Starcraft 2 Beta Key When You Pre-order
The long awaited Starcraft 2 is almost here, best of all if you want to take part in the beta all you have to do is pre-order a copy.
I got my key 3 days after pre-ordering and have been very impressed with it so far.
What are you waiting for soldier?
Click on the image to order and get your free beta key.
Understanding Free and Open Source Software
There are many misconceptions floating around about free and open source software (foss). The purpose of this article is to address them and to better inform people.
The first response I seem to get when I discuss ‘free software’ is, oh but you have to pay for quality, or maybe, well how can developers afford to give away software for nothing. Well in the first instance, free refers to liberty rather than cost. Freedom to copy, change and modify software and indeed you may actually pay for access to free software, although this is generally not the case. Software code is like any other type of knowledge; it should not be hidden from the user.
Another frustrating and misleading idea is that foss kills innovation. If anything free software is the key to innovative creation, we only need to look at Firefox web browser or Wordpress blogs to see non-proprietary software flourishing.
So you may ask why do we need to concern ourselves with free software if proprietary software works and can offer stability? In modern society computers, televisions and mobile phones are commonplace; indeed we have come to rely upon them. The software controls and transmits our sensitive information; we should be in control of this software and have a better understanding of how it works in order to maintain our liberty and control.
Other frustrating misconceptions about foss include political aspects. People at times assume that foss is akin to communism; this is a falsity. You can indeed have private ownership over free software, you can modify at will and can reap the rewards of its use. A free software licence only requires that if you do redistribute the software, that you must keep it free; allowing others to modify and redistribute. Or if you wish to keep your modifications private, you must ensure that the original free software is kept separate and that your addition does not contain the original work. The free software license is simply a legal and ethical contract between the programmer and the end-user.
I feel that whilst this information is relatively basic it is all to often taken for granted or misunderstood, so if this sounds repetitive then humour me please. Oh and Happy New Year!
The Open University?
The UK’s Open Source Consortium has accused the Open University of breaching its founding principles. The Open University came about in the 1960’s as a move towards making university education available to all regardless of income or gender. Given the sort of forward thinking involved it is somewhat worrying that the OU has so far failed to support free software. If anything the OU seems to favour the proprietry software provided by Microsoft.
As reported by the Inquirer, the OU’s bias lies in the student technical support services:
It advises students that if they don’t use a Windows PC they “may have problems accessing the software and data files supplied with course materials”. It has produced a 31-page guide to using Microsoft software and also provides demonstrations. It has produced upgrade advice for Microsoft’s Vista operating system and even gone as far as promoting a Microsoft discount offer to its students.
The OU does distribute copies of the Open Source Star Office to all students, but that endorsement pales in comparison to its backing of Microsoft. It has given no such advice, support or endorsement of Ubuntu, the free operating system lauded as the Open Source movement’s viable alternative to Windows.
Its worrying that a student running a pc with open source software, on a limited income would have to basically scrap their set up and buy into microsoft in order to join the OU.
Cloud computing trap
October 1, 2008 by Cath · 2 Comments
Richard Stallman has spoken out about cloud computing and what he believes is a trap aimed at forcing people to buy into proprietary systems.
Cloud computing is basically where you store data online or run your servers via remote. Millions of people now upload personal data such as emails, photographs and, increasingly, their work, to sites owned by companies such as Google.
Stallman sees cloud computing as nothing more than a sales ploy;
“It’s stupidity. It’s worse than stupidity: it’s a marketing hype campaign,”
“One reason you should not use web applications to do your computing is that you lose control,” he said. “It’s just as bad as using a proprietary program. Do your own computing on your own computer with your copy of a freedom-respecting program. If you use a proprietary program or somebody else’s web server, you’re defenceless. You’re putty in the hands of whoever developed that software.”
If we choose to store data online we have to accept that we could lose it at anytime, either through a mistake, hacking or some other disaster.
Insightful and thought provoking stuff from Stallman.
