Posts published in “Operating Systems”

Redmond’s ‘Free’ Gambit

By Christine Hall on January 26, 2015 |

Last week, I had to laugh aloud at Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 10 would be offered as a free upgrade for users of both Windows 7 and Windows 8. This was a strange synchronicity, as I’d wondered allowed in an article earlier in the week, “If Microsoft can’t give Windows away for free on the laptop, how long will it be able to continue selling it on the desktop?” It was a rhetorical question, with no answer expected, but I got one anyway: Not too long.

From a PR standpoint, this announcement is paying off for Redmond, at least for the short term. This morning Google returned over four thousand news results specifically related to a search using the terms “microsoft windows 10 free upgrade,” with a slew of additional peripheral results. Outside the FOSS press, the articles generally heap praise on Microsoft for this move, which is seen as “bold” and “daring.” Forbes goes so far as to say “Windows 10 Gets It Right” as part of the headline for an article about the free upgrades.

** If you're finding this article useful, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

From where I sit, this move is anything but bold and daring, and instead smacks of desperation and the grasping at straws. To be sure, I expect there’ll be many takers. After all, what Windows user wouldn’t want to upgrade to Redmond’s latest and greatest if doing so won’t involve breaking out the credit card. This would be especially true of those currently using Windows 8, who might even be willing to pay real money for a return of the beloved start button and to get rid of the-interface-formally-known-as-Metro.

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

Top Ten Things Linux Users Say About systemd

By FOSS Force on January 24, 2015 |

Community, Operating Systems and Politics

Back about four or five years ago, when FOSS Force was just a young whippersnapper yelling to be heard, we found people first noticing us when we dreamed up a unique weekly feature we cleverly called the Top Ten List. It was an immediate success. Unfortunately, we can’t claim credit for originating the concept, as Michael J. Fox saw one of our lists on his DeLorean’s dashboard computer while on a foray into the twenty-first century, and told someone at NBC when back home in the eighties, who told David Letterman. We lost out when Letterman used it on his show and took credit for it — even though it was our idea years later in the first place. Thanks, David.

Until now, we thought the days of the Top Ten on FOSS Force were long gone. However, the systemd brouhaha has awakened the inner Top Ten List that has been sleeping within us for all these years. Today, for one day only, the Top Ten List returns for one last encore — or the last one until the next time something tickles us funny.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

Ladies and gentlemen, from the home office in Omaha, Nebraska, here is this week’s Top Ten List — the top ten things Linux users say about systemd.

Mea Culpas & Cranky Patients Named Ken

By Larry Cafiero on January 23, 2015 |

Community, Distros, Hardware, News, Operating Systems and Site News

FOSS Week in Review

One of the most discussed items of the week, arriving with much fanfare, comes from our friends at Canonical/Ubuntu, who brought you Ubuntu TV and Ubuntu Edge — oh wait, they said they’d bring them but never actually delivered — and who now wants to be the operating system behind the nebulously termed “Internet of Things.”

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols starts with a mea culpa in his ZDNet article for assuming that Ubuntu Core — Canonical’s entry in the Internet of Things operating systems — was “a pure server play.” The article, of course, outlines the plan, with details provided by Mark Shuttleworth himself. It’s definitely worth a read.

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

Why Jeff Hoogland Returned to Bodhi

Why Jeff Hoogland Returned to Bodhi

By Christine Hall on January 22, 2015 |

Distros, News and Operating Systems

On Tuesday morning I awoke to find in my inbox a cryptic message, sent during the wee hours of the morning, from Jeff Hoogland.

Shortly after our interview I made a liar out of myself and got bit by the Bodhi bug again.

The interview, of course, referenced the one published here on FOSS Force on the Monday before last, in which we discussed his leaving Bodhi for greener fields or Python or something. Hoogland finished Tuesday morning’s message with a link to a page on his Thoughts on Technology blog, where he was announcing his return to Bodhi Linux in his original role as project manager and lead developer.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

Really? He was going back?

In the FOSS world, this was pretty big news. I got to work writing a story right away, taking time out to dash off a quick message to Hoogland.

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

Fedora 23: 64-bit Only?

By Larry Cafiero on January 21, 2015 |

Distros, Hardware and Operating Systems

So let’s see how this flies in the wide world of FOSS….

Stephen Smoogen blogs recently that he’s pitching a proposal for a 64-bit only Fedora starting with Fedora 23 — that’s not the next one, but the one after that; maybe Fedora 24, if it is not possible by Fedora 23.

** If you're finding this article useful, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

For those of you keeping score at home, Smoogen is a long-time Fedora contributor who now serves on Fedora’s EPEL Steering Committee. And EPEL? That’s what’s commonly known as Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux, “a Fedora Special Interest Group that creates, maintains, and manages a high quality set of additional packages for Enterprise Linux, including, but not limited to, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), CentOS and Scientific Linux (SL), Oracle Linux (OL),” according to their wiki.

Fedora 23: 32-bit users need not apply?

Smoogen writes in introducing his self-described “Devil’s Proposal” the following: “I am going to make the uncomfortable and ugly proposal to drop 32 bit in Fedora 23 and only look at 64 bit architectures as primary architectures.”

