Since 2013 was such a strong year for Linux, it should come as no surprise that I believe (and many us) next year is not only going to be big, it also has the potential to be the biggest year yet. Here’s the things we can expect and the things that will unfold in the next 12 months. Netrunner 14.01 (Netrunner 14.01 is 13.12*) A bit behind schedule Netrunner’s next release is set to happen around January 15th. Among many other improvements is the new theme, which I think most users will greatly enjoy. It’s beautiful, minimalistic and easy on… Continue Reading

Was this the year of Linux in the desktop? That’s hard to answer. The rise of ChromeOS could very well mean this was the beginning of Linux hitting mainstream on desktop computers. Sadly, we don’t the know the future! If ChromeOS does rises and becomes a viable competitor to MS Windows then 2013 will be remembered as the year of Linux. If it doesn’t, how will the 2013 be remembered? The best moments  The year ChromeOS grew Even if ChromeOS never surpasses Microsoft Windows, the recent news that Chromebooks sold more in recent quarters than Apple sold Macbooks are impressive…. Continue Reading

Was this the year of Linux in the desktop? That’s hard to answer. The rise of ChromeOS could very well mean this was the beginning of Linux hitting mainstream on desktop computers. Sadly, we don’t the know the future! If ChromeOS does rises and becomes a viable competitor to MS Windows then 2013 will be remembered as the year of Linux. If it doesn’t, how will the 2013 be remembered? This year’s disappointments Ubuntu Edge For an entire month the community dreamt about a high-end smartphone designed from the ground up for Ubuntu for phones. One with an unlocked bootloader… Continue Reading

In the tutorials to install Kubuntu on a Macbook Air we created what are known as chroot environments. As you will soon discover chroot environments can be used for more than fixing the grub. What is a chroot environment? The root directory of your system is the top directory. On Linux the directory is self-explanatorily set to / creating a chroot environment is merely the act of changing the apparent root directory of a process, hence Change root. This creates a sandboxed environment, your chroot session can’t access your regular root directory and therefore it can’t access your home folder either. To… Continue Reading

You’re walking down a street, with one of your significant others at your side. You pass by a restaurant, and it looks like a nice place to continue pursuing your infidelity. Then, you glimpse at the menu, and you decide whether you want to stay or not. Just like restaurants and bistros, operating systems have their menus. For a lot of people, they are the gateway into the operating system. You use them to explore the options, to peruse the variety, to make the right choice of software and usability before you take a proverbial bite. Indeed, let us explore… Continue Reading

Do you know what this article has in common with the fairly popular book and film called The Hunt for the Red October? Well, nothing really. Except the word hunt. Now, let’s clarify a few things up front. First, there is such a thing as a perfect distro. You’ve seen me declare one or two before. However, that’s given our reality as it is, with limitations and whatnot. But what if there were none? Second, as we explore this pseudo-virtual reality where anything is possible, I’d like to give you my take on what the perfect distro truly is. Not… Continue Reading

Let me start the same way I started the last article, by stating I support many of Google’s efforts, it has pushed open source into the consumer space in many ways. Maybe you don’t think competition to Android from close source alternatives such as Windows Phone or iOS is healthy. But be careful: anti-competitive behaviour also keeps other open source projects out. Also make no mistake about Android: The base system is open source, the ecosystem is completely closed. If the choice is between an Android monopoly, an Apple monopoly or a Microsoft monopoly, probably all of us reading this would… Continue Reading

Let me start by saying I support many of Google’s efforts, it has pushed open source into the consumer space in many ways. But that shouldn’t fool you, we need market competition even in markets now dominated by open source software. Maybe you don’t think competition from Microsoft or Apple or Amazon is healthy if it reduces the share of open source products in a given market, but what about the inability of other open source projects to enter the picture? Anti-competitive behaviour not only keeps closed sourced alternatives out, it keeps open source alternatives out of the equation just… Continue Reading