Free Open Source Software comes to UK schools
September 29, 2008 by Cath · Leave a Comment
It is great to hear that at least one Open Source company has now made it onto Becta’s official list of suppliers to the UK education sector.
As usual it’s all about money. The Open Source community has always advocated that schools in the UK adopted Free Open Source Software (FOSS) on the grounds that there were considerable cost savings to be had which would directly benefit schools and the taxpayer alike.
As long ago as 2005 a report from Becta strongly supported this assertion. However this was a time when huge amounts of a cash-rich Government’s money were being poured into developing school ICT and value for money was not really on the agenda. As a result the incumbent proprietary vendors enjoyed a feeding frenzy and Open Source solutions were ignored. Indeed it was impossible, despite persistent lobbying, to get an Open Source company on the official school suppliers list. As I said, how times change. If we revisit school’s ICT finances 2008 we see a different picture.
As Becta suggested two years ago, the current UK ICT structure requires a level of funding which is unsustainable, adopting Free Open Source Software could directly benefit schools and tax payers alike.
Microblogging @ Jokaydia Unconference
September 27, 2008 by Cath · Leave a Comment
I have to say a big thank you to Henny Zimer in Second Life aka Jeff Agamenoni, he and Chris presented a Microblogging session earlier as part of the Jokaydia Unconference. If you missed it then you missed out! Well done chaps, it was a really interesting session.
The Jokaydia Unconference has all but drawn to a close for today, with an informal get together to round off the evening, followed by tomorrows scheduled events.
Microblogging session
Images cc-by-sa ty teachandlearn
Lenovo ditches Linux
September 15, 2008 by Cath · Leave a Comment
I was reading desktoplinux.com and found this interesting article:
Lenovo, which years ago purchased IBMs personal computer business, appears to have quietly stopped offering Linux as a pre-installation option. None of the company’s 49 ThinkPad and IdeaPad notebook models — nor its many ThinkCenter and IdeaCenter desktops — can currently be ordered with Linux.
Lenovo does offer four high-end ThinkStation workstation models without any commercial operating system software, but all of its other systems now carry the “Microsoft Tax,” it appears. That is, in order to purchase one of the systems, you have to pay for a Microsoft Windows operating system license.
Lenovo’s executive director of external communications, Ray Gorman, denied in vague terms that the current situation marks a strategic shift, though he did admit the company is “refining its Linux strategy.” He added, “Lenovo is not abandoning its commitment to choice of operating system, and actually is increasing the role of the Linux operating system in Lenovo’s product portfolio.”
All evidence to the contrary.
Gorman continued, “In 2008, Lenovo offered preloaded Novell SLED 10 Linux on some of its ThinkPad notebooks, targeting business users. We are now seeing greater demand for Linux from consumers and those in education, and are bringing Linux preloaded on soon-to-be announced Lenovo netbooks targeted to education.”
Actually, Lenovo already announced its Linux-based S9 netbook models, when it launched its netbook line about a month ago. However, the company provided pricing and availability information only for the Windows XP-based “S10″ model, saying that the Linux-based “S9″ model would be limited to overseas education markets.
In other words, if the government of some large country wants to order a few hundred thousand of them, they’ll build some, and not before.
Anyway, interesting news, wanted to share it with you. Very tired, off to bed. Peace out…
Quebec government sued for buying Microsoft software
September 4, 2008 by Cath · 2 Comments
FACIL, a non-profit association which promotes the collective appropriation of Free Software, has filed a motion before the Quebec Superior Court contesting the purchasing methods of the Quebec government. Between Feb and June 2008 the government purchased proprietary software from Microsoft worth in the region of 25 million dollars. In Quebec the government has a public market policy which requires them to stimulate competition and look for local alternatives. Going direct to Microsoft without going to tender is clearly going against the very rules the government themselves set out.
Free Software utilization in public administration could potentially create thousands of jobs and significantly lower the costs of software licensing. Quebecs government have refused to cooperate thus far with regards to implementing Free Software. FACIL hope that by bringing this matter to the attention of the court, the public market law will be respected in future.
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