Can Linux be that good..?.

I had an epiphany the other day. It happened this way. I was using Ubuntu, my Linux operating system of choice, when I found myself looking at my screen, mindlessly twirling the Compiz Fusion cube and painting fire on the screen. I was restless. And then it struck me.

After using computers for over twenty five years, I was suddenly struck by the thought that I do not know what to do with a fully functioning, uncrashable, secure and attractive operating system. For me a computer has always been a toy, something to be played with and tweaked to squeeze out every possible advantage. I have always been one to push the envelope, so crashing and messing up operating systems is rather old hat for me.

With Windows it was easy. I didn’t even have to try to break it. When I first switched to Linux, I used rpm-based distros which left me in dependency Hell in short order. Since I switched to Debian based distros even this became increasingly difficult.

Most people grimace and fuss when their computer breaks down. Not so with me. I am suddenely engaged. I have something to do. It gives me an excuse to start fresh and do what I do best, push things to extremes.

My computer should be easy to break. I have two hard drives, one SATA and one IDE. I have thirteen partitions on them with a minimum of six operating systems at any given time. Plus, I have an assortment of usb devices with even more operating systems and file systems on them. I am always installing something or other, so things are bound to go badly eventually.

Let’s start with Windows XP MCE. It came with my HP Pavilion desktop computer. My two year old computer came with two partitions and one hard drive. On the second partition is HP’s recovery program. The last time I booted into Windows XP was months ago. When I do boot into it I wonder why I bother. It takes forever to load. After which time, it insists on doing endless updates, many of which require rebooting. Ugh! I can’t wait to get back to the sanity of Linux which I am only too happy to do.

My main OS is on another partition on the SATA drive that it shares with Windows. Ubuntu is spread across three partitions, one for root (30 GB), one for home (55 GB) and 1 for swap (1 GB). I have learned over the years that it is better to use separate home and root partitions as long as you are going to install and re-install as often as I do.

My main operating system is Ubuntu which is a Linux operating system based on Debian. Ubuntu is an African word which has no English equivalent. It means that we are in this together and we all benefit when each one benefits or something to that effect. For me, it is the perfect description of community which fits in well with my philosophy.

I came to use Ubuntu shortly after it was first released. I was using another Debian distro at the time called SimplyMEPIS. They lived along side each other for a couple of years. I have used Ubuntu exclusively for about a year.

I chose Ubuntu through lots of experience with various distros. I have a box of Linux installation CDs that goes back about seven years. I have tried all of them at one time or other. My first distro was Mandrake. I stuck with that for two tortuous years. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Mandrake, but it did not like me. It was so prone to dependency problems that I was continually frustrated. Since I was relatively new to Linux, I was more easily frustrated than I am now.

During this time, I also used Fedora and Xandros. Xandros was my first Debian based distro. I liked it, but did not like its approach which was to mimic Windows. Also its repositories were limited and often out of date.

When MEPIS first came out, I gave it a try. I instantly loved it. It was just good. Everything worked just as I imagined. It was simple. It had great tools. It detected hardware that others had trouble with. I used it as my main OS until they switched it up on me. They moved to Ubuntu core. I was already using Ubuntu so this seemed redundant to me. In comparing the two side by side, I realized that I preferred Ubuntu. It was more current. It had more features and more applications. It was time to make the switch to Ubuntu, so I did.

I still have SimplyMEPIS 7.0, 64-bit version, installed on a partition. Right now I have Sabayon, openSUSE, and PCLinuxOS installed, in addition to the two already mentioned. Sabayon is a work in progress. It is a great concept. I find it refreshing, but time consuming. OpenSUSE is full featured and elegant. It is also prone to breakage. PCLinuxOS is a fork of Mandriva which for some strange reason will not install on my system. It is nostalgic so I keep it around. PCLOS works well enough, but it does not have all that I need, so I don’t take it as seriously as some people do.

Ubuntu stands apart. Sure, it is brown and orange, not my favorite colors. One of the first things I do is to change the theme. Next I add the restricted drivers and get Compiz Fusion working. I install AWN and Screenlets to complete the makeover. I install my favorite applications and add a few different desktops and I am in business. Which brings me to my current state. Everything that I could possibly want is installed and working perfectly. So what do you do with a perfectly working computer?

