linux

TLWIR 32: Open Sparks Fly, FOSS Players Give Open Advice, and FOSS Petition Gets Key Endorsement

Submitted by rdjere on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 09:01

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For too long, GNU/Linux has been locked out of the tablet market. That is about to change with the May 2012 arrival of the Open Spark. The Open Spark is a new tablet that will run a variant of GNU/Linux called Mer. A group of 42 Free Software developers have released a wonderful book called Open Advice. It chronicles their lessons learned from working on hundreds of Free Software projects. The Linux Foundation received an esteemed new fellow from SUSE, Mr. Greg Kroah-Hartman. Finally, the Free Software Petition on WhiteHouse.gov received a key endorsement.

TLWIR Special: GNU/Linux Petition Featured on WhiteHouse.gov!

Submitted by rdjere on Mon, 02/06/2012 - 04:11

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On January 30th, 2012, I started a petition requesting that the U.S. government broaden their use of Free Software and Open Source software to save money. I deeply believe that this one step is PART of the solution to the problem of the crushing national debt that the United States is currently facing. Will shifting to Free Software completely solve the crisis? No, it will not. Software expenditures are a very small part of our national budget. However, at some point, if we do not want our nation to go bankrupt, we will have to have the discipline and the fiscal restraint to say “no more”. The United States is not an infinite repository of cash, as many vendors seem to think. Decades of overspending have left us in quite a mess, and I believe that Free Software can help.

TLWIR 31: Using Linux and Free Software to Bring Back American Innovation

Submitted by rdjere on Tue, 01/24/2012 - 08:10

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Free Software is mainly about innovation. Free Software engineers find radical new ways of solving old problems. In doing so, they teach those whose minds have ossified how to think outside of the box. The U.S. manufacturing sector is in trouble, partially because we have been outperformed by our neighbors in the East. They have tried bold new ways of doing things, while we cling to the past. Free Software is one of the boldest concepts yet created, and I believe that it can save American manufacturing…and jobs. In TLWIR 31, I will present the case that three fantastic projects demonstrate how we can revolutionize our own thinking. The LiMux Project, OScar, and Desurium all show us an alternative road that, if followed, can lead to the continued innovative leadership that has characterized the United States for over a century. I chronicle these three projects in this week’s three exciting tales:

  • Using Linux and Free Software to Bring Back American Innovation
  • The LiMux Migration Project Reports Success!
  • Desurium Brings More Open Source Gaming To GNU/Linux

TLWIR 30: Linux++ – The GNU/Linux Desktop, Brother, and Ubuntu Increment by One

Submitted by rdjere on Thu, 01/12/2012 - 06:46

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I believe in Synergy. One positive event feeds other positive events. The share of computer users who use Linux, GNU, and other Free Software is growing because people are actually starting to put some marketing muscle behind the concepts. Canonical is one of these companies. Red Hat is another. Google is also fighting the good fight. It was only a matter of time before we had to see positive results. Ubuntu TV, Android phones and tablets, and the rise in GNU/Linux’s desktop market share in 2011 are 3 such tangible results. Free Software and Open Source have arrived in 2012!

TLWIR 30 is a celebration of this achievement, and an optimistic look at what the Linux future holds. Three thrilling features will be part of our adventure this week:

  • Linux++: The GNU/Linux Desktop Market Share Increments
  • Brother Shows GNU/Linux Some Brotherly Love
  • Ubuntu is on Fire!!

Google Hangout with Mike and Andrew Weber: The UFW Firewall on Ubuntu

Submitted by rdjere on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 09:34

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Mike and Andrew Weber are my good friends over at http://www.beginlinux.com. In this video, Mike gives a wonderful training session on configuring UFW firewalls in Linux. The training session was done during a public Google Hangout.

A Bash Shell Script to Update Firefox Nightly

Submitted by rdjere on Wed, 01/11/2012 - 02:03

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I recently migrated from Firefox to the more cutting edge Firefox Nightly. As its name implies, Firefox Nightly is updated on a nightly basis. The reason for my switch initially was to get access to a 64-bit version of Firefox on my Windows 7 system. I fell in love with Nightly, so much so that I now use it on ALL of my computer systems. Unfortunately, there is no yum repository for Nightly yet (as far as I know), so I can't update Nightly automatically. My solution was to write my own Bash shell script to semi-automate the process. I just run the script once a day (late in the day so that I run it after the daily update). The script downloads the latest Nightly build for GNU/Linux, unpacks it, installs it, and then deletes all of the downloaded files.

A Simple Bash Shell Script to Convert MP3s to Ogg Vorbis

Submitted by rdjere on Mon, 01/09/2012 - 10:04

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I don't like the mp3 format at all. I try to avoid it. I recently bought a couple of jazz songs from Amazon in mp3 format. I wanted to convert them Ogg Vorbis. In this tutorial, I'll show you a simple Bash shell script that you can use to convert mp3s to Ogg vorbis on your GNU/Linux system.

Securing Your CentOS Server With AIDE

Submitted by rdjere on Sun, 01/08/2012 - 01:38

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This is a great Google Hangout session with Mike Weber of BeginLinux.com. Mike is a huge Linux expert, and I am learning a lot from him. Enjoy the video!

TLWIR 29: Mozilla News, LibreOffice Chart Trick and Bitcoin Rises Again

Submitted by rdjere on Thu, 12/29/2011 - 19:14

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As 2011 draws to a close, GNU/Linux and Free Software are as prosperous and in-demand as they have ever been. 2011 was a magnificent year, one in which a lot of deals were made, a lot of profits were reaped, and a lot of freedom was spread. Free Software looks to have an even more rewarding year in 2012. Open source invaded the monetary system with the rise, fall, and subsequent rise of Bitcoins.

TLWIR 28: WebOS, The FCC, and Red Hat’s Record Quarter

Submitted by rdjere on Sun, 12/25/2011 - 09:12

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The universe that contains GNU/Linux and Free Software rarely slows down for simple things such as holidays. This week proved to be no exception. Hewlett-Packard Corporation, the venerable U.S. corporation founded in 1939 by titans David Packard and William Hewlett, made history of sorts by releasing WebOS under an open source license. Why is this release so historic? Because it is one of the strongest ever votes of confidence for the open source concept. HP is a behemoth of a company with over 300,000 employees as of 2010. [3] The Federal Communications Commission also gave its strong support of open source when it sponsored an open source app challenge. Lastly, Red Hat Corporation continued its rapid ascent by reporting another quarter of outstanding profits.

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