Seth Kenlon

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26 open source creative apps to try in 2022

 

The server and mobile industries know open source well. But open source isn't just about the technology. First and foremost, open source is about sharing, and if there's one thing people love to share more than anything, it's self-expression in the form of art. Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, you can foster your own creativity with open source applications, and possibly end up with something you're proud to share with others. Here are 26 applications in seven different artistic categories to help you act on your every inspiration.

7 Ways Open Source was Essential to Business in 2020

Jessica Cherry | Opensource.com | January 25, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic created many new challenges for businesses in 2020 as they rapidly moved non-essential workers to remote operations. However, it also created tremendous opportunities for innovation as people searched for effective ways to work and collaborate virtually. Opensource.com responded to the need by publishing a variety of articles in 2020 on working better with open source. Since it appears working remotely is here to stay for the foreseeable future, make sure you're doing everything you can to adapt by reading the top seven articles about open source business from 2020.

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Interview With Free Software Foundation Executive Director Zoë Kooyman

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) started promoting the idea of sharing code way back in 1985, and since then it's defended the rights of computer users and developers. The FSF says that the terms "open" and "closed" are not effective words when classifying software, and instead considers programs either freedom-respecting ("free" or "libre") or freedom-trampling ("non-free" or "proprietary"). Whatever terminology you use, the imperative is that computers must belong, part and parcel, to the users, and not to the corporations that owns the software the computers run. This is why the GNU Project, and the Linux kernel, Freedesktop.org, and so many other open source projects are so important.

Linux with ADRIANE Provide a Simple and Usable Menu System for Blind Computer Users

ADRIANE is a great interface with a solid plan for design and functionality. In a way, it reduces a computer down to a minimalist device tuned for the most common everyday tasks, so it might not be the ideal interface for power users (possibly an Emacspeak solution would be better for such users), but the important thing is that it makes the computer easy to use, and tends to keep the user informed every step of the way. It's easy to try, and easy to demo, and Knoppix itself is a useful disc to have around, so if you have any interest in low-vision computer usage or in Linux in general, try Knoppix and ADRIANE...

Opensource.com Community Finds New Life With the Open Source Initiative

Press Release | Open Source Initiative (OSI) | September 19, 2023

Today, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) has become the new home for the former Opensource.com community. Writers and editors formerly contributing to Opensource.com are being invited to continue their work under the OSI umbrella, posting content at a domain owned by the OSI: OpenSource.net. The Opensource.com project had become a community favorite for news, information, opinion and how-tos surrounding the key issues in Open Source software, publishing over 10,000 articles. Over the course of 12 years, Open Source contributors advocated for the creation, adoption and sharing of all things Open Source. As a 501(c)(3) organization and the steward of the Open Source Definition, OSI will oversee OpenSource.net as a not-for-profit, technology-neutral resource for the Open Source community to share knowledge, perspectives and advocacy in support of a healthy Open Source ecosystem.

What Do We Mean When We Talk About Software 'Alternatives'?

The word alternative is one of those shifty terms, with a definition that changes depending on perspective. For instance, something that is alternative to one person is the norm for another. Generally, the term alternative is considered to be defined by the fact that it is not considered to be in the majority or the mainstream. Then again, sometimes the term "alternative" gets attached to the second instance of something. If a web server, such as Apache, exists, then any time a different web server gets mentioned, it gets the alternative badge, because we all assume that we all silently concede that whatever it is, it's an alternative to that big one that we all know about...

What Software Documentation Can Learn from Tabletop Gaming

Do you remember Monopoly and Life and Clue, and all those old classic board games you played as a kid because sometimes you were just that bored? Do you recall ever reading the instructions? Probably not, because nobody reads the instructions for those games. We all had a friend who kinda knew how to play the game, so they taught us how to play, and that was good enough. (Seriously, go back and re-read the instructions for Monopoly; I'll bet you Internet money that you've never played the actual game.) If you ever did try to read the instructions, you found that they'd been written back in 1962, and read almost identically to the repair manual to the General Electric Refrigerator. They were just as detailed, just as complete, and just as interesting...

Why Linux is Critical to Edge Computing

Edge computing is a model of infrastructure design that places many "compute nodes" (a fancy word for a server) geographically closer to people who use them most frequently. It can be part of the open hybrid-cloud model, in which a centralized data center exists to do all the heavy lifting but is bolstered by smaller regional servers to perform high frequency-but usually less demanding-tasks. Because Linux is so important to cloud computing, it's an ideal technology to learn if you intend to manage or maintain modern IT systems.

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