It turns out that you get the jump on things. You install the latest version of Ubuntu from scratch. That’s right. You start over. Hardy Heron is due for release later this month. But why wait for the inevitable rush and slow downloading? It is working well enough now for everyday use. So I installed version 8.04 and now it too is working perfectly.

You have to ask yourself if Linux is that good. For me, it is. I push things to extremes and if I can do that and Linux still works flawlessly then it has to be good. I have Hardy Heron installed with KDE 4, KDE 3, Gnome, Fluxbox, XFCE, and Sugar installed. I am using KDE 3 now, but use Gnome just as often. I switch it up just for variety. I have my bar at the top regardless of whether it is KDE or Gnome. I have AWN at the bottom. I have learned that I can have Gnome’s menu running from inside KDE using the AWN menu applet, which is cool.

I install Virtual Box for Windows compatibility. It has Windows XP installed, using and old license from my previous computer. The same VM has been kicking around for a couple of years. I just drag and drop it around wherever I go. Essentially it has every Windows program in it that I like. I prefer it to Wine. I run Virtual Box in seamless mode which gives me a Windows bar at the bottom, as well as my Ubuntu bar at the top. Yes, Windows XP and Ubuntu appear on the same screen and share the same desktop. All of window effects and cube effects still work, too.

Linux is not perfect and Ubuntu is not immune to problems. I just don’t seem to have them to the degree that other people do. So I am continually looking for something to use my computer for. I go onto the forums and help others. This reminds me that my experience is not the norm. Or is it? We may never know since people seldom post their good news.

Most people who have problems with Linux are usually trying to work around an obscure piece of hardware, most often a wireless card or external modem. They have usually inherited or pieced together an older desktop computer or laptop, which is problematic from the outset since it was likely abandoned by the previous owner for a reason. Their expectation is usually unrealistic based on what they are working with. That being said, most often the Linux community is patient, accepting and is able to get most hardware functioning, albeit in a long round about way since newbies seldom post the kind of information that could help resolve the problem quickly.

You might think that since I change my computer so much that it is no longer Ubuntu. It may not look the same, but it is pure Ubuntu at its heart. One of the things that I like about Ubuntu is that it is so flexible. It is simple enough for newbies, but complex enough for experienced users to tailor it as they choose. This is where the fun is. Computers should be personalized to our own taste. It is a workplace, a toybox and an extension of the self.

So, what do I do next? Unfortunately, Intrepid Ibex, Ubuntu 8.10, is still six months away. It is something to look forward to, but in the meantime, I need something to do. Wait a minute, I have another computer to work on in the guest room…

Adopting Ubuntu

In all the “switcher” TV ads that the folks in Apple’s marketing department have come up with, the choice is always the same. Go with the clunky and complicated Microsoft Windows machine, or pick up the hip and sleek designer Apple computer running the Mac OS (hip and sleek short form for “operating system”). They’re good ads — heck, I’ve even gone to Apple’s website just to watch them.

But there is another choice out there that a lot of people simply aren’t aware of because there’s no slick marketing campaign behind it.

For many people, e-mail, web surfing, picture editing, listening to music, making spreadsheets and basic word processing are just about all they do with their computers. Today’s Macs and Windows PCs are impressive machines indeed, but their power — and price — can be overkill for the average computer user. If you’re looking for a new computer and you’re not sure whether to go Windows or Mac, I’d suggest also paying some attention to the “L” word.

No, not that “L” word. I’m talking about Linux.
A brief history of Linux

For those of you not familiar with the world of Linux, let me give you the Coles Notes version. Some time ago, a rather creative software engineer in Finland decided he wanted to build a new computer operating system in his spare time. In what ended up earning him a near god-like status in the “geek” hierarchy, Linus Torvalds and a growing group of volunteers eventually did the highly improbable, putting together a new kind of operating system that could go head to head with the software that companies like Microsoft and Apple have spent millions developing.

Torvalds then went and gave his software, called Linux, away to anyone who wanted to use it or tinker with it, so long as they agreed to openly share any changes or improvements they made. Since that time, dozens of flavours of the Linux operating systems have come out, and the majority of them are utterly free. They’re also stable, secure, easy to use, and generally not plagued by spyware and viruses the way commercial operating systems are.

