Friday, May 28th, 2010
Foreword: Thank you to everybody who commented on my previous post, "Dear LazyWeb, please help persuade my dad to move to Linux" — I really was not expecting so many helpful and constructive comments and I was slightly overwhelmed by the response. So, thank you to everyone who responded and helped to convince my dad to move to Linux, you rock!
Yesterday, I installed Linux Mint on my dad's laptop. With the exception of a couple of bits of poorly supported hardware, the installation went without a hitch. I think my dad was genuinely pleased with his new Linux installation and he commented that it was definitely faster than the old Windows XP installation, he added that he thought it looked fairly easy to use too.
Anyhow, before performing the installation, I evaluated both the latest releases of Ubuntu and Linux Mint in live sessions. I used both sessions for about half a day each and I came to the conclusion that my dad would probably be more comfortable using Linux Mint. I have no real scientific evidence to support my conclusion, but I figured that because my dad had always used Windows, he would prefer Mint's default set-up. Mint also had a few other things going for it:
It came pre-installed with a bunch of media codecs and Flash support. I know this is only a quick install of the "ubuntu-restricted-extras" package on Ubuntu, but it was nice for me not to have to do it.
Mint did not come with F-Spot, at least I am pretty sure it did not. So, it was easy to install Shotwell. My dad takes a lot of photos and Shotwell seems like a really nice photo management application; it is quick, stylish and easy to use. I think my dad was rather impressed with it.
I know this is subjective, but Mint just looked more professional. The default theme and wallpaper is very stylish and it made Ubuntu look rather garish in comparison, even with its new look. Again, I know this is subjective and only a cosmetic issue, but I did not want to spend any time modifying themes, button placements and icons etcetera, so Mint won.
Lastly, and somewhat obviously, Linux Mint is effectively Ubuntu, but with some additional goodness, so there was no logical reason not to choose it for my dad.
Regarding the two bits of poorly supported hardware, the first was my dad's Microsoft LifeCam webcam. My parents use Skype to make video calls to their grandchildren, so it was important to make sure this worked. I managed to get video working with the LifeCam and Skype, but it was a fugly hack and anyway, I could not get the built-in microphone to work. So, I popped out and purchased a Logitech C200 webcam, which worked out of the box, result. The second bit of dodgy hardware was a Lexmark printer, which I completely failed to get working. I have advised my dad on purchasing a cheap replacement HP printer, which he was happy to pay for and order. I know this particular printer works out of the box, because bobobex and I ordered one for Emma so that she could print her school homework. The printer worked the instant it was attached, without any hassles.
To conclude this post, for my dad's computer usage, which basically involves using the web, communicating via Skype and organising his digital photographs, I think my dad will be very happy with his new Linux installation, at least I hope he will. It is far too early to tell whether or not he will actually be happy with it long-term, but I will post some updates, if I have anything to report.
P.S. On reading this post back to myself, it occurred to me that some people might read it as an "Ubuntu vs. Mint" rant. It is not meant to be, both Ubuntu and Linux Mint are really good distributions, they are not CrunchBang, but they are still great. And of course, none of the aforementioned would be anything without Debian, but that is a whole other story, best left for a separate post. :P
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
I was at my parent's house last night and my dad starting moaning again about the speed of his laptop. My dad often moans about how slow his laptop has become, but just recently he has been moaning about it every time I see him. Hardware wise, there is nothing wrong with his laptop and it is quite a respectable machine. The problem is that his machine is still running the same installation of Windows XP that came installed when he purchased it, several years ago. As many of us are well aware, XP can be quite a fast OS, but after some years of use, it can become extremely slow and painful to use. So, I have offered to help backup my dad's data and install Linux.
My dad has tentatively accepted my offer, but I am sure he is not entirely convinced that this "Linux" thing is any good; I was slightly surprised when he asked, "Will the internet work?" Also, whilst I am probably the most computer literate person my dad knows, I say that without meaning to sound big-headed, I get the feeling that my dad would be more inclined to accept advice from a PC World salesman than he would from me.
So, I thought some you might be able to help me to persuade my dad that installing Linux on his laptop would be a good idea. It would be great if lots of people could give just one example of why installing Linux will be beneficial.
Thank you for your assistance! :)
P.S. To the best of my knowledge, my dad has never used Linux on the desktop before. I will be installing a version of Ubuntu, I will not be installing CrunchBang. I will give my dad a demonstration of Ubuntu in a live session before performing the install.
P.P.S. Obviously, in the interest of fairness, I would also like to know if you think that installing Linux on my dad's laptop is not a good idea.
