Mac vs. PC: How would Linux fit in?

Mac vs. PC: How would Linux fit in?

Linspire announced today that it plans to expand its CNR (“Click ‘N Run”) digital download and software management service to support multiple desktop Linux distributions beyond Linspire and Freespire, initially adding Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu, using both .deb and .rpm packages. And, the standard CNR service will remain free.

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Linspire announced today that it plans to expand its CNR (“Click ‘N Run”) digital download and software management service to support multiple desktop Linux distributions beyond Linspire and Freespire, initially adding Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, and Ubuntu, using both .deb and .rpm packages. And, the standard CNR service will remain free.

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I use my computer a lot. So much in fact that I often catch flack from my girlfriend about never putting that damn laptop down. I have to use Windows for work. I’m dual booting with Ubuntu Edgy and am trying hard as can be to use Linux when I am at home. I love the way things just work and the interface of Ubuntu in general but there are some things that are still lacking.

This is a simple list of what I feel needs to be available for Linux in order for me to feel 100% comfortable and not yearning for that one app I had in Windows:

• A nice text editor, ala Ultra Edit, Notepad++, xpad, etc, etc
• A proper GUI FTP client, ala WS_FTP 2007, Smart FTP, FileZilla, CuteFTP, there are tons for Windows, and not one for Linux that is appealing to the eye and functional
• A good looking media player that will actually play everything I throw at it

One should not have to sacrifice UI for functionality so I don’t want to hear about those apps that do exist in Linux that provide 100% functionality but look like they were designed for Windows 95. I mean, even the default Ubuntu desktop blows Windows XP away and with Compiz or Beryl, Vista looks like an afterthought, but to mess it all up with some crappy boxy grey apps? No… Get my drift?

I use my computer a lot. So much in fact that I often catch flack from my girlfriend about never putting that damn laptop down. I have to use Windows for work. I’m dual booting with Ubuntu Edgy and am trying hard as can be to use Linux when I am at home. I love the way things just work and the interface of Ubuntu in general but there are some things that are still lacking.

This is a simple list of what I feel needs to be available for Linux in order for me to feel 100% comfortable and not yearning for that one app I had in Windows:

• A nice text editor, ala Ultra Edit, Notepad++, xpad, etc, etc
• A proper GUI FTP client, ala WS_FTP 2007, Smart FTP, FileZilla, CuteFTP, there are tons for Windows, and not one for Linux that is appealing to the eye and functional
• A good looking media player that will actually play everything I throw at it

One should not have to sacrifice UI for functionality so I don’t want to hear about those apps that do exist in Linux that provide 100% functionality but look like they were designed for Windows 95. I mean, even the default Ubuntu desktop blows Windows XP away and with Compiz or Beryl, Vista looks like an afterthought, but to mess it all up with some crappy boxy grey apps? No… Get my drift?

This past weekend, the OSU Linux Users Group descended on a field in Oregon to create a 45,000+ square foot crop circle of Firefox. The photos of this, taken from planes and helicopters, are incredible.

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I’m rather impressed. Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 is designed to do just that – impress the user from the start, with a smooth and (mostly) simple experience that will satisfy the secretary through to the MD. It does still have some areas to work on, however.

This past weekend, the OSU Linux Users Group descended on a field in Oregon to create a 45,000+ square foot crop circle of Firefox. The photos of this, taken from planes and helicopters, are incredible.

read more | digg story

I’m rather impressed. Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) 10 is designed to do just that – impress the user from the start, with a smooth and (mostly) simple experience that will satisfy the secretary through to the MD. It does still have some areas to work on, however.