Now, back to our story.
Ubuntu

Linux, and more specifically the free “Ubuntu” version, has come a long way in the past few years and is well worth considering for basic computing.

Best of all, it won’t cost you a penny to try it out.

Like many Linux distributions, the entire Ubuntu operating system is available as a free “Live CD” you can download from the internet. Just burn the file [called an "ISO"] to a CD, and that’s it … you’re ready to try Ubuntu on any home or business PC. Alternatively, you can pay a small shipping fee and have an Ubuntu disc delivered to you by mail.

Either way, reboot your Windows machine with the disc in the CD drive, and rather than starting up Windows, the computer will run Ubuntu directly from the CD. This means that your entire Windows installation, including all of your personal files, are left entirely untouched — nothing is “installed” over the existing content on your machine. Once you’re finished trying Ubuntu, just take the CD out, reboot and your PC will start Windows exactly as it did before.

So what is it like?

Amazingly, Ubuntu feels much like Windows. I have converted several friends to Ubuntu over the years and every one of them has had the same opinion — everything is where you think it should be if you’re familiar with a Windows computer.
Software

The Linux operating system comes with great open-source software, and the icons for them are right there on your desktop where you’d expect to find them. Want to write a memo? Ubuntu comes with Open Office, a full (and free) office software suite that works with Microsoft documents, such as spreadsheets, text files and presentations. For browsing the internet, you get Firefox, the same browser I use now for both my Windows and Mac machines. Play music in the Rhythmbox Media Player or play your videos in Totem — again, both included for free.

With the exception of gaming, which is limited, almost all of the average person’s basic computing needs are well looked after with this package. I’ve used the last three versions of Ubuntu on my main portable web-surfing computer for years just to avoid viruses and spyware (as the vast majority of these nasty programs are written for Windows), and I have yet to be disappointed.

If you like it, you can load Linux permanently onto a cheap “bare bones” PC from your local computer store, saving yourself a chunk of cash that you’d otherwise have to spend on an operating system, software and high-powered hardware. The Ubuntu software is free, although there is an option where you can buy several years’ worth of support and troubleshooting if you feel you’ll need some extra help.

I’ve also “resurrected” several old machines using Ubuntu and various other versions of Linux that are far more compact and less memory intensive than Windows or the Mac OS, so they don’t need as much computing power to run them. It’s amazing to see how quickly you can breathe new life into an old beige-box geezer and save it from the landfill, rather than junk it because it doesn’t have the power to keep up with the latest commercial operating system.

The “Damn Small Linux” version actually comes in at a paltry 50MB for the entire operating system, complete with basic software to cover most daily computing needs — it’s great for getting more use out of old desktops or notebooks.

Ubuntu, however, is far slicker and more powerful than these trimmed-down versions of Linux. If you’re new to the Linux world and want to compare the experience to Windows or the Mac OS, I highly recommend Ubuntu as the best place to start. It will cost you nothing to try out, and you might just be surprised at how good “free” really is.

Why do i use Ubuntu..?

I’ve been using Ubuntu and Ubuntu based operating systems for about three months, and using it exclusively for about three weeks. I’m happier with my operating system now then I have ever been from using Windows. Why did I make the change though?

About a year ago, I frequented a video gaming board that I still frequent today. On this board was a topic about iPods and alternatives. On the board was an open source evangelist. He spoke negatively about DRM, Apple, iPods, Microsoft, and everything else closed source. I made my post asking why he was so up in arms against iPods. At the time I saw no problem in using an iPod, using iTunes, buying from the iTunes store, and using Windows. He told me that using these severely limit one’s freedom. Freedom to do whatever they want with an operating system, and not be restrained by copyright or other limits that were put in place to make money.

So this intrigued me. I had only ever used Windows before so I wasn’t too familiar with other operating systems or how they worked. I downloaded the Ubuntu distribution that was available at the time and partitioned my computer. Needless to say I was impressed but just couldn’t make the complete switch. Most of my music was DRMed and I HAD to be able to listen to my music. So, iTunes was literally a shackle on me from switching to Ubuntu and ultimately stop supporting Apple.

