Linux distributions and silly names go together like peanut butter and jelly. For whatever reason, the maintainers of these operating systems seem to enjoy having fun with what they call them -- some argue it is childish. Even Google -- a billion dollar company -- uses sugary dessert names for the Linux-based Android operating system.

One of the most well-known Linux distributions to use funny names is Ubuntu. It famously uses the convention of an adjective and a lesser-known animal, each starting with the same letter. The letter is chosen sequentially by alphabet. For example, Ubuntu 16.10 uses the letter "Y" -- "Yakkety Yak". The next version of the operating system will use the letter "Z". While many folks hoped for "Zebra", that would be too obvious. Instead, Canonical has chosen "Zesty Zapus". Don't know what a zapus is? Neither did I. It is apparently a type of jumping mouse. The selection was not made at random, however, as the company has an explanation for the decision.

Continue reading →

The future of computing is open source. While there is still room for closed source software, more and more companies are going the open route. Major players such as Microsoft, Apple, and Facebook are all contributing to the open source community. Google in particular is a huge proponent of open source. Heck, two of the company's operating systems -- Chrome OS and Android -- are Linux distributions.

Today, the search giant announces the 'Open Source Report Card'. This is essentially a report that explains the details of its open source projects. Google is undoubtedly a major open source contributor, but the question is, what grade should the company get?

Continue reading →

The blue 'WRT' routers from Linksys are iconic. These open source-friendly devices have been very popular with in-the-know consumers that enjoy flashing alternative firmware, such as OpenWrt or DD-WRT. This can sometimes provide added features and functionality.

Today, Linksys unveils its latest such offering, the AC3200 WRT Gigabit MU-MIMO Wi-Fi Router (WRT3200ACM). The 802.11AC device features Tri-Stream 160 technology, 512MB DDR3, and a 1.8 GHz Dual Core processor. Despite all of these amazing specifications, it is surprisingly affordable.

Continue reading →

Fedora is the operating system of choice of Linux founder Linus Torvalds -- that says a lot. Despite the fact that he uses a Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition laptop that ships pre-loaded with Ubuntu, it is unlikely that he kept that OS on it. While there is nothing wrong with Canonical's offering, Fedora is a very wise choice for those who want a no-nonsense Linux distro with a focus on free and open source software.

Today, Fedora 25 Beta becomes available for download. There are many things to get excited about, such as the implementation of Wayland and the pre-release 3.22 version of the GNOME desktop environment.

Continue reading →

You may not have heard of the tofu problem, but you have almost certainly experienced it. If you visit a website or open a document that can't display a particular character, you'll see a white box symbol resembling a cube of tofu. Now Google has a solution.

The Noto font project (it's a mashup of 'NO more TOfu') has been something of a labor of love, taking five years to reach its conclusion. But the result is an open source Noto font family which Google says includes "every symbol in the Unicode standard, covering more than 800 languages and 110,000 characters".

Continue reading →

Ubuntu Core is a very different operating system than traditional Ubuntu. While both are Linux distributions, "Core" takes a different approach to package management, using modular "snaps". This way of computing is quite brilliant, as it removes dependencies and keeps everything in its own sort of sandbox. While the focus of Core seems to be the cloud and IoT devices, some people -- including yours truly -- see the writing on the wall. The Core design may eventually become the foundation of regular Ubuntu too.

Today, Canonical announces the latest Ubuntu Core 16 beta with feature freeze. If you are a home desktop Linux user, this is definitely not for you. Instead, this should be tested by developers and those that have a genuine use for Core.

Continue reading →

A new vulnerability has been discovered that could shut down most Linux systems using a command short enough to fit in a tweet.

Linux administrator and founder of the security certificate company SSLMate Andrew Ayer discovered the bug, which has the potential to kill a number of critical commands while making others unstable just by entering the short command: NOTIFY_SOCKET=/run/systemd/notify systemd-notify "".

Continue reading →

Many companies like to talk about diversity and inclusion nowadays, but for some, it seems to be nothing more than a way to get positive publicity. True diversity is not about having a balanced employee pie chart to show off to the media, but giving everyone opportunities despite things like gender, skin color, sex, and religion.

Today, Google announces that its 'Code Next' initiative is officially launching in Oakland, California. What is it, exactly? The search giant is looking to help Black and Hispanic students to get excited about computer science. Sadly, according to Google, more than half of Black students, and close to half of Hispanic students, do not have access to computer science learning. 'Code Next' is looking to change this.

