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Posts tagged as “open source”

Ostatic and Archphile Are Dead

By Christine Hall on April 29, 2017 |

Community, Distros, Media and News

Ostatic and Archphile Are DeadArchphile, OStatic

OStatic ceased publication without warning or explanation in February. Archphile yesterday announced on Twitter that its “officially dead.”

Ostatic, the once popular website for news and information about Linux and open source, has disappeared from the face of the earth. Also gone, Archphile, an Arch Linux-based distro targeting audio playback quality for ARM devices.

I’ve been meaning to write about the demise of Ostatic for a month or so now, but it’s not easy to put together an article when you have absolutely no facts. I first noticed the site was gone a month or so back, when an attempt to reach it turned up one of those “this site can’t be reached” error messages. With a little checking, I was able to verify that the site has indeed gone dark, with writers for the site evidently losing access to their content without notice. Other than that, I’ve been able to find out nothing.

Continue readingOstatic and Archphile Are Dead
Libreboot Wants Back Into GNULibreboot logo

Libreboot Wants Back Into GNU

By Christine Hall on April 22, 2017 |

Community, News and Software

The Libreboot saga isn’t over yet. Now the project wants back into GNU.

Libreboot logo

Early this morning, Libreboot’s lead developer Leah Rowe posted a notice to the project’s website and a much longer post to the project’s subreddit, indicating that she would like to submit (or resubmit, it’s not clear how that would work at this point) the project to “rejoin the GNU Project.”

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 readingLibreboot Wants Back Into GNU
Bryan Lunduke Interviews Richard StallmanRichard Stallman

Bryan Lunduke Interviews Richard Stallman

By FOSS Force on April 21, 2017 |

Interview and Video

Last Friday, the Linux Tycoon (as well as the guy who’s been known to say “Linux sucks”), Bryan Lunduke, sat down for a free form interview with Richard Stallman. We figured that no dyed-in-the-wool FOSSer would want to miss that.

The Screening Room

Richard Stallman

Thanks to user friendly distros such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint, PCLOS and Mageia, the use of GNU/Linux on personal desktops and laptops has been on an uptick for the last five years or so. It occurs to us that many of those who started using Linux during this time don’t know that not only is Linux and the GNU stack great technology, it’s also supported by an underlying philosophy about software freedom that is even more important.

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Using SlideWiki for OpenCourseWare

By Phil Shapiro on April 18, 2017 |

Community, Tutorial and Video

Open source is about much more than free (as in beer and speech) software and hardware designs. It’s being harnessed to do things like bring free or affordable health care to undeveloped nations, and as the underpinning for free education.

The Screening Room

Collaborative teaching and learning can theoretically occur via a text wiki, but SlideWiki looks like it goes far beyond text wikis. This Google Hangout explains the rich feature set of SlideWiki, including machine translated versions of your digital presentations.

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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It’s Windows Time in Linux Land AgainLinux Tux smashing Windows

It’s Windows Time in Linux Land Again

By Christine Hall on April 17, 2017 |

Humor and Operating Systems

Using Windows. What a horrible thing to ask a Linux user to do.

Linux Tux smashing Windows

Every year at this time I have to scramble to boot into a Windows partition to do my taxes. I could do them online, safe and secure in my Linux comfort zone, but I do taxes for three people and all the online services want to charge extra for each and every return. If I download and install the software onto my own machine, there’s no extra charge. Trouble is, none of the big three tax programs supports Linux. Tax Act, the cheapo bottom of the barrel one that I use, doesn’t even support Mac.This means that every April I get a reminder of what a pain Windows can be.

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 readingIt’s Windows Time in Linux Land Again
The Future of Desktop UbuntuUbuntu logo

The Future of Desktop Ubuntu

By Christine Hall on April 15, 2017 |

Business, Desktops, Distros, Operating Systems and Opinion

With all the changes happening at Canonical, you might wonder what this means for the future of desktop Ubuntu, besides the return to the GNOME desktop.

Ubuntu logo

There hasn’t been this much news about a single Linux distro in like forever. Well, maybe when Caldera, operating under the name SCO, sued IBM for a cool billion, but other than that…nada. One thing’s for sure, the announcements that have been coming out of the Isle of Man for the last couple of weeks mean that Canonical has forever changed its course.

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 readingThe Future of Desktop Ubuntu
Libreboot Reorganizes: Seeks to Make AmendsLibreboot logo

Libreboot Reorganizes: Seeks to Make Amends

By Christine Hall on April 5, 2017 |

Community, News and Software

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.

Libreboot logo

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.

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 readingLibreboot Reorganizes: Seeks to Make Amends
Cheap Arm Project: Affordable, Open Source DIY RoboticsCHAP Cheap Arm Project

Cheap Arm Project: Affordable, Open Source DIY Robotics

By Phil Shapiro on April 4, 2017 |

Maker Movement and Video

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

CHAP Cheap Arm Project

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.

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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The Linux Foundation: Not a Friend of Desktop Linux, the GPL, or OpennessLinux Foundation Linux.com screenshot

The Linux Foundation: Not a Friend of Desktop Linux, the GPL, or Openness

By Christine Hall on April 3, 2017 |

Business, Community, Media, News, Operating Systems and Opinion

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.

Linux Foundation Linux.com screenshot

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.

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 readingThe Linux Foundation: Not a Friend of Desktop Linux, the GPL, or Openness
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