Over that year I went on a crusade of sorts to un DRM my music. The only legal way of doing this is to burn it onto a CD and rip it onto the computer. Alas, I lost sound quality with this. Was it worth it? Yes. By the time of 3 months ago most of my music was DRM free. The music I had left that wasn’t DRMed, which made up about 200 hundred songs, I wasn’t fond of anymore. I deleted the songs. Two hundred dollars down the drain, yes. Still completely worth it.

By this time I had my own laptop aside from a desktop. I downloaded the latest Ubuntu distro and installed it aside Windows Vista. I didn’t have much patience at the time to configure anything with school and other worries, so I used Windows for most of the time. I did try out several operating systems; Fedora, openSUSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, DSL (Damn Small Linux), Puppy Linux, and a couple of others. Ubuntu was the clear winner. When summer vacation came around I took the plunge into Ubuntu. After configuring everything I had a great operating system. The tasks that were unfamiliar to me such as using the terminal (which was very intimidating at the time) are a breeze now.

So, why do I use Ubuntu? Ubuntu to me is the best Linux distribution for me. It is free as in philosophy and free as in beer. It has a large selection of free, quality software. It doesn’t limit me in any aspect. It even supported my now deceased iPod very well. No longer do I need Windows at all. Just about everything I can do in Windows I can do in Ubuntu (with the exception of many video games).But is Linux for everyone? Of course not. Some operating systems are just not some peoples’ cup of tea. That’s just how it is. Are many Linux distros viable alternatives to Windows and Mac OS? Yes, absolutely!

Why do i use Ubuntu..?

I’ve been using Ubuntu and Ubuntu based operating systems for about three months, and using it exclusively for about three weeks. I’m happier with my operating system now then I have ever been from using Windows. Why did I make the change though?

About a year ago, I frequented a video gaming board that I still frequent today. On this board was a topic about iPods and alternatives. On the board was an open source evangelist. He spoke negatively about DRM, Apple, iPods, Microsoft, and everything else closed source. I made my post asking why he was so up in arms against iPods. At the time I saw no problem in using an iPod, using iTunes, buying from the iTunes store, and using Windows. He told me that using these severely limit one’s freedom. Freedom to do whatever they want with an operating system, and not be restrained by copyright or other limits that were put in place to make money.

So this intrigued me. I had only ever used Windows before so I wasn’t too familiar with other operating systems or how they worked. I downloaded the Ubuntu distribution that was available at the time and partitioned my computer. Needless to say I was impressed but just couldn’t make the complete switch. Most of my music was DRMed and I HAD to be able to listen to my music. So, iTunes was literally a shackle on me from switching to Ubuntu and ultimately stop supporting Apple.

Over that year I went on a crusade of sorts to un DRM my music. The only legal way of doing this is to burn it onto a CD and rip it onto the computer. Alas, I lost sound quality with this. Was it worth it? Yes. By the time of 3 months ago most of my music was DRM free. The music I had left that wasn’t DRMed, which made up about 200 hundred songs, I wasn’t fond of anymore. I deleted the songs. Two hundred dollars down the drain, yes. Still completely worth it.

By this time I had my own laptop aside from a desktop. I downloaded the latest Ubuntu distro and installed it aside Windows Vista. I didn’t have much patience at the time to configure anything with school and other worries, so I used Windows for most of the time. I did try out several operating systems; Fedora, openSUSE, Mandriva, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, DSL (Damn Small Linux), Puppy Linux, and a couple of others. Ubuntu was the clear winner. When summer vacation came around I took the plunge into Ubuntu. After configuring everything I had a great operating system. The tasks that were unfamiliar to me such as using the terminal (which was very intimidating at the time) are a breeze now.

So, why do I use Ubuntu? Ubuntu to me is the best Linux distribution for me. It is free as in philosophy and free as in beer. It has a large selection of free, quality software. It doesn’t limit me in any aspect. It even supported my now deceased iPod very well. No longer do I need Windows at all. Just about everything I can do in Windows I can do in Ubuntu (with the exception of many video games).But is Linux for everyone? Of course not. Some operating systems are just not some peoples’ cup of tea. That’s just how it is. Are many Linux distros viable alternatives to Windows and Mac OS? Yes, absolutely!

