Category: Blog

  • Top 5: Internet-in-a-Box on the Raspberry Pi, strengths of the D programming language, and more

    Top 5: Internet-in-a-Box on the Raspberry Pi, strengths of the D programming language, and more

    In this week’s Top 5, we highlight internet access with the Internet-in-a-Box on the Raspberry Pi, the features of the D programming language that makes it great for collaborative software development, how to use the SquuezePi to create a streaming music system for the home office, a longtime Python developer’s software engineering rules and testing best practices, and…

  • 5 Arduino projects to upgrade your car

    5 Arduino projects to upgrade your car

    From prohibition-era moonshiners to the 2000s MTV classic Pimp My Ride, people have repairing, upgrading, and modifying their cars for a long time. More recently, low-cost microcontrollers like the Arduino have opened new doors for makers looking to do fun and interesting things with their vehicles. In this article, we’ll look at a few car-related…

  • 5 myths busted: Using open source in higher education

    5 myths busted: Using open source in higher education

    Have you ever heard someone say, “It’s impossible to do X with Linux”? Me too. This is the story of how I busted the myths about open source in my own head and used Linux to finish my PhD in fine arts. Many people think non-technical students can’t use Linux, and they make a lot…

  • How to save keystrokes at the command line with alias

    How to save keystrokes at the command line with alias

    The alias command-line tool is both useful and relatively simple. Its purpose is to simplify a single-line command by creating a custom name for it. There is a good chance that you already have some aliases even if you’ve never used the tool. In Bash, aliases can be created with a simple text editor and…

  • An introduction to Linux's EXT4 filesystem

    An introduction to Linux's EXT4 filesystem

    In previous articles about Linux filesystems, I wrote an introduction to Linux filesystems and about some higher-level concepts such as everything is a file. I want to go into more detail about the specifics of the EXT filesystems, but first, let’s answer the question, “What is a filesystem?” A filesystem is all of the following:…

  • 5 laws every aspiring DevOps engineer should know

    5 laws every aspiring DevOps engineer should know

    “A good engineer is a lazy engineer,” some will say. And to a certain extent, it’s true: Laziness is a great quality if you’re automating repetitive tasks. But laziness flies in the face of learning new technologies and getting new work done. Somewhere between Junior Systems Administrator and Senior DevOps Engineer, laziness no longer becomes…

  • Which tools do you depend on for your DevOps workflow?

    Which tools do you depend on for your DevOps workflow?

    About the author Jason Baker – Jason is passionate about using technology to make the world more open, from software development to bringing sunlight to local governments. Linux desktop enthusiast. Map/geospatial nerd. Raspberry Pi tinkerer. Data analysis and visualization geek. Occasional coder. Cloud nativist. Follow him on Twitter. Which technology do you think is most important…

  • 30 best practices for software development and testing

    30 best practices for software development and testing

    Joining any new company—with an established culture and programming practices—can be a daunting experience. When I joined the Ansible team, I decided to write up the software engineering practices and principles I’ve learned over the years and to which I strive to work. This is a non-definitive, non-exhaustive list of principles that should be applied…

  • How I used open source tools to build a theater lighting system

    How I used open source tools to build a theater lighting system

    The things we do for family, eh? Sometimes I wonder why I do it to myself, this not being the first time my perfectionism has led me to do far more work than a task originally required. My father-in-law approached me a little over a year ago, because the church he attends was putting on a…

  • Which technologies are poised to take over in open source?

    Which technologies are poised to take over in open source?

    When you think of open source technologies, you probably think of the stalwarts, the technologies that have been around for years and years. It makes sense: According to a survey conducted in Q4 of 2016 by my company, Greythorn, 30%+ of participants said established technologies are among the top ten they primarily use. They may…