The three great levellers
Drink was the first great leveller, as it brings everyone to the floor eventually. The second was the Internet. Everyone can be published, listened to, and promoted giving freedom of expression to the...
View ArticleThe seven sins of programmers
Programmers. The system administrators worship their bit twiddling capabilities. The users exchange vast quantities of beer for new features and tools. And the project managers sell their souls when...
View ArticleThe portable web development toolkit
Web developers are sometimes forced to travel. Unfortunately, lugging a big, bulky laptop around with all their programs is the only way to develop on the road. After all, using another computer is out...
View ArticleAll the C you need to know for GTK+
If you want to develop applications with GTK+, a graphical toolkit used by the GNOME desktop environment, it is essential that you are comfortable with the C programming language. This article is meant...
View ArticleProgramming languages and "lock-in"
Language and lock-inOne of the favorite arguments for free software is that it avoids lock-in to a particular manufacturer's products. Something similar happens due to choice of programming language,...
View ArticleAutotools: a practitioner's guide to Autoconf, Automake and Libtool
There are few people who would deny that Autoconf, Automake and Libtool have revolutionized the free software world. While there are many thousands of Autotools advocates, some developers absolutely...
View ArticleBook Review: Professional Plone Development by Martin Aspeli
Plone is a well-known Content Management Systems (CMS). Since it's relatively easy to customize to a specific enterprises style and workflow, there is a healthy trade of services around the core...
View ArticleTango Icons are Set Free!
From http://bear454.blogspot.com :Jimmac announced today on the Tango Mailing List that thanks to about a bazillion requests and the negotiation skills of Michael Meeks, the Tango Icon Library will be...
View ArticleDictators in free and open source software
Some people seem to challenge the idea that most (if not all) free software projects need a benevolent dictator--that is, somebody who has the last say on every decision. They are quick to point out...
View ArticleCopyleft has no impact on project activity?!
Recently, I collected some data from Sourceforge, hoping to find evidence for the importance of copyleft. But I found something surprising: although there's plenty of evidence that many developers...
View ArticleTen easy ways to attract women to your free software project
The gender inequality among developers and supporters of free software is stunning. Less than 2% of us are women, according to studies conducted for the European Commission. Why? The evidence says...
View ArticleWhy I choose copyleft for my projects
Terry Hancock seemed to raise a few hackles when he presented case recently that "copyleft has no impact on project activity?!)". I'm not certain why, because it seemed he was just asking a question...
View ArticleRule #2: Create a community
The "edge" for free software over proprietary software comes from volunteer effort. You should spend just as much effort on designing a comfortable and inviting project as you would on any consumer...
View ArticleVideo Conversion System Implementation
Many systems support video upload and viewing functionality. Of course, all video files uploaded by users shall be converted to some common format (flv format as usual) to make playback easier,...
View ArticleRule #3: Divide and Conquer
A constant pattern in the corporate environment is the gathering of resources, but with the free exchange of information inherent in commons-based projects, the pattern of choice is the dispersal of...
View ArticleRule #4: Grow, Don't Build
Since free software and other free culture products are formed by an organic, incrementalist process, they tend to be highly organic in their design as well. Free software is not so much built as it is...
View ArticleDoing the Impossible
There is no "magic" to commons-based peer production. Most of the techniques that have brought free culture products ranging from software to art to electronic hardware have been in play for hundreds...
View ArticleWill Google Wave revolutionise free software collaboration?
If you haven't heard yet, Google have released a developer preview of their new social networking and collaboration tool - Wave. What impact might this have on free software users and...
View ArticleKeeping score in test-driven development with Python, PyLint, unittest,...
Programming is more fun when you keep score. The extreme programming (XP) development model popularized the idea of test-driven development (TDD) with professional programmers in mind. But TDD turns...
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It's 2015, writing a simple 6 screen application is still too hard
Last night I saw a message from a friend of mine in Facebook: she is trying to organise a baby sitting community where people who trust each other will exchange "tokens" when they babysit each other's...
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