There are few people who would deny that autoconf, automake and libtool have revolutionized the free software world. While there are many thousands of Autotools advocates, some developers absolutely hate the Autotools, with a passion. Why? Let me try to explain with an analogy.
Digital Rights Management (DRM): is it in its death throes?
- 2008-05-07
-
Write a full post in response to this!
In this opening salvo, I will reprise the technical terms and history of DRM and thereafter I will try to keep you abreast of the issues for computer users in general and free software in particular. Hopefully, I will in fact be chronicling the death throws of DRM.
- Gary Richmond's posts
- 4 comments
- Read more
- 458 reads
For many years, there has been a growing concern about the emergence of a “digital divide” between rich and poor. The idea is that people who don’t meet a certain threshold income won’t be able to afford the investment in computers and internet connectivity that makes further learning and development possible. They’ll become trapped by their circumstances. Under proprietary commercial operating systems, which impose a kind of plateau on the cost of computer systems, this may well be true. But GNU/Linux, continuously improving hardware, and a community commitment to bringing technology down to cost instead of just up to spec, has led to a new wave of ultra-low-cost computers, starting with the One Laptop Per Child’s XO. These free-software-based computers will be the first introduction to computing for millions of new users, and that foretells a much freer future.
- 9 comments
- Read more
- 1511 reads
FSM Newsletter 5 May 2008
- 2008-05-05
- Published on web | Easy
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Hello readers, and welcome once again to Free Software Magazine’s fortnightly newsletter, keeping you up to date with all things free software… AND the top 10 FSDaily announcements for this week! Enjoy!
The Bizarre Cathedral - 3
- 2008-05-05
-
Write a full post in response to this!
The latest strip from the Bizarre Cathedral.
- Ryan Cartwright's posts
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
- 2014 reads
Installing an all-in-one printer device in Debian
- 2008-05-05
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Recently I had cause to buy a scanner. Being in a reasonably small home I was eager to save on desk-space, and so decided to upgrade my ageing inkjet printer at the same time. Having looked around I eventually went for an HP Photosmart C5180 device. This is my experience of installing it on Debian Lenny.
- Ryan Cartwright's posts
- 15 comments
- Read more
- 3102 reads
Indexing offline CD-ROM archives
- 2008-05-03
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Suppose you’ve been good (or sort of good anyway), and you have a huge stack of CD-ROMs (or DVDs) with backups and archives of your old files. Great. But how can you find anything? I solved this problem today by making an index of all the files stored on these disks using a few simple GNU command line tools.
- Terry Hancock's posts
- 2 comments
- Read more
- 2394 reads
Things you miss with GNU/Linux
- 2008-05-01
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Recently I’ve noticed an increases in the number of people I know who are migrating from Windows to GNU/Linux. Either my tireless advocacy is grinding them down, word is starting to spread. Perhaps they’ve actually seen Vista in action and decided to jump ship now. Either way there are some things they are going to miss when they make the leap.
- Ryan Cartwright's posts
- 8 comments
- Read more
- 9837 reads
Dillo the lean browser
- 2008-04-30
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Using browsers which are Web 2.0 enabled whenever you just what to Google something is like calling out the Fire Brigade when you have just burned the toast. Definitive overkill. If you are just surfing for information, then you want the little browser on the low fat, low body-mass index, skinny latte diet with a low carbon footprint. If Dillo were a catwalk model, it would be size zero. Think of it as the Victoria Beckham of browsers— but better looking; where the big hitters like Firefox, Flock and Opera sometimes move like a Sloth on Mogadon, Dillo tears down the track like a Whippet on speed.
If you can program in C/GTK+, you can also get involved with this worthy project: see the bottom of the article for more information.
- Gary Richmond's posts
- 2 comments
- Read more
- 3145 reads
Interview with the Ekiga developers
- 2008-04-29
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Ekiga is the most popular, free VoIP software available. When I asked the Ekiga team for an interview, there was a lot I didn’t know. For example, I had no idea I’d be interviewing quite so many people (coordination was quite a challenge!), and—more importantly—I didn’t know that so much knowledge would have been uncovered. Every single member had something important to say, and the result is an interview that becomes a unique insight into Ekiga, the VoIP world, free software development and team work.
Julien Puydt, Damien Sandras, Matthias Schneider, Yannick Defais, Jan Schampera, These guys know telephony. They were born with a directory in their pockets. This interview is not to be missed. Enjoy.
Many thanks to Gary Richmond for editing this epic interview
- Tony Mobily's posts
- 3 comments
- Read more
- 4763 reads
DRM and the BBC iPlayer: an interview with Paul Battley
- 2008-04-28
-
Write a full post in response to this!
In this post I will interview Paul Battley, the man who wrote the program that worked around the DRM loophole at the BBC. No GNU/Linux user needs to be told what DRM (aka Trusted Computing, aka Palladium) is and why it is a thoroughly pernicious and Hydra-headed monster that needs to be slain. I hope to make that the subject of a post in the very near future, but in the meantime here is a quick thumbnail sketch of what happened with the BBC’s iPlayer, to bring you up to speed. The interview with Paul Battley follows.
