Tag: Open Source

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The Ten Years Linux Journey

A Linux/LEMP discussion on Twitter today reminded me that I've spent about 10 years within a Linux environment now. It's not exclusive per se, there were times where I got back to Windows for a few months (keeping at least one system Linux-driven all the time), but it's been a great time and I'll tell you my experience with the mystic or notorious (depending on where you stand) platform. Note: Most of you know that I'm not an Apple fan but I'll keep it for myself in this post, just reviewing some slides over the years. Therefore please keep the… Continue Reading
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The Abusement of Open Source

The Free Software Foundation has a clear and concise definition of free software - which is tightly connected to what we refer to "open source" with some verbal modifications: “Free software” means software that respects users' freedom and community. Roughly, it means that the users have the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. Thus, “free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer”. We sometimes call it “libre software” to show we do not mean it is gratis.… Continue Reading
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Why Most Software Engineers Don’t Contribute to Open Source?

People contribute to open source for different reasons and with different agendas in mind. There are different philosophies and theories about open source products. Some claim that there is reciprocity if you use something for free. Others demand a regime similar to socialism and Marx’s slogan - “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” That doesn’t resonate with everyone. People are somewhat selfish by nature and solving global problems isn’t always at the top of their minds. That’s the reality we live in. Some do genuinely support the philosophy and spend a significant amount of… Continue Reading
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WordPress Contributing Effort and Focus

End of 2014 was a turning point in my life, and I have been thinking a lot about my contributing efforts for a while now. About a year ago I was teaching at a university, a school, co-organizing WordCamp Europe 2014 and a meetup, spoke at various conferences and meetings for free as well, contributed patches to plugins (plus free plugins and updating themes), mentoring people, teaching interns, and doing a dozen extra things for free. Things Changed at Work [caption id="attachment_11568" align="aligncenter" width="713"] Working crazy hours.[/caption] Our work back then was pretty well organized - we had a large client with an ongoing… Continue Reading
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What Does “Open” Mean?

I've been an Open Source advocate for about 10 years now, and this has been something that determined me over the years. If you start applying Open Source to your life, suddenly everything changes. Completely. Contributing to WordPress Marko and I led a workshop on "Contributing to WordPress" for my CMS students last year at "Telerik Academy". I didn't expect anything particular back then, mostly because of the fact that all of them were looking forward to their first jobs and were only interested in learning enough in the tech field to land their job, start earning some money and improve their… Continue Reading