Hello dorks! The answer is NO! I'm still here, sorry about that. Although, the nature of Blogger, I'm not sure that I'm apologizing to anyone at all, even? Because, I know of no other Linux users by choice, other than myself- and it's only because I'm that cheap!!!
I haven't had much to report, because I'm stuck in this rut, with a machine that will not let me upgrade. I realize that it's something I've harped on, several times now, and I have recently taken action to correct the problem- BUT I'VE BEEN BACKORDERED! How annoying is that?
The new system with come with Ubuntu preinstalled. And frankly, I'm kind of nervous about it! I'm not an expert in Ubuntu, as you may know. It's one of the systems, my current motherboard rejects. So, I've got to learn how to become the root user, from a system I didn't install? I'm scared! There is some sudo kind of command, now isn't there, which is not how Red Hat operates, so I'm a fish out of water on this. And no, I'm not looking forward to reading... how ironic?
I ordered one of those Tiny ITX type of systems- one of the new Intel Atom ones. But they've turned out to be so popular, they tell me, that they sold out right away. I don't honestly know if that's the truth or not? So here I sit, just hanging. Wanting to post some new discoveries, but not having anything to comment on. Or even a new product to plug. The guys that have me back ordered aren't getting a plug, until they deliver- even then, they'd better fix it soon! Or it's; NO SOUP FOR YOU!
The Color Laser printer has worked out very well, indeed. However it does skip lines sometimes. There is an altitude adjustment in the software, that only seems to work in Windows. And while, I've downloaded newer versions of the Linux software- that feature still isn't working. And I don't know if it fixes the problem for sure or not? My only complaint about it, is that it doesn't offer the nearly the number of printed pages that it claims per cartage. However, I've also learned not to overreact to it saying that it's out of toner- run that puppy until the color actually starts disappearing before you replace them. It's only off by about 100 pages, with most printing.
Anyway, still here! Still using Linux. Almost happy. As happy as a person can be waiting... Meanwhile, I'm in a GUI place, with an Open Source Heart, watching the hackers fly by. Only wishing I could play an MP3 file!!! (Yes, I know about VLC, it was a joke- dork!) The one I struggle with, even with VLC is DVD movies- just can't get them to work. So Linux is still very close to the gates of Multimedia Hell, when compared to Windows.
I guess I should be writing about Databases, once that's one of the dark corners of Linux, yet, where you've got to be REAL GEEK to get that setup. That's about as important as anything, to businessmen- even though most will get by with just a Spreadsheet. I just wanted you to know, that I'm working on it, I really am. It's just a very big byte to nibble on!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
DB hell
Right now, I'm trying to use a troubled motherboard. It's like, part of i686 instruction set has gotten blown up, and it may have? I tried to upgrade a case, but the new case went and shorted the thing out-bad! No spark or smoke thankfully, but it was flat as a pancake for 3 days. I thought for sure, I was going to have to invest in a new one. Then like a biblical miracle it recovered, sorta! When I say recovered, I mean it let me have back Fedora 6, but will not let me upgrade. And clearly, it doesn't want me data processing.
That's right, data processing is broken. I can install PostgreSQL, and MySQL, but that's about it. Meanwhile, I know PHP libraries are working, because I can attach to my (remote) host's systems. But I can't get it to "listen" to my own (intranet). And MySQL will not even launch the server daemon.
I think it's because all these things use a i686 instruction set, that is now broken in this box. As I said before, I can't upgrade ANYTHING, either!
With PG, I can use the command line 'psql' tool, but not PHP, which I use for making forms and reports, and doing my data entry. Remember the same stuff works connecting to my host, so don't tell me it's a setup issue, please: psql is working, exactly as it should.
So then we come to Open Office Base. Which is working. However, JavaScript debugger geeks out, and locks up the second you start it. So..? Not that it matters, because I don't know what the BASE url would be to use it to open my forms anyhow.
This article was to tell/warn you, to take some things I have to say with a grain of salt. My Linux box is corrupted, and only 90% functional. I'm trying to avoid talking about stability issue, once I know I've gone corrupt on many things. I can't use Ubuntu, or Fedora 10, neither seems to be able to detect my video card, much less launch on my motherboard.
I just wonder why the fates don't want me doing my data processing, right now? Clearly I've got to get a new PC, it's just $400 I don't want to spend on this. And the reason there is kind of strange too: White Label boxes have become more expensive than Name Brand Desktop PCs with Vista. Once so many devices now, only work on XP/Vista, I'm not willing to throw that away, right now. But if I buy an extra hard drive, we're back were we started with a White Label with no operating system, you see? And once this box will not serve as a server- well? I feel boxed in- pun intended.