The Ultra Mobile PC, Microsoft’s new ultra-ultra-portable personal computer, apparently has a few new tricks up its sleeve that Microsoft neglected to tell anyone. In their testing of a prototype UMPC, UMPCOrigami found that Samsung’s engineers, awaiting the “official†operating system from Microsoft, had taken matters into their own hands and installed Linux in Windows’ place. Refusing to name the distribution used in the test, the team managed to proudly display Tux at 800 x 400 and loaded up the GNOME Desktop Environment with no trouble. These new UMPCs will contain a 1 GHz Celeron M, Pentium M, or VIA C7-M x86 processor with 256MB RAM and a 30 or 60 GB hard drive.

read more | digg story

The Ultra Mobile PC, Microsoft’s new ultra-ultra-portable personal computer, apparently has a few new tricks up its sleeve that Microsoft neglected to tell anyone. In their testing of a prototype UMPC, UMPCOrigami found that Samsung’s engineers, awaiting the “official” operating system from Microsoft, had taken matters into their own hands and installed Linux in Windows’ place. Refusing to name the distribution used in the test, the team managed to proudly display Tux at 800 x 400 and loaded up the GNOME Desktop Environment with no trouble. These new UMPCs will contain a 1 GHz Celeron M, Pentium M, or VIA C7-M x86 processor with 256MB RAM and a 30 or 60 GB hard drive.

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How about playing Quake 3 on a 24 monitor wall? Yes, that’s exactly what the guys over at plastk did by running the game on a 12-node Linux cluster with two monitors per server.  This is just plain crazy. The bevel between the monitors detracts a little from the effect but it’s still a lot cooler than my single monitor…

How about playing Quake 3 on a 24 monitor wall? Yes, that’s exactly what the guys over at plastk did by running the game on a 12-node Linux cluster with two monitors per server.  This is just plain crazy. The bevel between the monitors detracts a little from the effect but it’s still a lot cooler than my single monitor…

Not sure if you’ve ever visited my Linux website, but if not, now may be the time to do so. I just released a brand-new theme and the new power of Drupal 4.7. Head on over the Tuxme.com and check it out!

Not sure if you’ve ever visited my Linux website, but if not, now may be the time to do so. I just released a brand-new theme and the new power of Drupal 4.7. Head on over the Tuxme.com and check it out!

At work we have a subscription to MSDN and are thus lucky enough to receive beta releases of Microsoft products. Of course the one receiving the most press is Vista. So after nearly 8 hours of trying to download the 2.78GB ISO image (thanks Paul!) I found myself contemplating a plan of attack. I wanted to install Vista on my system at home. Previous CTP releases have never been any problem. Well this release had some case of tech PMS as it took me forever to get it to install.

First it wasn’t pleased with any of the partitions I had prepared for it. I eventually managed to squeeze all of my files into existing partitions and was able to clear an entire 80GB harddrive for it. Of course that harddrive had to be the master one. Windows is still snobby. The first installation, which I let run overnight, resulted in an unbootable system because of a missing or corrupted system registry. The second try decided to just stop half-way through and just sit there. The third try was the charm as I was finally able to log in.

At this point I reconnected my main harddrive (with Windows XP and Linux) on it and reconfigured the Grub boot manager to include Windows Vista as one of its selections. I’m actually amazed that it worked as easily as it did. So now I can triple boot between Linux, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Sweet!

This release of Vista seems much more stable than the prior one and also a bit faster. Graphically it’s very easy on the eyes but some of the design changes will take some getting used to. Navigating folders for example seems different. I still find myself looking for the Up button. All in all though, I’m more looking forward to the final Vista release than ever. Now as long as Microsoft doesn’t intend to charge us outrageous prices, I’m there, ready, willing, and able to upgrade as soon as it’s released.

Just to prove that I did it, here’s some screenshots:

 

 

 

At work we have a subscription to MSDN and are thus lucky enough to receive beta releases of Microsoft products. Of course the one receiving the most press is Vista. So after nearly 8 hours of trying to download the 2.78GB ISO image (thanks Paul!) I found myself contemplating a plan of attack. I wanted to install Vista on my system at home. Previous CTP releases have never been any problem. Well this release had some case of tech PMS as it took me forever to get it to install.

First it wasn’t pleased with any of the partitions I had prepared for it. I eventually managed to squeeze all of my files into existing partitions and was able to clear an entire 80GB harddrive for it. Of course that harddrive had to be the master one. Windows is still snobby. The first installation, which I let run overnight, resulted in an unbootable system because of a missing or corrupted system registry. The second try decided to just stop half-way through and just sit there. The third try was the charm as I was finally able to log in.

