Febuntoo News Generator

There is a new gnome-keyring-sharp available for download.

The only changes from 1.0.1 are related to a breaking change in gnome-keyring: the socket interface is no longer there as of GNOME 2.30+.

Thanks a lot to Chris Halse Rogers at Canonical for doing all the work.

There is a new gnome-keyring-sharp available for download.

The only changes from 1.0.1 are related to a breaking change in gnome-keyring: the socket interface is no longer there as of GNOME 2.30+.

Thanks a lot to Chris Halse Rogers at Canonical for doing all the work.

I have strong feelings regarding the open core business model and most of them are very negative. In my opinion, open core is a subversion of the open source philosophy and companies using it are doomed to fail in varying levels. Be it not reaping almost any of the benefits of open source to frustrating the customers they want to profit from. The reasons are many and I won’t detail all of them here since others have done it very well.

Here are some useful resources. As usual, always check who is writing what you are reading.

Open Core is Bad For You
Open-Core: The Emperor’s New Clothes
While lies beyond the open core debate?
Open Core is the New Dual License
The Road to Closed Source Software, Eucalyptus
Marten Mickos says open source doesn’t have to be fully open
Open Core is Not Open Source
Open Core Business Model Revisited
Gartner Smackdown on Open Core

The time has come for me to buy a new laptop.  As a graduate student and an open source hobbyist, I needed a machine that would work both for typing lengthy papers, and could handle compiling and virtual machines with ease.  This meant finding a nice keyboard and plenty of hardware resources.

The other thing I wanted to avoid was paying the Windows tax.  Since most major OEMs ship Windows pre-installed the end user ends up paying for this license whether or not they end up actually using Windows.  This is money that can be saved or spent on buying better hardware.  I surprisingly found that many name brand laptop makers do in fact have Linux options, which save money, though they are not well advertised.

***Please note that my primary focus is on laptops and not desktops and netbooks, which tend to have more Linux offerings***

HP – At first glance on HP’s consumer site, it may look a little disheartening, but HP has a good variety of offerings for Linux-shipped OEM laptops for both the HP and Compaq brands.  They offer SuSE and Red Flag for Linux options, or FreeDOS on many of their models.  If you select one of these OS’s for an option you save at least $100 off the price tag, and you retain HP support.  Not all of their models offer this possibility, but many do, including the HP ProBook series.  You have to go through their business site (which also offers discounts for government, education, student, etc).  While I was researching, they had a special promotion for 18% off and free shipping from this site.

Lenovo – This was disappointing.  I have been a big fan of ThinkPads.  Their keyboards and hardware quality have been excellent.  The problem is, Lenovo has no direct options except Windows on their laptop machines.  I did speak with sales and customer support and I found out that on desktops for businesses they do offer Red Hat Enterprise but nothing for laptops.  Futhermore, when I asked if I could decline the Microsoft EULA and get my money back, I was told I would have to go through Microsoft (good luck!), even though the EULA says to contact the hardware vendor.  Someone is not being truthful.  There is a way however!  Lenovo will sell ThinkPads without an OS in bulk to OEM vendors.  There are at least two that ship these pre-installed with Linux: LACLinux and Emperor Linux.

Dell – Dell used to have a very diverse offering for Ubuntu, from netbooks all the way up to high-end Alienware machines.  Dell has disappointingly limited the options to one laptop (and one netbook), which is a low-level Inspiron.  Their Linux OEM products are listed on this page.  <Edit: See Comment #1 for more Dell Linux offerings.>

In addition to these three, there are several Linux OEM vendors who may use the same suppliers as major vendors.  Here are three I found notable in my search:

ZAReason – This vendor is based out of the bay area in California and has eight different, customizable laptop offerings.  I found the value to be decent, but some of the hardware on the models is not the latest (though three of them do offer i3/5/7 processors).  They do have good OS variety and will install Fedora, Ubuntu, or Debian.  Another nice feature is they replace the Windows button with an Ubuntu logo.

System76 - This vendor offers a range of products between low-level netbooks to high-performance machines.  The Lemur is a thin-model looking to compete with a Macbook Air, and the hardware options on the higher models is very impressive, especially for the price.  They only ship Ubuntu for an OS, but all the hardware is tested for it.  Some of their laptops also offer a chiclet-style keyboard, similar to Macbooks.  Like ZAReason, they also replace the Windows button with an Ubuntu logo.

PCs for Everyone – The focus of this vendor is high-performance gaming laptops and they are impressive, especially for the price.  They feature some newer high-end ATI and nVidia gaming cards and come loaded with features.  They only currently offer three models, but this would be a good place to look if your focus is gaming.  They offer Fedora, OpenSuSE, and Ubuntu pre-installed, and offer an option to dual-boot with Windows 7.

In the end, I ended up getting the System 76 Pangolin Performance with several upgrades.  The combination of a reputable keyboard style, high-performance hardware options, and very competitive price made this best deal for my needs.  My order hasn’t come in yet, but when it does I will post a review on it.  Good luck in your laptop search!

Filed under: Fedora, Freedom Tagged: compaq, dell, Fedora, HP, laptop, lenovo, linux, system76, thinkpad, Ubuntu, Windows, zareason

The season is clipping right along for Fedora Summer Coding.  The projects are set and running, and we’re approaching the mid-term evaluation period 05 to 12 July.

A quick look at the numbers:

• 15 students and projects.
• 20 primary mentors, with 15+ more general mentors (includes mentoring the mentors)
• Three funding sources (two from Red Hat) are making the proof of value program happen this summer:
  • We know the concept works (thanks Google’s Open Source Programs Office!), with specific value to Fedora Project and JBoss Community in this 5-year summary report.
  • We have a model to include other sponsors and are actively seeking them.
  • The work this summer proves to those potential sponsors the value of this program.
  • The sponsors who lay a wager by supporting the program for the southern hemisphere this October are buying their own proof of value to see if they want to continue next year.

Next on the schedule is the mid-term review.  During that period, mentors review and privately discuss the state of each project and the student.  The goal of a project is to help the student learn FOSS participation via the Fedora Project and JBoss Community. Ideally, there is good code or content that comes out of it, but completing the initial project plan isn’t the real purpose.  As often happens, in open development we discover new ideas, methods, and reasons along the way.

For example, this week I spoke with a mentor who’s student is struggling a bit with the initial scope of the project plan.  If the only goal were to get that coding done, we’d all be in trouble.  However, the mentor is going to work with the student to narrow the scope so that it is achievable within the schedule.

Having to rescope and reorganize is not uncommon in the FOSS worlds, and this student is learning that reality first hand.  We’re all ambitious with our ideas and skills, and sometimes don’t learn until immersed what is hard and what is easy.  It’s better to rescope and complete a smaller project than to leave in frustration.  Guiding the student in that way is what the mentor is here for, as much as anything else.

In terms of sponsoring, my goal is clear.  I want to see this program run the way we run free and open source software projects.  By bringing in other sponsors, we create more room for innovation in the program’s organization and implementation.  We give these friends and partners a chance to reap the same benefits with a similar investment.  In the process, we work together to strengthen the FOSS ecosystem in to higher education.

Guess what we call that?  Yeah, the open source way.