As I've said before, this is not a website that bashes Windows! Frequently, Windows is all that is supported by new hardware, so only a complete fool throws out Windows entirely. But if your trying to control costs in a growing office, your only choice is Unix systems, particularly Linux. Frankly, most workstations will function just fine on completely FREE software. It's only the people who absolutely need to be on the cutting edge, that can't! I am disappointed that Kodak and Logitech are two company that aren't making the transition.
My dilemma is that I'm falling behind on what's going on in PC's, because I don't have a Vista box in my office at all. I do have XP, and Squirrel Cam is still hosted on Windows 98, but my desktop has been Fedora for the last 7 years. If I had never tried to upgrade the case from a cast off, I wouldn't have shorted this motherboard out, but my office would still need an Vista machine at this point- which leads right back to my dilemma! While I've had 3 very old PC's fail in this last year, I'm not willing to buy 2 new, right now. But I've got data processing that I need to get done, so do I sacrifice a new cheap VISTA box to Linux, just for that?
That's right, data processing is broken. I can install PostgreSQL, and MySQL, but that's about it. Meanwhile, I know PHP libraries are working, because I can attach to my (remote) host's systems. But I can't get it to "listen" to my own (intranet). And MySQL will not even launch the server daemon.
I think it's because all these things use a i686 instruction set, that is now broken in this box. As I said before, I can't upgrade ANYTHING, either!
With PG, I can use the command line 'psql' tool, but not PHP, which I use for making forms and reports, and doing my data entry. Remember the same stuff works connecting to my host, so don't tell me it's a setup issue, please: psql is working, exactly as it should.
So then we come to Open Office Base. Which is working. However, JavaScript debugger geeks out, and locks up the second you start it. So..? Not that it matters, because I don't know what the BASE url would be to use it to open my forms anyhow.
This article was to tell/warn you, to take some things I have to say with a grain of salt. My Linux box is corrupted, and only 90% functional. I'm trying to avoid talking about stability issue, once I know I've gone corrupt on many things. I can't use Ubuntu, or Fedora 10, neither seems to be able to detect my video card, much less launch on my motherboard.
I just wonder why the fates don't want me doing my data processing, right now? Clearly I've got to get a new PC, it's just $400 I don't want to spend on this. And the reason there is kind of strange too: White Label boxes have become more expensive than Name Brand Desktop PCs with Vista. Once so many devices now, only work on XP/Vista, I'm not willing to throw that away, right now. But if I buy an extra hard drive, we're back were we started with a White Label with no operating system, you see? And once this box will not serve as a server- well? I feel boxed in- pun intended.
As I've said before, this is not a website that bashes Windows! Frequently, Windows is all that is supported by new hardware, so only a complete fool throws out Windows entirely. But if your trying to control costs in a growing office, your only choice is Unix systems, particularly Linux. Frankly, most workstations will function just fine on completely FREE software. It's only the people who absolutely need to be on the cutting edge, that can't! I am disappointed that Kodak and Logitech are two company that aren't making the transition.
My dilemma is that I'm falling behind on what's going on in PC's, because I don't have a Vista box in my office at all. I do have XP, and Squirrel Cam is still hosted on Windows 98, but my desktop has been Fedora for the last 7 years. If I had never tried to upgrade the case from a cast off, I wouldn't have shorted this motherboard out, but my office would still need an Vista machine at this point- which leads right back to my dilemma! While I've had 3 very old PC's fail in this last year, I'm not willing to buy 2 new, right now. But I've got data processing that I need to get done, so do I sacrifice a new cheap VISTA box to Linux, just for that?
Friday, April 10, 2009
Open Office 3
Open Office is yet, just Open Office. Frankly version 3.0.1, while it seems a bit more complete than earlier versions, is frankly disappointing. The Draw tool, no longer has a spine curve. The curve tool in it, is down right retarded! And it's attempt to clone Access, has all the bugs you expect to find in a Java application, including not staying within the lines (bounds).
The biggest failure of Open Office, is Sun's inability to make a user friendly macro system. I'm a programmer with 25 years of experience, and I couldn't just sit down and open my database form with a macro, when it file is opened. Not without hours of study of their Uno language, that I'm just not willing to invest to this!
