Recently I met someone who insisted on describing every department in his organization, all the acronyms and what they stood for. By the time he got around to describing how this whole thing related to me, he had lost my interest. (And I tried hard to hang in there!) He had given me too many […]
Words are important – just not always the way you think Read More »
I’ve recently watched a few people struggle to get things done in online projects. I’ve written and spoken on 12 tips for getting things done in the open source community but now I see that people also need to learn how to work with mailing lists and virtual teams. Skills you should master if you
10 skills to master to get things done online Read More »
When it comes to web applications, I think free and open source software fans are settling for “free” instead of looking for the freedom they would get from open source. Here are some free applications that I wish had open source software equivalents. I am not unhappy with these applications. I just wish I had
10 free apps I wish were open source Read More »
In 2003 I gave a talk in Malaysia. What I noticed immediately is that my audience was well over half women. This was really noticeable because they were all wearing brightly colored hijabs. Usually I scan the room and count how many women I can find – usually on my fingers even in a room
How does Malaysia encourage so many women in software? Read More »
The GNOME community is extremely diverse when it comes to nationality. But we don’t have many women working on GNOME. We want to make sure that women interested in working on GNOME know they are welcome, so we have announced the GNOME Outreach Program for Women! The goal is to encourage women to participate in
More Women in GNOME Now! Read More »
Chris Blizzard introduced me to Clay Johnson. I had such an interesting time talking to him about social networking, free and open source software, governments and fundraising that I asked if he’d share some of his points in a blog interview. Meet Clay Johnson, Director of Sunlight Labs! Hi Clay, you have a lot of
Should you ask developers for money? And other interesting fundraising dilemnas. Read More »
Lots of corporations work really hard to increase diversity. In the mean time, I think free and open source software projects have figured it out. They may not be diverse in every way possible (there's a notable lack of women and an over representation of developers – go figure) but they have succeeded in not
The GNOME Foundation's mission is to provide a free desktop accessible to everyone. Accessible regardless of their ability to pay, their physical ability or the language they speak. But I bet if you polled all 400 members of the GNOME Foundation and a few 1000 GNOME fans, you'd get a lot of different visions of
What’s your vision of GNOME? Read More »
Etherpad is being released as open source software because the team is moving onto Google Wave. As an open source web hosted project, without a company behind it, it is unlikely to succeed. Back when I used to talk about the business reasons for open sourcing code, “end-of-life” was always one of my first examples.
Can free software transition to the web services world? Read More »
This morning I tried to attend a webinar, The Open Source Community vs. Patent Trolls – Preserving Developer Freedom. I knew the webinar was hosting on software that wouldn't work on Linux, GoToMeeting. (Actually, who knows if it will work on Linux. The web page checks your operating system and if you are on Linux,
How companies leave the community out of the conversation Read More »