Seasons greetings, readers... welcome to our New Year’s edition of the Free Software Magazine newsletter! Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!
General announcements
We haven’t had many developments during the last three weeks due to our own festivities—and we put off the release of this newsletter because who needs extra distractions around this time of year? However, we have a very important announcement to make—a huge thank you to all our readers, contributors, supporters and sponsors for making Free Software Magazine the massive success that it has been. Our progress over the last year puts us firmly in top place as THE magazine about free software and it is all down to you. And if you thought last year was good, wait until you see what we have in store for you this year—we have a lot planned!
Latest content
Because we have had so much content over the last three weeks, we are only including a selection of articles. If you don’t see something you like, head to the website and check there as well!
Two views of the 3D desktop—Anthony Taylor wants more from a 3D desktop—so he explores Croquet and Project Looking Glass. Read more...
The OS Agnostics—Chris Mostek has compiled a list of OS Agnostics. His criteria? Do they have cross-platform support? Read more...
Creating a managed website-part 2—Graham Oakes guides you through choosing and installing a free software CMS. Read more...
Roots access: Genealogy with GRAMPS—Ryan Cartwright looks at GRAMPS—one of the most popular free software Genealogy programs. Read more...
Backing up your system with free software—When you have your system at its best, it’s time to back up—Jon Peck tells us how. Read more...
The Knights of Free Software—Matt Barton says it’s all about the code—we need a “free software code” to follow so our ethics get looked after as well. Read more...
The free computer part 2 (We can do it and we should do it)—Dale O’Gorman talks more about the free computer. Read more...
Having your cake and eating it: A beginner’s guide to free software—Can’t quite wrap your head around free software? Ryan Cartwright bakes up a free software cake analogy... Read more...
’Twas the night before Christmas (a FOSS variation)—Chris Mostek wishes you all a merry Christmas! Read more...
Latest content continued
Ryzom: a free MMORPG—Ever wanted to set a proprietary MMORPG free? Wouter Verhelst tells you about an opportunity... Read more...
Linux and its closing window of opportunity with OEMs—Tony Mobily wants to change the computing world. Read more...
Who needs the command line? (Well actually, we all do)—When “user friendly” is interpreted as “windows clone”, what separates the men from the boys, so to speak? Gary Richmond tells us—the command line, of course! Read more...
Free software and politics in Yankeetown—Andrew Seely tells us how free software tools helped to turn the tide against big development in a small Florida town. Read more...
The free computer (can we do it?) —Dale O’Gorman’s first look into the free computer. Read more...
Bringing Democracy to America with FOSS: voting—Jabari Zakiya looks at how free software could help bring democracy to America... Read more...
Secure email servers from scratch with FreeBSD 6 (Part 2)—Yousef Ourabi continues his instruction on secure email servers. Read more...
What about selling free software?—Chris Holt puts a new spin on non-profit organisations turning free software to their advantage. Read more...
Latest book reviews released
Wicked Cool Shell Scripts by Dave Taylor With 101 accurate and to the point scripts divided over 12 interests, all contained within 364 pages, Alan Berg thinks this book is worth a look. Read more...
How Linux Works by Brian Ward So you’re a Linux user or a power user... want to be a superuser? Alan Berg looks into it. Read more...
Book competition announcement for this fortnight
This week we are giving away a copy of Core Python Programming by Wesley J Chun and a copy of Moving to Ubuntu Linux by Marcel Gagne.
All you need to do to enter is check out the latest book competition announcement on our blogs page.
GOOD LUCK!
Thanks go to Addison Wesley and Prentice Hall for providing these fantastic prizes.
Winner of the book competition from last fortnight
Thanks to all those who entered, unfortunately there can only be one winner...
Congratulations Mauro Bieg of Switzerland!
Mauro has won copies of Managing and Customising Open CMS 6 Websites and OpenVPN: Building and Integrating Virtual Private Networks.
Thanks to all who entered.
Thanks also go to Packt for providing these great prizes.
Winner of the book competition from 27th November
Again thanks to all those who entered, but the winner was...
Guy Johnston of the United Kingdom!
Guy has won copies of SE Linux by Example: Using Security Enhanced Linux and The Official Ubuntu Book.
Thanks to all who entered.
Thanks also go to Prentice Hall for providing these great prizes.
Please comment wherever possible and don’t forget to log in so that you’ll be in the running to win the latest book competition
Poll Results—What’s your favourite desktop environment?
Not surprisingly, there was stiff competition between GNOME and KDE and at one point it appeared GNOME was going to win. However, KDE just leapt ahead as the winner with 44% of the vote in the final days. GNOME followed with 37% of the vote, and then there was a sharp drop to “other” with 10% of the vote—it seems we should have included Fluxbox as an option... sorry about that Fluxbox users. This was followed by XFCE with 8%, and then Enlightenment with a tiny 2%. And from your comments, favourite desktop environment is chosen by a combination of personal preference and how much usability you need and want. Read more here and stay tuned for...
This fortnight’s poll
What’s the main reason why you use free/open source software?
Do you use free software because you have a highly developed ethical compass? Or because it’s light on your wallet? Maybe you like the support that's available or like to help people yourself. Tell us what you think!
Reminders
Comments
Your comments on articles, issues, and blog entries are very welcome. They provide other readers with insightful suggestions, further information, and the feeling that they are not alone. They also provide our authors with the feeling that they are being heard. Please comment wherever possible and don’t forget to log in so that you’ll be in the running to win the latest book competition.
Avatars
Avatars are a great way of expressing your personal identity, whether it be a photo or an image that you feel represents the you you want to be. Read more about avatars here. To add an avatar: log in, go to “my account” in the menu on the left, go to the “edit” tab and scroll down to where it says “Upload picture”. Now, hit the browse button, find the image on your computer that you want to upload and go to the bottom of the page and hit the submit button. That’s it; you now have an avatar image.
Donate
As you might know already FSM is a low profit project with all funds raised going back into producing the fine magazine you can download for free.
Think about how much you would normally have to spend buying a magazine of this quality. We provide it for free!
Your donations will help us to continue spreading the word about free software and producing more fantastic issues.
Contacting us
If you’d like to contribute to FSM: read our Write for us page. Then send your proposal to proposals@...
If you have some feedback for us about our site or its content, then drop us a line at input@...
If you are interested in advertising on our site, or in our magazine or newsletter, you can find more information on our Advertise page or send an email to advertise@...
If you need help with your account for any reason, please send an email to helpdesk@...
Please add freesoftwaremagazine.com to the ends of the email addresses above. Sorry for the inconvenience but spammers make this necessary.
Thanks
Thank you for subscribing to Free Software Magazine. You are a part of a growing community who help to raise the awareness of, and educate new users in, the joys of free software. Without you we would not have this community and without you we would not have a magazine. Happy reading!