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    • Wake Forest, NC, — 2025-09-20
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1

VirtualBox Problem Solved

March 16, 2026
2

Is there a better Pi Day than March 14?

March 14, 2026March 14, 2026
3

Let’s measure pi with a Raspberry Pi

March 13, 2026October 17, 2025
4

Why I Really Like Linux

March 12, 2026March 13, 2026
5

California’s age verification law is bad for open source

March 10, 2026March 9, 2026
6

Announcing the 3rd Edition of “Using and Administering Linux”

March 7, 2026March 7, 2026
7

Fresh KDE Innovation Meets Ubuntu Stability

March 5, 2026March 4, 2026
8

Make your first contribution to open source

March 2, 2026February 28, 2026
9

The Fedora “Everything” 43 Image Changes Everything

February 27, 2026March 13, 2026
  • Home
  • Jim Hall
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jhall

Jim Hall is an open source software developer and advocate. His first contribution to open source was in 1993 with a patch to GNU Emacs, but he is probably best known for his work on FreeDOS, the open source version of the DOS operating system, and for his work on usability in open source software. In addition to writing open source software, Jim also writes about open source software, including Both.org and All Things Open, and about technical writing at Technically We Write.
Community Fun

Gift ideas for 2025

Use this list of unique gift ideas for this holiday season!

Jim Hall
December 10, 2025December 9, 2025
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Hardware Linux

13 years is a long time for a laptop

I’ll always have fond memories of my X1 Carbon. Goodbye, little laptop.

Jim Hall
November 10, 2025November 8, 2025
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Fedora Raspberry Pi

Installing Fedora 43 Minimal on a Raspberry Pi

I prefer running my Pi in text mode. Here’s how I did it with Fedora 43.

Jim Hall
November 5, 2025November 5, 2025
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Fedora Linux 101 Moving to Linux

Installing Fedora 43 Xfce

Fedora Xfce is a sleek, modern desktop for Linux.

Jim Hall
November 4, 2025February 3, 2026
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Linux Programming

Read and write data in C

If you’re new to C programming, here are a few tips to improve reading and writing files.

Jim Hall
October 30, 2025September 26, 2025
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Linux Retro Computing Terminal

Why I love Cool Retro Term

Try Cool Retro Term for a classic terminal feel.

Jim Hall
October 28, 2025October 31, 2025
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Linux Video

Setting up OBS Studio to record videos

Here’s how I configure and use OBS Studio so I can create videos for my YouTube channel.

Jim Hall
October 27, 2025October 17, 2025
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Desktop Linux 101

3 easy ways to make screenshots on Linux

Here are three methods I use to capture screenshots on Linux.

Jim Hall
October 20, 2025February 3, 2026
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Linux Programming

How to parse text strings in C

Use strtok to parse a string using ‘tokens’ in your next C program.

Jim Hall
October 17, 2025September 26, 2025
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Linux Security System Administration

A caution about using sudo

This example shows why it is important that users should not be able to edit scripts that they can run with sudo.

Jim Hall
October 14, 2025October 11, 2025
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FreeDOS Programming

Print ‘Hello world’ in color with conio

Learn how to write your first C program on FreeDOS with this example.

Jim Hall
October 10, 2025September 26, 2025
Read More
Command Line Linux

Unzipping archives from the command line

For many years, the de facto standard in file archives was Pkzip and Pkunzip, by Phil Katz. Phil created the Zip archive file format because...

Jim Hall
October 6, 2025October 1, 2025
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FreeDOS Programming

Write directly to the screen with DOS conio

Write text anywhere on the screen using conio.

Jim Hall
October 3, 2025September 26, 2025
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Command Line History Linux Text Editors

7 ways I use ed every day

Here are 7 ways I like to use the ed editor for daily tasks.

Jim Hall
September 30, 2025September 21, 2025
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Command Line FreeDOS

3 ways I use aliases in FreeDOS

Here are 3 ways that I use aliases on FreeDOS:

Jim Hall
September 29, 2025October 2, 2025
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Information News Open Source

SourceForge is ending free personal web hosting

SourceForge will end personal web hosting (unrelated to project web hosting) in October.

Jim Hall
September 18, 2025September 17, 2025
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Posts pagination

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Random Quote

The effort required to correct course increases geometrically with time.

— Laws of computerdom according to Golub

Why I’ve Never Used Windows

On February 12 I gave a presentation at the Triangle Linux Users Group (TriLUG) about why I use Linux and why I’ve never used Windows.

Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/live/uCK_haOXPFM 

David Both ATO Interview

Last October at All Things Open (ATO) I was interviewed by Jason Hibbits of We Love Open Source. It’s posted in the article “Why today’s AI isn’t intelligent (yet)“.

“systemd for SysAdmins” Now Available

May 13,2025

My latest book — a #1 New Release on Amazon — “systemd for Linux  SysAdmins” is now available from my publisher, Apress, and on Amazon.

Technically We Write — Our Partner Site

Our partner site, Technically We Write, has published a number of articles from several contributors to Both.org. Check them out.

Technically We Write is a community of technical writers, technical editors, copyeditors, web content writers, and all other roles in technical communication.

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  • Computers 101
    • Hardware 101
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  • End of 10 Events
    • Wake Forest, NC, — 2025-09-20
  • Linux
    • Why I use Linux
    • The real reason we use Linux
  • My Linux Books
    • systemd for Linux SysAdmins
    • Using and Administering Linux – Zero to SysAdmin: 2nd Edition
    • The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
    • Linux for Small Business Owners
    • Errata
      • Errata for The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 1st Edition
      • Errata for Using and Administering Linux — 2nd Edition
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