Linux.com :: Features

Using a wiki for FOSS application documentation

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

For a lot of programmers, writing an application is fun, but writing its manual is not. Adding new features, refining the product, and responding to users' input are all more rewarding than writing instructions on how to use the software. However, good documentation is necessary to have happy, informed users who can contribute meaningfully to future development. A few months ago, Gilbert Ashley, the author of src2pkg (Slackware's "magic package maker") invited me and two other people to help him manage the user documentation for his program. The process we used to create the src2pkg wiki may be a useful example for other free and open source software (FOSS) application developers.

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Book review: The power of group sharing

Thu, 08 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Clay Shirky's book on what information technology is doing to our world, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, has important things to say to anyone interested in open source software (OSS). His thoughts on the evolving effects of the technological revolution we are all living in make for a fun way to spend a few hours.

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Ubuntu 8.04: Upgrade or clean install?

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Which path should you follow? Should you take advantage of Ubuntu's package manager and use it to upgrade your system to the latest 8.04 Hardy Heron release, or should you download a CD or DVD ISO image and do a clean install? Common wisdom says that doing a clean install is the better, safer course of action. There may be a little extra work involved configuring everything once the latest and greatest is installed, but that's nothing compared to the pain of an update gone wrong, according to traditional thinking. But that cautious approach may no longer be necessary.

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Synchronize your databases with SqlSync

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

SqlSync lets you compare two databases to see which tuples have been added, removed, and changed. You can also use SqlSync to make one database a clone of another and maintain its contents to be that way. One benefit of using SqlSync to perform synchronization is that you can perform heterogeneous syncs -- for example, from MySQL to PostgreSQL.

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Tomboy note-taker keeps you organized

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

I use Tomboy, an open source notetaking app, to cull and organize the hundreds of bits of information I track, and to prioritize it on to-do lists on the fly. When we first reviewed Tomboy 0.3.5, it had some obvious flaws. The project has had a number of updates since then, and the newest version, 0.10.0, really makes the grade.

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Interview with Bluewhite64 creator Attila Craciun

Wed, 07 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Slackware Linux has stood strong for more than a decade by refusing to compromise. There was a time when people used to say, "If you want to learn Linux and learn it well, give Slackware a try." Attila Craciun, a Romanian software developer and Linux enthusiast, has ported the Slackware tree to the AMD64 architecture to create the Bluewhite64 distro. We spoke with him to find out about Bluewhite64, where it came from, and where it's going.

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Creative Commons promotes standard license expression

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

If Creative Commons (CC) has any say in the matter, the Web will soon have a standard machine-readable notation for licenses. Named the Creative Commons Rights Expression Language (ccREL), the notation has been under development for the last few years, partly with the cooperation of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3). It is described in a paper by four Creative Commons employees and published by Communia, a European site that explores the relationship between technology and the public domain. Creative Commons plans future presentations of ccREL, and is also actively explaining the need for it -- which is what CC's Chief Technology Officer, Nathan Yergler, was doing when Linux.com caught up with him at the recent Open Web Conference in Vancouver.

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Play multimedia content with style using Entertainer

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Every major operating system has more than one media center solution for users who can't spend a day without watching a movie or listening to music. In Linux we're all familiar with MythTV and Freevo, two media center applications that are so appreciated they even have got their own distributions. Freevo is highly configurable, and Freevo 2 SNV builds look promising. MythTV has everything a personal video recorder needs, from scheduled recordings to weather plugins. The thing is, many people need a media center application just to watch Xvid files, listen to their favorite music, and watch family pictures on their television. If this is the case for you, give Entertainer a try.

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FusionCharts Free: Cross-platform charts that rock

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

It has been said that the best things in life are free. While this isn't always true, it applies in this case. If you've struggled with GNUplot, JPgraph or other charting applications, FusionCharts Free is a breath of fresh air. Have you dreamed of finding a charting and graphing application that is simple to install, easy to configure, and drop-dead gorgeous? Stop dreaming and download a copy of FusionCharts Free. You'll be producing professional quality charts and graphs in no time.

