Matt Hartley

What is Google Fuchsia? That’s a question being asked a lot – recently techies have been abuzz about a new operating system called Fuchsia being developed by, yes, Google. Here’s what we’ve been told: It’s not based on Linux. It’s using the Dart scripting language. It’s a command line only experience at the moment. You […]

The Thunderbird email client is a true standard. Over the years, there have been countless email clients for various operating systems. None has come close to making the impact on the open source community of Mozilla’s Thunderbird. In this article, I’ll dive deep into what makes Thunderbird email relevant in 2016. Thunderbird Email emerges from […]

Historically, Linux media creation has gotten a bad rap. The reasons why vary, but usually it’s due to legacy applications from powerful media companies that sell expensive software. In this article, I’ll dive into the truth about Linux media creation. I’ll also focus on what software usually holds folks back and how they compare to […]

With all the debate going on regarding the benefits of using Ubuntu vs Linux Mint, it’s easy to forget that there are other great distributions for newer users. In this article, I’ll be comparing two distros based on Fedora and OpenSUSE. The two distros I’ll be comparing today are known as GeckoLinux (I selected the […]

Running Windows apps on Linux might be avoided by some, but the truth is, there are occasions where it helps. One of the biggest reasons that some folks can’t break free from Windows is the available applications. Sometimes these applications are legacy applications that don’t have an open source alternative. Other times, it’s simply a […]

Ever since I first tried Linux on my desktop years ago, I’ve found myself wincing at what I felt were avoidable blunders. This observation doesn’t affect one distro more than another, rather it’s ongoing issues I’ve watch in utter amazement happen time and time again. No, I’m not giving a free pass to proprietary operating […]

Some folks may find the idea of using a 32-bit distribution of Linux to be downright silly. After all, we live in a 64-bit world these days, right? Well, that depends on who you ask. The fact of the matter is there are still a lot of fully functional PCs out there that run 32-bit […]

Despite countless inroads made by today’s best and brightest Linux distributions, it’s still difficult for the Linux desktop to get ahead. In this article, I’ll talk about the biggest challenges I’ve seen and what can be done to overcome them. Pre-installed Linux Not too many years ago, it was nearly impossible to find Linux pre-installed […]

One of the greatest things about running Linux is the freedom it provides. Where the division among the Linux community appears is in how we value this freedom. For some, the freedom enjoyed by using Linux is the freedom from vendor lock-in or high software costs. Most would call this a practical consideration. Others users […]

One of the most common issues I see among newer Linux users is the desire to upgrade their distribution needlessly to a new bleeding-edge version. This is especially true with those who use Ubuntu and its derivatives. In this article, I’ll explain why most people would be much better off sticking to stable distribution releases […]