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For the last few days, I’ve tried to replace the ZTE firmware and Firefox OS, and ran into signature errors on both counts. Both GPG and Java signature solutions gleaned from various sources seem to have both escaped or abandoned me, and now the “reset” has resulted in the blue Firefox OS screen immediately followed by the majestic fox with the flaming tail. And that’s it.

There is no doubt that we live in a throwaway society. We see it most every recycle day throughout our streets and neighborhoods. Flat screen monitors, computers…even appliances that cost hundreds of dollars. Standing stoically, awaiting their fate to be crushed and sold for scrap.

Sometimes it’s time to just coast for a while. Otherwise a project runs the risk of introducing unnecessary bloat or fixing what isn’t broken, thereby causing unnecessary problems for users — as has happened with GNOME, and before that (and to a lesser degree), KDE.

It seems that Google hasn’t always been able to gain access to infrastructure such as utility poles, ducts, conduits and rights of way in their attempt to bring speed-of-light Internet access to the U.S. one city at a time. The company claims that reclassifying service providers as common carriers would open the door and give it access.

“When you order a computer with Dell Mint, not only are you getting a superior operating system which has been specifically matched for peak performance on all quality Dell computers, you’ll receive added value as well. Unlike our Windows products, all Dell Mint computers come with all of the software you’re likely to need at no extra cost. And in case you need software that’s not installed, each Dell Mint computer can connect to the free Dell Software Center so you can download and install additional software, completely free of charge. As an added bonus, each and every Dell Mint computer comes with free telephone technical support for 30 days for all the software installed.”

Three times this month, Xfce came up in conversation — online, of course, and in the realm of social media and in forum discussions — and the context in which each conversation came up had the desktop on the brink of closure, with one unwitting person saying that Xfce was dead.

Covering FOSS and Linux isn’t nearly as exciting as it was a decade or so ago — but that’s a good thing. Back then, we were at war with nearly every proprietary software vendor on the planet and faced threats from all directions, including up and down. To be sure, we didn’t start the wars we were fighting, as PROFAL (the People’s Republic of FOSS and Linux) only wished for peaceful coexistence.

Most of us have learned to “play along to get along” and things are good for us. But that changed with the first usable iterations of the Internet…the first BBS if you were around for that era. It was then that we began operating under the assumption that we were anonymous online. That we could say or do anything and get away with it.

On a personal note, some of you know that I inherited an old PowerBook G4 — yep, PowerPC 32-bit — now with limited options regarding what distro to put on it. It wasn’t like that when I started back in ’06 with Debian on an iMac, but I digress. I tried what few options are left on the PowerPC side, from both Linux and BSD, and the winner — drumroll, please — is Xubuntu.

Folks who follow news about FOSS, OSS and Linux who also watch the “talking heads” shows the TV networks serve up on Sunday mornings might be excused for not noting that David Boies, the lawyer speaking for Sony on this week’s “Meet the Press,” has on several occasions been involved in news stories affecting Linux. Over the years, he’s played the role of both friend and foe, but it’s been a while since his and the FOSS world’s paths have crossed.

One more prediction: Upon sailing through the Post-PC era, there will be a post-Post-PC era, after the advent of the pre-post-Post-PC era, where people will start thinking, “You know, I had a laptop (or desktop…or both) once where I didn’t have to strain my eyes on such a small screen, and where I actually got stuff done rather than just wasting time.” Or something like that.

See, that’s the problem with many people in my generation. If something happens or is added to their computers, they believe it’s supposed to happen, that “the Internet knows what I need.” Apparently, the Internet thought Jake needed eleven toolbars and so many JavaScript exploits that the damned thing took over five minutes just to open the browser.

For those of you with short memories, back between 2005 and 2007, Sony didn’t want us playing their CDs on our computers, fearing we might rip-and-burn, so they surrepticiously used their CDs to install DRM software on our computers, which ended up making our machines vulnerable to all sorts of malicious attacks. Their solution to that brouhaha was to release an “uninstaller,” which didn’t uninstall anything and actually installed more exploitable software while collecting email addresses to send back to Sony’s home office.

Not to be outdone by the FSF and looking to appeal to more cosmopolitan tastes, Linux Mint will change over the course of the year to something a little more contemporary and stylish. It becomes Linux Merlot, with a bouquet that resonates from the north side of the vineyard. The distro will have a more celebratory nature and it will go a lot better with most cheeses.

The movie moguls want to do this in the name of fighting their old monster-under-the-bed, content piracy. Not surprisingly, they plan on evoking an old enemy of a free and open Internet in the process, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), while attempting to revive at least a part of the ghost of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which was killed back in 2011.

One great thing about this poll — probably the best thing about this poll — is that each of the categories has an extremely wide range of candidates, and there are programs in many of the categories that I’ve never heard of. Hearing about them for the first time, I get to try them out. So not only is it fun — yeah, I think voting is fun (so shoot me) — it’s also educational.

Without consciously realizing it, I swung my legs over the side of the bed and sat up. My heart was beating so hard that it hurt. My mouth was dry and my hands shook if I held them out in front of me. I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold me if I tried to stand up. I opened my mouth to call to Diane but all that came out was raspy, raw air.

If all goes according to plan, in June of 2015 HP plans to release a new operating system they’re calling Linux++. Before we start jumping up and down and putting on our party hats, we should know that this is not a new Linux distro being designed by HP to be featured on a new line of laptops. Although based on Linux and Android, this won’t even be an operating system at all in the sense that mortals such as I generally use the term. Most of us won’t be downloading and installing it. If we do, we won’t be using it as a drop-in replacement for Mint, Fedora or any of our other favorite desktop distros.

Sure, the phone license app might be offered as a option at first, but how long until it becomes a requirement and old fashioned plastic licenses are no longer available? This would mean that anybody who wants to drive a car, at least in Iowa, would have to invest in a certified NSA ready smartphone and data plan. If this sounds far fetched, think of the amount of required government paperwork that’s now only available online and sometimes must be filled in and filed from a computer.

But the real reason behind Fedora 21’s success? It’s an odd-numbered release. Historically, the odd-numbered releases have always been better than the even-numbered ones. Don’t ask me why. There’s no documentation or detailed research to prove why it happens this way. It’s just a physical law of the universe.