OSNews

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OSNews
OSnews logo.png
URL OSNews.com
Slogan Exploring the Future of Computing[1]
Type of site News
Registration Optional
Available language(s) English
Alexa rank negative increase 48,149 (April 2013)[2]
Current status Active
OSnews as of 2012

OSNews is a computing news web site with a focus on operating systems and their related technologies that launched in 1997. The content is managed by a group of editors and the owner. The managing editor of OSNews is Thom Holwerda[1] (joined in 2005).[3] OSnews has also been referenced by TIME,[4] Ars Technica,[5][6][7] Wired,[8][9] ComputerWorld[10][10][11] LifeHacker,[12][13][14] Linux.com,[15] OMG! Ubuntu!,[16] lwn.net,[17] Wired described OSnews as "an alternative operating system Web magazine",[18] and in 2011 Thom Holwerda noted that "while the alternative operating systems scene might no longer be the prime focus of OSNews due to a lack of activity in that field, it's still where our heart lies.".[19]

Contents

[edit] Staff

  • Thom Holwerda, who resides in the Netherlands, is the managing editor of OSNews[1][20]
  • David Adams is a publisher for OSNews, and also contributes regularly.[1]
  • Eugenia Loli-Queru: the former editor-in-chief of OSNews, resigned in June 2005. Version 2 of OSNews was written by Eugenia in August 2001 when she resurrected the site after long periods of inactivity.[citation needed] She took on a more passive role in recent years as senior editor.[1] She started the original GnomeFiles.org (GTK+ software repository)[21]
  • Adam Scheinberg is the webmaster of the site.[1] He wrote version 3 of the site in 2005, which added user registration, and version 4, a complete and total rewrite of the codebase.
  • Jon Jensen is the systems administrator, dealing with site availability and DNS.[1]

[edit] Function

Besides the main site, OSNews detects hundreds of mobile browsers and handsets[1] and redirects them to a specially formatted cHTML version of the website at mobile.osnews.com. Eugenia Loli-Queru, the author of this script, open sourced it in 2008.[22]

The editors contribute news items and manage the submissions of news bits, articles, editorial comments and reviews that are submitted by readers, in addition to writing original articles. OSNews serves daily 275,000 page views on average (statistics from October 2005).[citation needed]

Like other technology news sites such as Slashdot, it has a free user/subscription model, and allows viewers to add commentary to articles. In 2005, OSNews published version 3 of the website, which includes an all-new commenting engine. Instead of reporting comments to moderators, this system now relies on votes. Readers can vote comments up or down, and readers can set a score threshold, which can eliminate the down-voted comments from view. Late 2007, version 4 was launched which completely overhauled the backend of the website, and was later followed by version 4.1[23] which added a brand new theme and look to the website.

On February 12, 2007, OSNews' managing editor Thom Holwerda published the 1.0 version of the OSNews Style Guide.[24] This style guide is licensed under a Creative Commons license so that other websites and/or publications can use and adapt the guide to their liking. OSNews is one of the few of its kind with such a style guide.

In January 2008, OSNews' managing editor Thom Holwerda launched Focus Shift,[25] a webcomic based upon the various news items OSNews carries. The Focus Shift webcomic was updated tri-weekly, until it was discontinued in mid-2008.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h http://www.osnews.com/contact
  2. ^ "Osnews.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2013-04-22. 
  3. ^ http://www.osnews.com/user/uid:5/profile
  4. ^ Raspberry Pi $25 Computer on Sale, but Good Luck Getting One | Techland | TIME.com
  5. ^ OSNews has published an introduction to programming on the Haiku operating system. It describes the platform architecture and basics of application development
  6. ^ OS News reviews Red Hat 8.0
  7. ^ Ars Search
  8. ^ Think Different: Hack a New Mac OS
  9. ^ An OS Is As an OS Does - Any Questions?
  10. ^ a b What's the real deal with 64-bit computing in Snow Leopard? - Computerworld
  11. ^ Macintosh Highlights From Around the Web (April-June 2004) - Computerworld
  12. ^ Cygwin 1.7 Adds Windows 7 Support and Many Improvements
  13. ^ Remains of the Day: Say Goodbye to the Floppy Disk Edition
  14. ^ Remains of the Day: XP is Officially Old Now Edition
  15. ^ Maemo To Switch To Qt | Linux.com
  16. ^ Re-enable Missing Icons In Ubuntu 9.10
  17. ^ Genode 10.08 Comes with Gallium3D, MadWifi, Qt4.6.3 (OSNews) and [LWN.net]
  18. ^ http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/1997/10/7933
  19. ^ http://www.osnews.com/story/24579/OSNews_Browser_OS_Stats
  20. ^ http://www.osnews.com/user/uid:5/
  21. ^ http://www.osnews.com/user/uid:1/
  22. ^ www.osnews.com/story/19681/Open_Sourcing_OSNews_Mobile_Detection_Kit
  23. ^ www.osnews.com/story/19235/At_Long_Last..._A_New_Look_for_OSNews
  24. ^ Holwerda, Thom. The OSNews Style Guide v1.0. Retrieved on 2007-02-13.
  25. ^ www.osnews.com/story/19231/OSNews_Announces_Focus_Shift

[edit] External links