10 reasons to convert to Linux, 5 not to - Look2Linux

Why do people convert to Linux and why do people contradict their choice, I will investigate this in this post and bring to your attention 15 points. 10 for and 5 against converting to Linux.

TrueCrypt 5.0: Free Open-Source On-The-Fly Encryption

I have recently installed TrueCrypt 5.0 and I'm loving it. I used TrueCrypt for years when I was running XP, but, until recently, I haven't since switching to Ubuntu. At first, it was only accessable via the terminal and I just couldn't get it to work for me(ie, figured out). A couple months ago I found EasyCrypt which is a GUI front end for TrueCrypt and started using that. Now, with the introduction of version 5.0, TrueCrypt has a graphical user interface for Linux (along with a Mac OS X version) and it no longer requires EasyCrypt for a GUI.

TrueCrypt main features are:

• Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.
• Encrypts an entire partition or storage device such as USB flash drive or hard drive.
• Encrypts a partition or drive where Windows is installed (pre-boot authentication).
• Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.
• Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:
1. Hidden volume (steganography – more information may be found here).
2. No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).
• Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Serpent, and Twofish. Mode of operation: XTS.

I suggest it for all you sensitive data.

It took me some time, but I finally found a way to change the bitrate when ripping cds to ogg lossy. Mine had been 160 kbps and I wanted to up it to 256 kbps. If you want to change yours, this is what you do.

1. Go to Preferences in either Sound Juicer or Rhythmbox (I don't know about any other audio players) and select "Edit Profiles".

2. Select the Lossy and click "Edit".

3. In the Gstreamer Pipeline box is code that looks like this:
    audio/x-raw-float,rate=44100,channels=2 ! vorbisenc name=enc quality=0.8 ! oggmux

4. What you want to edit is the "quality=" number.

Here is the quality number and its approximate bitrate:

• q .1 = 80 kbps
• q .2 = 96 kbps
• q .3 = 112 kbps
• q .4 = 128 kbps
• q .5 = 160 kbps
• q .6 = 192 kbps
• q .7 = 224 kbps
• q .8 = 256 kbps
• q .9 = 320 kbps
• q 1.0 = 499 kbps

5. When you are done, click "Close" and your bitrate has been changed.

Linux "The Super Villan"

http://ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54

Still lol just thinking about it.

"Switch to... uh... what ever the hell you want"

What does he stand for, you ask?

What do I stand for? Just one thing: Linux. Oh yeah, and fish. I want to put a Linux computer in every home, every office, every garage, every hotel room... if there's a flat surface somewhere I want to put a Linux computer there. Oh yeah, and a fish in every pocket, so that nobody ever has to compute hungry ever again.

Tux For President

French police deal blow to Microsoft - AFP

The French paramilitary police force said Wednesday it is ditching Microsoft for the free Linux operating system, becoming one of the biggest administrations in the world to make the break.

Your First Steps with Linux - Terminally Incoherent

Over the years I think I helped to influence few people here and there to actually start experimenting with linux. I count that as a personal success. I’m sure I was not the primary influence in most cases, but I’m glad I could help people to start tinker with the new OS

It's be a year (to the day I believe) since I've installed Ubuntu on my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop and it's been a fun ride. So, if you have a few minutes, let my tell you my story.

Last winter we had a bit of snow here in Denver that left us with little we could actually do outside. After the first few weeks of January, cabin fever started setting in and I began playing around of the idea of putting Linux on my computer. I can't remember exactly how or why, but I ended up downloading Ubuntu 6.10 and tried the LiveCD on my laptop. It worked wonderfully and I decided to do a dual boot with XP so I could see how it actually functioned day to day. Well, I dun f***ed up the dual boot and ended with a PC that would do anything. Can you say nOOb!

I have been a practitioner of the backup for years, so after a few minutes of utter panic, I calmed down and remembered everything was backed up on an external drive. (OK, I did inevitably loose a weeks worth of emails, no great loss.)

As luck would have it, having been an experimenter and no great fan of MS, I had moved onto programs that where all cross-platform (Thingamablog, Firefox, Thunderbird and Sunbird) but one (MS Money). Thus, I thought, what the hell, maybe I should just install Ubuntu by itself. So I did.

It was shocking once Ubuntu was installed. I have media buttons on the front of my laptop, they worked. All my data for Thunderbird, Firefox and Thingamablog was easily loaded. All the function (Fn key) keys on keyboard worked. It was amazing to me, I never expected this all to work so well. I was sold.

