Quite the interesting proposition...

Blackberry has been somewhat of a dilemma for me, since I like the security and the quality of its smart phones. Yet, that its OS is closed source OS is something that I don't really endorse as an open source advocate.

Now that Blackberry has made official it's Priv smart phone launch, all changes. Since it's powered by Android, and it comes with Blackberry's security features baked into it from the start, it makes quite an interesting proposition. This combination makes it quite an interesting proposition for people who support FLOSS and those are mindful of their privacy.

Now, we'll have to wait until the device hits the market to know how good Priv actually is. Yet, one can be hopeful that it will be quite a good handset, since Blackberry's hardware is quite solid and Android is quite the solid OS as well.

The plus for me, is the fact that the Priv comes with a physical keyboard. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer having a physical keyboard at hand. Especially since I don't want to have a device that's over 6". So, Priv hits the sweet spot with its size.

It has been a while since I've been interested on an Blackberry device, so the Priv is welcomed news for me. If it lives up to the expectations, Blackberry might just become relevant at the premium side of Android for those who, like me, are looking for a good quality device and are conscious about their privacy.

1,500 good news from Steam...

The news that Steam just crossed the 1,500 games natively available on Linux is great news not only for Steam itself, but the whole Linux ecosystem.

While it still lags far behind the number of games available for Windows and OS X, that the mark is significant in itself. It means that Steam is viewed as a viable gaming platform by developers, since it has been adding about a 100 new games a month for a while now.

And while Steam still has some pains due to the lack of driver support for some graphic cards, the fact that there people developing and buying games for Linux helps the ecosystem as a whole. Since it gives a reason to GPU manufactures to start supporting their cards on Linux, they are going to have to make available their drivers on the OS if they want to have a piece of the market for themselves.

With this, all the Linux ecosystem wins as a whole. The game developers working to make their games on Steam, and the people buying those games, are a driving force to make AMD and NVIDIA to take Linux seriously and make drivers that run as well as they do on Windows and OS X.

While some people using Steam aren't conscious about it being a FLOSS system, or being FLOSS in itself, that they use it is something that helps all the FLOSS community. While it would be far better for people actually choose Steam fully knowing the reasons why they should, the first step is making Steam a viable option for all gamers.

So that Steam passed the 1,500 games mark, is something that should make us happy and hopeful that the counter will continue to grow.

Inexcusable over reaction...

The irony of a 9th grader being arrested because he took a clock he made to school is not only big, but quite disheartening as well.

One should think that schools would a place a student should be able to bring something like that without fear, specially of being arrested and suspended because of it. As a matter of fact, the reaction one would expect from the teachers and other staff would be the opposite. I mean, they should be quite interested in fostering that kind of skills and mentality on their students for the better.

This issue is made even worse, when one takes into account that the US is starting to lag behind other developed countries on that skill set. Not only that, many of the teenagers and kids are loosing interest on perusing and engineering or science degree stuff like this will only push them further away from those fields.

Schools should be one of those places where their students could safely share and practice building things like that. Specially, since schools are one of those places where they can be guided by people who have the knowhow to put them on the right track to be able to safely do those things.

Also, they can form groups with their peers who have the same interest so they can achieve more than they could do on their own.

That the reaction on this matter by this school was this, is something that should be frown upon and that shouldn't be repeated. There should be an official apology, by both the school officials and the police because of this incident.

Munich, an example to follow...

The news that the city of Munich is contributing upstream are good, really good, news.

They mean two important things for open source software, and both can't be understated. To begin with, it comes to show that open source software can be successfully deployed even in places as important and complex and city governments.

The argument that open source software can't compete with proprietary software has been rendered muted, and in such a way that its hard to dispute. There are a few other places where software could effectiveness could be tested more throughly than a government, even if it is at a city level.

Secondly, it comes to show that contribute upstream is not something that just a few can do. The only requirement is to have an IT department that has the technical knowhow to implement the changes needed to the needs of the particular entity to then share does changes upstream. When there is that aspect, then it makes it more of a matter of will to contribute back.

Most importantly, Munich now stands as an example that implementing open source software is something not only something other governments and private companies can at least successfully implement. Yet, it show that other can contribute for the greater good, and the interest of the public at large.

Let's hope that Munich lead the way to others to follow.