Linux Voice

One of the slightly ironic after-effects from the merger of Linux Voice and Linux Magazine is that I now spend a lot more time using Linux. OK, that's not quite right; I used Linux more-or-less all day before, and I still do now, but now I spend more time really getting my hands dirty with the internals of servers. As my interactions have changed, my preferred method of interacting with my computers has changed as well. I've started re-learning all the Vim keybindings that I forgot when most of my work was done in word processors, and I usually have an over-complex tmux session running in a terminal. (I'm sure I spend at least 10% of my time trying to find the right session, just like I spend about the same amount of time trying to find which web browser tab the thing I want is in.) All this means I spend most of my time with my hands on the keyboard rather than the mouse, and I've been thinking more and more about switching away from my trusty Unity desktop to a tiled window manager. It seems I'm not the only person with this on his mind at the moment, as Mike Saunders has already taken the plunge; I'll read his tutorial in this month's issue before making the switch myself.

For the rodent fans among you, we haven't abandoned the mouse. Graham picks out the latest and greatest free software in FOSS Picks, including Calligra, which I've always felt has been a bit unfairly overshadowed by LibreOffice.

Our columnists bravely step outside to chat about open source software face-to-face. Simon Phipps ventures overseas to argue with geeks about free software licenses, Andrew Gregory hears about the virtues of FOSS from Windows users, and maddog visits the Brazilian Project Cauã. If you prefer to take your voyages into computers rather than the outside, Valentine Sinitsyn will, as always, guide you deeper into your Linux kernel than most people can navigate. Turn the page and choose your own Linux adventure.

– Ben Everard