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Posts published in “Site News”

September’s Top Ten

These are the ten most read articles on FOSS Force for the month of September, 2015.

!. Real Linux Coming to Tablets by Christine Hall. Published September 7, 2015. This month saw the announcement of two impressive tablets, both running versions of Linux. One’s running Sailfish OS from Jolla. The other will run the much anticipated Ubuntu Touch.

** If you value this kind of coverage, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

2. Booting Windows 10…Out the Door by Ken Starks. Published September 15, 2015. Our irrepressible Mr. Starks finds out a few things that make him angry about Windows 10 and goes on a rant. He’s mad. Really, really mad. We can’t imagine how angry he’d be if he actually used Windows.

FOSS Force Is Looking For a Few Good Writers

Would you like to become part of the FOSS Force team?

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

In order to expand our coverage, FOSS Force is looking to add two or three experienced writers to our team who are knowledgeable and supportive of free and open source software. We are seeking writers who can write in any of the following areas:

July’s Top Ten

These are the ten most read articles on FOSS Force for the month of July, 2015.

1. Yet Another Reason to Avoid Windows 10 by Christine Hall. Published July 20, 2015. Microsoft’s EULA for Windows 10 not only forces its users to accept all updates. it allows Redmond to install software at will.

** If you value this kind of coverage, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

2. Using the New iproute2 Suite by Don Parris. Published July 14, 2015. A look at the basics on getting the most out of iproute2 utilities.

3. How I Discovered Linux & Changed the World by Ken Starks. Published July 7, 2015. In which the question is asked: How is your involvement with FOSS making a difference in this world of ours?

Microsoft Writes Check, Free OSCON Passes & More…

FOSS Week in Review

Money: Can’t live with it, and can’t live without it. OK, maybe you actually can live with it, but money seems to be the overriding theme this week when it comes to FOSS news. With this being payday for most of you, try not to spend too much mental currency on some of the developments this week, like:

** If you value this kind of coverage, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

OpenSSH logoMS Writes a Check: Well, this was probably inevitable. With a generous donation, Microsoft has become a gold contributor to the OpenBSD project — the first gold contributor — in an effort to get OpenBSD’s help in porting OpenSSH to Windows. This comes from a report on ZDNet, where Steven Vaughan-Nichols tells the tale of checkbook participation in open source as “the best option…for our team to adopt an industry proven solution,” says Microsoft’s Angel Calvo. A gold contributor writes a check for anywhere between $25,000 to $50,000, so even at the minimum, the OpenBSD Foundation scores big. In exchange, Microsoft gets to port OpenSSH, which arguably is the gold standard for remote administration. Of course, it isn’t revealed how much, in code, Microsoft is going to contribute going forward, but as long as the money is there…I guess the money is there.

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

June’s Top Ten

These are the ten most read articles on FOSS Force for the month of June, 2015.

1. SourceForge Not Making A Graceful Exit by Christine Hall. Published June 11, 2015. We look at why many well known FOSS projects are fleeing a once popular code repository, and what this means for its future.

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

2. A Look at Mageia 5’s Magic by Christine Hall. Published June 22, 2015. A first look at Mageia latest and greatest release, and putting this release in historical context.

Our Funraiser Fell Short – But Good Enough for Now

First of all, we’d like to thank the 49 contributors who generously contributed to our IndieGoGo fundraising campaign and to all who helped support and get the word out about our efforts. Special thanks go to Elizabeth K. Joseph, Todd Lewis and his incredible team at IT-oLogy and Ken Starks for supplying us with items to offer as perks during the campaign. We’d also like to thank Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols and Carla Schroder for writing articles for FOSS Force supporting our efforts.

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

At just before midnight pacific time Monday night, our IndieGoGo fundraising effort ended after a six week run. In the end, we raised exactly $2,300, or 38.33% of our goal of $6,000 (its nice to see that the folks at IndieGoGo are nothing if not precise when it comes to figures). The money is to be used to expand our coverage of FOSS and free tech by offering compensation to writers. Although this is not enough to fund our planned expansion for six months as intended, it is enough to get us started while we put “Plan B” into effect.

Last Day of Our Fundraising Campaign – Please Contribute!

Today is the last day of our IndieGoGo fundraising campaign, which we at first called our “May Pledge Drive” until we extended it into June. At somewhere about a second before midnight tonight, the fine folks at IndieGoGo will pull the plug on our campaign and quit taking contributions. In other words, if you haven’t made a contribution yet, the time is now.

** If you value this kind of coverage, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **

Two dollar bills.So far we’ve raised $2,225 of our $6,000 goal. While reaching our target doesn’t appear doable at this late stage of the game — that’s okay. The money that’s been generously contributed will get us started on our planned editorial expansion and you should see us ramping up our coverage considerably in about three or four weeks time, after we receive the funds from IndieGoGo and start putting our new policies in effect.

FOSS Force’s Future Is in Your Hands

Less than sixteen $20 contributions daily needed to meet our goal.

We can do this!

100 dollar billWe’re 31 days into our IndieGoGo fundraising campaign — known as our May Pledge Drive until we extended the expiration date to June 15 — and as of this morning we’ve raised $1,215 dollars. That’s twenty percent of our $6,000 goal. In other words, it’s not nearly enough.

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

Under our current plans to pay our writers, this amount will only be enough to fund us for barely over a month. If we spread it thin, it’ll be enough to keep our writers minimally paid for seven weeks — nowhere near the six months we need if we’re to get this expansion of FOSS Force off the ground.

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