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Submission + - Systemd's Lennart Poettering: "We Do Listen To Users" 1

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: Systemd is ambitious and controversial, taking over a large part of the GNU/Linux base system. But where did it come from? Even Red Hat wasn't keen on it at the start, but since then it has worked its way into almost every major distro. Linux Voice talks to Lennart Poettering, the lead developer of Systemd, about its origins, its future, its relationship with Upstart, and handling the pressures of online flamewars.

Submission + - Crowdfunded Linux Voice Magazine Releases First Issue CC-BY-SA

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: Linux Voice, the crowdfunded GNU/Linux magazine that Slashdot has covered previously, had two goals at its launch: to give 50% of its profits back to the community after one year, and release each issue's contents under the Creative Commons after nine months. Well, it's been nine months since issue 1, so the whole thing is now online and free to share. Readers and supporters have also made audio versions of articles, for listening to on the commute to work.

Submission + - Lead Mir Developer: "Mir More Relevant Than Wayland In Two Years"

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: Canonical courted plenty of controversy with it announced Mir, its home-grown display server. But why did the company choose to go it alone, and not collaborate with the Wayland project? Linux Voice has an interview with Thomas Voss, Mir's lead developer. Voss explains how Mir came into being, what it offers, and why he believes it will outlast Wayland.

Submission + - What's been the best Linux distro of 2014? (linuxvoice.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With 23% of the year remaining, Linux Voice has donned flameproof clothing to subjectively examine what it feels have been the best distros of the year so far, including choices for beginners, desktop fashionistas and performance fetishists, before revealing a surprising overall winner.

Submission + - Print Isn't Dead: How Linux Voice Crowdfunded A New Magazine

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: The death of print has been predicted for years, and many magazines and publishers have taken a big hit with the rise of eBooks and tablets. But not everyone has given up. Four geeks quit their job at an old Linux magazine to start Linux Voice, an independent GNU/Linux print and digital mag with a different publishing model: giving profits and content back to the community. Six months after a successful crowdfunding campaign, the magazine is going well, so here is the full story.

Submission + - Damian Conway On Perl 6 And The Philosophy Of Programming

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: Perl 6 has been in development since 2000. So why, 14 years later, hasn't it been released yet? Linux Voice caught up with Damian Conway, one of the architects of Perl 6, to find out what's happening. "Perl 6 has all of the same features [as Perl 5] but with the rough edges knocked off of them", he says. Conway also talks about the UK's Year of Code project, and how to get more people interested in programming.

Submission + - Grace Hopper, UNIVAC, and the First Programming Language

Submitted by M-Saunders
M-Saunders writes: It weighed 13 tons, had 5,200 vacuum tubes, and took up a whole garage, but the UNIVAC I was an incredible machine for its time. Memory was provided by tanks of liquid mercury, while the clock speed was a whopping 2.25 MHz. The UNIVAC I was one of the first commercial general-purpose computers produced, with 46 shipped, and Linux Voice has taken an in-depth look at it. Learn its fascinating instruction set, and also check out FLOW-MATIC, the first English-language data processing language created by American computing pioneer Grace Hopper.

Submission + - How Munich switched 15,000 PCs from Windows to Linux (linuxvoice.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It's one of the biggest migrations in the history of Linux, and it made Steve Ballmer very angry: Munich, in south west Germany, has completed its transition of 15,000 PCs from Windows to Linux. It has saved money, fuelled the local economy, and improved security. Linux Voice talked to the man behind the migration, and is making the PDF article free (CC-BY-SA) so that everyone can send it to their local councillors and encourage them to investigate Linux.

Comment Re:50 percent of the PROFIT (Score 1) 90

Hello! This isn't a non-profit; it's a for-profit company. Look up the UK tax codes for yourself, and compare income tax with the tax on income from dividends. If they have, say, £300,000 at the end of the year, they'd actually be better off paying themselves £30,000 each, declaring the rest as profits and splitting those profits 50-50 with whatever organisations they end up supporting.

[profits] Which, if they buy enough hookers and blow, will be zero. Nonprofits make me sick. They're inevitably smug and holier than thou, while they're just working the system.

In principle you're right -- the directors of non-profits can milk as much money as they want from the organisations they run, perfectly legally. I wonder how much Jim Zemlin pays himself, for example. But this isn't a non-profit. It's a for-profit Ltd company.

Comment Re:Afraid not (Score 1) 90

It's really doubtful that an indiegogo crowdfunding is going to raise a lot of money, even with an advertisement on slashdot, given that they do not follow the kickstarter model, and whatever you donate, regardless of whether or not they hit their goals, they get to keep.

Except that they're using the all-or-nothing funding method, so if they don't get the full amount, the pledges get their money back. Win-win, yes?

Comment FOSS contributions (Score 2) 90

The consensus seems to be that Linux Voice won't shake up the publishing industry. But if it ticks along nicely, ploughint profits back into FOSS organisations, and gives stuff away under a free licence, that'll still be pretty good. Maybe not a revolution on the 1917 or 1789 scale, but maybe revolutionary in a more modest, 1830 Paris uprising kind of way.

Submission + - Linux Magazine Team Quits, Launches New Profit-Donating Mag

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: What happens when the editorial team of the biggest-selling English Linux magazine get frustrated? They leave their company, and start a new one. Most of the writers behind Linux Format have jumped ship and started Linux Voice, a social enterprise magazine which will donate 50% of its profits back to the community, and freely license its content under Creative Commons after 9 months. They're running a fundraiser on Indiegogo with already a quarter reached. Will this shake up the whole publishing industry?

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