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Linux and Open Source Experiences
Jun. 24th, 2014 09:54 pmA few bits of good Linux and free software news over the past few days. The first is that a game that I helped design, Cargo, has officially been launched. My own contribution was mainly in character, story, and theme development. The next item was the release today of the final report of the ACIP (Australian government Advisory Panel on Intellectual Property) review of the Innovation Patent System. LUV made a submission to the panel, which has come with a beneficial result; it is recommended that "no method, process or system shall be patentable" (i.e., no software patents). A summary of the relevant sections of the report is provided. If adopted - and it should be - this will be a great result for software development in Australia, and I cannot help be pleased with with the thought that my own contribution to the debate seems to have helped.
In less endearing software news, purchased a new laptop in the weekend (a Toshiba Satellite C50 PSCJEA-01N011), with a requisite MS-Windows install for one of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
caseopaya's medical device. Which meant some direct experience with the horror that is MS-Windows 8 (I can see why most people are still using Windows XP), and the annoyances now involved in setting up a dual boot system due to the new OS, UEFI, and firmware issues (resizing disk, turn off secure boot, encountering graphics mode problems. Eventually settled with Ubuntu rather than the preferred Debian Mint due to these hardware issues. It is certainly a flawed plan on Microsoft (and Toshiba's) part to make their systems less friendly to other operating systems - sure it certainly worked in the past, but now it seems increasingly easy for users to interpret such 'censorship' as broken by design (a "damaged good" in economic terms) and route around it by choosing alternatives.
As a final relevant item of news, covened the LUV Beginners Meeting on Saturday, with Daniel Jitnah presenting on web browsers with Linux. Now whilst this may seem to be an almost trivial topic, Daniel did cover a surprisingly wide variety of issues, from the history of the web (including Line Mode browser), the degree that various browsers satisfy the "free software" criteria, and modifications and extensions with browsers such as Firefox. Afterwards a brief committee meeting outlined our plans for Linux miniconference in the La Trobe valley (Morwell to be exact) on July 19; five lectures, install fest, etc, with lunch provided in a well-located local Anglican church hall. I will be speaking on Why Linux Is The Future of Computing, covering several trends in devices, "the Internet of things", high performance computing etc.
In less endearing software news, purchased a new laptop in the weekend (a Toshiba Satellite C50 PSCJEA-01N011), with a requisite MS-Windows install for one of
caseopaya's medical device. Which meant some direct experience with the horror that is MS-Windows 8 (I can see why most people are still using Windows XP), and the annoyances now involved in setting up a dual boot system due to the new OS, UEFI, and firmware issues (resizing disk, turn off secure boot, encountering graphics mode problems. Eventually settled with Ubuntu rather than the preferred Debian Mint due to these hardware issues. It is certainly a flawed plan on Microsoft (and Toshiba's) part to make their systems less friendly to other operating systems - sure it certainly worked in the past, but now it seems increasingly easy for users to interpret such 'censorship' as broken by design (a "damaged good" in economic terms) and route around it by choosing alternatives.As a final relevant item of news, covened the LUV Beginners Meeting on Saturday, with Daniel Jitnah presenting on web browsers with Linux. Now whilst this may seem to be an almost trivial topic, Daniel did cover a surprisingly wide variety of issues, from the history of the web (including Line Mode browser), the degree that various browsers satisfy the "free software" criteria, and modifications and extensions with browsers such as Firefox. Afterwards a brief committee meeting outlined our plans for Linux miniconference in the La Trobe valley (Morwell to be exact) on July 19; five lectures, install fest, etc, with lunch provided in a well-located local Anglican church hall. I will be speaking on Why Linux Is The Future of Computing, covering several trends in devices, "the Internet of things", high performance computing etc.
