nanday - Slashdot User

Submission + - The State of Sexism in FOSS (datamation.com)

Submitted by nanday on Thursday October 25, 2012 @01:44AM

nanday writes: Over at Datamation, I've posted a summary of what's been accomplished after four years of feminist activism in free and open source software:

Over four years later, the effects have been felt throughout the community. Although opposition to women's issues remains fierce on sites like Reddit and many private blogs, a growing number of community members are showing support for women's issues, and dozens of groups have sprung up to deal with different aspects of feminism.

Submission + - Ada Initiative Supports Women in Open Source, Coun (earthweb.com)

Submitted by nanday on Tuesday February 08, 2011 @11:49AM

nanday writes: In the last two years, sexism in free and open source software culture has been increasingly discussed and documented. However, little has been done about it.

Now, women's advocates Valerie Aurora and Mary Gardiner are determined to change this situation by the creation of The Ada Initiative, a non-profit organization to encourage women's participation in both FOSS and related groups such as the Free Culture Movement and Wikipedia. It's an ambitious effort, but one that the founders are determined to make, despite the inevitable hostility with which their efforts will be received in some circles.

Submission + - Ubuntu, Canonical Wallow in Muddy Waters with Cont (earthweb.com)

Submitted by nanday on Tuesday September 21, 2010 @01:59PM

nanday writes: If you believe everything you read, then Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, can't do anything wrong. But there seem to be genuine concerns about the Canonical Contributors Agreement. Specifically, critics in the community are saying that the agreement is contrary to the spirit of FOSS, and seeks to control contributors too much while placing them under too great a set of obligations.

Submission + - Future GNOME: What to Expect in GNOME 3.0 (earthweb.com)

Submitted by nanday on Wednesday May 12, 2010 @02:47PM

nanday writes: Vincent Untz, a member of the GNOME Release Team and a director of the GNOME Foundation talks about where the popular desktop has been, and where it is going as it prepares for its first major release in 8 years.

Submission + - FSF Appoints Director of Access Technology

Submitted by nanday on Tuesday May 11, 2010 @12:02AM

nanday writes: Seeing "a leadership vacuum" in free software accessibility, the Free Software has hired veteran Chris Hofstader to fill it. His first priority: trying to make federal government procurement in the USA friendly to free software accessibility. His second: an installer that the disabled can use without help — by 2011.

Comment Re:I love Linux but... (Score 2, Informative) 475

by nanday on Tuesday July 29, 2008 @02:22PM (#24389257) Attached to: KDE 4.1 Released, Reviewed

Considering how much flack I've had in recent months for critical comments about KDE 4, I find this comment refreshingly funny. If you bothered to read, you'd see that, while I am very interested in what KDE 4.1 has to offer, I don't hesitate to say what is still missing, either. Oh, well. I must stop expecting the world to make sense; I'd be much happier that way. - Bruce Byfield ("nanday")

Submission + - Computer waste fuels toxic trade (itmanagersjournal.com)

Submitted by

nanday

on Tuesday July 24, 2007 @10:24PM

nanday writes: "Do you know what happens to your used computer equipment after it has been discarded? The answer may surprise you. Even if you have tried to recycle it, your old hardware often gets shipped to a developing nation in direct violation of international law. Useful components are then extracted — without safety precautions — by locals earning pennies a day and who are exposed to a range of hazardous toxins that include lead, beryllium, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants. Though slated to be banned over a decade ago, the practice continues and seems to be growing. North America, Japan, and South Korea are among the worst offenders. Solutions exist, and free software is a small part of them, but implementing them remains a painfully slow process."

Submission + - GPLv2 or GPLv3?: Inside the Debate

Submitted by

nanday

on Monday June 18, 2007 @01:31PM

nanday writes: "Datamation is running a comprehensive, current summary of the changes and controversies surrounding GPLv3. It explains that Torvald's major reason for favoring the GPL is that it encourages sharing code, which is incidental to the Free Software Foundation's goal of empowering computer users. Peter Brown of the FSF says that Torvald's "is a developer. He wants to develop good code. But don't portray him as the leader of a movement that wants people to have control of their computers. He doesn't believe in that stuff. He's distanced himself from it. People have crowned him the leader of a movement when he's not. He's the leader of a software project.""

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