Category Archive

The hacker ethic says we should value solving problems more than preserving institutions. But what happens to organizational identity when we do that? Open organizations apply principles from open source software development more broadly. Existing organizations find the open approach appealing because it promises gains in productivity and efficiency—but openness may have farther-reaching consequences than we anticipate or intend. One … Read More

The next version of Android, still just named “O” for now, is almost here. The Android O release candidate has just been released. And, unlike earlier Android releases, more users than ever should be able to use the new Android, thanks to Google’s Project Treble. Project Treble has redesigned Android to make it easier, faster, and cheaper for manufacturers to update devices to … Read More

After Adobe’s big announcement this morning that they plan to end support for Flash in late 2020, Google Chrome’s Anthony Laforge published a blog article asking Flash developers to start transitioning to HTML. For a long time, Google shipped its Chrome web browser built-in with Flash support, but it now looks like Chrome will slowly start blocking Flash content, require explicit permission from users, … Read More

The academic year is firing back up soon, so you’ll be seeing more education articles on Opensource.com in the coming weeks. Recently I read the fascinating book Empower: What Happens When Students Own Their Own Learning, by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani. The book led me to think more deeply about my teaching methods and how I like to learn. I think … Read More

Review Fedora 26, released recently, is a welcome update on the already very nice 25. As with Fedora’s last couple of releases, there are three major ways to get Fedora 26 – Workstation, Server and Atomic Host. The Workstation release is aimed at desktop users and, by default, will install the GNOME desktop. Server and Atomic Host target, yes, servers and … Read More

In April, The Linux Foundation launched the open source EdgeX Foundry project to develop a standardized interoperability framework for Internet of Things (IoT) edge computing. Recently, EdgeX Foundry announced eight new members, bringing the total membership to 58. The new members are Absolute, IoT Impact LABS, inwinSTACK, Parallel Machines, Queen’s University Belfast, RIOT, Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation, and Tulip Interfaces. They join a roster that includes AMD, Analog … Read More

I’m a cord cutter—one of the many people who have canceled their expensive cable channel subscription and switched to cheaper, legal, alternative methods to get their TV entertainment. Just a few hours after I returned my cable set-top box, it became clear I had a gap to fill. The clock that was part of my cable box, sitting underneath my … Read More

Most companies are now exploring using containers. Some, especially in the government, have been reluctant to make the move and are waiting for container standardization. Their wait is over. The Open Container Initiative (OCI) has launched the 1.0 versions of container runtime and image specs. While Docker gets most of the container headlines, under the surface there are a lot of small, but important, … Read More

It would have been impossible to avoid hearing that Canonical has decided to shift their flagship product away from their in-house Unity desktop back to an old friend: GNOME. You may remember that desktop — the one that so many abandoned after the shift from 2.x to 3.x. A few years later, GNOME 3 is now one of the most rock-solid desktops … Read More

Why should customers choose the 14th Generation of Dell EMC PowerEdge servers? It’s simple: The scalable, streamlined and secure PowerEdge servers offer a platform that enables the IT transformation your customers must undergo in order to remain relevant today and into the future. New Dell EMC 14th Generation PowerEdge servers are now shipping and the excitement surrounding their launch is tangible. This advanced server … Read More

Want a cheap Linux desktop? Look elsewhere. But, if you want a kick-rump-and-take-names desktop for serious graphics or development work, you want the Dell 5720 AIO workstation. This take-no-prisoners workstation starts at $1,699, but the model I looked at costs over $3,200. It’s worth it. This model came with a Quad Core 3.8Ghz Intel Xeon Processor E3-1275. In a word, it’s fast. … Read More

Brazil has joined the ten most advanced countries worldwide in the adoption of next-generation protocol for Internet networking IPv6, according to a new report. The State of the Internet report by Akamai suggests that Brazil has jumped from 16th to 9th in terms of IPv6 uptake, with 13 percent of the traffic in the country running on the new standard, … Read More

When most people hear the word containers, they probably think of Docker containers, which are application containers. But, there are other kinds of containers, for example, system containers like LXC/LXD. Stéphane Graber, technical lead for LXD at Canonical Ltd., will be delivering two talks at the upcoming Open Source Summit NA in September: “GPU, USB, NICs and Other Physical Devices in Your … Read More

We are at war with entropy, and Uncle Server wants YOU to be a system administrator. Chances are good that you are already an administrator for some systems you own, and you do it for free because that’s just how it goes these days. But there are employers willing and eager to pay good money for someone to help administer … Read More

At the end of last year, Google announced OSS-Fuzz, an open source threat detection tool focused on making open source applications and platforms more secure and stable. The tool itself is open and available on GitHub, and there are now solid numbers showing that this security tool has made a remarkable difference for some well-known open source projects. By the Numbers According to … Read More