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

Jeff Hoogland’s Back at Bodhi

By Christine Hall on January 20, 2015 |

Desktops, Distros and Operating Systems

Here’s some news that should make Bodhi Linux users happy. Jeff Hoogland has returned to Bodhi in his former position as project manager/lead developer.

If you’ll remember, Hoogland stepped down from the position back in September, stating on his blog that he was leaving his post “for a variety of reasons.”

** If you're finding this article useful, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

In an interview with Hoogland a couple of weeks back, I learned that despite stepping down as lead developer, Hoogland has continued to be involved in Bodhi development, primarily by helping the new development team get on track. “The build process for Bodhi was largely handled by myself previously and much of my process was contained in my head and not in documentation,” he said. “That is changing.”

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

Saying Goodbye to Java the Hard Way

Saying Goodbye to Java the Hard Way

By Ken Starks on January 20, 2015 |

Browsers, Community and Operating Systems

The Best of Ken Starks

We were fortunate enough to have a donated space in the expo hall at Texas Linux Fest this year. Carolyn Hulsey, who is one of our directors, manned the Reglue booth for us on Friday. She jokingly asked if I wanted her to be our “booth babe” this year. She was, indeed, all of that.

What was truly humbling was the number of people who recognized us without introduction. When someone approached, I stood and extended my hand in greeting. More often than I would have thought, the person shook my hand and told me, “I know who you are.”

Wow…just wow.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

It was one of these people who later pursued a three day email discussion with me on free-as-in-beer software. And yeah…we all know the benefits. But what of the negatives?

His take on Linux distributions?

“Anyone paying for a Linux distribution is putting their money down the drain. What they should be doing is putting that money into the hands of a free distro developer so (s)he can make their distribution better.”

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/

Microsoft Can’t Sell Laptops or Phones

Microsoft Can’t Sell Laptops or Phones

By Christine Hall on January 19, 2015 |

Business, Hardware, Mobile and Operating Systems

Microsoft continues its slide into irrelevance, as least as far as consumer tech is concerned. Even the company’s successes, like the Surface Pro, are only relative successes. No matter how hopeful sales figures for the Pro may look, the device is still roadblocked by Redmond’s lack of apps for its mobile devices. Evidently, the holiday shopping season was dismal for Redmond, even in some areas where it would be expected to dominate as usual.

Take laptops, for instance, where Windows sales performance was laughable.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

On Friday, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols posted a story on Computerworld illustrating just how low Windows has fallen. He points out that according to Amazon’s sales figures for the holidays, the top three best selling laptops were all running Chrome OS (with Linux inside), with nary a Windows machine in sight.

Christine Hall

FOSSForce.com

Linux Distros We’ll Never See

Linux Distros We’ll Never See

By Larry Cafiero on January 14, 2015 |

Distros, Humor and Operating Systems

A few days ago, I was cleaning my desk in the lab and happened upon a printout of a fake distro called Chuck Norris Linux — more commonly known as CHUX — which casually mentions that “…if Chuck Norris wrote Linux, you couldn’t boot it, it would boot you.”

** If you're finding this article useful, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

It reminded me of the yes-it-really-happened Hannah Montana Linux, based on Kubuntu, which to my knowledge is still in existence, at least on Github. Following the logic that if these two can exist, even though one is fake and the other real, I started thinking about other distros based on other cultural icons which would never (thank God) see the light of day. Like…

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

When the Greatest Generation Can Use Our Help

When the Greatest Generation Can Use Our Help

By Ken Starks on January 13, 2015 |

Hardware and Operating Systems

The Greatest Generation. Those who blitzed the beaches of Normandy and faced their own death with nothing but the rifles they carried and the cast-in-stone conviction that they were our last hope to save the world. They embodied the heroism of a generation who protected us from the most vile of villains: Jack-booted thugs who would force their ideas of a perfect world upon us.

Those rifles and convictions ultimately saved our way of life.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

That kind of bravery can’t be quantified or even verbally expressed. They were our moms and dads, our aunts and uncles, and our grandfathers and grandmothers. The Greatest Generation lived their lives based on ultimate truths and values. A handshake was a bond and the guy on the radio or TV was to be believed.

And that’s the problem. The Greatest Generation ultimately fell victim to their own honor and social beliefs.

Ken Starks

linuxlock.blogspot.com/

gRPConf North America

AGNTCon + MCPCon 2026 Japan

Nextcloud Community Conference 2026

OpenSearchCon North America

Open Source Conference Luxembourg

Posts published in “Operating Systems”

Redmond’s ‘Free’ Gambit

Top Ten Things Linux Users Say About systemd

Mea Culpas & Cranky Patients Named Ken

FOSS Week in Review

Why Jeff Hoogland Returned to Bodhi

Fedora 23: 64-bit Only?

Jeff Hoogland’s Back at Bodhi

Saying Goodbye to Java the Hard Way

The Best of Ken Starks

Microsoft Can’t Sell Laptops or Phones

Linux Distros We’ll Never See

When the Greatest Generation Can Use Our Help