FOSS Force

Contributing to an Open Source Project

By Phil Shapiro on September 27, 2016 |

There are many ways to contribute to an open source project. There are also many reasons for doing so. But before jumping in, you might want to know how things generally work within these projects.

The Video Screening Room

If you’re interested gaining some tips and insights into how to contribute to open source, this video of a presentation given on September 19 at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco by Gunnar Wagenknecht, a software engineer at Salesforce, and Wayne Beaton, director at the Eclipse Foundation, might be useful to you.

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Krebs Goes Down, Opera Gets a VPN & More…

By Christine Hall on September 24, 2016 |

Browsers, Distros, Media, News, Security and Software

Also included: Yahoo’s big hack, Garrett on Lenovo, new Audacious and GNOME, and Ubuntu get’s ready for Yakkety Yak.

FOSS Week in Review

I spent time this week terminating a Yahoo account I’ve had since way back in the last century. For years, the My Yahoo page was my “home” page whenever I fired-up the old dial-up to go online, but over time the portal (remember portals?) became less and less relevant and I found my visits to Yahoo becoming less and less frequent. By the time I closed the account, prompted by news of a massive hack involving 500 million accounts going back to 2014, I hadn’t visited my Yahoo page in well over a year. RIP Yahoo. It was nice knowing you.

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

Blender: An Introduction for Final Cut Pro Users

Blender: An Introduction for Final Cut Pro Users

By Phil Shapiro on September 23, 2016 |

Software, Tutorial and Video

Have you often considered quitting your day job to begin an exciting career as a filmmaker? You don’t need the resources of a Hollywood studio anymore. In fact, you can do it all with free and open source software.

The Video Screening Room

Blender is a very popular 3D animation program, but not many people know that this open source, cross platform software also works well as a video editor. Some people consider Blender to be the best open source video editor available. (See the comments at the end of this article on Opensource.com).

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To quickly get you up to speed, this well-done 23-minute video explains Blender to people who are already familiar with Final Cut Pro video editor — as well as with others.

HP Retrofits Ink Cartridge DRM on Printers

By Christine Hall on September 22, 2016 |

Hardware, News and Patents

You’ve owned your printer for a year or more, and have happily used off-brand ink cartridges during that time. Suddenly the manufacturer says you can’t do that anymore, and suddenly orders the printer you own to not accept the ink cartridges of your choosing.

Have you tried using you HP printer recently? If not, if you use certain models and keep your expenses down by using third party ink cartridges, you might find you have a “damaged” cartridge that needs replacing before the printer will operate. Open up a new cartridge that you’ve been keeping on hand and if it’s branded Office Max, Office Depot or anything other than “genuine HP,” it’ll be “damaged” too.

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

As they used to say on the Outer Limits, there is nothing wrong with your ink cartridges. HP has taken control of your printer and trained it to not accept them anymore.

John Weathersby: Selling Open Source to the Federal Government

John Weathersby: Selling Open Source to the Federal Government

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on September 22, 2016 |

Hardware, Interview, Software and Video

It’s a no-brainer to us that free and open source should be the default for governments, because governments should be…well, open. With the Open Technology Center, John Weathersby is working to help bring open source to national defense and security.

The Video FOSS Force Interview

John Weathersby founded and ran the Open Source Software Institute to “promote the development and implementation of open source software solutions within U.S. federal, state, and local government agencies.” A worthy goal!

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

Surprise! Microsoft Isn’t Blocking Linux on Lenovo Laptops

Surprise! Microsoft Isn’t Blocking Linux on Lenovo Laptops

By Christine Hall on September 21, 2016 |

Hardware, News and Operating Systems

It was easy to place the blame on Microsoft in a knee-jerk reaction — and it didn’t help that a Lenovo representative placed blame firmly in Redmond’s lap. It appears, however, that Microsoft’s not involved, and Lenovo’s not to blame either.

The news of the day, so far, has been the speculation that machines designed to run the Microsoft’s Signature Edition of Windows block GNU/Linux from being installed. The Signature Edition is an edition of preinstalled Windows without any of the third-party junk that typically infests new Windows computers out-of-the-box.

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

This fear arose, and became a big deal on Reddit, after a Redditor posted, “Warning: Microsoft Signature PC program now requires that you can’t run Linux. Lenovo’s recent Ultrabooks among affected systems.”

Abigail Cabunoc Mayes: How to Bring Open Source to a Closed Community

By Phil Shapiro on September 20, 2016 |

Community and Video

One of the things we took away from this talk is that open source can be fun — and that’s a good thing. The Video…

Discord at Libreboot Over GNU Withdrawal

By Christine Hall on September 18, 2016 |

Community, News, Politics and Software

A member of the Libreboot development team has painted a picture of a lead developer who is out-of-control.