I really think there is a comperiacy in Tech, to justify their degrees these days. And what I mean, is they don't want anyone with just a high school education to be able to use these tools anymore, just to justify the degree. And that is a recipe for bankruptcy, and just another part of our idiot business culture. It's as bad, and as delinquent as engineered job security, which somebody needs about million more hours of ethics training.
Frankly, the thing that really disturbs me about Open Office, is it's inability to open files made from earlier versions. Oh yes, they did! I have a complete set of Draw files, XCF's that it will not open anymore. That didn't make me at all happy! But what really concerns me, is their insistence to make a Java driven macro system for the whole package, rather than a simple menu driven thing, that we can all understand and apply.
My days as a programmer are over- and not because of this. I'm old, and I don't have that kind of time to invest anymore. There comes a point where you are no longer getting payback. I want and expect today, something to be far more intuitive to us. And Open Office Base is a failure to that ideal.
The biggest failure of Open Office, is Sun's inability to make a user friendly macro system. I'm a programmer with 25 years of experience, and I couldn't just sit down and open my database form with a macro, when it file is opened. Not without hours of study of their Uno language, that I'm just not willing to invest to this!
I really think there is a comperiacy in Tech, to justify their degrees these days. And what I mean, is they don't want anyone with just a high school education to be able to use these tools anymore, just to justify the degree. And that is a recipe for bankruptcy, and just another part of our idiot business culture. It's as bad, and as delinquent as engineered job security, which somebody needs about million more hours of ethics training.
Frankly, the thing that really disturbs me about Open Office, is it's inability to open files made from earlier versions. Oh yes, they did! I have a complete set of Draw files, XCF's that it will not open anymore. That didn't make me at all happy! But what really concerns me, is their insistence to make a Java driven macro system for the whole package, rather than a simple menu driven thing, that we can all understand and apply.
My days as a programmer are over- and not because of this. I'm old, and I don't have that kind of time to invest anymore. There comes a point where you are no longer getting payback. I want and expect today, something to be far more intuitive to us. And Open Office Base is a failure to that ideal.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A good, cheap, Color Laser Printer for Linux?
The good news is that Samsung gets it, and is supporting Linux along with Windows/Mac.
For all of us who feel like second class citizens when it comes to NEW printers, I've found and purchased a color laser printer that actually comes with Linux Cups Drivers, and painless installation scripts. Finally, you don't have to take your photos on a road trip, to a Vista/XP box, to get a hard-copy, anymore!
Better news, it's a low cost Printer too. Toner costing less than$40 $50 each color, which prints about 1000 pages color, 1500 monochrome (so they claim). Which is half the cost of HP and Brother, where toner costs are like purchasing the whole printer over again. So it's seems very economical to us penny pincher's!
I'm talking about the Samsung CLP 315. It uses it's own SLP-C language, which is a bunch of tech jargon that you do need to know before you install it. The CLP 315 does not come with it's own drivers, rather drivers for CLP 310 (close enough, they work flawlessly). This printer only connects USB, and has no built in networking or ports, which makes it cost under $200 retail.
Unfortunately, GIMP (popular open source picture editor) does not support CUPS printing directly. At least not on mine. But it was the only software on my old Fedora Core 6 installation, wouldn't work with directly. The GNOME picture browser had no problem scaling images full page to the CLP 315, in full color. And Open Office worked flawlessly as well. Gimp was the only trouble maker, but as many of you know, Gimp only recently started using the new font engine that gave it the ability to use TrueType fonts. I'm sure they'll adjust soon, particularly if they get their hands on one of these babies!
There is a works around for the Gimp problem that is fairly simple. Set the scale attributes of the image (which most programs ignore), and print it from the command line using LP command:
$ lp -d printername filename
It's that simple! Then it can print at any size you want it to print, even spanning across pages to make posters and banners. See instruction on using LP from your MAN pages, or on the Cups website (cups.org). Or just use another paint/draw/browser program to print!
It works well with Gnome and Open Office, and KDE.
The only problem I found with the CLP 315 was that it a little lacking on rich reds, which even my other photo printers suffer on, too. And purples favor red more than blue, which makes wild flowers kind of hard to print in their real colors. However, the actual color of the Lakers road uniforms should come out fine.
