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FOSS Force

Random Thoughts, Cheap Shots, Bon Mots…

By Larry Cafiero on September 3, 2014 |

Distros, Humor, Internet and Operating Systems

Random Thoughts, Cheap Shots, Bon Mots…Ruth Suehle of Red Hat

To say that things are going at breakneck speed in the FOSS world –- so much so that it’s hard to keep track of –- well, that would be a lie. However, there are a few things that popped up on the proverbial radar over the past week…

Ruth Suehle added to Ohio LinuxFest keynoter lineup: Yep, the Raspberry Pi queen and ruler of all she surveys in the realm of Red Hat’s Open Source and Standards group, Ruth has joined the list of keynoters for the October event in Columbus. Ruth participates in the Fedora Project and is co-author of “Raspberry Pi Hacks” (written with fellow Red Hatter Tom Callaway). She also leads discussions about open source principles at opensource.com, and serves as a senior editor at GeekMom.com.

Ruth Suehle of Red Hat
Red Hat’s Ruth Suehle to keynote at Ohio LinuxFest.
Chances are that if you’ve ever been to a major Linux/FOSS conference –- or a major sci-fi/anime con –- you’ve probably heard Ruth speak. She joins Jon “maddog” Hall and fellow FOSS Force correspondent Ken Starks as OLF keynoters. Ohio LinuxFest will be held at the Greater Columbus Convention Center on October 24-25.

Linus being Linus: No shrinking violet by anyone’s standards, Linus Torvalds addressed the wider Debian community on Sunday at Debconf in Portland, and his talk had people agreeing and disagreeing, sometimes simultaneously.

Continue readingRandom Thoughts, Cheap Shots, Bon Mots…

How Many Linux Distros Are On the Top Ten?

By Christine Hall on September 3, 2014 |

Desktops, Distros and Operating Systems

There’s been a lot of talk recently about the number of GNU/Linux distros there are out in the wild. This is nothing new, as this has been an ongoing discussion among Linux users for at least as long as I’ve been using Linux.

In a nutshell, in case you’re new to the Linux world, some say that the overabundance of Linux distros is overkill, that it weakens the development by spreading developers out on the various distros when they could be focused on just one or two key distros. Those in this camp also claim that the huge number of distros also confuses the public, thereby acting as a roadblock to desktop Linux’s growth.

On the other side of the fence, there are people who claim that the choices offered by the numerous distros are actually good for Linux, that the plethora of distros means that users can find an implementation of Linux that’s just right for them.

I’m in the latter camp, but that’s neither here nor there. No matter which side of the fence you sit, there’s actually not nearly so many distros as there may seem.

Continue readingHow Many Linux Distros Are On the Top Ten?
Reflections On the Day

Reflections On the Day

By Ken Starks on September 2, 2014 |

Humor

I have not paid attention to my birthday for over 30 years.

Personally, I think it’s a bit arrogant of me to put any significance on this random day or to even acknowledge it as anything other than just another day. I don’t think this way about other people’s birthdays. I celebrate with them on their special days. It’s just that on my birthday I would just as soon go about my bid’ness like I did yesterday or the day before.

Something has changed about the way I look at birthdays now. I’ve often said that the only reason humans “invented” time was to mark the progress of our inevitable demise or, in my case, proximity to almost passing.

Continue readingReflections On the Day
The Trouble With AndroidAndroid logo

The Trouble With Android

By Christine Hall on September 1, 2014 |

Business, Mobile and Operating Systems

I hope there are no marketers in heaven, who create demand for profit while claiming they’re only “giving the public what they want.”

What would you do if you were offered a choice between a carrot or a bar of candy? I don’t know about you, but I’m taking the candy, even though I definitely really, really need the carrot’s vitamins, roughage and other goodness and don’t need the candy at all. But if you were to sit a carrot next to me, it probably wouldn’t get eaten — ever. Set a candy bar down next to me, however, and I’ll resist it for all of five minutes.

Android logoSo why wouldn’t I eat the carrot? Because candy bars are too easy to come by. So are burgers, fries and shakes. They all feed unhealthy addictions and creating addictions, then feeding them, is central to our economy and is what keeps the fat cats fat. Even though I know this, I’ll grab the candy bar, the Little Debbie’s Zebra Cake or the “all the way” cheeseburger when what I really need is a pear or an apple.

Again, given the choice between a carrot or candy, a nice gooey chocolate bar perhaps, which would you choose? I’m betting that most of you are like me.

Continue readingThe Trouble With Android

Did Red Hat’s CTO Walk – Or Was He Pushed?

By Christine Hall on August 29, 2014 |

Business, Distros and News

Brian Stevens formerly of Red HatIt’s hard to believe the official story coming out of Raleigh, that CTO Brian Stevens abruptly resigned his position at Red Hat on Wednesday “to pursue another opportunity.” The company is being mainly mum on the subject, only offering a terse three sentence announcement on their website.

Red Hat seems to want us to believe Stevens left on his own in pursuit of the American dream. Maybe, maybe not. From the way the story has unfolded, it seems highly unlikely that Stevens’ decision to leave was entirely his.

ZDNet’s Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is a North Carolina resident who usually has a pretty good idea of the happenings within Red Hat’s Raleigh headquarters. In his initial report on this story, he seems to have been as surprised by this move as anyone else.

Continue readingDid Red Hat’s CTO Walk – Or Was He Pushed?
It’s All Linux Under the Hood

It’s All Linux Under the Hood

By Christine Hall on August 28, 2014 |

Desktops, Operating Systems and Software

The user base for Linux has changed dramatically over the past five years or so, which is yet another sign that the OS is gaining traction on the desktop.

