FOSS Force

Why Is Open Source Important to You?

By Phil Shapiro on July 11, 2017 |

Community and Video

While watching this video called “Why Is Open Source Important to Us,” we suddenly found ourselves wondering why it’s important to you.

By Johannes Spielhagen, Bamberg, Germany
[CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

The Screening Room

Interesting comments from people working the open source way at Liferay.

Liferay is a CMS used for intranets, portals, etc.

“Anytime I want to learn something new, open source actually makes that available to you… By contributing, you put yourself out there and you give other people the opportunity to help you grow…”

Should the Fair License Replace the GPL?

Should the Fair License Replace the GPL?

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on July 6, 2017 |

It seems to us that enterprises have adopted “permissive” licenses because they see them as a way to “have their cake and eat it too.”

Roblimo’s Hideaway

The GPL has many good points, as well as restrictions that make it unappealing to many commercial software producers and users. Plus, over the years, it has accumulated tons of political baggage only marginally related to its utility as a software license. So should we consider the Fair License as a possible replacement? And, whether we like it or not, are permissive licenses — like the Fair License, BSD License, and MIT License taking over anyway?

An Ode to the Coming of the 4K Board

An Ode to the Coming of the 4K Board

By Phil Shapiro on July 4, 2017 |

Hardware, Humor and Video

Our irrepressible Phil Shapiro thought you might like to hear something on the Fourth that isn’t a national anthem or the 1812 Overture. And who knew he could sing or play an instrument? We’re considering renaming his column, The Penguinista Minstrel.

The Screening Room

Every jump in computer resolution technology brings with it a cornucopia of new creative and business opportunities. When I noticed recently that an affordable 4K hobby computer board was being launched on Kickstarter, I felt moved to compose this song — Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the 4K Board.

‘Meeting for Good’ – Schedule Meetings in Multiple Time Zones

By Phil Shapiro on June 20, 2017 |

Community, Tutorial and Video

The Screening Room

One of the great joys of open source is that it can unite geographically dispersed people to work together on software and other projects. This often happens asynchronously, via email and other tools. However, sometimes there are real benefits to having a live meeting. When that happens, keeping track of people’s availability in different time zones becomes a challenge.

Let’s Search Random Computers for Porn! Without a Warrant!

Let’s Search Random Computers for Porn! Without a Warrant!

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on June 14, 2017 |

Politics and Security

The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to protect you from warrantless searches by computer repair people and they’re looking for your help.

Roblimo’s Hideaway

Warrant? Hah! Did John Wayne ever get a warrant? Fourth Amendment, you say? We don’t need no stinking amendments around here. We’re Geek Squad and we’re on the side of THE LAW, so if we find anything illegal on your computer and hand it to the FBI, you have no right to complain, pilgrim, and we deserve a reward!

Caleb Hawkins Talks Music & Open Source

By Phil Shapiro on June 13, 2017 |

Community

The Screening Room

Open source attracts some of the most wonderfully creative people. I learned this when video interviewing a longtime open source buddy of mine, Caleb Hawkins, a singer/songwriter in Indianapolis, Indiana. I met Caleb online via our shared interest in the Inkscape vector drawing program. Only after I met him did I learn of the neat ways he uses other open source programs, such as Audacity and Ardour. Meet Caleb in this video interview.

The Spirit of Open Source

By Phil Shapiro on May 23, 2017 |

Video

The spirit of open source can be found all around us in the world. Just look for it, and you’ll find it.

The Screening Room

This evening when I spotted this music video on YouTube, my immediate reaction was — “That’s a song about open source!”

Jono Bacon Asked Google Home ‘Who Founded Linux?’ You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!

Jono Bacon Asked Google Home ‘Who Founded Linux?’ You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!

By FOSS Force on May 20, 2017 |

Community, Reviews and Video

Excuse the hyperbole, but we’ve always wanted to use a click-baity sort of headline — just to see if they work. That being said, we’re not going to spoil the fun. To find the answer, you’re going to have to watch the video. Don’t worry, however — bad things rarely happen when Linux is involved.

The Screening Room

We found this short eight minute video quite by accident while searching through the FOSS Force News Wire looking for something else. In it, we find the well known open source community manager, Jono Bacon, at home, apparently alone and in his kitchen, recording himself as he plays with his newly acquired Google Home device. This surprised us, as we didn’t know he actually had a home. It seemed to us he spends all of his time in his office, and we figured he lived there. We were also surprised to find him alone. A community manager, we figured, is absolutely always surrounded by his community.

Imagine an Android Phone Without Linux Inside

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on May 18, 2017 |

Mobile, Operating Systems and Software

Google has plans to replace Linux-based Android with its own built-from-scratch operating system, Fuchsia. Why? Mainly, it seems, to get away from the GPL.

Roblimo’s Hideaway

Google Fuchsia first saw the light of day in the summer of 2016 as an unannounced bit of code posted on GitHub. Now, in May 2017, the word is being spread by so many tech news outlets that we don’t have room to list them all.

Why Do You Choose Open Source?

By Phil Shapiro on May 17, 2017 |

Video

The Screening Room

Conference keynote speeches can unify attendees around ideals or principles that cut
across a broad swath of a particular field. Such was Chris Aedo’s recent OSCON keynote, which he summarizes in this short interview video. Chris works as the program manager, developer advocacy for IBM. OSCON is the annual O’Reilly Open Source conference. currently held in Austin, Texas..

SCaLE 23X

HPSF Conference 2026 (High Performance Software Foundation)

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026

All Things AI

SUSECON 2026

Why Is Open Source Important to You?

While watching this video called “Why Is Open Source Important to Us,” we suddenly found ourselves wondering why it’s important to you.

The Screening Room

Should the Fair License Replace the GPL?

It seems to us that enterprises have adopted “permissive” licenses because they see them as a way to “have their cake and eat it too.”

Roblimo’s Hideaway

An Ode to the Coming of the 4K Board

Our irrepressible Phil Shapiro thought you might like to hear something on the Fourth that isn’t a national anthem or the 1812 Overture. And who knew he could sing or play an instrument? We’re considering renaming his column, The Penguinista Minstrel.

The Screening Room

‘Meeting for Good’ – Schedule Meetings in Multiple Time Zones

The Screening Room

Let’s Search Random Computers for Porn! Without a Warrant!

The Electronic Frontier Foundation wants to protect you from warrantless searches by computer repair people and they’re looking for your help.

Roblimo’s Hideaway

Caleb Hawkins Talks Music & Open Source

The Screening Room

The Spirit of Open Source

The spirit of open source can be found all around us in the world. Just look for it, and you’ll find it.

The Screening Room

Jono Bacon Asked Google Home ‘Who Founded Linux?’ You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!

The Screening Room

Imagine an Android Phone Without Linux Inside

Google has plans to replace Linux-based Android with its own built-from-scratch operating system, Fuchsia. Why? Mainly, it seems, to get away from the GPL.

Roblimo’s Hideaway

Why Do You Choose Open Source?

The Screening Room