I’ve been writing about Linux and open source for more than two decades because nobody else was telling the story the way I wanted to read it.

20+ years of real and experience-backed stories about Linux and open source… That’s what I am writing.

Most Linux writing follows predictable patterns: software comparisons and proclamations that some tool is “way better than Y and totally free” (though it rarely is). That’s great, I am also reading them, but what gets lost is the engineering logic behind decisions and the human side of open source. As an engineer, I find myself drawn to the why behind the what. Linux and open source reshape entire industries. Everyone loves to hate on Hadoop now, but it evolved into cloud computing and taught us the value of separating storage from compute. Without Linux driving cost and throughput efficiency on servers, the technology world we take for granted today would look dramatically different.

There is always something remarkable happening in Linux and open source. Not the overnight kind. The kind where decades of incremental progress finally reach a tipping point. The kind where a single maintainer keeps code running on billions of devices while the corporations using it contribute nothing back. The kind where an open-source project’s governance collapses, and nobody reports on how it actually happened.

This website exists because I wanted to document those moments.

No ads. No fads. No traps.

Let’s document it properly.

What I Bring

I started using Linux with Ubuntu 4.10 Warty Warthog in October 2004. Back then, getting a graphics card to work was an achievement worth celebrating. Sound that didn’t crackle was a luxury. Wi-Fi was a pipe dream.

Today, I plug in hardware, and it works. Distributions look polished out of the box. Software runs without crashing (usually).

We’ve come impossibly far. Sometimes I forget that. Writing here reminds me.

Over 20+ years, I have architected 14 platforms across telecommunications, digital health, video streaming, and conversational AI. I co-founded a technology company. I coordinated 3,000+ technology professionals...

None of that qualifies me to tell you what to think. But it gives me enough experience to tell you what I have seen.

What You Get

Real stories about the people and decisions behind the technology you use every day, written by someone who has spent two decades building production systems, not just writing about them.

Who maintains critical infrastructure, who pays for it (and who does not), and what happens when the system breaks. That is the human side of open source, and most writing ignores it.

I pick a side and explain why. Analysis that's balanced to the point of being useless doesn't help anyone.

Real stories, not hypothetical scenarios.

No Ads

I do not accept payment to write about any company or product. If I mention a tool or a project, it is because I have used it or investigated it. No banners, no tracking pixels, no “sponsored content” dressed up as articles.

No Fads

I do not chase trends for clicks. If a topic does not survive the “will this matter in two years?” test, I probably will not write about it. My articles focus on engineering decisions, human stories, and what is structurally broken in open source. Not hype cycles.

No Traps

This site has subscription levels. Some content is behind a paywall. I am honest about that because writing is not a hobby for me. It is work that needs to support a living. If it cannot, the site closes.

What you will never see here: flying ads that hijack your screen, cheap clickbait designed to waste your time, email funnels that harvest your data, or “exclusive offers” that pressure you into upgrading.

Asking you to pay for work that took real effort is not a trap. It is a transaction between adults.

Open Source Donations

I donate to open source projects every year. If you are a Founding Member (/root), you become part of that donation with proof and a chance to help select the projects.

My Conflicts of Interest

Full transparency.

I write under my full name. No alias, no nickname. I have nothing to hide and nothing in my writing to be ashamed of.

I have been working for Fortune 500 companies, startups, and scale-ups for more than 20 years. I also earn from writing.

I use Linux daily. I have strong opinions about distributions, desktop environments, and tools. When I recommend something, assume I am biased by my own experience. I always disclose what I use and what I have tested.

I have no financial relationships with any Linux distribution, open source foundation, or technology company mentioned in my articles. If that ever changes, I either do not write about it or put a disclaimer at the top.

Subscribe

I publish at least two articles a week and one newsletter. If the kind of writing I described sounds like something you want in your inbox, you are welcome to subscribe. You will hear from me when I have something worth saying, and I usually do.

If it does not sound like your thing, no hard feelings.

Can Artuc
The Architect
c [at] canartuc.com

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