Press "Enter" to skip to content

FOSS Force

Poll: You Prefer Noncommercial Software

By FOSS Force on June 7, 2013 |

Internet, Politics, Polls and Software

According to our Software Preference Poll, FOSS Force visitors will use commercially developed software, especially if it’s the best software for the job, but would prefer to use community developed, noncommercial software. Absolutely none of our visitors said they’d prefer commercial software.

**If you’re finding this article useful, please consider helping us reach our absolute minimum daily goal of $86 today so our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser stays on track for May. Any amount helps.**

The poll, which ran from May 13, 2013 through 12:21 am EDT on June 7, posed the question, “Do you prefer open source software that’s commercially or community developed and distributed?” Those taking the poll were given three answers from which to make one choice:

Continue readingPoll: You Prefer Noncommercial Software
Aaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His SonJustice for Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His Son

By Christine Hall on June 6, 2013 |

Media and Politics

It’s time for me to write a very few words about Aaron Swartz.

When he died back in January, I didn’t write anything. I didn’t know him, but other writers did and they were busy grieving and sharing memories of him online and in print. The amount of love expressed for him was overwhelming.

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

I wanted to contribute my “two cents worth” to the dialog and comment on the politics that led to this young man so tragically taking his own life, but I kept quiet because I didn’t want to distract from the beautiful portrait that was being painted of him using the written word as a medium.

Continue readingAaron Swartz’ Dad Wants Justice For His Son

WordPress Jetpack Plugin – An Overview

By Christine Hall on June 4, 2013 |

Internet, Tutorial and Web Apps

A couple of years back we ran a series of articles on plugins we considered useful for running websites on the free and open source WordPress platform. Times change. Some of those plugins we still use. Some are no longer being developed. Others, we’ve had problems with and replaced. Along the way, we found some other plugins that offer new features as well. Anyway, we thought it was time to update you–especially those of you who might be contemplating cranking-up your first WordPress site.

**If you’re finding this article useful, please consider helping us meet our absolute minimum daily goal of $86 so our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser stays on track for the month of May.**
Continue readingWordPress Jetpack Plugin – An Overview

What Linux OS Is On Your Web Server?

By FOSS Force on June 2, 2013 |

Distros and Polls

Well, that’s really not the question. Most of you probably don’t have a web server. If you do, you very well might be using something that’s not on our list. There are some great distros, known to make dependable and trouble-free servers, that aren’t listed here. The most glaring omission is probably Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), considered by some to be the Cadillac of server distros.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **
Continue readingWhat Linux OS Is On Your Web Server?
FOSS Talks UEFI, Shuttleworth On M$ & More…

FOSS Talks UEFI, Shuttleworth On M$ & More…

By FOSS Force on May 31, 2013 |

Mobile, News and Web Apps

Friday FOSS Week in Review

Google drops open Talk for closed Hangouts

**If you’re finding this article useful, please consider helping us reach our absolute minimum daily goal of $86 today so our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser stays on track for May. Any amount helps.**

There’s been a lot of back-and-forth going on now that Google has announced intentions to replace Talk, the open standards supporting instant messaging service, with proprietary Hangouts. While Talk works with the XMPP industry standard which allows cross-platform use, Hangouts will be completely closed and proprietary. In other words, if you want to talk to someone on Hangouts, that person must be using Hangouts as well.

Continue readingFOSS Talks UEFI, Shuttleworth On M$ & More…

You Want Ubuntu On Your Phone Says Poll

By FOSS Force on May 30, 2013 |

Distros, Mobile and Polls

The votes have been counted and most of you want Ubuntu on your smartphones, according to our unscientific poll. This doesn’t come as a surprise, since an earlier poll showed a preference for Ubuntu on tablets as well. Not bad for an OS that’s not really available yet on those hardware platforms.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **
Continue readingYou Want Ubuntu On Your Phone Says Poll
Internet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

Internet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

By Christine Hall on May 29, 2013 |

Internet, News, Politics and Security

Every school kid knows not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Up until about 1999 or so, I thought we were being cautious and smart about this newfangled Internet thing that had us under its spell. Then there was a now forgotten news story that told me exactly how completely we were being seduced by this new technology.

**If you’re finding this article useful, please consider helping us reach our absolute minimum daily goal of $86 today so our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser stays on track for May. Any amount helps.**

Microsoft was working on a new version of Windows, Whistler I think, and it got hacked. Somebody broke into the computer they had it on and downloaded it, which was big news in the tech press but hardly anywhere else. Microsoft audited the code, attempting to make sure it hadn’t been tampered with, and found it clean. There were no trojans or back doors installed. None they found anyway.

Continue readingInternet: Basket In Which We Put All Our Eggs

When It Comes To FOSS, Who Don’t You Trust?

By FOSS Force on May 27, 2013 |

Business and Software

Some of the biggest and most important FOSS projects are controlled by big business. Rarely does corporate ownership of free and open software work out completely in the interests of the user base, since corporate owners absolutely always have an agenda of their own. However, it works out better in some cases than in others.

** If our coverage matters to you, please consider supporting our work through our FOSS Force Independence 2026 fundraiser. **
Continue readingWhen It Comes To FOSS, Who Don’t You Trust?
Microsoft Snoops In Skype, Dissed By HP & More

Microsoft Snoops In Skype, Dissed By HP & More

By FOSS Force on May 24, 2013 |

Business, Distros, Internet, Media, News and Obits

Friday FOSS Week in Review

Where has Redmond’s moxy gone?

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

It wasn’t that many years ago that even a giant OEM like HP wouldn’t dare release a non-Windows product if the device type was Windows supported. If this were five years ago and the tablet boom was in full bloom as it is now and Windows was tablet ready, as it supposedly is now, the HP brass wouldn’t even entertain the thought of releasing a tablet running anything other than Redmond’s finest OS–apps available or no.

Continue readingMicrosoft Snoops In Skype, Dissed By HP & More