P.P.P.S. To the best of my knowledge, my dad does not own or use any peripheral hardware which should not work well under Linux (read iPods, iPhones etc.)
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
A few weeks ago, I won an Acer Aspire One D150 on Ebay. For anyone not in the know, it is a netbook with a 10.1 inch screen. Apparently, the machine was an unwanted Christmas present and the owner had not used it very much, if at all. The machine was listed on Ebay with a relatively low starting price and it attracted very little attention. I ended up winning the machine for £155, which was a bit of a steal. In fact, I felt kind of guilty for winning it at that price and so I sent an email to the owner asking him if he would like to relist it. He replied saying that he was fine with the result of the auction, but I could tell his reply was written with gritted teeth.
Anyhow, I should get to the purpose of this post; as far as I am aware, the Acer Aspire One D150 is currently only available to purchase with Windows XP pre-installed, there is not a Linux version available, at least I have not been able to find one. So, if anyone is wondering whether or not Debian or Ubuntu work on these machines, I can confirm that they do, and very nicely too. I am currently running Debian Squeeze on my machine and everything works just fine, I cannot recall having a single issue with it. I have also tried the latest Ubuntu Lucid alpha release and that also works swimmingly.
As for the machine itself, I am not going to attempt to write any type of review, but I will say that for the price, it is a great bit of kit and it is perfectly usable as a day to day system. Having said that, I actually wanted this machine to act as a cheap replacement for an existing power-hungry home server, a role which I think it will serve quite well.
Monday, January 25th, 2010
I have been thinking about starting a little project. It is only a trivial project and I really do not think anyone will ever benefit from it, but out of curiosity and because I can, I am thinking of doing it anyway.
So, last night I was looking at different open-source licenses with the intention of selecting one for my new project. Now, considering what I have already stated, I came to the conclusion that the WTFPL was probably the best license to opt for. The WTFPL is extremely permissive and therefore it is ideal for a throwaway project. By using the WTFPL, I can effectively build and release my project and never have to worry about anyone ever contacting me about using it. Or for that matter, any crazy stuff happening, not that it would, but anyway…
…with a decision made on which license to use, I then considered where I would like to host the project. I have recently been following a few projects that are hosted on the Google Code service, so I decided that the Google Code service might make a good home.
I set about creating a new project using the web form provided. I started filling in the details, describing what my project was about and then I arrived at a dropdown menu where I was given a choice of open-source licenses. I had not considered that the WTFPL would not be listed — I mean, it is recognised by the FSF!
So, not being too sure what to think about this, I performed a quick web search and found that Rémy Sanchez had recently raised this as an issue on Google Code:
I'd like to submit a project using the WTFPL license (
http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/ ).
I have seen how much licenses are a trouble (oh, is this license GPL compatible ?), and I think that unless you have reasons (like a big project, or something made by a company, etc), you generally don't care about the exact details of what is possible or not with the license. This is why I put most of my code under WTFPL, and that I'd like to host a WTFPL project here.
And the response from Chris DiBona:
No. The wtfpl is cute, but if you want to use it, you'll need to go to another host.
Initially I was somewhat perplexed with the response given by Chris and I asked myself why a FSF recognised license would not be suitable for use by projects on Google Code? I decided to do a little more digging and whilst I was watching the video of Chris DiBona's talk, "Open Source is Magic", I got my answer. Basically, the Google Code service only supports the major open-source licenses because there is a greater chance that lawyers will already have come across these licenses and know about the attached compliance issues. Funny thing is, I am definitely not a lawyer, but I am pretty sure I understand the WTFPL!
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
For the past year, or longer, I had been piggybacking on a wireless connection at work. I am almost entirely sure I should not have been doing this, but I figured that I was not doing any harm, and besides, nobody ever mentioned anything about it. Anyhow, a while ago the connection disappeared and my only other means of connecting was via my USB 3G broadband dongle.
I really like my dongle and I think it is great because I can take it anywhere and get online, including my place of work. Having said that, it does have some drawbacks; firstly, the connection is not always great; secondly, it can only be used with one machine at a time. I do not think there is anything I can do about the first issue, but I have now sorted the second issue by investing in some new kit.