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Meet Inna Kuznetsova, IBM's Linux Strategy Director (video)

Tue, 06 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

I always ask people who market (as opposed to develop) GNU/Linux and open source products or services what Linux distribution they use on their own computers. More often than not, the answer is along the lines of, "I'm a marketing person so I use Windows. The techies use Linux." Inna, on the other hand, uses not one, not two, but three different Linux distributions on her home computers. When she tells an IBM client Linux is the way to go, she obviously means it, and this surely makes a difference -- even if it's only a subtle one -- in her work.

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Free Flash community reacts to Adobe Open Screen Project

Tue, 06 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

From the presentation, you might imagine that Adobe's announcement of the Open Screen Project was major news. According to the news release, the project's goal is "to enable a consistent runtime environment" by relaxing some restrictions on the Flash format and releasing some specifications. However, in the free Flash community, the small group of developers dedicated to producing non-proprietary Flash tools, the reaction to the news was polite at best -- and serves as a much-needed reality check to the over-enthusiastic announcement.

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What can you do with a second Ethernet port?

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Purchase a new PC or motherboard soon, and the chances are good that it will come with two built-in network interfaces -- either two Ethernet jacks or one Ethernet and one Wi-Fi. Tossing in a second adapter is an inexpensive way for the manufacturer to add another bullet point to the product description -- but what exactly are you supposed to do with it? If you are running Linux, you have several alternatives.

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OfflineIMAP makes messages and attachments available locally

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

OfflineIMAP allows you to read your email while you are not connected to the Internet. This is great when you are traveling and really need an attachment from a message but cannot connect to the Internet.

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Tim Bray provides a bridge between Sun and developers

Mon, 05 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

"I'm a genuine old fart," says Tim Bray as he looks back at his three decades in computing. Widely known for his standards work on XML and the Atom syndication format, at an age when many former developers have moved entirely into management, he seems to have found a niche that takes advantage of his experience. As director of Web technologies at Sun Microsystems, his job is to keep current with Web and general programming and to encourage adaptation of new developments within the corporation. At the recent Open Web Vancouver conference, Bray talked to Linux.com about how he fills his role at Sun, and the trends he sees in computing.

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As the SCO rolls

Mon, 05 May 2008 17:49:13 GMT

Reality, as good writers know, is sometimes stranger than fiction. SCO's recent performance in the U.S. District Court in Utah is a perfect example. With years to prepare, SCO executives made some remarkable statements in their attempt to show that SCO, not Novell, owns Unix's copyright.

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Korn -- an extended shell

Mon, 05 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Everyone knows what a Linux shell is -- you open up a Linux terminal window (such as Konsole or xterm), type in some commands, and there you are, using your Linux shell. Write your commands to a file, make it executable, run it, and you're a shell programmer. But did you know that there are different shells that you can use, and that each shell operates in a slightly different way? My personal favorite is the Korn shell; by the end of this article, it may be your favorite as well.

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Four multimedia plugins make WordPress more fun

Mon, 05 May 2008 08:00:00 GMT

WordPress plugins for multimedia can make your blog more interesting. These four plugins make it possible to automatically generate and configure multimedia, making your site a richer experience for your visitors and for you.

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Desktop Linux strategies for marketplace success

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

What strategy is needed to really spread desktop Linux to average home users? Here are some ideas that just might work.

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Open source diva Danese Cooper (video)

Fri, 02 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

We first met Danese Cooper when she was working for Sun, where she was a major internal open source advocate and often Sun's major spokesperson to the rest of the world about open source. She's currently doing something similar at Intel, besides serving on the Open Source Initiative board and generally being a popular speaker at GNU/Linux and open source conferences. She's also quoted now and then about open source, often on licensing matters.

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Computer makers push device builders for Linux-compatible hardware

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:00:00 GMT

For years, device and peripheral builders could get away with ignoring the Linux desktop market. It was too small to matter, they would say. Things have changed. At the Linux Foundation meeting in Austin, Texas, last month, major PC vendors ASUS, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Lenovo said they would be telling their chipset, component, and peripheral OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) that they were going to demand Linux-compatible hardware from them.

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