CHROME OS,WINDOWS AND LINUX...

Chrome OS is an upcoming operating system designed by search engine tycoon Google. Chrome OS shares the same name as the recently released web browser, Chrome. Google’s plunge into the operating system business isn’t all too surprising but the effects on the operating system world may be bad for Microsoft.

The Chrome OS is supposedly being designed for netbooks and for a world based of of the Internet. Google has stated (and I paraphrase) that operating systems of today were invented and designed before the rise of the Internet. Google wishes to try and revolutionize the operating system business. In my opinion, Google will have a better time marketing its open source, free operating system than Linux can, and may even become a viable alternative to Windows for the average computer user. Google is already familiar to thousands,nay, millions of computer users. It’s simple take on web searching and the superior search engine makes it the obvious market lead.

One of the main issues why Linux isn’t as popular as Windows or Macs is because of two reasons in my opinion:

A- Linux is seen as too hard to use by the average computer user.

B- There are so many Linux distributions competing (and also sharing at the same time) that they seal their fate when it comes to becoming as popular as Windows.

Reason A is understandable. When Linux was in its infant years, it WAS difficult to use. Times have changed now. Some Linux operating systems are as easy to install as Windows. This popularity problem hurts Linux hardware wise as well. Some hardware just doesn’t work well with Linux (although a lot does). This isn’t Linux’s fault, rather the fault of companies that code the drivers for their products. But there aren’t enough people using Linux to go to that trouble.

Problem B is also understandable, but it isn’t helping anyone. Linux distros need to get their act together and polish their operating systems in a way so that they CAN combat Windows and the new Chrome OS. Things change needlessly from release to release.

So, with Linux trying to get its act together when it comes to a larger market share, Microsoft is the behemoth in the industry that Google has to worry about. Google is going to have to convince manufacturers to put Chrome OS on computers. Even more so, manufacturers will have to market Chrome OS so that people will buy computers with it on.

The fact that Chrome OS is free, bumping down the price of the computer by a good 200 hundred dollars, will make it attractive to new users. I may even get a copy of Chrome OS and try it out myself. Will it convert me from Linux? Not likely. But it will probably have an impact on Microsoft’s market share.

Choosing frameworks

When starting a new project, it’s important to consider which framework(s) to use, if any. Frameworks can speed up development, but they may be feature-bloated or not so easy to learn. Also, it’s important to think about in which languages you will use frameworks. For the network (soon more on that topic) we first chose BluePrint for CSS, MooTools for JS and CodeIgniter for PHP. After some research, we discovered that for our needs MooTools wasn’t the correct framework, since we won’t do much more then ajax, DOM manipulation and tabs. We’re in the process of choosing a new one, but there is much chance we’ll go for jQuery. We also discovered that CodeIgniter was quite loose on MVC and OOP, and still PHP4-compatible (and thus not using PHP5 features optimally). Again, we’re in the process of choosing a new one, but there is much chance that we’ll choose Kohana.

What I want to say is that it’s very important to inform yourself about all the possibilities and think about what you need for your project.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu

For about a month now, I’m running Ubuntu on my 1GB ram desktop. I really like it, except for some useability issues. My sound is bugged as hell, I’ve googled hundreds of times, never found a working solution. Really, it’s fucked up. When I play multiple tracks in Tuxguitar it starts acting very strange, and I then get a horning sound. Sound at youtube is bad, it jumps a lot and strange sounds get mixed in.. But that might also be an issue of the other problem : flash. Installing a new Adobe flash version doesn’t work, Swfdec is bugged as hell, and you can’t fucking uninstall it without removing GNOME. Really, I like ubuntu, but sometimes I really wonder why I left Windows XP for Ubuntu. For hard-core geeks it might be good. Who needs flash after all, and sound ain’t important, is it? But for a bit more mainstream users, and for mainstream users to use Ubuntu, it is one of those important things. Without such things fixed less people will go to Ubuntu or any linux version, as not-geeks might not understand how linux-distro’s work. I think these are things that really have to be fixed.