How Should Mozilla Execute Its Vision?
On Linux Journal.
Showing posts with label linux journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label linux journal. Show all posts
08 July 2008
26 June 2008
17 June 2008
30 May 2008
15 April 2008
Why We Must Keep Backing Dell
As I've written elsewhere, we need to keep the momentum behind Dell's high-profile GNU/Linux experiment. Here's a reminder why:Dell has continued to sell enterprise servers with Linux since that 1999 debut, he said. The recent Linux on Dell program for laptops and desktop machines, however, has been gaining momentum, he said. "If the program wasn't successful, we wouldn't be able to continue it," Domsch said.
08 April 2008
31 March 2008
26 February 2008
The Chumby Era Begins
Today is a Chumbylicious day:Chumby Industries announced today the public launch of the chumby, its much-anticipated compact consumer Internet device that enables people to receive a constant personalized broadcast of their favorite parts of the Web. The chumby device is currently available in the U.S. at www.chumby.com for $179.95 including shipping.
A little bigger than a coffee cup, the Wi-Fi connected chumby provides people with a fun, hassle-free way to enjoy what they want most out of the Internet at a glance and wake up to thousands of different streaming Internet radio stations, custom "alarm tones," videos and more. With a large and growing base of content from the Internet, including the latest news, weather and entertainment, as well as the ability to share photos, widgets and e-cards with family and friends, the chumby is one of the most versatile and lifestyle-friendly Internet enabled devices on the market today.
One reason why it is so versatile is that it runs GNU/Linux and is designed to be hacked. Here's what Linux Journal had to say on the subject:“Chumby Industries was formed by hackers who wanted to create something interesting, useful and different. The starting point was the humble clock radio”, its creators explain. Since then, Chumby has evolved from a clock in a cushion to an Any-purpose Net-native Linux device. That's any with a capital A, because the Chumby is built to be hackable at every level, including the physical. Not only does it sense motions and squeezings, but it also hosts an assortment of charms, through its “outerware API”. The charms and much more about the Chumby were designed by Susan Kare (who designed the original desktop icons for the Macintosh and Windows, among too many other things to mention). Susan is Creative Director for Chumby. The company might be cuddly, but it means business too.
And if that's not enough, one of the founders of Chumby is Bunnie Huang, ace hardware hacker. I'm sure that the Chumby will not only be hugely successful, but will spawn an entire industry of configurable consumer widgets.
The only blemish is that you can't currently buy the Chumby outside the US.....
19 February 2008
28 January 2008
14 January 2008
19 December 2007
06 August 2007
28 March 2007
Last Chance to Save the BBC from DRM
Today is the deadline for submitting a response to the BBC's plans for on-demand services. Full story here.
06 February 2007
ODF Moves Up a Gear
Yesterday I posted a story about ODF on the Linux Journal blog. The basic gist is that things are really starting to come together for ODF and OpenOffice.org, and that for a variety of reasons, 2007 could see the long-awaited breakthrough into the mainstream for both.
As if to prove my point, I learn today that not one, but two US states are considering mandating ODF: Texas and Minnesota. Europe has been moving increasingly in this direction, so it's good to see the US doing the same now.
This is classic positive-feedback stuff: the more people that get behind it, the more people will see it as a safe option and do the same. (With thanks to Ari Fishkind.)
30 January 2007
MySQL's IPO: Hot News - or Maybe Not
Amazing news - MySQL is planning to go public:after years of rumo(u)r the company is finally preparing to go public, joining a select group of open source vendors that have made it to the publicly traded markets.
Or maybe not quite so amazing, since Marten Mickos had already told me this last July during an interview for Linux Journal (page 74, January Issue, if you're interested, published in December 2006):We're aiming for an IPO. We're actually aiming for an independent existence and to do that you need to do an IPO, but the IPO is not the aim, the IPO is just a step. People say: What is your exit plan? and we say that we're not going to exit.
29 July 2006
Time to Get Political: Top Down, Bottom Up
A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece for Linux Journal suggesting that top coders might start using some of their increasing influence outside computing to start talking directly with those in power in an attempt to change political agendas directly.
Now here's an interesting complementary suggestion: that supporters of free software should become consumer activists, and try to influence things from the bottom up.
28 July 2006
The Blue Frog Takes the King's Shilling
I've an article over on Linux Journal that looks at dual licensing. The issue of how you might make money out of open source software is important, not just to the coders but also to the users. If the former don't feel that they've received enough payback - of whatever kind - they are likely to move on, and the latter will then suffer.
So I was interested to see the news that everybody's favourite blue frog - Azureus - has taken some venture capital money to turn "legit", or at least corporate. There's no reason why this should have any downside for the free version: presumably they aim to produce paid-for, customised versions for content producers etc. In fact, it might even help educate the latter that BitTorrent is not synonymous with evil.
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