I did have some problems, suspend had issues and there was the problem with no wireless. I spent some time on the Ubuntu forum and after some time of trial and error the wireless kicked in. Honestly, I still have no idea how I was able to get the wireless working, all I know is, boom, it worked one day and has ever since. Suspend came around after a month or so.

I spent the next few months perusing everything Linux. I learned cool commands to run from the Terminal. I played with installing and removing programs from the Add/Remove manager and the Synaptic Package Manager. I screwed things up and re-installed 6.10 a few times. The first time I did this, I was amazed by the fact that quite a few of the settings in my /home folder (set on a different partition, something I started doing way back when from my 2-3 re-installs per year of Windows to keep it clean) kicked right in. Things like Tomboy notes where all there, KeyPass knew where to look for its database, JAlbum and Thingamablog where able to start without having to re-install them. These kind of things where unheard of from my Windows days, it was re-install everything and update all settings to my liking.

Then, along came 7.04. I promptly upgraded to it. Oops. Then I downloaded and did a fresh install. Much better. The first few weeks it acted a little funny, issues mainly with suspend. Once a month went by it was smooth sailing. I spent more time on anything Linux or Ubuntu. I downloaded and tried other distros LiveCDs, spend more time exploring the Linux OS and even tried to help out on the forums (I never really did learn enough to be much help, but I tried).

With the other distributions, I found no reason the change. I was happy with how my laptop worked, so why change. I spent some time on Gnome-look and figured out how to change my splash screen, login in screen and themes. In all I was settling in quite nicely with my new OS and how it worked.

As October was coming closer I was getting excited with the prospects of 7.10. Once it was released I promptly upgraded. Oops. Then I downloaded and did a fresh install. Much better. The first few weeks it acted a little funny, issues mainly with suspend. Once a month went by it was smooth sailing (hmm, sounds familiar?) I played around with the new graphics for a while, installing software for widgets and desktop toolbars. In the end, I removed Compiz as I am happy a simple UI and don't need the fancy graphics. The Panel with shortcuts on it works just fine for me and I never really did like things all over my desktop (see). This also explains why I never switched to a KDE distribution.

Of course there was that Load_Cycle_Count issue. For me the fix was removing Tracker, something I didn't use anyway.

So now I am just waiting for 8.04 to come out. I've learned to wait for a month or so before I install the upgrade. Actually I will probably do a fresh install, I never have liked how upgrades go whether Windows or Linux. Once it is running I probably will not upgrade again, what, with 8.04 being a LTS version. For this laptop it should be just fine for it's life.

All in all, it has been a fun little adventure. I'll keep running Linux and helping all my friends with their Window boxes and laptops. I doubt I'll ever be one to get anyone to switch to Linux, Windows works for them and there is no reason tor them to change right now. Maybe when XP is no longer supported the time may come. However, I will do what ever it takes to keep them away from Vista.

I'll keep perusing Ubuntu forums and the various Linux sights - I especially loved finding the flame wars between Linux and XP/Mac, KDE and Gnome and the various distributions. The second two seem so ironic to me, isn't Linux suppose to be about choice? Occasionally I might throw my 2 cents in, but I think pretty much I just be user from here on out. I have found an OS that works and I don't have to worry about.

I am one happy Ubuntu camper.

via Ubuntu Gallery

Thank [Deity of Your Choice] For Choice - The Mental Proctologist

Lately I've been reading a lot of criticism about the number of Linux distros -- too many choices with too many interfaces and too much duplication in software application development. KDE, GNOME, Xfce, fluxbox, Enlightenment... it's all too intimidating -- too confusing for potential Linux converts. I'm not certain I agree, but then I'm trying to speculate about the perceptions of users less immersed in the Linux universe than I am.

Ubuntu Tweak off to a good start - Linux.com

For years, discerning Windows users have relied on Tweak UI, a semi-official Microsoft program for system settings not available on the default desktop. Now, in the same tradition and with something of the same name, Ubuntu Tweak (UT) offers the same advantage to Ubuntu users. Currently at version 0.2.4, for now UT is limited to features for GNOME and focuses mainly on changing default desktop and system behavior and how GNOME interacts with your hardware, but this small feature set is more than enough for proof of concept.

I haven't tried it yet, once I do I'll let you know how it goes for me.

Picasa 2.7 a slick upgrade on Linux - Linux.com

Google has released a public beta of its Picasa photo organizer for Linux. The new release adds some important features for image browsing, image searching, and creative image export. If you haven't tried it before, now is the time.

This beta release is a preview of Picasa 2.7, which will bring the Linux version of the application up to speed with the Windows edition. Picasa remains the only Google app which is unavailable for Mac OS X, a fact you can brag about to your Apple-loving friends.

