Flux is an independent online news source that covers politics, religion, philosophy, and technology, and the way that they intersect. I sat down with its founder, and talked about the state of the operating system world in 1997 when I started OSNews, and what has changed since then, both in the computing realm and in the political milieu that pervades our lives. We talked about Microsoft and Apple, UNIX and Linux, the rise and fall of general purpose computing, and how the rise of platforms based on hardware/software/marketplace ecosystems has changed the landscape for what makes an OS platform viable and relevant. You can read a transcript, listen to the podcast, or watch a video of our conversation This discussion is aimed at the more-mainstream audience of Flux’s Theory of Change podcast, but as you can tell from the conversation, Sheffield is a huge nerd and is very interested in discussions of computing, and how it intersects with politics. On that topic, he and I are laying the groundwork to collaborate on a regular podcast, a partnership between OSNews and Flux. I’d love to hear your advice and feedback on topics that you’d be interested in having us cover, people that you’d like to have us interview, or if you’d be interested in participating in some way, let me know.

In an attempt to be current it's a new OSNews podcast episode! Trendy, current topics covered thus, are: A little bit of pre-banter on Windows 8, Microsoft's purchase of Skype for 8 BILLION DOLLARS, Apple's iOS5 / iCloud announcements, and repetitive imagination strain going on at E3.

Everything we know is being turned on its head. It's a brave new future. Or maybe we've woken up in 1994 again. Windows and Office on a different architecture? Tablets galore? My head is spinning. Let me just dial into my favourite BBS and rant about how I like things how they are. (N.B. the title is a Dutch phrase "In de hoek waar de klappen vallen", meaning "in the corner where the punches hit", relevant to our discussion of Intel and PS3 being completely caught out)

The team have managed to pull themselves away from Minecraft long enough to produce a new podcast! The aim of this show to cover the big topics of 2010, including: HTML5 video, the rise of Android, more tablets than you can shake a stick at, handheld gaming biting at Nintendo's heels, companies suing companies and consumer rights degradation, web apps taking over the world, Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series and capping off with our feelings on the lay of the land in 2011 before we invariably end up back at the crafting of mines.

I wonder what this podcast could be about? In the show Tess gets the opportunity to air her opinions on the Google announcements, particularly around Android and we fill the discussion on VP8, Adobe being a part of it, Google TV and how with friends like the MPEG-LA, who needs enemies? No Thom this week due to Professor Layton and the Misplaced Microphone.

Whew, what a week. In a week of threats, patents and doom and gloom, we are joined by Tess again to discuss desktop computing. Is it going the way of the dodo, or will it turn into something else? (what with all this mobile-computing hype) Also discussed is the ongoing H264 minefield that THREATENS TO DESTROY US ALL *ahem* before meandering off to something more positive: HP buys Palm; assuring us that there is good in this world.

Catching up on the last few weeks of news, we give time to false rumours being spread about Palm, only adding to their unfortunate pile of woes at this moment. Deja vu strikes with us discussing Windows Phone 7 Series not having copy and paste and won't allow third party apps outside of the marketplace store. Internet Explorer 9; could this really be the end of excuses for developers clinging to IE6? The ticking timb bomb that is H.264 and why Theora isn't necessarily the answer. We end on Adobe Flash--will Adobe take the opportunity to embrace what is happening with HTML5, or keep up their assault on Apple? All and more in this episode of the OSnews Podcast.

In which Apple sues HTC, and a good time is not had by all. Tess Flynn joins golden oldies Kroc and Thom to also discuss the Ubuntu redesign, Haiku's new browser, SkyOS'es lack of movement and Microsoft's Courier concept.

Back in August of 2009, the OSnews team spent 3 full hours discussing Apple. In the course of discussion, we spent some time talking about the then-mythical "Apple Tablet." So, 5 months later, how did we do? Were we accurate in our predictions? How did you envision the Tablet, long before the nonsensically named "iPad" became a reality? This clip, which I've called "Episode 20.x" and inserted into cannon retroactively, is pulled, unaltered, from the original podcast.

A special meta show with just Kroc discussing the feedback from last week's show and going on to detail design concerns with the new site under production. Included is a transcription to hopefully help participation.

The problem with the future is that by the time you get there, everything is pretty normal. Now that we've arrived in 2010 (something I could hardly imagine 10 years ago), we're now met with the annual tradition of predicting what will happen this year. Now that Kroc, Thom and Tess have recovered enough from the new year we discuss KDE 4, desktop OSes vs. the web and the issues of privacy and government involvement in the Internet--that is, when we managed to stay on topic. More coffee!

Back by popular demand, Tess joins the show again and we are also greeted by another guest--William, a friend who has a lot more charm and wit than the angry crocodile in the room with a grudge against everything. Topics covered include: Chrome OS, Bing / Google, The GIMP, Siverlight or standards, and voiding warranties.

Finally the silence is broken, a new episode is here! Thom was not available again this week, OSnews reader Mike Ferland takes his place and we discuss Windows 7 and The Perfect OS (no relation).

Even after a disastrous recording session we still managed to produce an hour and a half show. We are joined by David Adams to discuss disclosure, bits and pieces in the news, rounding off with Microsoft Works Office 2010 Starter. Apologies for the poor quality, we really did have a lot of crashes.

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