Ich war auf der Suche nach einem Online-#Kartendienst, den man kollaborativ zur #Reiseplanung nutzen kann. Ein kurzer Versuch, das Ganze mit #Mapstr zu realisieren, war nach 5 Minuten beendet, denn in der Desktop-Version kann man in der kostenlosen Variante keine POIs anlegen. Das geht nur auf dem Smartphone. Ich frage mich ja, wer auf solch kleinen Displays und ohne Tastatur ernsthaft eine seriöse Tourplanung machen kann. Ich jedenfalls nicht --> Account war also nach 5 Minuten wieder gelöscht.

Turns out: Natürlich gibt es da auch etwas von #OpenStreetMap: #uMap

Und das funktioniert so, wie man das erwartet. Gutes UI, intuitiv bedienbar, benutzbare Shortcuts und die Features, die man braucht. Ich kann den Dienst nur empfehlen! 👍

https://umap.openstreetmap.de/de/

#OpenSourcce

Today marks 9 years since Stijn Van Beek joined NAP Labs. Stijn has played a significant role in developing the audio aspects of NAP and has applied his expertise as the technical lead for our colleagues at 4DSOUND.

As one of the early adopters of NAP, 4DSOUND has built an impressive tool set for spatial sound composition and performances, with NAP at its core.

#4dsound #spatialsound #stijnvanbeek #audioengine #opensourcce

Ventoy: The Ultimate Multi-Boot USB Tool

Giving friends and neighbors a bootable USB drive containing your favorite Linux distribution is a great way to introduce neophyte Linux users to the experience we all enjoy. Many people have never heard of Linux, and putting your favorite distribution on a bootable USB drive is a great way to break the ice.

I taught an introductory computer class to a group of middle schoolers a few years ago. We used old laptops, and I introduced the students to Fedora, Ubuntu, and Pop!_OS. When the class was over, I gave each student a copy of their favorite distribution to take home and install on a computer of their choice. They were eager to try their new skills at home.

A friend introduced me to Ventoy, which (according to its GitHub repository) is “an open-source tool to create bootable a USB drive for ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files.” Instead of creating separate drives for each Linux distribution I want to share, I can make a single drive with all my favorite Linux distributions on the drive!

As you might expect, a USB drive’s size determines how many distributions you can fit on it. On a 16GB drive, I placed Fedora Cinnamon and Fedora KDE Plasma and still have over nine gigabytes free to hold other distributions.

Get Ventoy

Ventoy is open source, with a GPL v3 license, and available for Windows and Linux. There is excellent documentation on downloading and installing Ventoy on Microsoft Windows. The Linux installation happens from the command line, so it can be a little confusing if you’re unfamiliar with that process. Yet, it’s easier than it might seem.

First, download Ventoy. I downloaded the archive file to my desktop. Next, extract the ventoy-x.y.z-linux.tar.gz archive (but replace x.y.z with your download’s version number) using the tar command (to keep things simple, I use the * character as an infinite wildcard in the command):

This command extracts all the necessary files into a folder named ventoy-x.y.z on my desktop.

You can also use your Linux distribution’s archive manager to accomplish the same task. After downloading and extracting, you can install Ventoy to your USB drive.

Install Ventoy and Linux on a USB

Insert your USB drive into your computer. Change the directory into the Ventoy folder, and look for a shell script named Ventoy2Disk.sh. For this script to work correctly, you must determine the correct mount point for your USB drive.

The results show that my USB drive is mounted at /dev/sda. On your computer, the location could be /dev/sdb or /dev/sdc or something similar.

Once you’re sure of your drive’s location, run the script:

This formats the drive and installs Ventoy to your USB. Now, you can copy and paste all the Linux distributions that will fit on the drive. If you boot the newly created drive on your computer, you’ll see a menu with the distributions you have copied to your USB drive.

Build a portable powerhouse

Ventoy is your key to carrying a multiboot drive on your keychain, so you’ll never be without the distributions you rely on. You can have a full-featured desktop, a lightweight distro, a console-only maintenance utility, and anything else you want.

I never leave the house without a Linux distro, nor should you. Grab Ventoy, a USB drive, and a handful of ISOs. You won’t be sorry.

#Linux #openSourcce #USB #Ventoy

Navigating the AI Revolution: Balancing Innovation, Privacy, and Open-Source Alternatives

Everywhere you look, whether in print or on the web, the rage is AI. I’m part of the group that sees potential in machine learning and how it might reshape our educational systems. All the major tech companies have embraced it, and at the same time, many folks are sure that it spells the end of authentic authorship. In addition to some of the slop created with artificial intelligence, there is a growing concern for our privacy. Some people allege that their original works are being used to train large language models without permission.

In the past couple of years, I have asked folks in higher education and K-12 if their institutions have policies stipulating how teachers and students can use this emerging technology that continues to proliferate. With few exceptions, such policies do not exist. There are the Luddites who refuse to acknowledge its presence, some who believe in ubiquity but have very few policies, and those who stipulate no policy.

Most major operating systems and many of their applications now incorporate AI features, making it challenging to avoid them. However, there is a solution: high-quality, freely accessible software. This solution consists of open-source software that does not include artificial intelligence algorithms. The best part is that you don’t have to give up your existing operating systems unless you choose to. If you decide to switch, I recommend considering one of the major Linux distributions, as they can help extend the life of your hardware and software.

LibreOffice is a comprehensive office suite that includes a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet application (Calc), and presentation software (Impress). It allows you to save your work in open formats, ensuring you always have access to your documents. When using proprietary software, those programs save your work in formats that are inaccessible unless you continue to purchase a license for that product. LibreOffice uses open documents, which ensure that your job is always accessible to you. LibreOffice is also available on Linux, MacOS, and Windows and is open source.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a fully featured alternative to proprietary photo editing software and includes embedded AI capabilities. Gimp is used for image manipulation, editing, free-form drawing, converting between various image file formats, and other specialized tasks. The software is extensible through plugins and supports scripting for enhanced functionality. It is open source with a GPL v. 3 license.

Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor available for Unix-compatible systems, including Linux, Windows, and macOS. It provides a robust set of tools and is widely used for creating artistic and technical illustrations, such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagrams, and flowcharts. Inkscape uses vector graphics to ensure sharp printouts and renderings at any resolution, unlike raster graphics, which are limited by pixel dimensions.

Blender is a robust, open-source software suite for 3D modeling and animation, extensively utilized across diverse industries such as animation, visual effects, art, and 3D printing. It provides a comprehensive array of modeling, texturing, sculpting, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, and motion-tracking tools within a single, versatile application.

Audacity is a free and open-source digital audio editor for Windows, macOS, and Linux. In addition to recording audio from various sources, Audacity provides extensive post-processing features for all types of audio. These features include effects such as normalization, trimming, and fading in and out. Audacity can record multiple tracks at once. Audacity natively supports importing and exporting WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, and other formats compatible with the libsndfile library. However, due to patent licensing restrictions, the FFmpeg library required for handling proprietary formats like M4A (AAC) and WMA is not included with Audacity and must be downloaded separately.

VLC is a free, open-source, and portable media player and streaming server created by the VideoLAN project. It supports desktop operating systems and mobile platforms, including Android, iOS, and iPadOS.

#AI #openSourcce

Any #Akregator users who know of a way to save articles to #ReadwiseReader, without having to open the browser first?

@kde

#PKM #RSS #KDE #Linux #OpenSourcce