Showing headlines posted by fsmdave

In its short but illustrious history the FOSS movement has been accused of being akin to communism. And while the bad old days of the McCarthy era are over, this view still makes people a bit antsy. Not many people want to be seen internationally as the reds under the bed, and using the communist label is still a convenient way of writing off somebody you don’t like. However, there have been some interesting new developments with Microsoft saying things recently that suggests a couple of things: Microsoft have decided that they will begrudgingly admit that there are some merits in open source (previously referred to by their illustrious leader as “communism”); and that Microsoft are softening in their old age and have decided that being all powerful is no fun if everyone thinks you’re the school bully.

Freedom of choice is an ideal. It’s also increasingly obvious that it’s almost always the most pragmatic approach, whether involving economic issues that affect billions of people or comparison shopping for a pair of jeans. Unfortunately, the people who voluntarily give up their own are the ones who can least afford to do so.

An in depth article on how to secure your Linux web server. Who says that security is ever "easy"? It's a must-have for anybody running a web server - even if it's at home.

So you have decided to try a free software operating system such as GNU/Linux, congratulations. GNU/Linux is not that different from other operating systems on the surface. You point and click using the mouse and call down menus to get programs to work.

In the beginning, the Internet was a peering arrangement where all nodes were treated equally, and anyone could interconnect from any one node to another. The Internet flourished and grew because nobody was in control of traffic. That millions now are classified as passive consumers already is an affront to the dream of an active community where everyone has opportunity to participate and publish. The remaining struggle over Net Neutrality today is simply one of how small and how privileged a minority will still retain the ability to publish.

Dreaming about a free software competitor for Skype? Maybe your wait is over

A new, full-featured free software application pops its head into the VoIP world, and it nominates itself as the most serious competitor of Skype. It’s name is Wengophone.

Linspire has been under fire lately when they announced that they were working on Freespire, which came in two versions (a free and a non-free one). In this interview, Kevin was asked not-so-easy questions about some of the most controversial topics. This is a must-read.

I’m going to make no excuses here — I was a chardonnay socialist and it’s time I came out and everyone gathered together and gave me some support. I have, from the time I was a little child been dreaming of hammers and sickles and the like, had a knee-jerk reaction to: big corporations (evil), government (evil), conservatism (evil), and stiletto heels (rank consumerist EVIL). So if you were to say “Microsoft”, I’d say “Where? Let me grab me my stake and crucifix!”. However, as I’ve aged and discovered social theory, I’ve realised that “evil” doesn’t really cut it. Systems themselves aren’t evil, because they are run by people. And, some of these people are selfish bloodsucking capitalist pigs (sorry, force of habit). But some of the other people come up with brilliant and devastating ideas that can make the world warmer and fuzzier, and then other people implement those ideas and everybody gets excited.

When I go to visit my mother (as I will be doing shortly) I feel like tearing my hair out. "Oh," I hear you say, "one of THOSE stories". But no, it's not. She lets me enjoy my usual sleeping habits, lets me put my shoes on the couch, and eat whatever I want. But there is one huge difference between my house and her house, and for the two weeks a year that I stay with her there is just one point of tension. I'll set the scene...

A guide for installing, configuring and using Mozilla Thunderbird, Enigmail, and GnuPG to provide secure and encrypted email

Ubuntu makes printing reasonably easy and straightforward. This brief article is for those who need a specific and encouraging step-by-step guide. I hope that this article will not only ensure that you print with ease, but that you have every reason to enjoy a productive GNU/Linux desktop.

It's all over the press, and a battle will soon be joined: Desktops need 3D.

But what kind of 3D? The term is vague, would it be isometric 3D, Z-buffered vector 3D used to display 2D elements - as we can see in games -, or something hopefully more profound?

Games under GNU/Linux have usually been a lacklustre affair. For every Tux Racer, there are a hundred sub-standard Pac-man clones you’d be embarrassed to advocate. For every commercial version of Quake, there’s a hundred other worthy games the publisher elected not to port to GNU/Linux. Without good games, there’s no market, and without the market, no effort is spared. And so the cycle continues. This article looks at two of the areas in which GNU/Linux games have succeeded, and a new device that combines them both, which could help expose GNU/Linux to the populous.

While many people have been working on the technical challenges of providing low cost computing to emerging communities, a couple of months back I had proposed a different and related challenge to my immediate friends and free software professionals from several organizations.

Who needs hosting when your own PC will do?

What's inside Issue 12 of Free Software Magazine...

Using OpenDocument format text in OpenOffice, KOffice and AbiWord

A package management GUI for Debian-based distributions

Sun have made some headlines in recent months through the release of their Ultra 20 workstation and a number of new servers based on the AMD CPUs. For some this is seen as major change of direction for a company that is well known for the use (and continued interest and development) of the SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) CPU. With so many new machines being based on the AMD CPU it will be surprising to some that Sun’s new mobile units are based on SPARC technology.

A quick and easy intro to writing device drivers for Linux like a true kernel developer!