It's a Matter of Choice - LoCo About Ubuntu!

Yesterday I realized that I have run over 30 different kinds of Linux on my laptop. My final choice? Ubuntu.

Not much of a surprise here, I guess -- seeing as my blog is called "LoCo About Ubuntu." For me, it's a matter of choice.

Flipping the Linux switch: 5 tips every new Linux user should know - DownloadSquad

Linux is a powerful operating system, but chances are it's a very different operating system than any you've used before. The dizzying number of choices in distributions alone is enough to make your head spin, but it also means there's something out there that really suits your computing style. There are some things in Linux you just have to work out for yourself -- distributions, applications, neato screen savers (hey, we like distractions as much as the next guy).

We're taking a departure from the norm this week and not discussing a specific piece of software. Instead, we've been thinking about what we most wished we'd been told on our first foray into Linux-land. These tips run the gamut from installation planning to how to best ask for help. We chose these tips because they are not distribution-specific, and the majority of new users will at least find a few tips apply to their situation at some point.

Read on ...

Ten Best Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Ten Worst Technologies and Trends of 2007 - Extremetech.com

Five desktop Linux highlights of 2007 - DesktopLinux.com

2007: The Miserable Year in Review - John C. Dvorak

The Top 10 New Organisms of 2007 - Wired

THREAT LEVEL's Year in Review - 2007 - Wired

The Year in Oversight:The yeas and nays of Congress' efforts to gavel the Bush administration into order in 2007 - MotherJones

100 things we didn't know last year - BBC

Linux for everyone - cpilive.net

Ubuntu Linux's Mark Shuttleworth talks of free software for the masses, cultural tidal waves and building rockets.

Mark Shuttleworth made news in 2002 when he fulfilled a lifelong ambition and became the first South African to travel into space, paying $20 million to be a civilian cosmonaut on an eight-day flight aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. In 2004, he founded Ubuntu Linux to bring the operating system to people around the world. He is also the founder of HBD Venture Capital and the nonprofit Shuttleworth Foundation.

You have pumped more than $10 million of your own money into the continuing development of Ubuntu Linux, and you have been on a personal campaign to bring a free, easy-to-use and reliable Linux to the masses around the world. Why?

In college, I was struggling to get my own personal computer hooked up to the university network. Then someone gave me a stack of Slackware Linux discs, and I found myself just enthralled by the breadth and depth of the tools that were available from Linux, even in those very early days. It’s like going from living in the desert to walking into an all-you-can-eat buffet. I went on to turn that interest in the Internet into a small business called Thawte [in 1995], which sold digital certificates that I created, initially at least, with cryptographic software that was available under an open-source license.

Read on ...

Restricted Codecs Mess in Linux - Mad Penquin

There are a number of newcomers who migrate to Linux and then find themselves at ends with the confusion regarding restricted formats and codecs in the US. The laws regarding usage are confusing and all over the map, thus leaving many Linux distributions forced to mark them as possibly illegal to use in some countries, despite no solid evidence to actually support this outside of MPAA and RIAA rhetoric, which is hardly a court's decision. And in a recent article, I took this whole idea to task and examine how it may not actually be illegal to use libdvdcss after all.

Review: Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon takes on Mac OS X Leopard for the OS of the Year - Linux Magazine

Today we have a technological cage match involving two operating systems, both UNIX- based, both mature, both with passionate detractors and even more passionate defenders, and both released just a week apart. I'm talking, of course, about Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), with its final release on October 18, and Apple' s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which was available for purchase on October 26.

The stereotype for each OS is well known: Mac OS X is elegant, easy-to-use, and intuitive, while Ubuntu is stable, secure, and getting better all the time. Both have come a long way in a short time, and both make excellent desktops. So we have two great desktop operating systems out at roughly the same time. Let's see how they stack up against each other.

Read on ...

Choosing a Linux Distro, Part 1: Kicking the Tires - LinuxInsider

Start your search by checking out the distribution Web sites. Read the the FAQ and Wikis pages to learn how the different distros work. Check out the features and read what sorts of requests for help have been made on the community forums, and how those requests were answered. This approach will help you to narrow down exactly what you are looking for in terms of support and ease of use.

Running Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft Windows or Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple Mac OS X gives users about the same amount of flexibility as was offered to early car buyers. They could drive any kind of car they wanted, as long as it was a Model T and as long as it was black.

When the free open source Linux OS first showed up, early developers offered much the same set of options. Today, however, when picking a Linux distribution (known as a "distro"), users are offered a wide variety of flavors and features. In fact, Linux comes in so many different sizes and shapes that selecting the version most suited for consumer or enterprise use can be a seemingly impossible task.