There are those who always say, that lasers are not REAL photo printers. Whatever that means? Point is that these critics seem to be blind to the issue of resolution. Laser printers normally start at 600 dpi, rather than an alleged 300 dpi. This makes a huge difference. The reason why, is because lines that are just pixel wide, are now too small to be seen by the naked eye! So some complain that Laser's make their picture fuzzy, and less detailed- which is not true, at 600 dpi, they are sharper and more detailed, you just can't see it with the naked eye, anymore. Another issue of Fuzzy images, is Megapixels of your picture. Camera's under 7.2 megapixels take very small pictures. 7.2 Megapixels is 8 1/2 by 11 inch picture on a 300 dpi printer. So 7.2 Megapixels is only a half page on a laser printer.
If you scale up to make up for the super high resolution of the laser printer, you end up with Super Pixelation (those squares of colors), which make your edges look jagged. The only solutions is to buy a higher resolution camera, and invent a time machine, sorry!
There is some note about the smell the printer puts off, while printing. Frankly, it's the smell of all laser printers, but this one is so compact, that I think it just seems more exaggerated, once it's heating up more parts, closer to the surface than other printers. So if "Printer Fart" is an issue to you... Frankly, this doesn't stink any more than my Brother Monochome Laser does.
As far as speed goes, this is not a fast printer! It's a lot of information that has to be piped into it, before it can start printing, and then there's warm-up time from EnergyStar. As well as printing a page 4 times over (one for each color). 4ppm, not likely, more like 2mpp, but they are worth the wait.
I just remember another flaw in this printer, which we discovered with Gimp! There is no reset button for this printer. So to kill something off that is driving your printer nuts, you have to dig around for the power button. The one on top, appears to be useless (what is that thing?). The instructions aren't exactly verbose, should you decide to TRY and read them.
Please understand that I've owned this printer for less that 24 hours at this postings, so opinions about this deal, could change. But right now, I'm quite happy with the deal we made, and ecstatic about it coming with CUPS drivers for most Linuxs out there. If in the long run, it continues to cost about the same as an inkjet to run, I'll be very happy.
For you Mac & Windows Users that like to pay too much for things, the bad news is that this is a cheap printer that will work for you too! I'm sure if you talk long and hard enough, you can convince local retailers to over charge you- personally. Or you could invest the difference in a saving account? Just a thought!
For all of us who feel like second class citizens when it comes to NEW printers, I've found and purchased a color laser printer that actually comes with Linux Cups Drivers, and painless installation scripts. Finally, you don't have to take your photos on a road trip, to a Vista/XP box, to get a hard-copy, anymore!
Better news, it's a low cost Printer too. Toner costing less than
I'm talking about the Samsung CLP 315. It uses it's own SLP-C language, which is a bunch of tech jargon that you do need to know before you install it. The CLP 315 does not come with it's own drivers, rather drivers for CLP 310 (close enough, they work flawlessly). This printer only connects USB, and has no built in networking or ports, which makes it cost under $200 retail.
Unfortunately, GIMP (popular open source picture editor) does not support CUPS printing directly. At least not on mine. But it was the only software on my old Fedora Core 6 installation, wouldn't work with directly. The GNOME picture browser had no problem scaling images full page to the CLP 315, in full color. And Open Office worked flawlessly as well. Gimp was the only trouble maker, but as many of you know, Gimp only recently started using the new font engine that gave it the ability to use TrueType fonts. I'm sure they'll adjust soon, particularly if they get their hands on one of these babies!
There is a works around for the Gimp problem that is fairly simple. Set the scale attributes of the image (which most programs ignore), and print it from the command line using LP command:
$ lp -d printername filename
It's that simple! Then it can print at any size you want it to print, even spanning across pages to make posters and banners. See instruction on using LP from your MAN pages, or on the Cups website (cups.org). Or just use another paint/draw/browser program to print!
It works well with Gnome and Open Office, and KDE.
The only problem I found with the CLP 315 was that it a little lacking on rich reds, which even my other photo printers suffer on, too. And purples favor red more than blue, which makes wild flowers kind of hard to print in their real colors. However, the actual color of the Lakers road uniforms should come out fine.
There are those who always say, that lasers are not REAL photo printers. Whatever that means? Point is that these critics seem to be blind to the issue of resolution. Laser printers normally start at 600 dpi, rather than an alleged 300 dpi. This makes a huge difference. The reason why, is because lines that are just pixel wide, are now too small to be seen by the naked eye! So some complain that Laser's make their picture fuzzy, and less detailed- which is not true, at 600 dpi, they are sharper and more detailed, you just can't see it with the naked eye, anymore. Another issue of Fuzzy images, is Megapixels of your picture. Camera's under 7.2 megapixels take very small pictures. 7.2 Megapixels is 8 1/2 by 11 inch picture on a 300 dpi printer. So 7.2 Megapixels is only a half page on a laser printer.
