Chen Nan Yang

By Chen Nan Yang Originally published at www.linux.com on December 23, 2005 (8:00:00 AM); reprinted with the author's permission.   

China's Guangdong Linux Center (GDLC) and 27 universities last month set up the Guangdong Leadership of Open Source University Promotion Alliance (GDLUPA) to promote Linux in China's universities.
The GDLUPA founded several Linux Practical Bases, which are learning centers for the university students. "The students will proliferate Linux to the whole country after their graduation," Lo Sanlu, an official in the GDLUPA, said. He also [...]

Originally published at www.linux.com; reprinted with the author's permission.
As more and more traditional publishers accept digital images, artists are turning to free and open source software (FOSS) tools to create cartoons and illustrations.

Draw lines
Both vector and bitmap drawing programs let you draw lines. Generally speaking, vector lines are more reusable and revisable, while bitmap lines are more artistic.
Before starting a drawing in any tool, plan how many layers your drawing will have. A simple bitmap drawing may have only three or [...]

Originally published at www.linux.com; reprinted with the author's permission.
2,500 years ago, the Chinese philosopher Confucius asked Lao-tzu, the founder of Taoism, "What is Tao?" Lao-tzu opened his mouth but said nothing. Confucius left with a smile, but his students were puzzled. Confucius explained, "Lao-tzu has passed us the Tao. In his mouth, there are no teeth but only a tongue. The hard ones (teeth) died, but the soft one (the tongue) lives; the soft power is stronger than the hard power. [...]

Originally published at www.linux.com; reprinted with the author's permission.
When I began my career as an assistant architect 12 years ago, I used AutoCAD R12, 3D Studio, CorelDraw 6.0, and Photoshop 4.0 for architectural drawing and 3-D modeling. Today, many architects still use their later versions, but those bulky packages provide many functions an architect will never use. Luckily, there are several open source alternatives that are well-suited for architects -- QCad in place of AutoCAD, Blender instead of 3DMax, Inkscape in [...]