fsm category archive

Free Software is a Weak Mode of Production?

Originally published in Free Software Magazine, 16 October 2006.

Another digg front page item, with 375+ diggs to date, resulting in more than 10,000 reads at FSM.

This one sparked a lot more discussion both at digg and at FSM, probably because of the provocative title. Maybe it would have been less inflammatory to put a question mark on there as I did here, but you know how it is when you’re needy and desperate for attention. It was meant to be a hook and brief teaser with the first paragraph, but it’s interesting how many people don’t read past to the second and third paragraphs before firing up their flamethrowers. I guess I asked for it. …

5 Ways to Save on Your Monthly Software Rental Bill in the Year 2056

Originally published in Free Software Magazine, 9 October 2006. This one made it to the technology front page on digg (and maybe briefly on the “all” front page also) and has received almost 350 diggs to date, resulting in almost 9000 reads at FSM. It seems like I say “quite a thrill” too much here, but it was rewarding to have so much interest and discussion both at digg and at FSM.
(Here’s a post with a few more comments and some stats about the article and resulting traffic to movingtofreedom.org. One more time: Thanks, everyone!)

Software bills got you down? Here at Intellectual Property Magazine (championing intellectual …

Reformation of a Visual Basic Programmer

Originally published in Free Software Magazine, 2 October 2006.

Last week I mentioned that I enjoy programming in Visual Basic and suggested that people shouldn’t act so superior and look down at dweebs like me who program in dweeby languages. Today let’s talk about why Visual Basic is an awful programming language and anyone using it should run kicking-and-screaming away. (I’ll admit that kicking and running may be difficult to do at the same time.) Run away, not because it’s lame, but because it’s so horribly unfree.

Who owns this thing?

People sometimes question free software projects because very often no single organization stands behind them. Who are you going to hold responsible for Program X when it is …

Confessions of a Visual Basic Programmer

Originally published in Free Software Magazine, 25 September 2006.

In my first post here at Free Software Magazine, I mentioned that I actually like using Microsoft Windows. People seemed to let this go or find it not worth commenting on, maybe because my goal is to move away from it. Not that I expected rabid opposition. Not at all. GNU/Linux users are well-known for being quite mild and reserved in their opinions. If we must go back to my drug use analogy, it could also be that readers here were supportive of my desire to seek treatment and rehabilitation and didn’t see the need to condemn me for past transgressions. …

Eeyore is Dead

Originally published in Free Software Magazine.

No, not Winnie-the-Pooh’s friend, but that computer I mentioned last week. Do you feel cheated? Maybe you were expecting a murder mystery instead? Although Eeyore the donkey seems more like the died-of-natural-causes type. Let me briefly eulogize Eeyore the computer before wandering erratically to a new subject: copyright control.

Eeyore-the-Computer is dead

My plan to install Ubuntu on an old computer named Eeyore didn’t go so well. I finally sat down Friday night (I know: life in the fast lane) to give it a go and it turns out the machine is totally dead now. Disconnected all the drives and still couldn’t get to the BIOS. As is …

Ubuntu for Web Surfing and Spreadsheets

Originally published in Free Software Magazine as Moving to freedom, one step at a time.

Time to get on with the move. Giving up Windows is like kicking a drug habit. It’s easier to take the path of least resistance and keep using. If quitting proprietary software was a twelve step program–although let’s not push the analogy too far–maybe after admitting we were powerless over our proprietary programs, coming to believe that a Higher Power could restore us to Freedom, and so on and so forth, maybe we’d… make a searching and fearless inventory of cross-platform free programs we could run on Windows first so that a new operating system wouldn’t be entirely alien when we …