If you scale up to make up for the super high resolution of the laser printer, you end up with Super Pixelation (those squares of colors), which make your edges look jagged. The only solutions is to buy a higher resolution camera, and invent a time machine, sorry!
There is some note about the smell the printer puts off, while printing. Frankly, it's the smell of all laser printers, but this one is so compact, that I think it just seems more exaggerated, once it's heating up more parts, closer to the surface than other printers. So if "Printer Fart" is an issue to you... Frankly, this doesn't stink any more than my Brother Monochome Laser does.
As far as speed goes, this is not a fast printer! It's a lot of information that has to be piped into it, before it can start printing, and then there's warm-up time from EnergyStar. As well as printing a page 4 times over (one for each color). 4ppm, not likely, more like 2mpp, but they are worth the wait.
I just remember another flaw in this printer, which we discovered with Gimp! There is no reset button for this printer. So to kill something off that is driving your printer nuts, you have to dig around for the power button. The one on top, appears to be useless (what is that thing?). The instructions aren't exactly verbose, should you decide to TRY and read them.
Please understand that I've owned this printer for less that 24 hours at this postings, so opinions about this deal, could change. But right now, I'm quite happy with the deal we made, and ecstatic about it coming with CUPS drivers for most Linuxs out there. If in the long run, it continues to cost about the same as an inkjet to run, I'll be very happy.
For you Mac & Windows Users that like to pay too much for things, the bad news is that this is a cheap printer that will work for you too! I'm sure if you talk long and hard enough, you can convince local retailers to over charge you- personally. Or you could invest the difference in a saving account? Just a thought!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Linux, as I see it (2009)
Linux unlike Windows, is for the most part free! You can download a CD image, bake it, and install it in an afternoon. The trouble with it though, is that it doesn't come from just one source, but rather many from around the world. So picking a distribution is critical, once it insures that everything in the package at least works together. (Works well, is yet another issue).
Linux Distributions
Right now, the HOT Linux seems to Ubuntu. I downloaded one, couldn't get it work with my motherboard- but that's not unusual, my machine has issues uniquely it's own. I did get it to boot on another machine, didn't see anything all that special about it, so I did not install it, I just took a quick tour, running from CD. (Maybe the popularity is because there's even a Christian version now. What next Kosher one?)
Almost all of the Linuxs now will let you have a live demo, running from CD & Ram Disk. Rather than having to partition and format a hard drive, just for a peek. Which is nice, they are finally growing up. This change came about from the Business Card Linuxs, which were small enough to fit on a business card. Basically they created a RAM disk, and run from that, and now they all do it. This is an issue I'll come back to later.
I want to talk about those distributions, I've actually driven. I've been using Red Hat for nearly a decade- egads!?? Looking back, for a while Mandrake was hottest thing under the sun. Then there seemed to be a flood from Big Label Software companies launching their own, as an alternative to Windows. Then people got confused about the motives of Red Hat when they started the Fedora project, so there was a resurgence Debian again, and now to Ubuntu. Through change after change, I keep coming back to Fedora (Red Hat) as my favorite- I'm sorry!
Another thing about Linux, unlike Windows, is that it changes much faster. Each distribution has it's own schedule about releases. Which is both good and bad. Ironically what makes it good, is that it forces you to make frequent backups of your data. What's bad, is that occasionally, you will have to abandon that data to start anew with a new version (it's rare, but it does occur). In Windows, you can go a decade without a MAJOR upgrade. Linuxs might even be as short as quarterly (it doesn't mean you have to do it, though).
Once you find one you like, you can stick with it, I'm about to make change from Fedora 6 to Fedora 10 (I think). As said earlier, it kind of has to do with compatibility with my whacked out motherboard, that just doesn't always work out right. 6 was the last version that installs clean for me, which forced me to learn a lot more about the inner working of Fedora than I wanted to, just to get Java and Firefox updated, just to explore Wiki-Commons. But 6 is about to fall off the food chain entirely, so it's time for the BIG upgrade. Which also means, it's time for checking out a few new comers too- it's what I do.
The big three Linux Distributions are; Slackware, Debian, and Red Hat (Fedora). Almost all other Linuxs are a build/rebuild of one of these three. Then there is another class of Linux build from Knoppix, from Kernel.org (the official site of the Linux kernel), these are mostly business card Linuxs. Which I'm sure there will be more and more market for as embedded systems. Embedded Systems are computers in, devices. Phones for example, use mostly a Linux of some kind, and not Windows . I'm sure it has a lot to do with how tiny a Linux can be, as compared to Windows.
