Nuxified.org Reloaded: Blurring the lines between Operating Systems

Submitted by libervisco on Thu, 2007-08-30 01:10. Nuxified | redesign

I am pleased to announce a brand new, redesigned, reloaded Nuxified.org. It in fact is the third version so the "reloaded" title from the Matrix trilogy is quite fitting. ;)

While the old look may have been decent, it featured the old three column layout spread out over the 100% of site's width with elements being in blocks. This was quite traditional, but not anymore as popular and liked in this "Web 2.0" era, and rightly so. The new design isn't blocky, leaves some breeding space on the sides, has larger fonts, is more colorful, less bloated and was designed to provide greater convenience to both new and existing visitors and users.

The homepage should efficiently serve the purpose of introducing the visitor to the site and the most important of its new content, that being our blog entries and latest forum topics to which most of the attention has been given. As you browse through the content the first thing shown on the yellow sidebar to the right are latest forum activity, which is what is the core feature and purpose of our site. Nuxified forums are a place where you can get help with Free Software, no matter where you are running it.

But let's not bore you with all the details of our new design, for it is best for you to discover all the nifty stuff by exploring.

We now officially support Free Software, everywhere!

With the launch of the new theme we are also officially becoming operating system independent. While GNU/Linux is the most popular of Free Software operating systems it is not the only one. The goal of the Free Software movement which developed it is not only to provide an alternative operating system. Mac OS X is an alternative operating system as well and yet it is not the solution that we are aiming for, or otherwise we might have already all switched to a Mac.

There is more to it than that. It is what some might call a paradigm shift - provide users of software with greater control over it, something we call freedom, and all boundaries will be erased, including the boundaries between operating systems. They are becoming largely irrelevant. If a program is Free Software it is usually sooner or later available on any Free Software OS because both it and the OS have the source code and its users the freedom to adapt each to other. Sometimes merely compiling a program on another OS is enough.

The goal is not to take over the world with GNU/Linux. It is to take over the world with Free Software, no matter which OS is its flag bearer. At the moment it just happens to be GNU/Linux. We're not in for a yet another monopoly.

Blurring the lines between operating systems has the advantage of encouraging less OS fanaticism (or "fanboyism") and elitism and more cooperation and sharing between what were once perceived to be different "platforms". In a world we are building, the era of "platforms" is over. It is all software now; Free Software.

We are here to support all of it. If you run a Free Software program on GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, even Windows and Mac OS X and want our help - you'll get it. And yes you heard it right, this includes Windows and Mac OS X users. If you are among the Free Software crowd you may be wondering why would we go to any trouble of supporting people who use Windows?

We wouldn't support their use of Windows or for that matter any other non-free OS. We would support their use of a Free Software program on it while nicely encouraging them to switch to one of the Free Software operating systems, such as GNU/Linux. For example, instead of shutting a user running GIMP on Windows XP off simply because we don't like Windows, we can gain a new friend by helping him with his GIMP use. And he may in turn consider switching to GNU/Linux at a later date, or perhaps PC-BSD. We don't care. We're here to help put you in control.

So if you think this is a good idea, and also happen to like our new look, we invite you to join us in helping others become happy Free Software users. If you are in need of help, come over and talk to us in our forums. What OS you are running does not matter, as long as your question relates to a program that is Free Software, free as in freedom.

Now here is to crushing the boundaries and building bridges in a new Free World we are building!

Cheers!

Danijel Orsolic

PS: We have some new Nuxified wallpapers for you. Check them out! ;)

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Three complaints: 1) where

Submitted by tbuitenh on Thu, 2007-08-30 08:41.

Three complaints:

1) where is the login box??? (scroll... scroll...) oh there it is

2) Nuxified is not an anti-windows site, it would be a good idea to rephrase these bits:

Quote:

The goal is not to kill Microsoft's monopoly with GNU/Linux. It is to kill Microsoft's monopoly with Free Software, no matter which OS is its flag bearer. At the moment it just happens to be GNU/Linux.

