FOSS Force

October’s Top Ten

By FOSS Force on November 1, 2015 |

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

1. A Miracle Comes to Linux by Ken Starks. Published October 27, 2015. This story is so fantastic that it had many of you convinced that it was a work of fiction. Not so. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy: Every word is the truth, including “and” and “the.”

2. Is Oracle Abandoning Java? by Christine Hall. Published October 6, 2015. A report on news from “a former high-ranking Java official” that Oracle might no longer be interested in continuing development of Java.

3. Microsoft Infects Windows Computers With Malvertising by Christine Hall. Published October 15, 2015. It appears that our friends in Redmond have seen it necessary to upgrade their malicious software removal tool to include the ransomware TelsaCrypt. As well they might, since the MSN website was downloading the program through malicious ads for a while.

Cheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…

Cheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…

By Larry Cafiero on October 30, 2015 |

Community, Hardware and Software

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.

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:

A Miracle Comes to Linux

A Miracle Comes to Linux

By Ken Starks on October 27, 2015 |

Community

His name is Morgan, but it hasn’t always been his name. What it was before doesn’t legally matter any longer. What does matter, to us, is the concentric circles by which “Morgan” arrived…came to be. Morgan doesn’t know any better. Many metaphors of consciousness can be applied, but for Morgan, your arguments on his condition fall outside of his realm of concern. Morgan is Morgan, and what Morgan does in the present is all that matters. What might have been his reality, to you, before “the incident,” is simply pabulum to Morgan. To Morgan, you are children trying to complete a puzzle with missing key pieces. You amuse him.

SF Hosts AnsibleFest Nov. 19

By Larry Cafiero on October 26, 2015 |

Business and Software

It has been a busy couple of weeks for Ansible, a provider of powerful automation solutions designed to help enterprises move toward frictionless IT.

First, Red Hat acquires Ansible two weeks ago, which is both no small feat and a coup for the folks in Raleigh. The acquisition was a smart, yet expected, move: It marries Ansible’s ease of automation to the wide portfolio of Red Hat clientele, driving down the cost and complexity of deploying and managing both cloud-native and traditional applications across hybrid cloud environments. In short, by writing a check, Red Hat expanded its leadership in hybrid cloud management.

In addition, related to the purchase or not, Ansible has also started getting some traction at this week’s OpenStack Summit in Tokyo this week, and as that show progresses we will see where Red Hat will guide its new acquisition.

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.

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.

Saying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next Year

Saying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next Year

By Christine Hall on October 22, 2015 |

Community, News and Software

The 2015 edition of the Raleigh based open source conference, All Things Open (ATO), is now one for the history books. It’s also one for the record books.

We knew going in there would be a record number of speakers this year — 131 according to a count on the ATO website — and we learned on our way out — at the closing ceremonies — that this year’s attendance topped 1,700, much more than last year and nearly doubling the attendance from the first ATO in 2013. Todd Lewis, the master of ceremonies for the event — his official title, chairperson, doesn’t begin to describe what he does — said that next year they’re aiming for 2,500, a number they probably have a good chance of hitting.

The odd thing was that if you didn’t know that attendance was up, you might’ve thought that the numbers were actually going down.

Pitching Microsoft to a Linux Crowd

Pitching Microsoft to a Linux Crowd

By Christine Hall on October 21, 2015 |

Business and News

On Monday, in Red Hat’s backyard at All Things Open in Raleigh, word was that Microsoft representatives were saying an “important” announcement would be made at Tuesday morning’s keynote address by Mark Russinovich, CTO for Microsoft Azure. I was expecting something earth shattering, like maybe Redmond was going to port Office to Linux, or that Red Hat and MS were going to get together on some major project.

It was nothing like that. But it was pretty big, given Redmond’s history with open source.

Evidently, the news was that the company is looking for more than a few good men and women who know their way around open source software. I use the word “evidently,” because the announcement was made rather subtly and without fanfare near the end of the keynote. It was slipped in as just another note in a talk about how Microsoft is serious about becoming a good open source citizen.

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.

The 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.

Going Gonzo at ‘All Things Open’

By Christine Hall on October 20, 2015 |

Community

“Footballs in a basketball state,” I said wryly, looking down on a guy who was sitting across the table, absently playing with some small swag footballs imprinted with a company logo.

He didn’t catch my drift.

“What?”

“This is a basketball state,” I explained.

“You’re right!” He seemed as if this had just dawned on him.

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October’s Top Ten

Cheap Linux Laptops, Best Video Editors & More…

FOSS Week in Review

Solved: The Case of the Missing SteamOS Icons

A Miracle Comes to Linux

SF Hosts AnsibleFest Nov. 19

Ubucon Slated for SCALE 14X, Bassel Offered MIT Job & More…

FOSS Week in Review

Saying Goodbye to ‘All Things Open’ Until Next Year

Pitching Microsoft to a Linux Crowd

Ubuntu MATE’s Martin Wimpress Talks Raspberry Pi & FOSS

The FOSS Force Interview

Going Gonzo at ‘All Things Open’