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Posts tagged as “open source”

SUSE Vs Funny People Wearing Red Hats

By Christine Hall on August 29, 2017 |

Business, Humor and Video

Watching this video from SUSE, you might be excused for thinking you’re watching a trailer for a new Netflix original which looks suspiciously like “Game of Thrones.” To paraphrase an old Dodge commercial: “You can tell they’re bad guys because they all wear Red Hats.”

SUSE

Okay, it’s a funny little five minute parody of House of Thrones. But it looks to me as if SUSE has thrown down the gauntlet and is challenging Red Hat…or a bunch of medieval guys wearing red hats…to who knows what. Are the gals and guys in Germany growing a little tired of being the perennial second fiddle — or now third fiddle now that Ubuntu is in server rooms everywhere, especially in Amazon’s cloud.

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Wanted: GNU Project Maintainers — Part 2GNU XBoard

Wanted: GNU Project Maintainers — Part 2

By Isaac Carter on August 28, 2017 |

Community and Software

Want to use your skills to aid in the development and maintenance of GNU projects? Here are four more projects that could use your help.

GNU XBoard
A screenshot from XBoard, an app for playing chess and other chess-like board games. (Photo credit: GNU.org)

Carter’s Corner

This article is a continuation of my last article on GNU projects that are in current need of maintainers. When I first read about the projects GNU needed help with, I was drawn to Gnubik from my own personal love of Rubik’s Cube puzzles. I ended up liking the program and wanted to help so I reached out to the maintainer, who replied back asking about my background and letting me know where help was needed at if I was still interested. Since then, I’ve slowly been helping out where I could and enjoying learning more about the code behind the program. I’m hoping that by writing about these projects, someone will have the time and skill set to help out that wasn’t aware of these projects. I also hope that even if people can’t help out they will download the software, try them out and maybe end up like me.

Isaac Carter

In addition to hosting a Raspberry Pi meetup in Washington D.C., Isaac Carter is a co-host on mintCast. He’s also a software engineer who enjoys working with Java, JavaScript, and GNU/Linux. When he’s not coding, you can find him reading on any number of subjects or on the golf course.

Continue readingWanted: GNU Project Maintainers — Part 2
Another Behind-the-Scenes Niche Where Open Source is Winning

Another Behind-the-Scenes Niche Where Open Source is Winning

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on August 17, 2017 |

Business, Internet and Software

Hook one of these BLE babies up with facial recognition technology and we’ll be living smack dab in the middle of a Philip K. Dick novel.

(Graphic courtesy of Grid Dynamics)

Roblimo’s Hideaway

Do you spend a lot of time thinking about Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons? Unless you run a retail store, probably not. But if you do run a store (or stores) along with an e-commerce operation, BLE is a hot new thing you are either using already or thinking about using before long.

Robin "Roblimo" Miller

Robin “Roblimo” Miller is a freelance writer and former editor-in-chief at Open Source Technology Group, the company that owned SourceForge, freshmeat, Linux.com, NewsForge, ThinkGeek and Slashdot, and until recently served as a video editor at Slashdot. Now he’s mostly retired, but still works part-time as an editorial consultant for Grid Dynamics, and (obviously) writes for FOSS Force.

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Wanted: GNU Project Maintainersprogramming code GNU Linux

Wanted: GNU Project Maintainers

By Isaac Carter on August 14, 2017 |

Software

Would you like to give Linux a boost by contributing your coding skills in the service of a GNU project? Here’s a partial list of some projects that are looking for a little help.

programming code GNU Linux

Carter’s Corner

While the GNU Project does have some high priority areas that need help, there are currently a list of GNU packages that are needing immediate assistance in keep them maintained. This article is going to cover a little about the purpose of each project, what makes up the project and how to get in touch with that project. I’m only going to touch on half the list this week and cover the rest of the list in the next article. I’m hoping that by writing about these packages, people will be able to contribute some much needed help.

Isaac Carter

In addition to hosting a Raspberry Pi meetup in Washington D.C., Isaac Carter is a co-host on mintCast. He’s also a software engineer who enjoys working with Java, JavaScript, and GNU/Linux. When he’s not coding, you can find him reading on any number of subjects or on the golf course.

Continue readingWanted: GNU Project Maintainers
Where in Hell Has FOSS Force Been?blindfold blind FOSS Force

Where in Hell Has FOSS Force Been?

By Christine Hall on August 6, 2017 |

Site News

We promise you that FOSS Force hasn’t deserted you. We’ve just been making a few adjustments.

blindfold blind FOSS Force

You might have noticed that we’ve pretty much been missing in action since the first of May. Roblimo’s been here, when he can. So has the “Mr. Rogers of open source” — that would be Phil Shapiro — who never takes a negative viewpoint when there’s a positive to be found. But me? I’ve been completely out-of-the-loop. The last time I wrote anything for FOSS Force was back on May 11.

What the heck happened? A couple of things, starting with blindness.

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 readingWhere in Hell Has FOSS Force Been?
The Many Loves of Richard M. Stallman

The Many Loves of Richard M. Stallman

By Robin "Roblimo" Miller on July 13, 2017 |

Community and Humor

RMS Stallman

Here’s a blast from the past. A tale about RMS from back in the days when Roblimo was young — younger than he is now at least — and Stallman was…well, Stallman.

Roblimo’s Hideaway

This is a true story about something that happened at a Department of Commerce treaty hearing in Washington D.C., the kind of event that gets (nearly) zero press even though it’s important. In fact, I was the only reporter there, covering it for Linux.com because some of the proposed treaty language had to do with software patents and licensing — and also because two people I knew were testifying, namely Jamie Love and Richard M. Stallman.

Robin "Roblimo" Miller

Robin “Roblimo” Miller is a freelance writer and former editor-in-chief at Open Source Technology Group, the company that owned SourceForge, freshmeat, Linux.com, NewsForge, ThinkGeek and Slashdot, and until recently served as a video editor at Slashdot. Now he’s mostly retired, but still works part-time as an editorial consultant for Grid Dynamics, and (obviously) writes for FOSS Force.

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Why Is Open Source Important to You?

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…”

Phil Shapiro

For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.

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Should the Fair License Replace the GPL?fair license gpl

Should the Fair License Replace the GPL?

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

Copyright

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.”

fair license gpl

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?

Robin "Roblimo" Miller

Robin “Roblimo” Miller is a freelance writer and former editor-in-chief at Open Source Technology Group, the company that owned SourceForge, freshmeat, Linux.com, NewsForge, ThinkGeek and Slashdot, and until recently served as a video editor at Slashdot. Now he’s mostly retired, but still works part-time as an editorial consultant for Grid Dynamics, and (obviously) writes for FOSS Force.

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An Ode to the Coming of the 4K Boardgramophone

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.

gramophone
Pixabay

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.

Phil Shapiro

For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.

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‘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.

Phil Shapiro

For the past 10 years, Phil has been working at a public library in the Washington D.C.-area, helping youth and adults use the 28 public Linux stations the library offers seven days a week. He also writes for MAKE magazine, Opensource.com and TechSoup Libraries. Suggest videos by contacting Phil on Twitter or at pshapiro@his.com.

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