Not all of your stories are about operating systems, but your site is called OSNews. What gives?

OSNews is not just about operating systems. We report on other technology news, on development issues and articles, hardware, and if it is a slow news day, we might kick in some sci-fi movie news or other stuff we might find interesting. Our motto is “Exploring the Future of Computing,” and we do just that… and more. While we try to focus on all major news about operating systems, ultimately, we report on a range of technologies and anything else we think our readers might find interesting.

What if I don’t want to share my email address?

In order to register, you must have a valid email address. We will not share your email address with any third party. Your email address will only be used to automatically notify you of OSNews-related actions, such as a confirmation that we’ve received a submission you’ve made. We will not enroll you in any mailing list or send you any mass emails.

What if I don’t accept your cookie?

The OSNews login system uses a cookie for authentication. This cookie does not contain any identifiable information or any form of your username or password. Currently, if your browser cannot accept cookies or you are not willing to accept our cookie, you cannot login to our website.

What are the benefits of registering?

OSNews requires that you register if you wish to post comments on our site.

Are there terms of use for my OSNews account?

Strong opinions are welcome, but focus your comments on the topic of the post, not the attributes (real or imagined) of the author or other OSNews commenters. No personal attacks. Be polite, be civil. Keep comments on-topic; unless the post is about politics or religion, don’t bring politics or religion into the discussion. Fake, fraudulent, imposter, and duplicate accounts will be deleted. We reserve the right to modify, temporarily ban, deactivate, or terminate any account at any time that doesn’t conform to the rules above or for any reason.

How secure is the OSNews cookie?

The OSNews cookie does not contain any identifiable information or any form of your username or password.

What happened to [insert old site feature here]?

Over the ten years that OSNews version 3.x and 4.x were in place, we continued to measure usage of our  features.  Ultimately, these features were rarely used, and even though, only a small percentage of our user base used them more than occasionally.  As a result, they’ve been removed in OSNews version 6.

Wait, what happened to OSNews version 5?

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that we never released OSNews version 5. There were two rough prototypes of OSNews version 5, neither of which was ever more than a front page design and concept.  Crumbs of OSNews version 5 go back to 2009, but ultimately, while they included some amazing ideas, those volunteer developers never delivered working copies of a replacement site.  Work on OSNews version 6, based on WordPress, began in 2015 and sat unfinished for two years before being resurrected in December 2018 and released on January 3, 2019.

Who wrote this site?

The original OSNews codebase was written by Eugenia Loli-Queru, our ex-editor in chief. Version 3 was written by Adam Scheinberg to be a mirror image of version 2, but with a login system and an array of preferences and themes.  Version 4 was a complete rewrite with an entire UI overhaul. It, too, was written and maintained by Adam Scheinberg. Adam also heavily customized our WordPress theme, both to code OSNews-specific features as well as design, and did the migration from our custom CMS. OSNews is published by David Adams.