Microsoft's monopoly is just something that gets in the way of our goal: putting users in control of their computer. Considering the amount of Free software that comes from microsoft, they are irrelevant and don't deserve the fame caused by being disliked by great people like us Laughing out loud .

Quote:

We wouldn't support their use of Windows. We would support their use of a Free Software program on Windows while nicely encouraging them to switch to one of the Free Software operating systems, such as GNU/Linux.

How about:

We wouldn't support their use of non-Free software. We would support their use of Free software in combination with it. Of course we would encourage a switch to a completely Free system including a Free operating system such as GNU/Linux as soon as it is possible for them. We recognize that, unfortunately, there a few situations in which Free alternatives for proprietary software don't exist yet. In those situations we will try to help maximize the amount of Free software in the Free/proprietary mix.

3) Please don't write "Microsoft" and "Windows" but "microsoft" and "windows". The first style makes them look important, which they are not.

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What's with #3? It's not a

Submitted by StevenBrady on Fri, 2007-08-31 03:14.

What's with #3? It's not a matter of importance. It's a matter of it being proper. Both "Microsoft" and "Windows" are proper names. In truth, putting both of those in lowercase is just as juvenile as those "winblows" and "Micro$oft" people. We don't make progress in the fight on proprietary by making digs at the competition in that way, no matter how small.

In the end, the small digs just make us look bad.

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a Matter Of Culture?

Submitted by tbuitenh on Fri, 2007-08-31 08:46.

From my point of view, the difference between "microsoft" and "Microsoft" is the same as between "god" and "God" or "free" and "Free". I'm used to "microsoft" and "windows" being written all lowercase, if the majority is used to writing them with an uppercase first character then I indeed don't have a point at #3 Smiling .

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Well, in the end, it's not

Submitted by StevenBrady on Fri, 2007-08-31 12:45.

Well, in the end, it's not a matter of what you're used to. In the English language, proper nouns are capitalized.

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I don't think I ever

Submitted by tbuitenh on Fri, 2007-08-31 19:49.

I don't think I ever claimed to be writing "proper English" Eye-wink

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I love it!

Submitted by Gustavo on Thu, 2007-08-30 10:54.

Hey, libervisco!

I love the brand new NXDF! It looks very nice!

BTW, I agree with tbuitenh.

Cheers!

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And I agree with Gustavo. I

Submitted by tbuitenh on Thu, 2007-08-30 17:38.

And I agree with Gustavo. I forgot to make a compliment about the beauty of the new theme because it's not exactly new to me Smiling .

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Thanks guys for the kind

Submitted by libervisco on Thu, 2007-08-30 22:04.

Thanks guys for the kind comments. Well, you make some good points tbuitenh, but I'm not sure if it's still not too late to implement those changes in the article.

I'll try to clarify those statements a bit though. Killing microsoft's monopoly is an obstacle whose removal is pretty much mandatory. It can't exist side by side to a Free World, as that's the nature of a monopoly, so that statement isn't necessary coming out of big dislike or hate, but simply recognition of that one big target that needs to be shot for the goal to be achieved, which is to put users in control.

But the thing is, this is quite marginal. The article is about blurring the lines between our ranks so to speak, OSes that are Free Software, not about anything Microsoft related. It just happens to be mentioned in a couple of points being made in order to make them more vividly.

You're right about your second suggestion though. Non-free software it is, not just windows, but on the other hand, mentioning windows is a bit more clear for the new reader to understand. We talk about Free Software operating systems, but mention windows and Mac OS X in special light, as if they don't fit in, and that's true - they don't fit in because they're not Free Software. So I suppose that while my way of stating things may have been suboptimal.. it might be one valid way of doing it.