Continue reading →

Open source employees in Europe have it good, especially when we compare that market to the rest of the world. This is according to a new report by Dice and The Linux Foundation. The report says that out of 1,000 European respondents 60 percent believe it would be fairly easy to find a new job this year. Globally, the figure stands at about 50 percent.

"Demand for open source talent is growing and companies struggle to find experienced professionals to fill open roles", says Bob Melk, president of Dice. "Rising salaries for open source professionals indicate companies recognize the need to attract, recruit and retain qualified open source professionals on a global scale. Regardless of where they reside around the world, these professionals are motivated by the opportunity to work on interesting projects".

Continue reading →

Machine learning and vision are essential technologies for the advancement of robotics. When sensors come together, they can enable a computer or robot to collect data and images in real-time.

A good example of this technology in real-world use is the latest Roomba vacuums. As the robot cleans your dirty floor, it is using sensors combined with a camera to map your home. Today, Google releases Cartographer -- an open source project that developers can use for many things, such as robots and self-driving cars.

Continue reading →

When you want a laptop running Ubuntu, you can always purchase a Windows machine and replace the operating system. Why bother with that hassle, though? Instead, it is smart to buy a machine pre-loaded with a Linux-based operating from a company like System76.

While System76 sells brilliant Ubuntu-powered laptops and desktops, it is not the only game in town. Actually, believe it or not, Dell has long been a proponent of Linux, even before 'Project Sputnik'. Its Ubuntu-powered XPS 13 Developer Edition laptops have been quite popular, and for good reason -- they are built well and are very beautiful. Today, Dell announces a refresh with 7th-gen Intel Kaby Lake processors. The 13-inch laptop even gets a new color option -- rose gold.

Continue reading →

Mozilla's love of open source is nothing new -- just look to the Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) program. Loving a philosophy is one thing, but Mozilla has also put its money where its mouth is.

In the third quarter of this year, MOSS awarded more than $300,000 to four projects which it either already supported, or which were aligned with the organization's mission. One of the smallest awards -- $56,000 -- was made to Speech Rule Engine, a text-to-speech style component that makes mathematical and scientific content more accessible.

Continue reading →

Next month, one of the most important desktop operating systems will get a major update. No, I am not talking about Windows or macOS; I am referring to Ubuntu. True, from a market share perspective Linux-based desktop operating systems are rather insignificant, but for those in the know, Canonical's open source OS is quite brilliant. Its fans and users are very loyal and passionate.

Today, the final beta of the upcoming Ubuntu Linux 16.10 becomes available. While this version -- dubbed 'Yakkety Yak' -- will not reinvent the wheel, it should offer enough to delight existing users of the open source operating system. Hey, if it's not broke, why fix it, right? That is a lesson Microsoft learned the hard way with Windows 8, but I digress.

Continue reading →

If you are a fan of Linux-based desktop operating systems, you probably have done this before -- buy a Windows PC and replace the pre-installed OS with your favorite distro. While this can be a fine practice, there are some problems with it. Of course, you may experience issues with drivers -- especially Wi-Fi cards. Even worse, if you ever need support, the manufacturer might turn you away when it finds out you loaded Ubuntu, Fedora, or something else.

A smart alternative is to buy a computer from a company that cares about Linux, such as System76. That company sells beautiful laptops and desktops running Ubuntu. But what if you prefer Linux Mint? The Mint team has previously partnered with manufacturers to produce desktops running its distro. Today, the all-new Mintbox Mini Pro goes on sale.

Continue reading →

Cloud storage is amazingly convenient. Unfortunately, the best part of the cloud can also be the worst. You see, having your files stored on someone else's severs and accessing them over the internet opens you to focused hacking, and potentially, incompetence by the cloud storage company too. As a way to have the best of both worlds, some folks will set up net-connected local storage so they can manage their own 'cloud'.

Today, Canonical and Western Digital (WDLabs) unveil an Ubuntu Core Linux-based cloud storage and 'Internet of Things' device called 'Nextcloud Box'. The box leverages the open source Nextcloud service and can be powered by a Raspberry Pi 2, Raspberry Pi 3, or oDroid C2. Will it be easier to use and manage than closed source solutions?

Continue reading →