open source - Page number 11

You wouldn't think supporters of open source would be collectively discussing Disney's latest episode of "Shake It Up," but there's a first time for everything. Earlier this week, the children's TV show misrepresented the meaning of open source, reminding us that in film and TV script writers often generalize programs, platforms and ideas in technology to the point of skewing the definition of them completely.

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My son was recently put on a temporary alternative milk diet, no cow, rice, or soy milk. I panicked. My entire life my family has been a cow's milk household—I don't know a life without dairy products. We had been making our own yogurt, so I hoped that would help.  Thank goodness, my son and my family don't have a nut allergy. Otherwise I would panic more.

First, I shop. Then, panic, again. Finally, I do the math. And, yes, panic. Cow's milk is usually $2.99 (USD) or more for a gallon where I live, and almond or coconut milk is around $2.99 (US) for half that amount.  » Read more

My first two months as the public relations intern at Red Hat were fast-paced and exciting, just what I had hoped for as I entered an internship in an industry where I had little prior experience. What I wasn't prepared for was an open source culture that was more embracing that I could have imagined. » Read more

On August 1, Knight Capital Group, a financial services company, lost $440 million in less than an hour because of a software bug. As I understand it, this bug could have been avoided if more thorough testing was done before release but, as the Omaha World-Herald reports, the company "rushed to develop a computer program so it could take advantage of a new Wall Street venue for trading stocks...and failed to fully work out the kinks in its system."

In an op-ed piece in NYTimes.com, Ellen Ullman, a former software engineer and author, talks about how the SEC's call to companies like Knight to "fully test their computer systems before deploying coding changes" is an impossibility. Ellen writes: » Read more

Mailing lists seem to be the life blood of many open source projects. Here at Red Hat, there seems to be a mailing list for everything. There’s a company-wide memo-list to foster collaboration and connect with colleagues around the world and many special interest mailing lists like our home beer brewing list. Which got me thinking, are mailing lists only a way to communicate or are they essential to community building? » Read more

Want to thank everyone who came to my session and who sent me wonderful feedback from both the keynote and the session. I was thrilled to see ZDnet wrote a piece about the keynote as well as have practioners, such as Sonya Barry, the Community Manager for Java write things like this about the longer session: » Read more

If you're a big-time open source fanatic like me, you probably get questions about open source alternatives to proprietary tools rather frequently. From the 'Alternatives to Microsoft® Visio®' department, here are three tips that should help designers who use Visio in an open source environment. If you need an open source option for opening Visio files, a revived open source application for creating diagrams, or a lesser-known open source tool for converting Visio® stencils, these tips are for you. » 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

Everyone has been a minority in a larger group. You lived overseas and were the only American. You were the only tattooed person visiting the senior center. You were the only woman at a software conference. At those times, whether you wanted to be or not, you 'represent.' Your actions and words would set a standard, good or bad, by which others like you would be judged.

If you were in a foul mood, then all teenagers are rude. And if you sucked at math, then all girls suck at math. This is why AdaCamp DC this year was such a joy.

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