At this point I reconnected my main harddrive (with Windows XP and Linux) on it and reconfigured the Grub boot manager to include Windows Vista as one of its selections. I’m actually amazed that it worked as easily as it did. So now I can triple boot between Linux, Windows XP, and Windows Vista. Sweet!

This release of Vista seems much more stable than the prior one and also a bit faster. Graphically it’s very easy on the eyes but some of the design changes will take some getting used to. Navigating folders for example seems different. I still find myself looking for the Up button. All in all though, I’m more looking forward to the final Vista release than ever. Now as long as Microsoft doesn’t intend to charge us outrageous prices, I’m there, ready, willing, and able to upgrade as soon as it’s released.

Just to prove that I did it, here’s some screenshots:

 

 

 

All the talk is about the new eyecandy that will be available in Windows Vista. While Mac users have been enjoying cool features on their desktop for ages, Expose for example, Linux users will soon be able to do the same and maybe more. XGL is a composite layer that runs on top of the regular X-Windows GUI. It allows the desktop to make full use of your powerful 3D graphics card.

Xgl is an X server architecture, started by David Reveman, layered on top of OpenGL via glitz. Nowadays, most PCs are shipped with a 3D graphics card (foremostly from NVIDIA or ATI Technologies) and Xgl allows the X server to take advantage of its 3D processing power, assuming suitable drivers are available.

The results are absolutely staggering. See for yourself:

All the talk is about the new eyecandy that will be available in Windows Vista. While Mac users have been enjoying cool features on their desktop for ages, Expose for example, Linux users will soon be able to do the same and maybe more. XGL is a composite layer that runs on top of the regular X-Windows GUI. It allows the desktop to make full use of your powerful 3D graphics card.

Xgl is an X server architecture, started by David Reveman, layered on top of OpenGL via glitz. Nowadays, most PCs are shipped with a 3D graphics card (foremostly from NVIDIA or ATI Technologies) and Xgl allows the X server to take advantage of its 3D processing power, assuming suitable drivers are available.

The results are absolutely staggering. See for yourself:

This weekend I’ve spent some time adding new features to my linux website, Tuxme.com. The site is using Drupal as its backend system and I’ve introduced some nice modules to add more user interactivity. Overall, it should make the site more inviting to visitors and contributors. Or so I hope. Check out my post with all the changes here.

This weekend I’ve spent some time adding new features to my linux website, Tuxme.com. The site is using Drupal as its backend system and I’ve introduced some nice modules to add more user interactivity. Overall, it should make the site more inviting to visitors and contributors. Or so I hope. Check out my post with all the changes here.

Planet Diaz Index – KDE 4 Screenshots

One of the benefits of using Linux is choice. For desktops for example, there are numerous choices, varying greatly in feature set and style. So far I’ve always been using Gnome but after finding these screenshots of the new version of KDE (4) that’s in development may make me change my mind. The attached image is a screenshot of the Music folder view. I can’t wait to try this once it’s publicly available.

Planet Diaz Index – KDE 4 Screenshots

One of the benefits of using Linux is choice. For desktops for example, there are numerous choices, varying greatly in feature set and style. So far I’ve always been using Gnome but after finding these screenshots of the new version of KDE (4) that’s in development may make me change my mind. The attached image is a screenshot of the Music folder view. I can’t wait to try this once it’s publicly available.

Last week I posted about someone’s blog entry telling us that something big was going to happen with Linux. That news has now been revealed and while it may not be as big as I thought, it could do a lot to bringing Linux out of the geek’s corner and into the mainstream. Here’s an excerpt from the blog post and the direct link is below.

This is the day that we, The Linux Community, take it upon ourselves to announce our presence. Today is the day we take our first step into self-actualization. Novell is not going to do it, nor is RedHat or Xandros. They mouth promises of support but remain unwilling to “go mainstream� with Linux. The mainstream airwaves and print media are completely absent of any mention of Linux We pass the news of our accomplishments and problems from one news site to another, solve problems in the forums and discuss the wonder that is Linux. We share command line scripts, xorg file tweaks, discuss the latest distro and lament the fact that we are a niche system. Preachers preaching to preachers….myself included.

