Of Linux Laptops, Open Source and Hawaiian Food

August 8, 2016

In the last two weeks I’ve had the opportunity to participate in two podcasts.  The first was the wild and wacky Lunduke & Whatnot (with Matt) show where System76 founder CEO, Carl Richell and I talked with our hosts about pre-loaded Linux laptops.  

In the second, which was recorded last week at SpringOne platform, Michael Cote hosts me as we talk about the evolution of Free Software/Open Source as well as the history of Hawaii and it’s foods.

Check them both out below.

Some of the ground Lunduke, Matt, Carl and I  cover:

  • [First I video bomb the intro by mistake]
  • How long System76 and Dell have been selling Linux preloaded on laptops
  • Mandriva as Lunduke’s favorite Linux distro
  • How System76 went from Carl’s basement to an office and a portfolio of 60 offerings
  • Why both companies went with Ubuntu first and why only Ubuntu
  • What are the biggest issues that System76 and Dell face when producing Linux laptops

Podcast #2

Open source and devs at Dell and the changing nature of OSS

The second podcast is audio only and, like the one above, is chock-a-block full of information and zaniness.  Here’s how Cote describes the occurrence:

“I’ve had a theory that the hard-line philosophy of open source has softened in recent times. Rather than thinking closed source is to be avoided at all costs, I think most developer types are a lot more willing to accept closed source bits mixed in with open source bits. That is, open core has “won.” I discuss this topic with my long time pal, Barton George, while at SpringOne Platform, plus the work he’s doing in the developer and OSS worlds at Dell.  We also talk about Hawaiian food.”

Take a listen

Extra-credit reading

  • Cuisine of Hawaii – Wikipedia
  • The XPS 13 Developer Edition THE best Linux laptop. Dell’s fifth-generation open-source developer laptop isn’t just good, it’s great — ZDNet
  • The XPS developer edition: Dell continues to build a reliable Linux lineage – Arstechnica 
  • Dell XPS 13 Skylake (2016) review: A lot for a Linux user to like – CIO
  • Review: The Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition laptop is nearly perfect – Network World

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Pics from the show floor at SXSW

March 16, 2009

As I previously mentioned, on Saturday I headed down town to the Austin convention center and SXSW.  Although I’ve lived here in Austin for 2 years this is the first time I’ve checked it out.  I drove down after lunch and bought myself a day pass to the show floor.

The entrence to the convention center.
The entrance to the convention center

While the biggest part of SXSW, Music, doesnt start until later this week, the Interactive and Film festivals kicked off on Friday.   Film and Interactive had a combined “Trade Show” which ran from Saturday thru today and that’s where I hung out on Saturday.

Although the show floor was a modest size it was chock-a-block full of tech and cinema offerings (here’s the map and list of booths — my unofficial guess would be it was 80% tech/20% film).  I hung out there for about four hours catching up with old friends and checking out the various offerings.

Artefacts from the event: Rackspace tube socks, Montana film board leather coaster, business cards, BarCamp pass, brochure from "Austin's only tiki shop" etc.

Artifacts from the event: Rackspace tube socks, business cards, BarCamp pass, Montana film board leather coaster, a brochure from "Austin's only tiki shop" etc.

As you would guess, social media apps dominated the tech offerings and a lot things seemed to be some derivative of facebook/twitter/craigslist/linkedin with an innovative (or not so innovative) spin.  Microsoft had a big booth as did Sun who was showing off its JavaFX.

Don’t touch that dial!

Coming up later this week, the video podcasts I did with Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group and Jason Hsiao of Animoto.

There were a fair amount of apps that looked like this.

There were a fair amount of apps that looked like this.

Here are a few of the faces from the show floor.

A picture of Guy Kawasaki taking a picture of the Lunarr booth.

A picture of Guy Kawasaki taking a picture of the Lunarr booth.

The ever helpful Josh Dilworth of Porter Novelli working the press info stand.

The ever helpful Josh Dilworth of Porter Novelli working the press info stand.

Ka'awa was there promoting a tour of singers from Hawaii.
Ka’awa was there promoting a tour of singers from Hawaii.
Porter Novelli adds new meaning to the phrase "booth babe."

Kevin takes the hand-off. PR firm Porter Novelli gives new meaning to the expression "booth babe."

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

Obama in ’73

October 8, 2008

18 months ago I did a post about one of my classmates from Punahou School.  At the time he was one of the many possible democratic candidates for Presidency of the United States.  We are now less than a month away from the election and Barry is not only the democratic nominee but is currently leading in the polls.  Go Barry, Go!

What I posted in February of ’07

When I was home in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago I decided to dig through the boxes in my mom’s garage and find some of my old Na Opios (the lower school yearbook at Punahou School).  I was looking for a picture of one of the big kids, three years ahead of me at a school named Barry Obama, now more commonly referred to as Barack.  For reference, in 1973 Barry was a big 6th grader and I was just a little 3rd grader.

Here is the picture I found (I blurred out the other non-public figures) apparently taken at a pencil chewers convention — the Na Opio never featured stiff formal portraits:

Usually in the yearbook you only got to be in one picture for your classroom.  For some reason, Barack appeared in two.   His future potential must have shown through even then.

If you want to read more about Obama’s growing up in Hawaii and his time at Punahou check out this article (It even quotes my old girlfriend’s brother and my 8th grade typing teacher).

Pau for now…

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Posted by Barton George

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