Yesterday I took delivery of a NETGEAR MBR624GU 3G Wireless-G Mobile Broadband Router. I have been using it for the first time at work tonight and first impressions are good. Basically, once configured to work with my existing USB dongle and service provider, I can plug-in the router and then get online as I would using any other standard wireless router set-up. The new router also has 4 standard RJ-45 LAN ports, which I am sure will prove useful at some point, especially when I am playing around with some of my older hardware. There are probably a whole bunch of other advantages to using this bit of kit, including not having to have to worry about network manager, or any other connection management software, having support for 3G modems. In fact, the only disadvantage I can think of is that I have to carry around another piece of kit, but this is only a minor inconvenience as the router is quite small and very lightweight. I think this was a good investment.
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you will probably already know that Microsoft Windows 7 is released today. I have not tried Microsoft Windows 7 and to be honest, I have no intention of doing so. This is not a reflection of the quality of Microsoft products, it is just that I have no need for it.
So, for me, the best thing about the Microsoft Windows 7 release is the thought of all the cheap hardware that will soon become available as retailers try to quickly offload their "defunct" Windows Vista machines. For the average Linux user, I would imagine that there is no better time to invest in new hardware and install their OS of choice. And with the release of Ubuntu 9.10 just around the corner, the timing of the Windows 7 release could not be better!
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
I should maybe start out by stating that I am always more than a little hesitant to post on any Ubuntu planets about CrunchBang Linux, however, in this case I was persuaded to do so by Dave Walker. I guess I feel somewhat hesitant because there is a conflict of interest and I really do not want to distract from any of the excellent work going on around Ubuntu. Are these feelings rational?
Anyhow, the reason I am writing this post is because the CrunchBang project could really do with some help. For anyone not aware, I released a new version of CrunchBang last week. The new the release went well, a little too well in fact and the shared host which I was using to distribute the ISO files went into meltdown within hours of publicising the release. The meltdown was caused purely by a lack of planning on my behalf, I really had not expected so much interest.
Luckily, the CrunchBang community pulled together to save the day. Users on the forums managed to provide some BitTorrent downloads and others provided ad hoc mirrors. We eventually managed to get the files out, albeit rather slowly. Meanwhile, within the #crunchbang IRC channel, Ciemon Dunville suggested I speak to Dave Walker about the mirroring/load balancing scripts which he uses to help distribute the Ubuntu UK Podcast. A short while later, after letting me bug him with questions over the phone, Daviey very kindly offered to help out.
The following day I took out a lease on new dedicated server and Daviey set about working his black magic. As a result of Daviey's know-how and generosity, the CrunchBang project now has much more reliable means of distributing itself. The only things lacking now are volunteers willing to help by creating mirrors. If this is something you think you can help out with, please see the mirror set-up guide.
A HUGE THANK YOU is due to everyone who is helping out and providing mirrors, including; Andrew Williams, Marty Cannon, Alan Pope, Dave Walker, Ciemon Dunville and Stas Sushkov. You are all stars! Hopefully, we can get some more stars involved to help lessen the load! :)
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009
Welcome lifehackers! Please note this is my personal blog. If you came here looking for CrunchBang Linux, you may want to head on over to crunchbanglinux.org :)
Saturday, January 17th, 2009
I have invested in a new USB mobile broadband modem from Three, a Huawei E620. I have been using it quite steadily for a couple of weeks I am quite impressed with it. The device was super easy to set-up, all I had to do was plug it in and select my service provider, it was then ready to use with my CrunchBang/Ubuntu Intrepid system. As well as being impressed with the ease of set-up, I am also impressed with its connection quality; the connection has rarely dropped and the device has maintained an average speed of about 1MB. If anyone out there is looking to buy a mobile modem for use with Ubuntu Linux, I can recommend the E620.
My only concern with using my new device is that I want to be able to keep track of the amount of bandwidth I am using; I have a monthly contract with an allowance of 15GB per month and I would prefer it if I did not incur any additional fees for exceeding my allowance. The shop assistant who dealt with me seemed to think 15GB was ample, I am not so sure. I have never previously had to worry about such things as I have always had unlimited access, but I believe I could quite easily burn through 15GB. So, I have decided to keep a log of my bandwidth usage. I am using vnStat to achieve this, a handy console based application for recording bandwidth usage for any given network device. vnStat is fairly straightforward to use and I have written some usage notes on my wiki for future reference.
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Last night I uploaded and released the final CrunchBang Linux 8.10.01 build. I am really quite pleased with this release and it seems to be working well on my own systems. I will keep this post short as I have already written about the release on the new CrunchBang Linux blog. All I wanted to say here is, I have really enjoyed working on this release; all the feedback, help and support has been quite overwhelming. It has also been fun to meet and chat with lots of like-minded Linux enthusiasts and geeks :)
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