Many theorize that the larger corporations Like Dell and Intel will not support Linux because they fear Microsoft. It has ranged from slight hints to outright accusation that Microsoft threatens to pull licensing rights to these companies if they support Linux. Given the actions and inactions of some of these companies, that theory seems on the surface to have merit. Microsoft is a monolith that can and has destroyed a company or a person with a simple nod across the boardroom. Perhaps it is wise for a company to protect its interests and employees by bowing to Microsoft. It is in their best interest to fear them. Think Peter Quinn.

Hello World…This is Linux.

Last week I posted about someone’s blog entry telling us that something big was going to happen with Linux. That news has now been revealed and while it may not be as big as I thought, it could do a lot to bringing Linux out of the geek’s corner and into the mainstream. Here’s an excerpt from the blog post and the direct link is below.

This is the day that we, The Linux Community, take it upon ourselves to announce our presence. Today is the day we take our first step into self-actualization. Novell is not going to do it, nor is RedHat or Xandros. They mouth promises of support but remain unwilling to “go mainstream� with Linux. The mainstream airwaves and print media are completely absent of any mention of Linux We pass the news of our accomplishments and problems from one news site to another, solve problems in the forums and discuss the wonder that is Linux. We share command line scripts, xorg file tweaks, discuss the latest distro and lament the fact that we are a niche system. Preachers preaching to preachers….myself included.

Many theorize that the larger corporations Like Dell and Intel will not support Linux because they fear Microsoft. It has ranged from slight hints to outright accusation that Microsoft threatens to pull licensing rights to these companies if they support Linux. Given the actions and inactions of some of these companies, that theory seems on the surface to have merit. Microsoft is a monolith that can and has destroyed a company or a person with a simple nod across the boardroom. Perhaps it is wise for a company to protect its interests and employees by bowing to Microsoft. It is in their best interest to fear them. Think Peter Quinn.

Hello World…This is Linux.

Not sure what this is but it sounds interesting: “In about 72 hours, a project will be announced that could have a mighty impact on Desktop Linux and the Community At-Large…If it takes off, then this day may very well be the day that Microsoft never wanted to see…The impact could be that great…Stand by for news.”

read more

Not sure what this is but it sounds interesting: “In about 72 hours, a project will be announced that could have a mighty impact on Desktop Linux and the Community At-Large…If it takes off, then this day may very well be the day that Microsoft never wanted to see…The impact could be that great…Stand by for news.”

read more

Thank God! Thanks to some help from a fellow Clarkconnect user, I can now once again let CC manage my network providing routing and firewall services to both my wired and wireless networks. Turns out it was just the small thing of renaming the wireless interface from wlanX to ethX. Who woulda thunk it? It’s a good thing too because my Windows based firewall was slowing my new extreme high speed internet down and I had to deal with the constant Microsoft updates.Router

Thank God! Thanks to some help from a fellow Clarkconnect user, I can now once again let CC manage my network providing routing and firewall services to both my wired and wireless networks. Turns out it was just the small thing of renaming the wireless interface from wlanX to ethX. Who woulda thunk it? It’s a good thing too because my Windows based firewall was slowing my new extreme high speed internet down and I had to deal with the constant Microsoft updates.Router

New desktop running Ubuntu 5.10. After a long time without Linux, I’m back to dual booting. Let’s hope it holds and I can restrain myself from staying in Windows after playing Battlefield 2.

I’m a little ashamed that for the past month, I’ve had no trace of Linux on my system. The reason: My addiction to Battlefield 2 which forced me to stay in Windows for most of my time and thus use Windows apps. I’m even extremely ashamed that I had to replace my linux based firewall/router with a Windows version so that I could get my wireless network working. Ah yes, it’s been a sad state of afairs in my apartment lately…

Continue…

New desktop running Ubuntu 5.10. After a long time without Linux, I’m back to dual booting. Let’s hope it holds and I can restrain myself from staying in Windows after playing Battlefield 2.

