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Posts tagged as “Linux”

On Reglue & Ken’s Kids…

By Christine Hall on November 18, 2014 |

Community

I knew about Ken Starks long before he began writing for us about a year ago. In fact, I knew about him long before FOSS Force even existed. I knew about him from reading his Blog of Helios. I also knew about the important work he does, through his nonprofit Reglue project, getting Linux computers into the hands of school aged children in the Austin area, children who’s parents can’t afford computers because they’re having enough trouble keeping beans on the table and warm coats on their kid’s backs.

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During the last year, since Ken’s been part of our team here, I’ve come to know Ken personally, and he’s everything he seems to be. He’s gruff, a little rough around the edges (with plenty of edges) and has a gigantic heart. I wouldn’t change a thing about him. Those edges and his big heart define who he is and without them Ken wouldn’t be Ken — and the world would be poorer for it.

Continue readingOn Reglue & Ken’s Kids…
Dwight Merriman Part III: Vendor Lock, Forks & Desktop FOSSMongoDB Dwight Merriman ATO

Dwight Merriman Part III: Vendor Lock, Forks & Desktop FOSS

By Christine Hall on November 17, 2014 |

Business, Copyright and Software

Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three part series focusing on an interview with Dwight Merriman, co-founder of MongoDB. Part one was published last Monday as From DoubleClick to Database. Part two was published on Wednesday as Why MongoDB Embraces Open Source.

MongoDB’s Dwight Merriman and I were about thirty minutes into our conversation at All Things Open. Lunch time was approaching and I was definitely hungry. Merriman was getting a little antsy, ready to wrap it up, but there were a few more things I wanted to talk about first.

MongoDB Dwight Merriman ATO
MongoDB co-founder Dwight Merriman giving his keynote address at this year’s ATO conference.
Click to enlarge
“You said something today in your keynote address that I’d never thought about and it resonated with me,” I said. “A lot of our readers are users of open source, but not necessarily developers, not necessarily involved in the business end of open source. They run Linux. They maybe have a website or two — something along those lines.

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“You mentioned how much easier it is putting together a project with open source because you can take from here and there. You talked about modularity. I’m thinking that’s not a lot different than the Linux home user who’s using modules and just doesn’t think of it in that way. He’s got his operating system, he’s got his word processor, he’s got his spreadsheet program…”

There really wasn’t a question here, just an idea to throw out for comment.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingDwight Merriman Part III: Vendor Lock, Forks & Desktop FOSS
Enhancing Education With FOSSNo Microsoft Allowed

Enhancing Education With FOSS

By Ken Starks on November 11, 2014 |

Community and Operating Systems

There are no profound revelations here…at least not in this post. It just serves to reinforce something we already know.

When we go into a home to give a child a computer, one of the first things we do is explain to them that we have installed Linux on their computer, not Windows. This announcement is usually met with blank stares or shrugs. They don’t care. They are just jacked that they are finally entering into the tech age at home.

The Windows CrowdMost times, any concern expressed is coming from the parent. Of course it would be. Their minds are locked into doing things one way.

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We often address this concern quickly. Once we boot the computer, the machine becomes the realm of the child and aside from parental controls, the machine belongs to the child. We explain that explicitly. If the child had any qualms about what Linux is, they evaporate once we start the computer and click the applications menu.

Our custom distro, based on Linux Mint 17 KDE LTS, is a playground completely filled with learning opportunities. Many of the applications were taken from standard Linux educational apps available from the regular repositories. The 3.3 gig ISO file produces a live cd/install disk which not only provides hours of entertainment, it includes educational software that meets most any academic need the child will encounter. Many of our kids, however, are at the age where they like to play simple games. We’ve provided an abundant environment for that.

Ken Starks

Ken Starks is the founder of the Helios Project and Reglue, which for 20 years provided refurbished older computers running Linux to disadvantaged school kids, as well as providing digital help for senior citizens, in the Austin, Texas area. He was a columnist for FOSS Force from 2013-2016, and remains part of our family. Follow him on Twitter: @Reglue

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
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Linux Distros & the ‘Except When We Don’t’ Syndrome

Linux Distros & the ‘Except When We Don’t’ Syndrome

By Christine Hall on November 5, 2014 |

Community, Distros and Operating Systems

When my colleague Ken Starks wrote on FOSS Force the other day about his gripe with Linux Mint’s handling of updates, I was a little amused because I had just dealt with this issue during the recent Bash crisis. I run Mint Maya with Xfce and I expected to find the Bash fix in Synaptic, but it wasn’t there. When I eventually found the update manager, I actually quite liked the set up. Having system updates easily available seemed to make sense and I liked the design. Like many things in tech, it turns out that the design was a little accidental, the result of a conflict necessitating the removal of the system update functions from Synaptic. But it works. I kind of like it.

