Author Archives: Joe Brockmeier

About Joe Brockmeier

I'm a freelance writer, FOSS advocate, music lover, computer geek, avid reader, and politically progressive (read "Liberal with occasional Libertarian tendencies"). You can read more on my about page if you're not already bored.

Dell Studio 1747 Laptop: One Fatal Flaw Away from Linux Perfection

Dell’s 17-inch Studio 1747 laptop is a beefy desktop replacement that ships with Windows 7. But how does it fare with Linux instead? A few days hands-on with the laptop shows that the machine is almost perfect, save for one fatal flaw. Continue reading

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Competing with Web Services: Can Open Source Survive?

In 2006 at the O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), Tim O’Reilly caused a stir by saying that open source licenses would be made obsolete by Web 2.0 and Software as a Service. At the time, O’Reilly’s prediction seemed far-fetched, and … Continue reading

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Replacing SharePoint with Open Source CMSes

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 offers a lot to businesses. SharePoint includes a content management system, search, wikis, the ability to build intranets and external Web sites, all in one bundled solution. However, it also comes with a steep price tag and … Continue reading

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Writing ledes, writing for feeds…

Too many ledes in tech publications and blogs suck. I’ve been doing more editing and more content curation lately. The upshot of that is noticing a lot of really boring, fluffy, slow-to-the-point ledes that utterly fail at drawing the reader … Continue reading

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Poligraft adds political context

Poligraft is an interesting little tool whipped up by the Sunlight Foundation to add context to political stories — like connecting politicians in a story to donors. Would love to see something like this expanded to add context to tech … Continue reading

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Spread the word: Ohio LinuxFest registration is open!

Things are spinning up for Ohio LinuxFest — we’re less than a month out, so now is the time for everyone planning on attending the big ‘fest to sign up and start making your plans to attend. Even if you’re … Continue reading

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Cash and Community: Incentives and Open Source Development

The open source landscape has changed dramatically in the past 10 years, and the picture of open source developers has changed as well. Where free and open source (FOSS) projects were once considered the domain of volunteer enthusiasts donating time … Continue reading

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