May 25, 2016 GMT
One year in which traditional books outsells ebooks, and suddenly headlines are announcing, "Books are back," citing a small increase in book sales and a small decline in ebook sales. The headlines may be right, but the articles beneath them fail to consider that the reason for any decline may be something that Linux and free software users deal with daily -- licensing and the terms of use.The headlines are based on the figures for book and ebooks in the United Kingdom in 2015. According to the Publishers Association, £2,760,000,000 in physical books were sold in 2015, compared to £2,748,000,000 in ebooks the previous year. By contrast, ebooks in 2015...Off the Beat: Bruce Byfield's Blog
May 16, 2016 GMT
I am writing this article on an Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition tablet, using LibreOffice with a mouse and keyboard. I am working in Desktop mode, experiencing what Ubuntu describes as "convergence," the ability of the hardware to run both as a tablet and a personal computer. And make no mistake -- convergence is comfortingly familiar to a long-time Linux user and makes productive work on a tablet much easier. However, when Ubuntu claims that the tablet "turns into a full PC," I have to make allowance for the exaggeration of advertising. More accurately, I would say that the current state of convergence reproduces some of the convenience of a laptop or workstation, but...May 13, 2016 GMT
Like most word processors, LibreOffice Writer includes character and paragraph styles. However, Writer draws much of its power as a mid-level desktop publisher from the addition of frame, list, and page styles. Yet one type is has lacked ever since it was a proprietary application called StarDivision two decades ago is table styles. It is only in 2016's Google Summer of Code (GSOC) that a focused effort is planned to implement table styles at last.Instead, Writer has what it calls Autoformats. Once a table is added to a document, Tables> Autoformat offers what I call pseudo-styles. By that, I mean that, although Autoformats quickly format a table and can be created by users, they...May 10, 2016 GMT
To be fluent in English is to be privileged on the Internet. Although sites in other languages are more common than they were a couple of decades ago, English remains the dominant language on the Internet. Downloads and projects default to English, and non-English speakers are usually expected to defer to you, not the other way around. For these reasons, many English speakers, especially in North America, use a default English (US) keyboard layout (sometimes called the ANSI layout because of its basic selection of characters), and never see the need for anything else.However, in this increasingly international world, dropping an accent or an umlaut because the default layout lacks them...Apr 25, 2016 GMT
Most Linux beginners content themselves with a single system partition and a swap drive. However, as they gain experience, they learn the advantages of dividing the system across several partitions.These advantages are changing with the technology. Old reasons for partitioning are becoming obsolete, and new ones emerging along with solid state drives and UEFI. Still, there are at least ten reasons for partitioning hard drives: 1. Repairing partitions:When a drive is not shut down properly on a journaled system, you may have to repair it by running the fsck command manually from a live DVD. If the problem is not with the root partition or /var, you can often boot in single user mode,...Apr 22, 2016 GMT
"You can't customize your computer," a sysadmin once admonished me. "The parts need to be carefully matched with one another, and that's not a job for an amateur."Despite this advice, I have ordered customized workstations for over two decades. Unfortunately, laptops and tablets are often sealed shut, but I would customize them if I could, too. Contrary to the sysadmin's advice, I have found that, so long as you enlist expert help and do your research, buying custom computers has at least three advantages over buying off the shelf. Getting what you need and wantFor one thing, for all the sysadmin's talk of matching parts, you can never be sure with an assembled...Apr 15, 2016 GMT
Offer free software developers money, and they are practical enough to accept it. However, what keeps many of them at work are the intrinsic rewards, not the external ones.This observation is hardly new. However, I have a new appreciation for it since I published my recent book, Designing with LibreOffice under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License.Working with a free license, I now appreciate first-hand, is ego-boosting, altruistic, confounding fun, as heady as Napoleon brandy, and as down-the-rabbit-hole as Alice in Wonderland, unlike anything else I have ever experienced. It makes me feel like Robin Hood, surprising someone at the last moment by handing them the money to...Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Canonical Releases Ubuntu 24.04
After a brief pause because of the XZ vulnerability, Ubuntu 24.04 is now available for install.
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.