Life

Facebook: Privacy, the exodus, and Diaspora

If you're like me, it seems like every time you log into Facebook, you see another message or two from friends deleting their accounts. Then you check Twitter, and there's yet another rallying cry for open standards in social networking.

Wait. I just got déjà vu.

Wired (among many others) has been making that call for years. Years. But like so many noble causes, it took a sufficiently motivating, negative catalyst to spread the messsage. » Read more

16 CommentsPosted 13 May 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Nobody here: Jamendo and open music culture

I sign my songs "Nobody here." I thought about it from the first moment when I started to make music, about 16 years ago. I always tried to be different, especially when I was young. My music was also different than what everyone else was listening to at the time and I felt I had to choose a different name. It is probably a bit strange, and an uncommon name for an artist, but somehow I think it goes well with my style.  In time it started to mean something since I knocked on many doors, trying to produce an album with my music. I was refused for being "uncommercial." » Read more

4 CommentsPosted 10 May 2010 by Nobody here

WWW2010: How a big-deal conference does open content

Last week, Internet luminaries from around the globe descended upon Raleigh, NC for the WWW2010 conference.  The theme for 2010 was openness, and that (along with its proximity to Red Hat HQ) made this year's events particularly exciting.

The conference, held annually, is sponsored by the International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee and intends to bring together business interests, educators, technology experts, and users to discuss and debate the growth and future of the Internet --including its advancing bodies of standards, practices, and technologies. » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 5 May 2010 by bascha (Red Hat)

Musings of an open source peddler

Open source is an interesting thing to say the least. In fact, that's quite an understatement. Allow me to explain: » Read more

4 CommentsPosted 3 May 2010 by Travis Kepley (Red Hat)

Steve Jobs on Flash (or the lack thereof) and more talk about tablets

If the comments to my previous iPad posts (here and here) are any indication, there is no shortage of open source options for tablets. So I've rounded up the ones you've mentioned, along with a note about the availability of each.

But first, let's talk more about Apple, iP---s, and Flash. » Read more

7 CommentsPosted 29 Apr 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Drupal founder, Dries Buytaert, on passion, believing, and the open source way

While attending DrupalCon San Francisco 2010 last week, I got a chance to catch up with Dries Buytaert, founder and project lead of Drupal as well as co-founder and CTO of Acquia. Dries is a very humble guy. I first met him in December 2009 in New Orleans at a Do It With Drupal event. He's an icon in the Drupal world, but I wanted to get some insight beyond the bits and bytes. I sat down with Dries, and we talked about the open source way and some of the things he's learned over the past 10 years. What's intriguing to me is how for him, this seems like an accident, but he's navigated the waters of open source to accomplish some amazing things. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 26 Apr 2010 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

Are there really open source iPad alternatives? A follow-up.

The comments here and elsewhere to my post about iPad alternatives have been mixed. No surprise. There will always be Apple defenders and open source defenders. Still, I'd like to take a minute to talk a little more about the topic, address where the majority of the comments fell, and discuss a few more non-iPad options.

» Read more

17 CommentsPosted 20 Apr 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)

Leadership, culture, and innovation: A chat with Cheryl McKinnon

Do the cultures of proprietary companies impede innovation? Do open source companies need a different sort of leadership? I've got my theories, but I don't have much to compare it to from my own experiences. I've been at Red Hat, a very open culture, for seven years and did a two-year tour at Alcatel before that. So I caught up with Cheryl McKinnon, Chief Marketing Officer at Nuxeo, an open source enterprise content management company, to explore open culture, leadership, and history. » Read more

1 CommentPosted 11 Apr 2010 by Jason Hibbets (Red Hat)

Open sound series: Part 1 - The Freesound Project

While researching for my article Open Music: Is It Viable, I ran across several worthwhile sites that were great resources, but not quite what I needed for talking about an open music model. However, they certainly deserve attention for the good they are doing in the music/entertainment community. What better way than starting a series on helpful projects based around open-source multimedia creation? Each post in this series will focus on three things: » Read more

0 CommentsPosted 7 Apr 2010 by Travis Kepley (Red Hat)

Five open source alternatives to the iPad

Interest in iPad app development is waning, and the device just got here. Maybe that means it's time to explore more open options. Here are five. » Read more

27 CommentsPosted 4 Apr 2010 by Ruth Suehle (Red Hat)