Almost all desktop distributions of Linux run Xfree86, and Gnome or KDE as their desktop. X is bones your graphic system. Gnome and KDE are like XP, or Vista, for the Desktop (user interface). Most do favor Gnome just because of it's license. This industry got burned by Unisys deciding to enforce it's method of compression which was used in a GIF files, which made the whole industry very touchy about the language of user licenses, and Gnome was not one thing build upon another thing, unlike KDE which was built from a tool-kit. So Gnome became the more popular with the experts who actually decide these things, and is therefore favored in most distributions today.
Business Card distributions:
These got their name because they were so tiny, they could easily be put on a 3x2 inch business card CD. Then when Flash Drives got big enough, they then could run from them too. Now Flash Drives are so big, you can run a regular distribution on them, not needing to go with stripped own Business Card versions. Anyway, the BEST of the Business Card Linuxs is/was DLS (Damn Small Linux), in my opinion. This one was not just gimmick, it was real working system, that I keep disk of, as rescue disk, even for Windows.
Of the Big Distributions:
Red Hat/Fedora is my favorite still. It seems to be a little faster than the others to me, and very solid. The packages are well organized for installing, but it's kind of hard to track down what you want for it. They aren't particularly generous with descriptions. Fedora can be very difficult to add third party software to, that doesn't come directly from their distributions. And they are sticklers to licensing, so you will have to go to third parties for support of MP3s or DVD Movies.
Debian is sweet, and much easier to add software to, because the packages are so well organized, and solid. But Debian is not known for being cutting edge, which is why I think they launched Ubuntu version. Debian's downside to me, is too damn many Web Browsers, and with Firefox, they renamed it Ice Weasel- What, "fucking annoying" was already taken? I just don't understand that renaming a product business. And like all thing's Debian, it's version 2.whatever, instead of the better version 3 build, too. So good luck getting those plug-ins, you'll need!
Slackware, is like the hardcore hacker version. I just can't recommend it to the guy plucked off the street at random. It's the granddaddy, and it sometimes acts like it too. Hackers only, the rest of you be damned. I've never had much luck with Slackware, so I gave up on it years ago, honestly. (Maybe they've changed, I'm being a bad reporter on this one, but it's a time issue).
Now, I'm not going to write a novel/textbook about Linuxs here at the moment (this is more than long enough). This was just my introduction, from those I've tried, from those which are the backbone of all others. In Open Source you can just repaint the graphics and icons, and call it your own, you know? And many do!
You got old hard drives hanging around (4gb min)? Put them to work and explore Linux, with just a hardware swap with what's in your box now. It's what I do! I've gotten Debian to run a 500 mhz AMD K5, with a 4 gb hard drive, and it did just fine. The motherboard died a week later, but I think the cause was old age, not Linux.
History of Linux Distributions
Linux Distributions
Right now, the HOT Linux seems to Ubuntu. I downloaded one, couldn't get it work with my motherboard- but that's not unusual, my machine has issues uniquely it's own. I did get it to boot on another machine, didn't see anything all that special about it, so I did not install it, I just took a quick tour, running from CD. (Maybe the popularity is because there's even a Christian version now. What next Kosher one?)
Almost all of the Linuxs now will let you have a live demo, running from CD & Ram Disk. Rather than having to partition and format a hard drive, just for a peek. Which is nice, they are finally growing up. This change came about from the Business Card Linuxs, which were small enough to fit on a business card. Basically they created a RAM disk, and run from that, and now they all do it. This is an issue I'll come back to later.
I want to talk about those distributions, I've actually driven. I've been using Red Hat for nearly a decade- egads!?? Looking back, for a while Mandrake was hottest thing under the sun. Then there seemed to be a flood from Big Label Software companies launching their own, as an alternative to Windows. Then people got confused about the motives of Red Hat when they started the Fedora project, so there was a resurgence Debian again, and now to Ubuntu. Through change after change, I keep coming back to Fedora (Red Hat) as my favorite- I'm sorry!
Another thing about Linux, unlike Windows, is that it changes much faster. Each distribution has it's own schedule about releases. Which is both good and bad. Ironically what makes it good, is that it forces you to make frequent backups of your data. What's bad, is that occasionally, you will have to abandon that data to start anew with a new version (it's rare, but it does occur). In Windows, you can go a decade without a MAJOR upgrade. Linuxs might even be as short as quarterly (it doesn't mean you have to do it, though).
