ZaReason's Take on Netbooks and the Linux Retail Market

Sep 03, 2009 GMT

Today Carla Schroder posted an interview with Cathy Malmrose, CEO of Linux OEM ZaReason. Cathy answers Carla's questions about Linux netbook demand (how big is it and what do people want in a netbook) and working directly with hardware manufacturers. And while you're over there checking out the ZaReason website, you might want to snag a Friends Help Friends Use Linux t-shirt, available exclusively in girl's and women's sizes.

ROSE Blog Interviews: Meike Reichle, Debian Developer

Sep 03, 2009 GMT

In this interview, Meike Reichle, a Debian developer living in Germany, offers some practical tips for finding a job in the world of free and open source software.Q: Who are you? A: My name is Meike Reichle, I live in Hildesheim, Germany, am currently 27 years old and work at the University of Hildesheim's Department of Computer Science and at Pengutronix, a company that offers Embedded Linux services and solutions.Q: What do you currently do in open source? What do you love about it?A: I am a Debian Developer. Apart from maintaining my Debian packages, I am also part of the Debian Press Team and a member of the Debian-Women sub-project, which aims to increase the number of female...

Microchipped Monarchs

Sep 02, 2009 GMT

At dinner last night with my daughter, I read through a list of upcoming events and anniversaries that the restaurant includes in a little display on each table, right next to the dessert list. According to the event list, September 9-14 will be peak days for Monarch butterflies to make their way through Kansas, heading to Mexico for the winter. I've already seen quite a few early-bird Monarchs as they stop off in our yard for a butterfly bush snack or a break on a purple coneflower. Tagging monarchs for their annual flight south is kind of a big deal here in Kansas, and my daughter experienced her first tagging in elementary school. Now IBM is using the butterfly tagging as a way to get...

ROSE Blog Interviews: Máirín Duffy, Team Lead for Fedora Design Team

Sep 02, 2009 GMT

In this interview, Máirín Duffy explains how easy it is to get started with free and open source software, and that age, economic status, and experience don't have to hold you back. She points out how easily a single bad experience can turn someone away from open source, too.Q: Who are you?A: My name is Máirín Duffy and I'm an interaction designer and artist. I work for Red Hat, and I am also currently the team lead for the Fedora design team.If there is one thing folks in the FOSS community know about me, it is probably that I am stubbornly religious about using free and open source software only. This is not a common or popular stance amongst designers. I haven't used Windows, OS X,...

ROSE Blog Interviews: Hillary Rettig, author and activist

Sep 01, 2009 GMT

Hillary Rettig is an author and progressive activist. Hillary, Stormy Peters, and Deborah Nicholson are helping organize the FSF Women in Free Software Mini-Summit, which will be held September 19th.Q: Who are you? A: I'm author of the book The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way (Lantern Books, 2006), which is a self-help guide specifically for progressive activists – it helps them manage their mission, time, fears and relationships. I'm also a lifelong progressive activist, with my current focus being the free software and animal rights/vegan movements. I have also worked in high tech (journalist, consultant, entrepreneur) and microenterprise, the field...

Marina Interviews Marina

Aug 31, 2009 GMT

Over on Marina'z Blog, Marina asks herself some great questions (and answers them, too): What are the benefits of open source? What are the benefits of women getting involved in open source? What are the benefits of open source getting more women involved? What are the roles that women can play in open source? Why are women staying out? What are the things that can be done to get more women involved in open source? Marina lists 7 great roles for women in open source – what are some other roles you can think of? And now for the questions rolling around in my noggin today: What do you think a "contribution" to open source is? Do you think that a woman who uses open...

ROSE Blog Interviews: GNOME.Asia's Emily Chen

Aug 31, 2009 GMT

Q: Who are you? A: Emily Chen, currently living in Beijing, China. I'm a software engineer working in the Sun OpenSolaris desktop team. Now I am responsible for the quality of the Mozilla products like Firefox and Thunderbird on OpenSolaris. I am passionate about open source – I am a core contributor to the OpenSolaris community in 2009, I worked on Google Summer of Code program as a mentor in 2006 and 2007, organized the first ever GNOME.Asia Summit 2008 in Beijing, and founded the Beijing GNOME Users Group. Now I am the president of Beijing GNOME Users Group. I graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology with a Master's degree in computer science. In my spare time, I like...