FOSS - Page number 2

We've followed Diaspora for a while now, since its beginning when it was the largest project Kickstarter had seen and was being called "the Facebook killer." Two years later, the "open source social network" is becoming more open by turning into a community-run project, and the Diaspora team is launching a new project, Makr.io

Last week, joindiaspora.com, the way to sign up for the social network, which was previously invitation-only, was opened to the public. The Diaspora team then opened its Pivotal Tracker for community developer participation and redesigned their home page to better reflect the community. » Read more

In information technology (IT) and software development fields, there are a few fairly common misconceptions about the use of open source software. These misconceptions were debunked in a discussion at POSSE RIT 2012, and we’d like to share (and spread) that conversation. » Read more

MediaGoblin, which released version 0.3.0 this month, is a free and open source media hosting platform. Chris Webber, project founder and lead developer, took a few minutes to talk to us about the project so far and its future. » Read more

I earn a living at a public library in the Washington, DC area. About a year ago I was trying to explain Twitter to someone for the fifth time that week. The person listening to me just wasn't getting it. "I need to give a public talk about Twitter here at this library," I muttered to myself. "That way I won't have to explain Twitter to every person who doesn't get it." » Read more

I work at a public library with 28 Linux stations made publicly available in four separate rooms. The room in which I spend most of my time has 10 computers, and elementary and middle school students stop by daily after school to use them. About 90 percent of the children use the computers for games, and about 10 percent use them for doing homework. Very few use the computer for creative graphics applications. I'm bent on changing that. » Read more

I have many Linux-using friends who have no plans whatsoever to buy an iPad, and I respect them for having that stance. They are opposed to closed, locked, proprietary systems. I share their general values, but have chosen to buy a third-generation iPad and plunge headlong into creating iBooks using iBooks Author. I see the iPad as a exquisite tool for getting the word out about FOSS - free and open source software.

Apple is expected to sell 65 million iPads (or more) in 2012, according to analyst Canaccord Genuity. That's 65 million people I can inform about FOSS opportunities, such as the amazing Inkscape vector drawing program and OpenShot video editing program. Inkscape already runs well on Mac and Windows, and OpenShot is coming to Mac and Windows, so why not seize the chance to inform people about these programs? » Read more

What do you get when you mix the Free Software Foundation, Creative Commons, and OpenGameArt? We'll know the answer for sure come August, because these three organizations have joined forces to create the Liberated Pixel Cup. A contest where artists and developers will come together, to create free-as-in-freedom games and art.

Christopher Allan Webber from Creative Commons explains that he approached both Bart Kelsey of OpenGameArt and John Sullivan of the Free Software Foundations to see if they were interested in a collaboration. » Read more

The free-market capitalistic definition of companies' goals was, for a long time, very simple: to make as much profit as possible. With that in mind, the only difference between a success and a failure was the investor's return on investment. Short-term profit became priority number one. However, this classic definition of capitalism hastransformed the way companies are perceived in the population over time. » Read more

Black Duck Software and North Bridge Venture Partners, working with 451 Research, are conducting the sixth annual Future of Open Source Survey. I took the survey, but one question caused me concern, considering what I do for a living. Question 11 states, "OSS [Open source software] forges and foundations have played an important role in the past few years. How will OSS forges and foundations evolve over the next 2-3 years?" Answers range from growing or decreasing equally in terms of adoption, one growing at the expense of the other, or staying the same. I’m troubled because forges and foundations serve open source project communities in radically different ways. » Read more

Last month, Verizon announced their HomeFusion broadband Internet service, which provides faster-than-DSL Internet service to a broad swath of rural America. After paying a one time fee of $200 for a device that hangs on the side of your house, you can live anywhere Verizon's LTE cell phone service reaches and receive fixed wireless broadband Internet at that location for $60/month.

For the longest time, rural home dwellers have had very poor choices for high-speed Internet. Some chose to use satellite Internet service, but that was often a costly and unsatisfactory solution. Verizon's new option is going to be » Read more