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Posts published in “Hardware”

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.

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Ubuntu MATE’s Martin Wimpress Talks Raspberry Pi & FOSSMartin Wimpress

Ubuntu MATE’s Martin Wimpress Talks Raspberry Pi & FOSS

By Isaac Carter on October 21, 2015 |

Hardware and Interview

The FOSS Force Interview

Recently, I had the privilege to sit down and interview Martin Wimpress, who among other things is the project lead for Ubuntu MATE. One reason I interviewed him was because I wanted to see what he’d have to say about his work with Ubuntu MATE and the Raspberry Pi, as well as to get a gleaning of his overall thoughts on free and open source software. As you will discover, Wimpress is definitely not a person who’s short on thoughts, or shy about expressing them.

Ubuntu Mate logoThe other reason for this interview, perhaps the main reason, is because from one developer to another, I look up to Martin quite a bit and admire him for the things he is accomplishing and doing.

Isaac Carter

In addition to hosting a Raspberry Pi meetup in Washington D.C., Isaac Carter is a co-host on mintCast. He’s also a software engineer who enjoys working with Java, JavaScript, and GNU/Linux. When he’s not coding, you can find him reading on any number of subjects or on the golf course.

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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.

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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In the Seed of a Raspberry Is the Future of Linuxraspberry pi

In the Seed of a Raspberry Is the Future of Linux

By Isaac Carter on September 22, 2015 |

Hardware and Operating Systems

There’s no need to fret over the future of desktop Linux; Raspberry Pi has that covered. It’s expanding the future of Linux in other ways as well. Let me explain.

At this very moment, thousands of children are hard at work tinkering with wires and connecting circuits to watch lights flicker on and off. They are typing lines of Python and are awestruck as a robotic arm comes to life for the first time. Smiles are widening on each child’s face as new boundaries are being crossed and experiments are taking shape. Linux has brought this joy into the lives of each of these children. How? Through the small but very powerful computer called the Raspberry Pi.

Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi 2 Model B v1.1
Photo by Multicherry

How is the Raspberry Pi expanding the future of Linux? When it comes to learning the craft of creating code, there are several beautifully crafted frameworks that can get children up to speed faster than any IDE or code book. First and foremost is the programming language Scratch. This language, created by the Lifelong Kindergarten group out of MIT, is geared towards teaching children how to program through an easy to navigate drag-and-drop interface. This interface allows the user to see their code come to life much more quickly than they would through a text editor or an IDE, which is exactly what is needed for a child’s attention span.

Isaac Carter

In addition to hosting a Raspberry Pi meetup in Washington D.C., Isaac Carter is a co-host on mintCast. He’s also a software engineer who enjoys working with Java, JavaScript, and GNU/Linux. When he’s not coding, you can find him reading on any number of subjects or on the golf course.

Continue readingIn the Seed of a Raspberry Is the Future of Linux
Linux Foundation Scales, Raspberry Music Pi & More…raspberry pi

Linux Foundation Scales, Raspberry Music Pi & More…

By Larry Cafiero on September 11, 2015 |

Community, Hardware, News, Software and Web Apps

FOSS Week in Review

Back to school, back to work, back to just about everything else free and open source this week: The temperatures could be a little cooler in California, but there’s a modicum of cool to go with the heat.

Like the following items in this week’s wrap…

Tipping the Scales for Linux: Sean Michael Kerner over at Datamation wrote an article accompanying a video interview with Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, who says, among other things, why the foundation is just going to keep growing.

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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Real Linux Coming to TabletsJolla Tablet

Real Linux Coming to Tablets

By Christine Hall on September 7, 2015 |

Distros, Hardware, Mobile, News and Operating Systems

Ever since I bought my roommate a second generation Nexus 7 tablet a few years back for Christmas, I’ve been intrigued by the possibilities the small form factor offers. The problem is that Android is geared almost solely to push e-commerce, and to that end wants to share information with practically everyone. Even worse, it’s not really free-as-in-freedom.

Jolla Tablet
The Jolla Tablet running Sailfish OS is now taking preorders in the U.S. and other countries.
That hasn’t kept roomie from loving hers, and spending hours with it daily. She’s even made herself something of an expert at using Android, which is amazing, given that she can’t use a Linux or Windows box for more than fifteen minutes without asking me how to do something or another.

Things are looking up for those of us who think we might like using a tablet if only we could find one with a real honest-to-goodness operating system like good ol’ GNU/Linux. There are a couple of Linux based tablets in the pipeline now — with one already taking preorders for a second-round limited production run and the other promising to take preorders any day now.

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
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‘Freedom Penguin’ Takes Flight, Distro Count & More…

‘Freedom Penguin’ Takes Flight, Distro Count & More…

By Larry Cafiero on August 28, 2015 |

Distros, Hardware, Media, News and Operating Systems

FOSS Week in Review

Before we get rolling on the last FOSS Force item before the weekend, I’d like to welcome Hunter Banks to the FOSS Force team. Hunter is part of the FOSS-forward Banks family of Los Angeles — dad Phillip is a computer consultant and a long-time Southern California Linux Expo volunteer (along with brother Phillip Jr.), and sister Keila has been in both the FOSS and mainstream media on girls-in-tech issues — and he’s writing a Linux/FOSS gaming column.

Flying-penguinsWelcome to the team, Hunter!

Now, want to see something scary?

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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Boycott <del>Novell</del> Lenovo?A deal with the devil

Boycott Novell Lenovo?

By Ken Starks on August 25, 2015 |

Business and Hardware

It was in 2009. I possessed the best laptop that I had ever owned…to that point in time anyway. Small, but not cramped. A display that was beyond any adjective. “Dazzling” is what comes to mind, but many would probably categorize that as marketing hyperbole. That’s fine. That laptop lasted almost to the end of 2013 before the motherboard suffered catastrophic failure. I had received the machine already much used. I liked it so much I actually mourned my loss.

Lenovo logoI never found one that was even close to the quality of my Lenovo X60s…until recently.

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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Lenovo Announces New ThinkPad P50, P70 ‘Mobile Workstation’P70

Lenovo Announces New ThinkPad P50, P70 ‘Mobile Workstation’

By Larry Cafiero on August 12, 2015 |

Hardware and News

ThinkPad aficionados, are you ready?

While both bending the language and changing definitions of hardware on the fly, Lenovo announced on Tuesday the Lenovo ThinkPad P50 and P70, the new ThinkPad hardware to be available in Q4.

But first, let’s set things straight: The ThinkPad is no longer a laptop, according to the Lenovo press release. The first paragraph of the press release says the company “unveiled the beginning of a new family of mobile workstation innovations.” So I guess that’s what we’re calling them now – mobile workstations.

P70
The Lenovo ThinkPad P70 should be out later this year.
Fine.

Anyway, the new ThinkPad P70 comes with the most memory and storage ever found in a laptop…sorry, a mobile workstation. Namely, maxing out at 64GB of DDR4 ECC memory and with the ability to handle up to four storage devices and up to a terabyte of SSD storage. It also utilizes the latest PCIe technology for speeds up to five times faster than current SATA technology. But wait, there’s more: The ThinkPad P70 “comes with two Intel ThunderboltTM 3 ports for ultra-fast connectivity and a 4K UHD display or optional FHD touch,” according to the release.

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 readingLenovo Announces New ThinkPad P50, P70 ‘Mobile Workstation’
Confusing Treasure for Junk in Linuxland

Confusing Treasure for Junk in Linuxland

By Ken Starks on August 11, 2015 |

Community and Hardware

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

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
Continue readingConfusing Treasure for Junk in Linuxland