Twelve years ago, when I first started using Linux, about the only people firing up the penguin to accomplish day to day chores were hard core technological geeks. The command line ruled, so much so that many Linux users knew more bash commands than words in their native languages.

Back then, most Linux users were drawn to the operating system precisely because it wasn’t dumbed down and because it put incredible power and stability at their fingertips. Linux was first and foremost a command line operating system. Even a newbie friendly distro such as Mandrake was going to require the occasional opening of a terminal to do some down and dirty work on a text screen.

Continue readingIt’s All Linux Under the Hood
Tux Paint: Doing FOSS RightTux Paint screenshot

Tux Paint: Doing FOSS Right

By Larry Cafiero on August 27, 2014 |

News, Reviews and Software

One could argue that the measure of how good software is, or what kind of effect it has on the wider world, can be based on the hard statistics of use, punctuated by glowing reviews, which add up to ongoing popularity and ubiquity. But the true impact of how software transcends mere popularity to positively change the world can be measured solely in how it affects people’s lives.

The journalist in me could give you just the specifics of the new Tux Paint release: Tux Paint 0.9.22 was released this week, thanks to the efforts of 170 contributors worldwide. This new version comes with a wide range of additions, like 14 new tools, 40 new template pictures, nearly 200 new stamps, SVG and KidPix support, an enhanced text tool, and accessibility improvements.

Tux Paint version 0.9.22, released last week, contains many improvements.
Tux Paint version 0.9.22, released last week, contains many improvements.
Or I could go into the expansion of 32 new languages featured in the latest release, including more than a dozen Indian subcontinental languages, including Nepali and Sanskrit; six European languages, including Bosnian and Valencian; nine new African languages, including Zulu and Sudanese; and the Canadian Inuit language of Inuktitut. This is 32 new languages atop the updates to the 90 current Tux Paint languages.

Of course, Tux Paint 0.9.22 also is available for multiple operating systems, including the usual suspects of Linux, MacOS, and Windows.

Continue readingTux Paint: Doing FOSS Right
When Distros Go Southoops, wrong distro

When Distros Go South

By Ken Starks on August 26, 2014 |

Distros and Operating Systems

While reading my email and catching up with Google+ posts this morning, I happened upon an article by Jim Lynch. I enjoy Jim’s writing and this morning’s offering didn’t disappoint. The opening of the article announced the contents succinctly:

“In today’s open source roundup: Is the systemd controversy a battle of the old versus the young? Plus: Which Linux distros do you consider innovative? And a journalist spends a week using Ubuntu’s Unity desktop.”

Which Linux distros do you consider innovative?

A lot of them actually.

Continue readingWhen Distros Go South
Don’t Fret Linus, Desktop Linux Will Slowly Gain TractionLinux Torvalds

Don’t Fret Linus, Desktop Linux Will Slowly Gain Traction

By Christine Hall on August 25, 2014 |

Operating Systems, Software and Web Apps

When Linus Torvalds was asked last week at LinuxCon where he’d like to see Linux excel next, he replied, “I still want the desktop.”

I nearly stood up an cheered when I read this, here in my house nearly 700 miles from the conference. That is until I became confused by what he said next.

“The challenge on the desktop is not a kernel problem. It’s a whole infrastructure problem. I think we’ll get there one day.”

Linux Torvalds
Linus Torvalds at LinuxCon 2011 in São Paulo, Brazil
Photo by Beraldo Leal from Natal / RN, Brazil.
What? What challenge?

Of course there’s not a kernel problem. From where I sit, there’s not a GNU problem either. I’ve been using Mint with Xfce for a while now and I find it better than any version of Windows I’ve ever used, many times over. Other than needing a little polishing with some distros, there’s no problem whatsoever with the penguin. Desktop Linux is only the best there is.

However, if by “infrastructure problem” he means that consumers can’t rush down to the local Best Buy store and pick a new computer off the shelf that’s already been loaded with a carefully configured Linux distro, I agree. That is a problem. Right now, it’s the only thing keeping Linux from having decent user share. But I’m pretty darn sure that’s getting ready to change.

Continue readingDon’t Fret Linus, Desktop Linux Will Slowly Gain Traction
Ken Starks to Keynote At Ohio LinuxFest

Ken Starks to Keynote At Ohio LinuxFest

By Christine Hall on August 21, 2014 |

News, Operating Systems and Software

Holy moley! Our Ken Starks is going to keynote at Ohio LinuxFest (OLF) and I almost forgot.

Ken had mentioned this in a email a few months back, I believe, but I’d put it on a back burner, where it fell off and landed hidden behind the stove. If Larry Cafiero, better known as the free software and CrunchBang guy, hadn’t made mention of the fact on Google+ the other day, I probably wouldn’t’ve remembered until it was way too late.

ken_starksAs most FOSS Force readers probably already know, Ken’s articles here and on his own Blog of Helios are only a small part of what he does. He’s one of those too rare people who works to make a difference in this world and he does so by leveraging the power of Linux and free and open source software for the greater good.

As the founder of the Reglue project (originally called Helios), he’s responsible for putting refurbished computers in the hands of financially challenged students in and around the Austin, Texas area where he resides. Over the years there have been thousands of these students and many of them, given Reglue computers while in middle or high school, have gone on to not only earn undergraduate degrees, but to attend graduate school as well — often studying computer science.

It’s his work at Reglue, of course, that’s responsible for Ken being invited to OLF. Wanting to know more, I fired off a list of questions in an email in the form of an interview. As usual, Ken was very giving of his time and put much thought into his answers.

Continue readingKen Starks to Keynote At Ohio LinuxFest
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