Once you find one you like, you can stick with it, I'm about to make change from Fedora 6 to Fedora 10 (I think). As said earlier, it kind of has to do with compatibility with my whacked out motherboard, that just doesn't always work out right. 6 was the last version that installs clean for me, which forced me to learn a lot more about the inner working of Fedora than I wanted to, just to get Java and Firefox updated, just to explore Wiki-Commons. But 6 is about to fall off the food chain entirely, so it's time for the BIG upgrade. Which also means, it's time for checking out a few new comers too- it's what I do.
The big three Linux Distributions are; Slackware, Debian, and Red Hat (Fedora). Almost all other Linuxs are a build/rebuild of one of these three. Then there is another class of Linux build from Knoppix, from Kernel.org (the official site of the Linux kernel), these are mostly business card Linuxs. Which I'm sure there will be more and more market for as embedded systems. Embedded Systems are computers in, devices. Phones for example, use mostly a Linux of some kind, and not Windows . I'm sure it has a lot to do with how tiny a Linux can be, as compared to Windows.
Almost all desktop distributions of Linux run Xfree86, and Gnome or KDE as their desktop. X is bones your graphic system. Gnome and KDE are like XP, or Vista, for the Desktop (user interface). Most do favor Gnome just because of it's license. This industry got burned by Unisys deciding to enforce it's method of compression which was used in a GIF files, which made the whole industry very touchy about the language of user licenses, and Gnome was not one thing build upon another thing, unlike KDE which was built from a tool-kit. So Gnome became the more popular with the experts who actually decide these things, and is therefore favored in most distributions today.
Business Card distributions:
These got their name because they were so tiny, they could easily be put on a 3x2 inch business card CD. Then when Flash Drives got big enough, they then could run from them too. Now Flash Drives are so big, you can run a regular distribution on them, not needing to go with stripped own Business Card versions. Anyway, the BEST of the Business Card Linuxs is/was DLS (Damn Small Linux), in my opinion. This one was not just gimmick, it was real working system, that I keep disk of, as rescue disk, even for Windows.
Of the Big Distributions:
Red Hat/Fedora is my favorite still. It seems to be a little faster than the others to me, and very solid. The packages are well organized for installing, but it's kind of hard to track down what you want for it. They aren't particularly generous with descriptions. Fedora can be very difficult to add third party software to, that doesn't come directly from their distributions. And they are sticklers to licensing, so you will have to go to third parties for support of MP3s or DVD Movies.
Debian is sweet, and much easier to add software to, because the packages are so well organized, and solid. But Debian is not known for being cutting edge, which is why I think they launched Ubuntu version. Debian's downside to me, is too damn many Web Browsers, and with Firefox, they renamed it Ice Weasel- What, "fucking annoying" was already taken? I just don't understand that renaming a product business. And like all thing's Debian, it's version 2.whatever, instead of the better version 3 build, too. So good luck getting those plug-ins, you'll need!
Slackware, is like the hardcore hacker version. I just can't recommend it to the guy plucked off the street at random. It's the granddaddy, and it sometimes acts like it too. Hackers only, the rest of you be damned. I've never had much luck with Slackware, so I gave up on it years ago, honestly. (Maybe they've changed, I'm being a bad reporter on this one, but it's a time issue).
Now, I'm not going to write a novel/textbook about Linuxs here at the moment (this is more than long enough). This was just my introduction, from those I've tried, from those which are the backbone of all others. In Open Source you can just repaint the graphics and icons, and call it your own, you know? And many do!
You got old hard drives hanging around (4gb min)? Put them to work and explore Linux, with just a hardware swap with what's in your box now. It's what I do! I've gotten Debian to run a 500 mhz AMD K5, with a 4 gb hard drive, and it did just fine. The motherboard died a week later, but I think the cause was old age, not Linux.
History of Linux Distributions
Sunday, February 15, 2009
One more stupid piece of %&*#!
Somehow, this just seemed to belong here, particularly with this topic! There are a lot of things in Linux (from 3rd parties), that will drive you nuts, when you try to add them yourself, so this seems twice as funny here!
I sure hope Sony has a sense of humor about this clip from Onion, because I'd hate to loose the profanity laced thing. Not that any Linux user can relate to this level of frustration! ;)
My brother has often said; The Language that Programmers know best, is profanity. I have no counter argument.
