RHEL Classification Banners

Over at the Red Hat Government Github account, you'll find the classification-banner project. It's a tiny python script that draws SECRET, TOP SECRET, DON'T TELL MOM, etc. banners at the top and bottom of your desktop.

New York Tax Credit for Open Source

The New York State Assembly is considering a bill to provide open source developers a tax credit. It's problematic, but the idea is sound.

USPS IG Redaction Extravaganza

The US Postal Service Inspector General report on internal IT controls is out. Normally, this isn't interesting. But what they've chosen to redact, and what they haven't, makes absolutely no sense. IBM products are all in the clear. SUSE earns a blackout.

Treat your baby like a startup.

Launching at South by Southwest is a daring move, but one worth considering. Remember, Twitter and Foursquare both got their starts at the Austin-based tech festival. Launching on-stage at SXSW is risky but the media potential is enormous. Things to remember: Push! We followed this advice. [via NPR.]

RHEL on GovCloud

You guys. You can now run Red Hat Enterprise Linux on Amazon's GovCloud. I'll be honest: this took a while. I had a lot more hair when we started this process. But it's done! A lot of you are already running RHEL in Amazon's EC2, which is great. If you're already using RHEL in your … Continue reading RHEL on GovCloud →

Getting software ready for government.

If you're selling software, or working on an open source project that might be used by the government, there's a lot of homework you can do to make things easier for everyone. I get asked about this a lot, so I made this list.

Hydrocodone and DRM

I just had four teeth pulled out of my head. For my recovery, I was looking forward to my legally purchased copy of Game of Thrones, Season 3. The plan was to get hepped up on goofballs and watch dragons and palace intrigue. Instead: I played by the rules. I bought the season pass from … Continue reading Hydrocodone and DRM →

Pet Insurance: Notable Exclusions

Any claimed loss as a result of: Earthquake; Invasion, war or civil war, insurrection, rebellion, revolution, military or Usurped; power or by operation of armed forces while engaged in hostilities, whether war be declared or not; Any nuclear incident or radioactive contamination; Viral epidemic, viral pandemic; [via 24 Pet Watch.]

Everything I Meant to Read, 2013 Edition

Courtesy of Goodreads, here's every book I've marked "to-read" and haven't gotten to for one reason or another.

PaaS and Three Cruelties of Federal IT

The MeriTalk "PaaS or Play" study says 70% of Federal agencies are considering PaaS, and 40% expect to be using it in the next three years. That's great for PaaS, and great for OpenShift, my company's PaaS... but it's a little strange. We think of PaaS as something developers use, and very few of these … Continue reading PaaS and Three Cruelties of Federal IT →