Free Software News Roundup: Careers, Liberations, and Lots More
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-02-20 16:32:26 UTC
- Modified: 2014-02-20 16:32:26 UTC
Summary: Recent news stories about Free/Open Source software (FOSS)
-
For most students, an internship presents a major opportunity to learn and grow in a real-world environment. Interns who join an open source company or project also seem to learn a lot about themselves along the way. Recently, I asked some former Red Hat interns—both newly hired and long-time Red Hat associates—what lessons they learned by working in an open source culture and what advice they have for our next group of interns.
-
Wikipedia defines “open-source” software as computer software with its source code made available and licensed with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose. Translated into English this just means it’s free to anyone who wants to download it. Linux, Mozilla Firefox, and Google’s Android are open source operating systems and are available and easy to download even for computer illiterates like myself.
-
The University of California, Berkeley, has been authorised by Alcatel-Lucent to open sauce all Plan 9 software under the GNU General Public License, Version 2.
-
The takeaway from this presentation should be that , not necessarily because of the usual claims of superior quality (Many eyes make fewer bugs etc.) but because FLOSS emphasizes Freedom and flexibility. I agree with FLOSS being the right way to do IT but I still believe the FLOSS that users will use from solid distros like Debian will be featureful and of high quality as well as being Free. The Debian developers filter out most of the crud included in the depressing statistics of median number of developers and such. It’s a part of their social contract: “We will give back to the free software community
-
For the last decade we’ve watched an epic contest unfold between open source and proprietary technology, and 2014 is the year that this dynamic will radically transform. The lines between open source and proprietary are becoming irrevocably blurred as proprietary firms pour resources into open source development and open source companies dial in their revenue models. Above all else, the open source community is producing the technologies businesses need to be competitive in the data-rich 21st century.
-
VCs are realizing the next billion-dollar software company won't make money from software, but from what open source enables it to deliver
-
These were some of the questions asked by Amandeep, a New Delhi based owner of a small scale clothing company, when I pitched to him a few open source solutions that could make his day-to-day operations more efficient. For someone without any IT background (but a sharp business sense), these were brilliant and relevant questions. The answers to these questions won't just help Amandeep, but if shared broadly may help reduce the apprehension of a significant number of small scale business owners, especially in India. My interactions have shown that a lot of these businesses are looking to grow, enhance their productivity, and most importantly, save costs.
-
Marcus Hanwell is a physicist by training, but his background in science led him down a different path than most reseachers. Today he is a contributer to a number of open source projects aimed at helping the scientific community better analyze and visualize their data. If you've got a question about finding the right open source tool for a scientific application, Marcus can point you in the right direction.
-
Red Hat is perhaps the most recognized player in the entire open source field. As addition to promoting its operating systems, the company has been involved in storage for quite some time. Red Hat Storage is an open platform that is available for on-premise, public clouds such as Amazon, and hybrid cloud deployment. Pricing is by annual subscription based on the number of storage nodes.
-
He went on to tell me how he had looked up “Linux” on the Internet and became interested in the “free” part of software. It took him a bit to get his head around the fact that people from around the globe are contributing to FOSS for not much more than the spirit of kinship and giving. From that moment, in Eddie Baker’s eyes software became more than things you click on to make other things happen.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Windows Has Fallen to All-Time Lows in Switzerland Since GNU Celebrated 40th Anniversary (GNU’s 40th Birthday in Biel, Switzerland)
- GNU/Linux has been doing well in Switzerland
- One Person's Take on Jef Spaleta, the New Fedora Project Leader
- "With a little searching, I wonder what else may be found regarding Microsoft."
- LLM Slop Has Virtually Killed unixmen.com and Many Other Sites
- There's no longer any incentive to write real articles in there
-
- In Some Countries, Laptops and Desktops Become a Dying Breed (Even Before Tariffs), Windows Has Nowhere to Go
- expect more GNU/Linux on new and existing laptops
- When the Credibility or 'Quality' of Clients Ceases to Matter, It's About Helping Rich Companies Like Microsoft Censor Critics (No Matter the Risks)
- Bad ideas typically result in undesirable outcomes
- UAE: GNU/Linux and Android at Record Levels, Windows at New Lows and Falling Below Apple
- Even iOS is measured as bigger than Windows this month
- Links 07/04/2025: Reddit Occupied (Social Control Media Controlled by Oligarchy), Demise of Globalisation Ongoing
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, April 06, 2025
- IRC logs for Sunday, April 06, 2025
- Links 07/04/2025: Leaving Gemini/smolweb and Mastodon Migrations
- Links for the day
- In Iraq, Windows 3.1 (Percent)
- There's also zero
- Links 06/04/2025: Flood, Cool Gemini Capsule, and Long Form
- Links for the day
- Links 06/04/2025: Science, Politics, and Pricier Goods
- Links for the day
- Sharp Declines for Microsoft Windows in Bangladesh (Pop. ~175,000,000), Big Gains for GNU/Linux
- Microsoft Windows has been having a really hard time in poor countries
- Links 06/04/2025: Fake Reviews, Privatisation Heists, and "AI" as Smokescreen for Impoverishing Humans
- Links for the day
- Taking a Moral Stand Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) and the Worst Offenders/Facilitators
- Any other stance would sidle with moral depravity or moral hazard
- Links 06/04/2025: Many New Acts of Repression and Elements of Financial Depression
- Links for the day
- In Qatar GNU/Linux Rose From Under 1% to Over 4% in Two Years (or Over 5% If Counting ChromeOS)
- It's a big improvement compared to what we saw last year
- LLM Scrapers Are a Nuisance, But They're Also a Reminder It's Time to Make Your Site Static
- Perhaps the best protection is the ability to endure surges
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, April 05, 2025
- IRC logs for Saturday, April 05, 2025
- Links 06/04/2025: Attacks on Education, Fake Patents, and Fake (Illegal) Patent Courts
- Links for the day
- France: Apple and Microsoft Down, GNU/Linux Up to New Record Levels
- How will tariffs against France impact things in the coming months?
- Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: What Was Reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA)
- We hope to finish this whole lot within a week, then move on to election, lobbying etc.
- Links 05/04/2025: Tariffs Backfiring, YouTuber Arrested, X/Twitter Set to be Fined
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Offline is For Everyone, Copyright Colonialism, and More
- Links for the day
- Links 05/04/2025: TikTok Unsold (Still), Royal Society is Dead
- Links for the day
- Techrights Will Spend the Next Few Years Writing a Lot About Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
- It's a growing problem
- The State of EPO Staff's Health in Rijswijk or The Hague
- We're going to cover the EPO some more later in the month
- NVIDIA Corp Lost 36% of Its "Value" Since Cheeto Inauguration, But "Gen Hey Hi" (GenAI) is Totally Not a Bubble
- Selling loads of unneeded hardware based on hysterical hype; like selling shovels during a Gold Rush
- GNU/Linux Growing in East Asia, Windows by Default No More?
- GNU/Linux is now on the shelf
- Slopwatch: Anti-Linux 'Articles' From Linux-Hostile LLMs
- It is almost always negative things and nobody can be held responsible for it except the charlatans prompting the LLMs
- Links 05/04/2025: Fentanylware (TikTok) "Sale Looks Highly Imminent" (US), Stock Market Drowning in Panic
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 05/04/2025: Moving Plants, No to Smartwatches, RAID Hygiene
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, April 04, 2025
- IRC logs for Friday, April 04, 2025