So I'm thinking about starting a tech-related podcast, would anyone be interested in co-hosting?

Tags: tech, life, podcast

Tags: offbeat, twitter, failwhale

Now I'm excited...

Star Trek Online

Tags: startrek, startrekonline, trailer

I may get some flak for this from the open source community, but I'm just curious about other's thoughts on this as well as to be able to share my own.

Anyway, I know there are many open source and free software advocates who are completely, 100% against proprietary software and refuse to use it or install it. So I ask this question. Suppose that there is a great new application, a great new piece of software that came out that was amazing. It did everything and more that you want this app to do (It can be any app, with any functionality). The downside? It's proprietary, BUT they released a native Linux / BSD version of the software so you can easily install it on Linux without the use of Crossover, Wine, or anything else. Now also suppose that there is no true open source alternative to this application. No open source app comes close to what this app can do.

Before I ask the big question, let me just go over my thoughts on the matter.

Personally, I would have no problem using this software even though its proprietary under Linux. I believe that even by using and installing proprietary software, you're not really harming the open souce and free software movement, especially when there's no real alternative to the proprietary piece of software. The open source and free software community provides a great alternative to many many proprietary apps and even operating systems. This said, proprietary software is in itself, not inherently "evil" by any means. Some may say that a certain Redmond, Washington-based company is "evil" but can you really speak for all proprietary software companies as a whole because of one bad apple (can you really label any group evil because of ONE person?). In the end I see nothing wrong with proprietary software being installed on a Linux PC, deep down the OS is still open source, and still free. What's wrong with using all the tools available to you to get the best experience and the best productivity out of your computer? I mean in the end of the day, I'll always try to stick with open source software, but if there's a notably better way to do something that requires something proprietary, so be it. My use of the proprietary nvidia video drivers on my desktop is a perfect example. The nv driver isn't bad by any means, but I just have not seen it being able to match the abilities of the official drivers.

So what are your thoughts? Would you be completely against using proprietary software on your Linux desktop, or would you be willing to use proprietary apps as needed? Would you still consider using the proprietary application if it cost money?

Tags: thoughts, opensource, freesoftware, linux

The project I've been working on, a social media/news Content Management System (CMS) or platform has just been launched on the site I'm involved with, http://www.heavyashell.com The final release version will probably be released to the public over the next 2 weeks once I finish the documentation.

In the meantime, check out Heavy As Hell and submit some stories on rock, metal, punk, and the like.

Tags: heavyashell, project, launch