It will probably not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following the news about Libreboot’s sudden withdrawal from the GNU Project that not everyone connected with the Libreboot project is in agreement with project lead Leah Rowe’s recent actions.

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

If you need catching up, the story began on Friday when Rowe posted a notice to the GNU mailing list removing Libreboot — a project that produces free, open source and blob-free software to replace proprietary BIOS firmware — as a GNU project, which it had been since May. The reason, she said, was that an unnamed friend employed by the Free Software Foundation had been dismissed on the basis of her trangendered status.

Nextcloud’s $79 Box, Vim Gets an Update & More…

Nextcloud’s $79 Box, Vim Gets an Update & More…

By Christine Hall on September 18, 2016 |

Business, Community, Distros, Hardware, News, Politics, Software and Web Apps

Also included: Libreboot leaves GNU, municipal broadband law proposed, Linux’s second 25th birthday, a new distro release, Vim and Emacs both get upgrades, Google’s hack challenge and Oracle can’t catch a break.

FOSS Week in Review

Yesterday I got a look at some decidedly old tech: Rope beds, pewter being made by hand, ceramic wood burning stoves, a bit of blacksmithing — all at Bethabara, which is a preserved 18th century village that had been established by German Moravians, who were the first settlers around these parts. Fascinating. The event was the annual Apple Fest, with plenty of local orchards offering every variety of apple imaginable, as well as about any kind of food prepared with apples.

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

The biggest story in FOSS this week was really something of a nonstory about Libreboot suddenly leaving the GNU project. We’ve already covered the initial story, as well as responses by both RMS and the FSF, so no need to flog this horse again.

FSF Says Firing Wasn’t Discrimatory

By Christine Hall on September 17, 2016 |

Community and News

Both Richard Stallman and John Sullivan have issued statements concerning the allegations made against the FSF by Libreboot’s lead developer.

On Friday we reported that Libreboot’s lead developer, Leah Rowe, had posted a notice to a GNU mailing list, removing her project from GNU. The reason she gave was that a friend employed by the Free Software Foundation, had been dismissed for discriminatory reasons. “The Free Software Foundation recently fired a transgendered employee of the FSF, just for being trans…,” she wrote. “I’m declaring here and now to the whole world that Libreboot is no longer part of the GNU project.”

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

Friday afternoon after we published our report, Richard Stallman, founder and president of FSF, posted a brief, unofficial statement in an email to the thread around Rowe’s email. “The dismissal of the staff person was not because of her gender,” he said. “Her gender now is the same as it was when we hired her. It was not an issue then, and it is not an issue now.”

AlmaLinux Day: Los Angeles

Open Source Monitoring Conference

Contributing to an Open Source Project

There are many ways to contribute to an open source project. There are also many reasons for doing so. But before jumping in, you might want to know how things generally work within these projects.

The Video Screening Room

Krebs Goes Down, Opera Gets a VPN & More…

Also included: Yahoo’s big hack, Garrett on Lenovo, new Audacious and GNOME, and Ubuntu get’s ready for Yakkety Yak.

FOSS Week in Review

Blender: An Introduction for Final Cut Pro Users

Have you often considered quitting your day job to begin an exciting career as a filmmaker? You don’t need the resources of a Hollywood studio anymore. In fact, you can do it all with free and open source software.

The Video Screening Room

HP Retrofits Ink Cartridge DRM on Printers

You’ve owned your printer for a year or more, and have happily used off-brand ink cartridges during that time. Suddenly the manufacturer says you can’t do that anymore, and suddenly orders the printer you own to not accept the ink cartridges of your choosing.

John Weathersby: Selling Open Source to the Federal Government

It’s a no-brainer to us that free and open source should be the default for governments, because governments should be…well, open. With the Open Technology Center, John Weathersby is working to help bring open source to national defense and security.

The Video FOSS Force Interview

Surprise! Microsoft Isn’t Blocking Linux on Lenovo Laptops

It was easy to place the blame on Microsoft in a knee-jerk reaction — and it didn’t help that a Lenovo representative placed blame firmly in Redmond’s lap. It appears, however, that Microsoft’s not involved, and Lenovo’s not to blame either.

Abigail Cabunoc Mayes: How to Bring Open Source to a Closed Community

Discord at Libreboot Over GNU Withdrawal

A member of the Libreboot development team has painted a picture of a lead developer who is out-of-control.

Nextcloud’s $79 Box, Vim Gets an Update & More…

Also included: Libreboot leaves GNU, municipal broadband law proposed, Linux’s second 25th birthday, a new distro release, Vim and Emacs both get upgrades, Google’s hack challenge and Oracle can’t catch a break.

FOSS Week in Review

FSF Says Firing Wasn’t Discrimatory

Both Richard Stallman and John Sullivan have issued statements concerning the allegations made against the FSF by Libreboot’s lead developer.