Linux Mint logoIt also seems to fit with one of the underlying philosophies of the distro. Mint is famous for being a desktop that anybody can use. Updates on the dash is a concept which a new-to-Linux Windows’ user can understand, maybe even without having to go to the forums for help — and a piece of cake for experienced free software users. In my case, the only problem I had is that I misunderstood the severity numbering scheme, figuring one to be most severe instead of the least, but I easily managed to patch and update my system.

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I was impressed — which is why I was amused by Ken’s consternation.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingLinux Distros & the ‘Except When We Don’t’ Syndrome
Video: Ken Starks’ & Ruth Suehle’s Keynotes at OLF

Video: Ken Starks’ & Ruth Suehle’s Keynotes at OLF

By FOSS Force on November 3, 2014 |

Community, Hardware, Operating Systems and Software

Here at FOSS Force we’re proud to be associated with Ken Starks. We’re proud because of the great articles he writes advocating Linux. We’re also extremely proud that he was chosen to be a keynote speaker at this year’s Ohio LinuxFest. But most of all, we’re proud because of his big heart, which he expresses through his work through Reglue, the nonprofit he founded in 2005 to give Linux computers, and training on how to use them, to financially disadvantaged school children in and around the Austin, Texas area where he lives.

Indeed, it’s this last aspect that was honored at Ohio LinuxFest, and the work Ken does with his “Reglue kids” was his focus during his time spent behind the podium. He called his presentation “Deleting The Digital Divide One Computer at a Time.”

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Lucky for us, his friend Randy Noseworthy put together a video of the presentation, which we’re happy to be able to offer here. We’re certain you’ll find it as inspiring as we do.

Continue readingVideo: Ken Starks’ & Ruth Suehle’s Keynotes at OLF
The Wide World of Canonical

The Wide World of Canonical

By Larry Cafiero on October 31, 2014 |

Business, Distros and Operating Systems

Last week, I wrote an item that mentioned that the original Ars Technica article on 10 years of Ubuntu, since rightfully edited to delete the number of countries under the sphere of Ubuntu’s influence, briefly reflected the following irksome claim:

“Today, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, estimates that there are 25 million Ubuntu users worldwide. Those users span 240 countries…”

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Numbers: They may not be Canonical’s strongest suit.

I don’t blame Ars Technica for originally posting it because it’s a common claim by our friends from the Isle of Man. Also, I give Ars Technica all the credit in the world for going back and fixing it. But for the last week, it bothered me that Canonical might continue to make such a claim, knowing full well that they had erred.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingThe Wide World of Canonical
‘Hello World’s’ Indiegogo Campaign a Big SuccessHello World Nielson

‘Hello World’s’ Indiegogo Campaign a Big Success

By Christine Hall on October 29, 2014 |

Community and Media

It’s all over for Hello World’s fundraising campaign on Indiegogo — and what a success it was.

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You may remember that the project, which makes short educational videos on Linux and other tech subjects, began a crowdsourcing campaign on September 10th, hoping to raise $2,048 needed to purchase new equipment. On October 9th we reported that the project had exceeded its goal, with a total at that time of $3,145. The campaign ended nine days ago, on October 20th, with the total raised at $3,705 or 181 percent of the target.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue reading‘Hello World’s’ Indiegogo Campaign a Big Success
Looking Ahead at Upcoming FOSS Events

Looking Ahead at Upcoming FOSS Events

By Larry Cafiero on October 29, 2014 |

Community, Distros and Operating Systems

Now that the mega-conference week that was is in the books — Ohio LinuxFest, All Things Open and Seattle GNU/Linux Conference are all history for this year — generally the Linux/FOSS world catches its collective breath and starts thinking about shows in 2015.

But wait. There’s one more event that deserves special mention before we close out the year. For those of you who are on the BSD side of the FOSS street, Meet BSD California 2014 takes place this weekend in San Jose at the offices of Western Digital.

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Meet BSD LogoA biennial tradition in the San Francisco Bay Area, MeetBSD 2014 uses a mixed unConference format featuring both scheduled talks and community-driven events such as birds-of-a-feather meetings, lightning talks, and speed geeking sessions. MeetBSD can be traced back to a local workshop for BSD developers and users, hosted annually in Poland since 2004. Since then, MeetBSD’s popularity has spread, and it’s now widely recognized as its own conference with participants from all over the world.

Larry Cafiero

Larry Cafiero is a journalist and a Free/Open Source Software advocate and is involved in several FOSS projects. Follow him on Twitter: @lcafiero

Continue readingLooking Ahead at Upcoming FOSS Events