matthew Williams has taken the baton and is running with it when it comes to training folks in the use of free/open source software, or what we lovingly refer to as FOSS.

Continue readingFOSS Training Campaign, Red Hat Aims At $2 Billion & More…
Latest Articles