- Gary Richmond's posts
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
- 2401 reads
Top 10 Free Software Daily stories this week!
- 2008-04-28
-
Write a full post in response to this!
You get the best free software news at FSDaily… because YOU decide what’s important. Here are the top 10 FSDaily stories from the last week as voted by the members. Don’t like ‘em? Think something’s missing? Want to know more? Head to FSDaily and get voting!
- admin's posts
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
- 983 reads
The Bizarre Cathedral - 2
- 2008-04-27
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Latest from the Bizarre Cathedral
- Ryan Cartwright's posts
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
- 3148 reads
Microsoft and free software? I don't think so...
- 2008-04-26
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Microsoft turn to free software? That’ll be the day. Some have suggested that Microsoft might embrace free software and thus resolve the present conflict. That actually would be a terrific strategy for them, but I don’t think that Microsoft is smart enough to do it.
- Terry Hancock's posts
- 2 comments
- Read more
- 2075 reads
Joomla! Accessibility by Joshue O Connor
More accessibilty than Joomla!
- 2008-04-26
- Published on web | Intermediate
-
Write a full post in response to this!
This book concentrates mainly on making websites accessible, particularly to the visually impaired. These techniques are then used, more briefly, to explain how to make Joomla! sites accessible. The book’s author, Joshue O Connor, is clearly an expert on accessibility and has covered these areas well.
Google App Engine: Is it evil?
- 2008-04-24
-
Write a full post in response to this!
The Google App Engine doesn’t really advance the cause of evil all that much, but it’s not exactly good, either. Google makes a big deal about its corporate motto, “Don’t be evil”, but at the end of the day, Google really is just another corporation, no matter how well-intentioned its founders may have been. Regardless of whether the corporation holding the carrot is called “Microsoft” or “Google”, developers should think long and hard before following the primrose path towards lock-in to non-standard designs.
- Terry Hancock's posts
- 3 comments
- Read more
- 2434 reads
A quick look at the spring GNU/Linux distributions: Mandriva, Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE
- 2008-04-22
-
Write a full post in response to this!
It’s really the most wonderful time of the year. Out of the top 6 GNU/Linux distributions (according to DistroWatch.com), four are releasing or have released builds between April and June. What’s new in them?
- Andrew Min's posts
- 3 comments
- Read more
- 4737 reads
Free Software Magazine Awards 2008
- 2008-04-22
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Nominate your entries for Free Software Magazine Awards 2008! To nominate a project, a person or a site, just leave a comment under this story or send an email with subject “Awards” to:

Nominations close on April, 30 2008. Hurry!
The core authors at Free Software Magazine will be the judges for the 2008 Free Software Magazine Awards.
- Tony Mobily's posts
- Login or register to post comments
- Read more
- 859 reads
FSM Newsletter 21 April 2008
- 2008-04-21
- Published on web | Easy
-
Write a full post in response to this!
Hello readers, and welcome once again to Free Software Magazine’s fortnightly newsletter, keeping you up to date with all things free software… AND the top 10 FSDaily announcements for this week! Enjoy!
General announcements
Top ten Free Software Daily stories this week
Why Microsoft should not lose (and free software will still win)
- 2008-04-21
-
Write a full post in response to this!
There has always been a section of the free software community which has an anti-Microsoft agenda. It’s almost like their mission statement is “It’s not over until Microsoft is dead”. Certainly there is a lot of feeling that if Microsoft went away, a lot of our problem would be over. But do Microsoft even need to “lose”; is there even a battle to be fought and if so what would constitute winning it?
- Ryan Cartwright's posts
- 9 comments
- Read more
- 3895 reads
Best voted contents
-
The Bizarre Cathedral - 1
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-04-18 -
Interview with Kurt Denke, the man who shut "Monster Cable" up
Tony Mobily, 2008-04-17 -
Google App Engine: Is it evil?
Terry Hancock, 2008-04-24 -
Programming languages and "lock-in"
Terry Hancock, 2008-04-18
Buzz authors
All news
From the FSM staff...
- The Top 10 Everything (Dave). The good, the bad and the ugly.
- Free Software news (Dave & Bridget). A site about short stories and writing.
- Book Reviews: Illiterarty (Bridget). Book reviews, blogs, and short stories.
Hot topics - last 60 days
-
What is the free software community?
Tony Mobily, 2008-03-29 -
Installing an all-in-one printer device in Debian
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-05-05 -
Drigg (the pligg alternative) vs. Pligg: why should people switch?
Tony Mobily, 2008-04-13 -
Why Microsoft should not lose (and free software will still win)
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-04-21 -
How do you replace Microsoft Outlook? Groupware applications
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-03-20
Hot topics - last 21 days
-
Installing an all-in-one printer device in Debian
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-05-05 -
Why Microsoft should not lose (and free software will still win)
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-04-21 -
Things you miss with GNU/Linux
Ryan Cartwright, 2008-05-01 -
Digital Rights Management (DRM): is it in its death throes?
Gary Richmond, 2008-05-07


Dedicated server