These are the ten most read articles on FOSS Force for the month of March, 2017.
FOSS Force
It appears the people developing Libreboot have done some of the hard work necessary to fix potentially toxic personal dynamics after last year’s controversy, when the project removed itself from the FSF and GNU.
You may remember, back in September FOSS Force reported that the open source project Libreboot announced it was withdrawing from the Free Software Foundation and the GNU Project. Libreboot, which produces free, open source and blob-free software to replace proprietary BIOS firmware, had been endorsed by the FSF and became an official GNU project on May 14. The final removal of the project from GNU was made official in a public email from Richard Stallman on January 5.
Not so long ago, when we mentioned “open source,” we were nearly always talking about software. These days, open source can refer to almost anything — like this affordable DIY robot from “Cheap Arm Project.”
The Screening Room
When someone creates a new GitHub repository for a project that could help people around the world extend the reach of their limbs, I get a lump in my throat. The YouTube description of this open source hardware/software project describes the project in much better ways than I ever could.
“The video shows first design of teleoperated mobile robotic manipulator produced in the Cheap Arm Project (CHAP). It costs less than $2,000, uses easily available parts and can be assembled by anybody with basic technical skills. The manipulator can reach objects from floor-level up to shelves at a height of 170cm using a new low-cost arm design. Teleoperation is done using a tablet, smartphone or browser. The cost could be further reduced by using different servomotors. The design and assembly instructions are made available on the open-source repository GitHub, with the hope that the community will build and improve the design.
After stirring up a ruckus by using words like “restrictive” and “virus” to describe the GPL in a Linux.com article, the Linux Foundation responds by quietly removing the post from the website.
The Linux Foundation has no respect for FOSS. Nor does it seem care about any users of Linux who aren’t connected with the enterprise. It’s been that way since the beginning. It now appears that the Foundation also has little respect for the GPL…you know, Linux’s license. Nor does it appear to be much of a believer in the notion of transparency.
Music written and created entirely using the FOSS apps Lilypond and Linux Multimedia Studio. Nothing else could be so beautiful, we think.
The Screening Room
Open source music software never seems to get the attention it deserves, so I was delighted to see this YouTube video created using GNU Lilypond.
Six more episodes before the popular Linux podcast, Linux Action Show, ends its nearly 11-year run in a live broadcast from LinuxFest Northwest.
Media
Jupiter Broadcasting’s long-running podcast, Linux Action Show, will soon be signing off the air…er, fiber cable, for the last time. The show first streamed on June 10, 2006 and was hosted by “Linux Tycoon” Bryan Lunduke and Jupiter Broadcasting founder Chris Fisher. Lunduke left the show in 2012, replaced by Matt Hartley, who served as co-host for about three years. The show is currently hosted by Fisher and Noah Chelliah, president of Altispeed, an open source technology company located in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Much open source software is being developed to help improve conditions throughout the world, such as this software developed by CURE International.
The Screening Room
When open source software is used for global health and global relief work, its benefits shine bright. The benefits of open source become very clear when human health and human lives are on the line. In this YouTube video, hear Harrisburg, Pennsylvania software developer Joel Worrall explain about HospitalRun software – open source cloud-based software used at developing world healthcare facilities.
When you move from “that other operating system” to Linux, you’re going to find that in most ways you’ll be in familiar territory. However, that’s not always the case. We sometimes do things a little differently around here.
If you’re making the move from Windows or Mac (or even from Android or iOS), welcome to our world.
These days, using Linux for doing everyday computer tasks isn’t that much different than using other operating systems — meaning the learning curve is only slight. In fact, my colleague Phil Shapiro works at a library that uses Linux on the computers its patrons use and says that hardly anyone even notices they’re not using Windows. It’s that easy.
However, there are some things about using Linux that are quite a bit different — and we think better — than with the other brands. Here’s a brief heads up on some things that might be good for you to know before you cross the bridge from you-don’t-realy-own-it Windows to free-open-and-yours Linux.
We certainly hope that FedEx shows more concern over the safety of its drivers and pilots than it shows to customers wanting to order printing online.
FedEx is making you an offer you can’t afford to accept. It’s offering to give you $5 (actually, it’s a discount on orders over $30) if you’ll just install Adobe Flash on your machine.
Open source driving a single wheel. Now, that’s a balancing act. Look at this open source unicycle motor.
The Screening Room
My open source buddy Kevin Cole, who lives in Washington DC and shows up to just about every tech event in the DC-area, loves riding a unicycle. So when I spotted this new YouTube video about an open source unicycle motor, a broad smile crossed my face.