UNIX
See the following -
'Open Source' Is Not 'Free Software'
In the open source universe, using terms such as FLOSS (Free/Libre and Open Source Software) is common and represents a casual conflation of the terms open source and free software, which are often used interchangeably. I would be remiss if I didn't also admit that I have been guilty of same. I won't be doing that anymore—or at least I'll try not to—for a simple reason: Using the terms interchangeably is dangerous to the goals of free software and open media advocates (read "anti-DRM"). To continue this practice is to undermine beliefs that are fundamental to free software and associated movement...
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2012 to Be Year of Linux Domination
I expect to see nothing but continued strength for Linux and open source in cloud computing in 2012. The cloud continues to be the biggest disruptor and opportunity for Linux providers. 2012 got off to an interesting start with Microsoft’s efforts to support for Linux on Azure, which highlights just how pervasive Linux has become in cloud computing.
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An Introduction to Libral, a Systems Management Library for Linux
Linux, in keeping with Unix traditions, doesn't have a comprehensive systems management API. Instead, management is done through a variety of special-purpose tools and APIs, all with their own conventions and idiosyncrasies. That makes scripting even simple systems-management tasks difficult and brittle. For example, changing the login shell of the "app" user is done by running usermod -s /sbin/nologin app. This works great until it is attempted on a system that does not have an app user. To fix the ensuing failure, the enterprising script writer might now resort to...
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Documentation Based on User Stories
A typical manual page on a Unix-like system is a good example of feature-based documentation. Ideally, it contains an exhaustive list of all features (options, commands, parameters) of a program, it explains what the features are good for, and it provides examples of how to use them. The measure of quality in the case of this type of documentation is comprehensiveness and thoroughness. On the other hand, a recipe in a cookbook is a classic example of action-oriented documentation that guides the user towards the completion of a specific goal by explaining clear-cut steps...
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Education Management with Moodle: The Beginning, Middle, and Today
Moodle is the de facto standard in open source learning management systems. It is described as "a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, secure and integrated system to create personalised learning environments." Plus, Moodle is free software, licensed under the GPL. Martin Dougiamas, Moodle's founder and lead developer, generously took time from his busy schedule to have a good, long talk with me about why he created it, where it is today, and what's next in open education. First let me give you a little background. I was introduced to Moodle in 2005 while visiting a public school district in Portland, Oregon, which was using Moodle as part of their instructional delivery...
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Epic's EHR system to run on Linux
Epic Systems Corp., one of several dominant EHR vendors for large hospitals, recently authorized implementations of its EHR system on Intel x86 servers running open-source Linux, virtualized to VMware. Prior to that, Epic ran exclusively on AIX and UNIX servers.
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In Their Own Words: Unix Pioneers Remember The Good Times
We caught up with the pioneers who brought us the Unix operating system and asked them to share some memories of the early days of Unix development. Read More »
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Joi Ito: Open-Source Hardware Is a No Brainer
Open-source hardware is on its way, and it will foster a new era of innovation, according to MIT Media Lab director Joichi “Joi” Ito. The emergence of freely available hardware designs and near-free components will unleash the same sort of technology innovation that open-source software kicked off a decade or so ago, Ito said Tuesday.
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Lessons To Be Learned From The Scariest Recent Open Source Vulnerabilities
Tis the season for spooks and frights, but the last thing any enterprise wants to experience is the terror of security vulnerabilities. In the past six months, we’ve seen three damaging open source security bugs; two of which have potentially exposed hundreds of thousands of websites and hundreds of millions of computers, servers, and devices...
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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...
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Moderator's Choice 2011: Seth Kenlon
Along with our annual People's Choice Award (announced last week), we also have a Moderators' Choice Award, selected from the previous year's authors across the site by the opensource.com editors. This year's winner is Seth Kenlon. Read More »
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On Dennis Ritchie: A Conversation with Brian Kernighan
The phrase "Kernighan and Ritchie" has entered computing jargon independently of the lexical tokens from which it is constituted. I talked on Friday with Brian Kernighan about Dennis Ritchie, who sadly passed away two weeks ago at the age of 70. Brian had gotten to know me a bit when he contributed a chapter on regular expressions to the O'Reilly book Beautiful Code. Read More »
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Open Source Hardware Holds The Same Promise As Software
I see SparkFun Electronics mentioned often in my social media stream, so I jumped at the chance to interview Chris Clark, the company's Director of Information Technology.
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Open Source Has Won: Now What's Your Strategy?
...[O]pen source is here to stay. If your organization isn’t using open source software in mission-critical applications, you’re in the minority...
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Open Source: The Antidote for “Too Big to Fail”
If you look at the evolution of the IT landscape over the past 30 years, you see two distinct trends: the continued growth of the IT dinosaurs (mainframe computing and mainframe wannabes like Sun) and the emergence of highly modular, adaptable systems, which, by their very process of evolution, not only best suit the current needs, but plant the seeds for the next computer revolution. Read More »
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