Author Archives: Jack M. Germain
MongoDB’s Eliot Horowitz: The Database Renaissance Has Begun
- Oct
- 08
NoSQL technologies are giving the database landscape a new look as they steadily push a shift from the relational database model. Young entrants to the alternative technology, such as MongoDB, have been gaining traction despite an admitted need to mature with more needed features. “For MongoDB as a part of the NoSQL space, it is a matter of maturity,” said Eliot Horowitz, CTO of MongoDB.
Kdenlive Delivers Near-Pro Video Editing – If You Have the Right Stuff
- Oct
- 03
Kdenlive is a multitrack, nonlinear video-editing suite packed with some of the most recent video technologies. This application can be a great tool if you have serious video work to do, but you need to fully test it before attempting any mission-critical editing tasks. Kdenlive takes some effort to learn. That’s especially the case if you have little experience with other video-editing software.
Coverity’s Zack Samocha: Software Quality and the Open Source Advantage
- Oct
- 01
Software quality is a topic close to most developers’ hearts, whether they work with open source or proprietary code. Assessing quality, however, isn’t always a simple matter. As a result, several efforts have sprung up to tackle the challenge, including the Coverity Scan project. Coverity began work in 2006 on the open source project, which is a joint endeavor with the Department of Homeland Security.
ZevenOS’ Neptune Distro: Linux the Way You Want It
- Sep
- 25
If you are looking for a really decent, snappy and lightweight KDE distro that installs easily onto a flash drive, check out ZevenOS’ Neptune. Our Picks and Pans column has been devoting considerable time lately to playing with countless Linux distros. Rarely have I found truly bad distros — after all, Linux is Linux.
ZevenOS’s Neptune Distro: Linux the Way You Want It
- Sep
- 25
If you are looking for a really decent, snappy and lightweight KDE distro that installs easily onto a flash drive, check out ZevenOS’s Neptune. Our Picks and Pans column has been devoting considerable time lately to playing with countless Linux distros. Rarely have I found truly bad distros — after all, Linux is Linux.
OpenPGP Studio Keeps Prying Eyes Off Your Personal Data
- Sep
- 18
GoAnywhere OpenPGP Studio is an easy-to-use, cross-platform desktop tool by Linoma Software that protects files using the OpenPGP encryption standard. Why opt for this relative newcomer instead of other, more mature open standards-based encryption solutions? If for no other reason, OpenPGP Studio is “pretty good protection,” which is the basis of the OpenPGP standard.
CherryTree Takes the Pits Out of Pruning Your Notes
- Sep
- 04
Keeping track of my bits and pieces of information across several computers running Linux and Microsoft Windows has long been a problem. CherryTree is a sweet solution that keeps my information local and cloud-free. CherryTree is an outliner-style hierarchical note-taking application that features rich text and syntax highlighting. It stores data in a single XML or SQLite file.
FOSS Devs’ Biggest Complaints: Documentation and Licensing
- Aug
- 29
Open source software may hold considerable appeal for software developers around the world, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its aggravations. While no one aspect qualifies as the ultimate reason to oppose writing or using open source code, a significant number of programmers report that poor documentation and problems interpreting licenses rank high on their list of grievances.
Zero In on Research Control With Zotero
- Aug
- 28
With countless high school and college students heading back to school at roughly this time of year, now is a good time to get acquainted with Zotero, a great cross-platform tool for collecting, organizing, citing and sharing research sources. I have spent considerable time working in academic settings helping students manage their research assignments.
Gotta Access Linux Files? Paragon ExtFS Delivers the Goods
- Aug
- 21
ExtFS is a cross-platform application that can make using Linux much easier in multiple-OS platforms. As much as I try to stay exclusively in the Linux OS world, every so often a work situation arises that puts the comfort zone of staying with Linux to the test. When I absolutely must cross the Great Divide, Paragon’s Universal File System Driver in ExtFS comes to my rescue.