Opinions

opinions

5 Tips for free software advocates

Free software advocacy is something I do -- both for a living and as a hobby. Over the years I've gleaned a few best practice tips and I thought I'd pass them on. They may not all work or even be appl ...

by Ryan Cartwright – 12/8/2008

opinions

I am not a PC - I am a free man!

Microsoft's recent multi-million dollar advertising campaign has been driving me nuts. Suddenly splashed across my TV screen is some clueless person claiming "I'm a PC". No where during the advert is ...

by ajt – 12/3/2008

opinions

Microsoft Recycles Cash in Campaign Against Free Software

According to Matt Asay, justice is served by the recent $2.5M judgment against SCO in favor of Novell. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but exceedingly fine. Closer inspection reveals that while ju ...

by Paul Gaskin – 11/25/2008

opinions

When do we define freedom???

Its an attempt to define freedom in a general way and why freedom is very essential. Visit:- http://ithinkless.blogspot.com/2008/07/when-do-we-actually-define-freedom.html

by srikar – 11/18/2008

opinions

Rule #2: Create a community

The "edge" for free software over proprietary software comes from volunteer effort. You should spend just as much effort on designing a comfortable and inviting project as you would on any consumer es ...

by Terry Hancock – 11/17/2008

opinions

Unjustifiable Criticism of Richard Stallman by Linus Torvalds

A recent attack piece against Richard Stallman was written by Linus Torvalds on the eve of Obama's election. Black and white by Linus Torvalds Linus begins with this: >So I'm pretty well-known for not ...

by Paul Gaskin – 11/17/2008

opinions

Freedom is an enabler, not a feature

In my opinion, choosing between proprietary and free licensing is actually choosing between short term and long term goals. If one needs something that works in a business meeting in an hour and if he ...

by bogdanbiv – 11/15/2008

opinions

Mixing free and proprietary software: not a rosy future

A recent article caught my eye and turned it a nice shade of red. It discussed the -- hardly new -- idea that the future of software usage must involve a mixture of free and proprietary products -- so ...

by Ryan Cartwright – 11/13/2008

opinions

OpenSocial overview: how opensocial works, and how to integrate it with your CMS

So, you've heard about Google's free software release of its Gadgets server, and the new "Open Social API". And gosh, wouldn't it be nice if you could provide this technology to your users with your f ...

by Terry Hancock – 11/5/2008

opinions

Creating a user-centric site in Drupal

A little while ago, while talking in the #drupal mailing list, I showed my latest creation to one of the core developers there. His reaction was "Wow, I am always surprised what people use Drupal for" ...

by Tony Mobily – 10/24/2008

opinions

Is Linux a suitable model for government?

I don't know how many of you saw this blog, about a letter left by a retiring hedge fund manager, with the delicious title of "Goodbye and F--- You". It is a interesting read in a number of ways. Of p ...

by Richard Rothwell – 10/21/2008

opinions

Deploying CC+ for the common good: Buy4Commons

This year, Creative Commons unveiled a new initiative called "CC+". It is _not_ a license. It's a "protocol", although it's so simple that it almost doesn't warrant the term. Basically it specifies a ...

by Terry Hancock – 10/20/2008

opinions

Supporting your free software? Don't burn out

Not long ago I watched a free software developer totally lose his cool with a user who (admittedly very frustratingly) posted a "bug report" in Spanish on an English-language project that amounted to ...

by Terry Hancock – 10/15/2008

opinions

Fighting the "legacy" reputations of GNU/Linux, seventeen years later

Regular readers of this column will know that I'm a fan of education and positive experience as an advocacy tool in place of shouting from rooftops. Winning the mindset of an average computer user -- ...

by Ryan Cartwright – 10/13/2008

opinions

Free software tools for designing productive community sites

These days there's a lot of buzz about "Web 2.0" and making websites more interactive, but what's really going on is a reconnection to the community nature of the internet. Collaboration, cooperation, ...

by Terry Hancock – 10/7/2008

opinions

Konqueror, The Powerful KDE Browser

So far, all of the browsers that I reviewed for this book have been Gnome-based browsers. Epiphany is a Gnome-sponsored project, and Firefox is rapidly moving towards Gnomeization (though at the time ...

by Andrew Min – 9/30/2008

opinions

Google's Knol: it's a Wikipedia Jim but not as we know it

The launch of Google's Chrome has created a frenzy of online activity (just Google it and it will return in excess of fifty one million results), including mine. and already the world and his wife has ...

by Gary Richmond – 9/30/2008

opinions

Rule #1: Hold On Loosely

In the proprietary production world, what matters about a copyright is who owns it. In the free production world, however, who owns a copyright is relatively unimportant. What matters is what license ...

by Terry Hancock – 9/29/2008

opinions

On-line applications "just work"; why worry about the freedom of the licence?

An increasing number of computer users are turning to online applications instead of ones on their desktop. It started with webmail and has moved to productivity/office tools. With the emergence of on ...

by Ryan Cartwright – 9/25/2008

opinions

A brief history of computers and free software: where is the money?

The world of computers has changed. Sub-notebooks are becoming immensely popular, mobile phones based on Google's Android software are about to come out (T-Mobile have just announced their G1 will lau ...

by Tony Mobily – 9/25/2008