Automatic Picture Sticks (Making Picture Folder screen saver work (EZer))
Almost all modern Linuxs (Linuxi?) have auto-mounting these days. So you plug in your USB device, and bam it shows up as a Still Camera, or Hard Drive device, ready to read/write. No brainer, compaired to just a few years ago, when we had to Mount drives by hand, which is something I'll talk about at another time. Just be happy, it's now as automatic as Windows, these days.
Now, in the Gnome Desktop is a build in standard screen saver called "Pictures folder" (a slide show). But there are basically no instructions on using it. Too simple, I guess? What you do to make it work, is create a folder named "Pictures" in your home directory. Remember Linux is case sensitive, you need to make it exactly as I quoted it! Now, dump some pictures in there- Gif, Png, Jpg... Easy, and when the screen saver fires off, there are your pictures- Magic, full screen too. But I've got a super short cut for you, to go with making this work, even better.
BEFORE Windows had Short-cuts, Linux had Links. And today, when you push that CD in, it automounts into the "/media/" folder as whatever the volume label is. So your "reunion98" CD will mount as "/media/reunion98" automatically. Now in your "Pictures" folder, you can create link back to that directory. If you use the browsers to navigate back to "/media/", there is an option "Make Link" in the "Edit" menu, however frequently this doesn't work, when you can't write in the directory where you want to make the Link to. So in this case, you need to do it from the command line like this (open a terminal):
$ ln -s /media/reunion98 ~/Pictures/reunion98
That's fine as long as reunion98 is in the drive. Just a few years ago, CD drive, always mounted with the name CDROM. Which made these paths easy to predict, "/mnt/CDROM/" was were it was happening. Then when they added "/media " to it, they started using the volume label, which is set when the disk was toasted. This added clutter to my brain, and had me creating link after link, to the libraries of crap I've collected through the years. Then one day it dawned on me, do this:
$ ln -s /media ~/Pictures/archives
And now everything mounted (automatically) could be found by this screen saver, without there being a link to "scanksfrommars" on my machine. Yeah, sometimes I can be a little slow and stupid, particularly when it comes to scanks from mars!
;)
Now for the advanced class (a detailed look at the LN command, we used):
ln is the link tool from GNU.
~ is a shortcut to your Home directory, rather than having to type it all out (it works just about everywhere).
-s says make me a Symbolic Link (there are two types of links and this is the safer one to use, so you'd think it would be the default- so it isn't?). The cp command as well can make Symbolic links (see your man pages for instructions).
Now, in the Gnome Desktop is a build in standard screen saver called "Pictures folder" (a slide show). But there are basically no instructions on using it. Too simple, I guess? What you do to make it work, is create a folder named "Pictures" in your home directory. Remember Linux is case sensitive, you need to make it exactly as I quoted it! Now, dump some pictures in there- Gif, Png, Jpg... Easy, and when the screen saver fires off, there are your pictures- Magic, full screen too. But I've got a super short cut for you, to go with making this work, even better.
BEFORE Windows had Short-cuts, Linux had Links. And today, when you push that CD in, it automounts into the "/media/" folder as whatever the volume label is. So your "reunion98" CD will mount as "/media/reunion98" automatically. Now in your "Pictures" folder, you can create link back to that directory. If you use the browsers to navigate back to "/media/", there is an option "Make Link" in the "Edit" menu, however frequently this doesn't work, when you can't write in the directory where you want to make the Link to. So in this case, you need to do it from the command line like this (open a terminal):
$ ln -s /media/reunion98 ~/Pictures/reunion98
That's fine as long as reunion98 is in the drive. Just a few years ago, CD drive, always mounted with the name CDROM. Which made these paths easy to predict, "/mnt/CDROM/" was were it was happening. Then when they added "/media " to it, they started using the volume label, which is set when the disk was toasted. This added clutter to my brain, and had me creating link after link, to the libraries of crap I've collected through the years. Then one day it dawned on me, do this:
$ ln -s /media ~/Pictures/archives
And now everything mounted (automatically) could be found by this screen saver, without there being a link to "scanksfrommars" on my machine. Yeah, sometimes I can be a little slow and stupid, particularly when it comes to scanks from mars!
;)
Now for the advanced class (a detailed look at the LN command, we used):
ln is the link tool from GNU.
~ is a shortcut to your Home directory, rather than having to type it all out (it works just about everywhere).
-s says make me a Symbolic Link (there are two types of links and this is the safer one to use, so you'd think it would be the default- so it isn't?). The cp command as well can make Symbolic links (see your man pages for instructions).
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