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
- A Vortex of Beacons (or "Bluetooth Everywhere" Vision)
- If someone (or someones) calls you paranoid for taking about "beacon"-like functionality, there will be no lack of authoritative citations (e.g. Web links) they can be provided to prove them wrong
- IBM May be Sued for Mass Layoffs Via PIPs
- Some whole threads (with all the long comments in them) recently got nuked by thelayoff.com
-
- GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
- morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
- self-incriminating communications
- Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
- Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
- Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
- That right there is interesting in its own right
- Slowing Down by Intention
- At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
- Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
- Links for the day
- Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
- Links for the day
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026
- Falkland Islands: GNU/Linux Elevated to 6%
- GNU/Linux usage seems to have increased a lot there
- Links 16/08/2026: Reading Outside, Going Offline More, and Art of Computer Programming
- Links for the day
- The Question of Patience
- Is there a lesson here somewhere?
- Links 16/08/2026: Ceuta Reports Social Control Media Used as a Weapon
- Links for the day
- Links 16/08/2026: Europe in Crisis of Droughts While Energy- and Water-Consuming, Pollution-Emitting Chatbots Are Spread by GAFAM (US) to Keep a Ponzi Scheme Going
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux is a Platform for Work (Usage Surges in Daytime)
- GNU/Linux 15% in daytime
- We Need Rain, Not Chatbots
- There's no "anti-AI" (it's not even AI), there's opposition to fraud, to plagiarism, and to companies that profit more when there's global warning (caused in part by their business activities)
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 151 Out of 200: Dealing With Sleazy People and Companies That Steal (While Employing These Sleazy People)
- we offer a quick summary and we're reflecting
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 15, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, August 15, 2026
- Gemini Links 16/08/2026: Sterrenkijker Releases, Solar Gemini Server
- Links for the day
- What I Learned in London
- some ministers still help us in our fight for press freedom in the UK
- At IBM, Workers 'Expire' Early ("Next Step" is 'Voluntary' Layoffs Decades Before Retirement Age)
- It seems like the "new normal" is layoffs not existing or barely existing because companies hide them
- EPO "Cocaine Communication Manager" - Part XVI - The German State Does Not Enforce the Law Against European Patent Office Officials
- It's not acceptable that Europe's second-largest institution can get away with crime time and time again
- Germany's National Broadcaster (DW English) to Air Julian Assange Film This Coming Week
- It seems rather sad that we live in a world where rich thugs can get away with so many horrible things
- WordPress is Bloatware and Bloated Software Guarantees Security Incidents
- This site turns 20 in about 11 or 12 weeks from now and it was never cracked, not even when it ran WordPress
- Too Many Chiefs (or Chefs) at IBM, They Don't Know How to Run a Company (With a 100+ Year or Century-Old Brand Recognition Advantage)
- It seems like a consensus opinion; some line managers or middle managers are too selfish or self-deceiving
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on Gym Equipment Can Endanger Several Parties
- Joy oh joy! Give us more "smart" things
- Microsoft Silent Layoffs This Month (PIPs and More "Buyouts", Driving Out the Workforce), According to Insiders
- They know it's happening because they see it and fellow workers talk about it, even if the media keeps mum
- Clacton's Election Was a 'Show Election'
- At least some people squeezed out some "free press" out of this charade [...] That the media kept boosting parodies as the alternative/s to the bigot is a topic we wrote about a great deal over the past 3 weeks
- Omarchy is Already Dying
- Same as the life cycle of slopfarms
- Windows is Burning
- Windows is the "burning platform" of the year
- Gemini Links 15/08/2026: Stress, Jetlag, and GPU Hype (Waste of Energy for Amusement, Fake 'Currencies', and Now for Mass Plagiarism)
- Links for the day
- Links 15/08/2026: XBox Rotting Further, "France’s Top Court Strikes Down Ban on Social Media for Children"
- Links for the day
- SLAPP Censorship - Part 150 Out of 200: Always Independently Verify What People Claim to Be (or Find Yourself in a Jason Arday-Type Moment/Dilemma)
- I'm not a cardiologist and Garrett was never a security expert
- Links 15/08/2026: "There Is No A.I." (Slop Plagiarism Isn't Intelligence) and Its "Impact on the Environment Is Absolutely Horrifying"
- Links for the day
- Gemini Links 15/08/2026: Gratitudes, "Microflier" Drones, and Literate Programming
- Links for the day
- IBM's PIPs and RAs (Layoffs) Going on, Interns as 'Scabs'
- It seems like a consensus (also in Reddit, we took a quick look)
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 14, 2026
- IRC logs for Friday, August 14, 2026