If you think I should fix the article now, I'll do it. Eye-wink

Oh and btw, the login box is actually at the top of the sidebar on all but the homepage. I'll see if I can improve that, but it should be alright for now (correct me if you think I'm wrong). Smiling

About capitalizing Windows.. it doesn't have much to do with expressing them as important as much as writing without a spell checker complaining when I say "microsoft" without a big "M" and differentiating Windows OS from windows of a house. Eye-wink But anyway, point taken. Smiling

Cheers

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Actually, I made some

Submitted by libervisco on Thu, 2007-08-30 22:38.

Actually, I made some modifications now to at least meet you half way on those suggestions. Smiling There's less emphasis on Microsoft/Windows now and is more clear that this refers to any non-free OS.

Cheers

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I'm not sure what exactly

Submitted by tbuitenh on Fri, 2007-08-31 08:55.

I'm not sure what exactly you changed, but it looks a lot less microsoft-bashy now. Good job.

I'm still missing something like "we understand you may be stuck with some proprietary software for some reason or another", which IMHO is the very best argument for supporting Free software on windows.

Put blunty, we're not going to call anyone a "windoze lamer" just because for some reason they have no choice but to use that or other proprietary software.

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login box

Submitted by tbuitenh on Fri, 2007-08-31 09:03.

libervisco wrote:

Oh and btw, the login box is actually at the top of the sidebar on all but the homepage. I'll see if I can improve that, but it should be alright for now (correct me if you think I'm wrong). Smiling

That depends on how you define "for now", it's bound to confuse new members who happen to have configured their browser to delete all cookies at the end of the session.

Some old member who happens to be too lazy to configure his browser to keep cookies from nuxified is confused by it too Smiling .

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Would putting it above

Submitted by libervisco on Fri, 2007-08-31 16:26.

Would putting it above latest forum topics help?

Anything else aside from that would be different from what it was previously so...

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Get Nuxified. :)

Submitted by land0 on Fri, 2007-08-31 16:48.

Great job! We will be pointing to the Nuxified.org forum as the primary recommended online support solution at GetNix.com. GetNix is a website that the Tux Project has in the works. The idea, cater to people new to the idea of freedomware(GNU, OSS, *nix). Getnix seeks to expose everyday people to the priceless qualities of freedomware. It will be providing a "people friendly" introduction to freedomware.

I honestly could not imagine a better fit than Nuxified as the place to go to get answers to their questions and support issues. Personally I will be pointing those that choose to upgrade to freedomware solutions via my business to Nuxified right now. I am excited for the next wave of people to upgrade to freedomware based solutions. They are going to have a much easier time with their quest toward computing freedom. With projects like Nuxified to help guide them gently on their way this is now truer than ever.

Thank you, I consider myself Nuxified. Eye-wink

Landy DeField(land0)

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Maybe a stupid question,

Submitted by tbuitenh on Fri, 2007-08-31 19:53.

Maybe a stupid question, but are you aware of get GNU/Linux of GNU/Linux matters? Their goals seem similar to yours.

Welcome to nuxified!

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That's really great and

Submitted by libervisco on Sat, 2007-09-01 00:23.

That's really great and encouraging to hear. I wish you the best with your project.

Yes, GetGNULinux.org is doing something similar, but I suppose if the approach is differing it can only help. I could say a similar thing when comparing some other GNU/Linux forums and Nuxified.org. We are doing a similar thing, but we have a different focus and a different premise that differentiates our approach to helping new users. At the end of the day it all helps at least a little.

Cheers

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Excellent Question!

Submitted by land0 on Sat, 2007-09-01 05:36.

Hey tbuitenh,

You are asking an excellent question actually. Smiling

Yes we are aware of these existing websites and their mission. We are not seeking to "replace" or "compete" with any existing efforts. We will in fact be pointing to these websites at GetNix as well. Our hope is to increase the visibility of many great existing projects just like the two you pointed out. We will be able cover more ground and reach a more diverse group of people this way.

Landy DeField(land0)

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