I’m a little ashamed that for the past month, I’ve had no trace of Linux on my system. The reason: My addiction to Battlefield 2 which forced me to stay in Windows for most of my time and thus use Windows apps. I’m even extremely ashamed that I had to replace my linux based firewall/router with a Windows version so that I could get my wireless network working. Ah yes, it’s been a sad state of afairs in my apartment lately…

Continue…

Wow that took a long time…

A little bit of background: Earlier in 2005 I bought a wireless router so that I could use my laptop from work freely around the house. The same applied to my girlfriend’s laptop. Unfortunately, that wireless router fried and even though I can return it for a replacement (Linksys still has an RMA open for it – I just haven’t mailed it yet), we managed to do fine without. But it’s always been a thorn in my side. Why use cables when you can do it wireless?

For Christmas I got a wireless PCI card and the plan was to expand my Linux based router by adding on a wireless subnet. Unfortunately, I’ve spent the past 3 days trying to make it work. I’ve used different firewall distributions, such as Clarkconnect (my favourite), IPCop, and Smoothwall. While I could get the card to run in Clarkconnect using ndiswrapper and the Windows drivers, the configuration just would not take.

So I finally gave in and decided to resolve the problem with a Windows based solution. Yikes, that took me a long time to stoop to that level. In the end, everything works perfectly. I now have a Windows XP based router/firewall running Kerio WinRoute Firewall 6. It serves two subnets, my wired LAN and my wireless LAN which is secured with WEP encryption and locked down to MAC addresses. All this plus the ability to have content filtering, firewall based anti-virus capabilities, and more. I’m quite happy. Too bad it’s Windows though.

PS: I’m posting this from my couch.

Wow that took a long time…

A little bit of background: Earlier in 2005 I bought a wireless router so that I could use my laptop from work freely around the house. The same applied to my girlfriend’s laptop. Unfortunately, that wireless router fried and even though I can return it for a replacement (Linksys still has an RMA open for it – I just haven’t mailed it yet), we managed to do fine without. But it’s always been a thorn in my side. Why use cables when you can do it wireless?

For Christmas I got a wireless PCI card and the plan was to expand my Linux based router by adding on a wireless subnet. Unfortunately, I’ve spent the past 3 days trying to make it work. I’ve used different firewall distributions, such as Clarkconnect (my favourite), IPCop, and Smoothwall. While I could get the card to run in Clarkconnect using ndiswrapper and the Windows drivers, the configuration just would not take.

So I finally gave in and decided to resolve the problem with a Windows based solution. Yikes, that took me a long time to stoop to that level. In the end, everything works perfectly. I now have a Windows XP based router/firewall running Kerio WinRoute Firewall 6. It serves two subnets, my wired LAN and my wireless LAN which is secured with WEP encryption and locked down to MAC addresses. All this plus the ability to have content filtering, firewall based anti-virus capabilities, and more. I’m quite happy. Too bad it’s Windows though.

PS: I’m posting this from my couch.

I rebuilt my linux server last night. I used to run the Smoothwall firewall package on there as well as an Abyss Web Server which hosted this very website. But I’ve moved that box behind my router and needed to disable the firewall. Instead, I rebuilt it with ClarkConnect Home Server 3.1 which gave me the option of running a firewall or just a server. It even does VPN, Windows File Sharing, FTP, and many other things, right out of the box. I have to say that it was extremely easy to install and the fact that it’s modular will make upgrading painless. I can’t wait to get another linux server going as my firewall/gateway, but I have no hardware at the moment. Anyways, if you’re looking for a linux server and an easy one to use at that, check it out.ClarkConnect

I rebuilt my linux server last night. I used to run the Smoothwall firewall package on there as well as an Abyss Web Server which hosted this very website. But I’ve moved that box behind my router and needed to disable the firewall. Instead, I rebuilt it with ClarkConnect Home Server 3.1 which gave me the option of running a firewall or just a server. It even does VPN, Windows File Sharing, FTP, and many other things, right out of the box. I have to say that it was extremely easy to install and the fact that it’s modular will make upgrading painless. I can’t wait to get another linux server going as my firewall/gateway, but I have no hardware at the moment. Anyways, if you’re looking for a linux server and an easy one to use at that, check it out.ClarkConnect