Do you like manuals? Do you like Wikis? Do you like open source software? Check out
FLOSS Manuals for wiki-fied manuals for popular and fun open source software, including
PureData,
Inkscape,
Blender,
Ardour, among others. Taking a page from programmers, the group endorses "
book sprints", where creative writers, editors and artists work closely together to complete an online book in a short, intense burst of effort.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Oct 1, 2010 -
6 comments
The OpenOffice.org Project has unveiled a major restructuring that separates itself from Oracle and that takes responsibility for OpenOffice away from a single company. ... Driving home the changes, OpenOffice.org project is now The Document Foundation while the OpenOffice.org suite has been given the temporary name of LibreOffice.
posted by Joe Beese
on Sep 28, 2010 -
45 comments
AlternativeTo finds substitutes to expensive and/or crappy desktop and mobile software. "Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you great alternatives, based on user recommendations."
posted by gman
on May 4, 2010 -
15 comments
Ubuntu has quickly become the number one
Linux distro for the desktop. Not only is it free, but it has also made Linux easier to use than ever. Now,
Wubi enables
Windows users to install Ubuntu just like any other application, so you no longer have to mess around with partitions, burning CDs, etc.
[more inside]
posted by Foci for Analysis
on Jan 21, 2008 -
82 comments
To work around the proprietary whims of digital audio software developers and laptop processor limitations during the mid- and late-1990s, a small band of technically-minded people, including the electronic musician
Blitter, pulled together in the late 1990s to engineer the open-source
OPEN DSP EZ-Kit platform, a 16-bit computer designed entirely with a focus on low cost and extensible control and DSP arithmetic capabilities. While this project and
similar commercial offerings never seemed to gain the critical mass needed to sustain long-term interest, perhaps the new
Arduino hardware project from MIT's
Processing hardware group may gain a foothold with
Processing and
Pure Data audio software hobbyists and artists alike, allowing the creative community to extend, enhance and share inventive uses of new technology. Arduino's use has
already begun in
fascinating museum installations around the world, and has become a part of this year's
SONAR and
Ars Electronica festivals.
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Aug 12, 2006 -
10 comments
The CEO of Ernie Ball talks about how his company left Microsoft for Linux after a licensing fiasco. Sterling Ball: It's just software. You have to figure out what you need to do within your organization and then get the right stuff for that. And we're not a backwards organization. We're progressive; we've won communications and design awards...The fact that I'm not sending my e-mail through Outlook doesn't hinder us. It's just kind of funny. I'm speaking to a standing-room-only audience at a major technology show because I use a different piece of software--that's hysterical.
posted by skallas
on Dec 10, 2003 -
20 comments
Open Source Content Management Systems Great resource for software (typically free) that allows you to start and maintain websites. The owners have gone so far as to install each one of them and give users admin access to try them out before downloading them.
posted by oissubke
on Feb 20, 2003 -
27 comments
Celestia is the most beautiful toy. It's a free (open source) simulator of the universe, including breathtaking models of known planets. Watch Jupiter rise over Io or follow the course of a solar eclipse. [more inside]
posted by grahamwell
on Feb 4, 2003 -
21 comments
Open Source or Bust? "Named the "Digital Software Security Act," the proposal essentially would make California the "Live Free or Die" state when it comes to software. If enacted as written, state agencies would be able to buy software only from companies that do not place restrictions on use or access to source code. The agencies would also be given the freedom to "make and distribute copies of the software."" If open source wants to be taken seriously, shouldn't it compete on the merits (or with martketing) rather than forcing gov't agencies to use it?
posted by owillis
on Aug 11, 2002 -
44 comments
"A Contrarian View of Open Source" - Bruce Sterling on the open source attitutude:
"Don't like it? Hey, just reconfigure it yourself, don't bother me!" It's the Hippie Squat Model of software architecture. "If I want to paint the doors and floors bright blue and put the toilet right into the kitchen, why not?"
posted by GriffX
on Aug 9, 2002 -
12 comments
Let's stop wasting US$ 78 billion a year. Is software development really this inefficient? Aside from the main theme, there is also an interesting statement from a CIO towards the end of the article. "Those folks [involved in the open-source movement] are very knowledgeable, very good at what they do, and they're producing really great code," [...]
posted by HeikoH
on Oct 20, 2001 -
5 comments
What OS is Micro$oft running? A poll of what OS' run in Microsoft's netblock, and their rank by uptime. Besides the fact that Hotmail was on FreeBSD for awhile [before M$ took them over], this was surprising.
posted by plemeljr
on Oct 17, 2001 -
18 comments
Software Libre! Local and national governments around the world are legislating in favor of open source, in a challenge to US corporate (read Microsoft) dominance. A liberating movement, or too much government intrusion?
posted by liam
on Aug 29, 2001 -
11 comments
MS VP Challenges GPL on Moral Grounds In Speech
Admitting that the company is feeling pressure from open source, free alternatives, Microsoft's Craig Mundie, lecturing at NYU, will speak out against G.P.L., which he considers impractical, dangerous and morally wrong. Stallman is quoted as saying something ludicrously funny about the American revolution.
posted by rschram
on May 3, 2001 -
14 comments
