Email was a significant improvement over its predecessors. Instead of physical messages passing hands several times, a message could be sent at the speed of light as a series of packets to anyone attached to the same network. Email changed the world. Now email is old tech. But things that are old have a way… Read more »
As the press prepares to cover the release of Ubuntu 17.04, it should be clear in the tech industry just how big of a player Ubuntu is to the ecosystem. While a good bit of reviews will focus on what’s new in the release and what’s headed down the pipeline, I’d like to comment on… Read more »
Freedom to create with code is not the same as the freedom to create a specific product. Sometimes the freedom offered in the open source community makes it easier for me to be more productive. Other times, not so much. The biggest excuses I have to grab one of my machines with a closed source… Read more »
The good folks at KDE managed to engage a market of Linux desktop users underserved by other distribution models. Or, maybe it’s just me. KDE has a long history in the desktop ecosystem. It was the first Linux desktop I was exposed to back in 2006. Back then, it was on OpenSUSE and it was… Read more »
2016 was unequivocally Linux’s best year yet. It’s on more devices than ever before and more secure than ever before. Were there embarrassing moments along the way? Yes, I kept reasonably close to the news and watched a few of these evolve and get patched as quickly as they were found. I’d also like to… Read more »
If you overthink a problem, you’re bound to make it harder than it needs to be. My experience with Linux has taught me to respect the simplicity and elegance of the command line, easy access to system files and the beauty of collaboration that creates such functional tools. Recently, I’ve been impassioned by what is… Read more »
In most work spaces, individuals are at least partially motivated by their salary to contribute to the project for which they are assigned. Leaders may possess various and commendable attributes in this scenario but they have the ability to leverage salary to motivate others. What happens when the salary isn’t there and how does it… Read more »
I’ve broken a lot of things over the years. Quite a few of them out of curiosity. I remember in the mid-1980s my dad had bought me a digital CASIO watch. After a few months with it, I wanted to see how it worked. Avoiding the sound advice of the instruction manual, I proceeded to… Read more »
We’ve talked for years about the killer app that will take the Linux desktop to the mainstream. For some the killer app is a particular game. To illustrate, I’m still playing Civilization IV. I’ve spent about thirty minutes trying to get it working under Wine to no avail. I’m sure I just haven’t found the… Read more »
NextCloud is a SAAS solution that creates a cloud hosted file/productivity server with features similar to DropBox and GoogleDrive. Thanks to Ubuntu’s Snaps it’s easier to install on a server than it is to create and verify a new DropBox account. Instructions: Open a Terminal Window (CTL+ALT+T) sudo snap install nextcloud Find your… Read more »