Read on ...

Security concerns raised as China fills U.S. medicine chest - McClatchy Newspapers

The medicine cabinet in the average U.S. home is filling with drugs made in China, and some experts say that could be a prescription for trouble.

Linux is about to take over the low end of PCs - Desktop Linux

Sometimes, several unrelated changes come to a head at the same time, with a result no one could have predicted. The PC market is at such a tipping point right now and the result will be millions of Linux-powered PCs in users' hands.

Senate rejects far-reaching energy bill - CSM

There's still hope the nation may get a nice green-energy law for Christmas – not the big fat one environmentalists wanted, but a slimmed-down version that probably includes fuel economy and biofuel provisions. ...the Senate failed to approve a more far-reaching House energy bill that promised to cut US dependence on imported oil and global warming emissions.

Dethroning Ubuntu - What Would It Take? - Datamation

Many people are looking to Ubuntu to be something that it is not: A mass market ready operating system designed to work with the same level of compatibility as Microsoft Windows.

Where people get confused is in believing that if Ubuntu, king of the Linux distros, is not able to take the marketplace by storm, then something must be broken with desktop Linux. In this article, I'll explain what it will take to dethrone the mighty Ubuntu and gain a market share so large that it will eclipse anything seen by Ubuntu to date.

Read on ...

Getting to know GNOME - ZDNet UK

If you're part of the 95 percent of the world that uses Windows, you know what a GUI is, but because you're running Windows, you're stuck with only one — the GUI Microsoft forces you to use.

In the Linux world, you can choose pretty much any GUI for your desktop. GNOME is one of the most popular desktops available, although you've probably heard of other ones such as KDE or Enlightenment.

GNOME is the default GUI for most of the major Linux distributions, including Red Hat, Suse, and Ubuntu. Even if your chosen distribution doesn't natively come with GNOME, you can easily install it. It rides on top of the Linux X Windows services, so almost any product that uses X can run GNOME.

Read on ...

Vista versus The Gutsy Gibbon - Ubuntu 7.10 - Rupert Goodwins - ZDNet UK

I'm currently using seven computers. Well, not at this precise moment (just three, as it happens), but darn it if I'm not proud of the fact.

Of those seven, three run XP, one runs Ubuntu 6.06, two are now on Ubuntu 7.10, and one is Vista. Apple has invited me along to the Festival of the Leopard, so I have high hopes that I'll soon be adding OS X to the mix (I do have a Mac OS 8 box in the bedroom, but I only use that for Crystal Quest, so it doesn't count).

My XP systems, I like. Everything works with them, the one in the office lets me use the office Windows-only software (gnash) that controls the phones, and the two at home get loaded up with other bits of hardware and software that i can't be bothered to (or just can't) shoehorn into Linux.

My Ubuntu boxes, I love. The 6.06 computer is an ancient Compaq Armada with a 500 MHz PIII, a smear of memory, a shagged battery, and an unusually large hard disk that got transplanted in from a dead Windows laptop. It does various server tasks perfectly well, I VNC into it from around the planet to keep it on its toes, and I last reset it after around 190 days uptime. It's the heart of the Goodwinsian computer matrix.

Read on ...

I Was Wrong: Microsoft Won - open dot dot dot

I could feel it in my bones: the great victory of the EU over MS is a sham. Here's why.

Ex-steely Neelie - to be renamed wheeler-dealer Neelie - said as follows:

I told Microsoft that it should give legal security to programmers who help to develop open source software and confine its patent disputes to commercial software distributors and end users. Microsoft will now pledge to do so.

And naively, I thought that meant what it said. Silly me. Reference to the rather low-profile EU FAQ clarifies:

Can open source software developers implement patented interoperability information?

Open source software developers use various “open source” licences to distribute their software. Some of these licences are incompatible with the patent licence offered by Microsoft. It is up to the commercial open source distributors to ensure that their software products do not infringe upon Microsoft’s patents. If they consider that one or more of Microsoft’s patents would apply to their software product, they can either design around these patents, challenge their validity or take a patent licence from Microsoft.

Read on ...

I have started a Flickr site for photos of mine. I have never found a photo album maker for GNU/Linux that I have really liked. I use to use Arles Image but, alas, it is not ported to GNU/Linux. Bummer!

~

Have managed to upload most of my months allotment of photos. Now I'll just have to upgrade to the "pro" so I can have more than 3 sets. The current sets are Sunsets, Graphitti and Denver Winter 06/07.

I have had some fun with Ubuntu 7.10 these past few days. I initially did the upgrade rather than a fresh install. The upgrade went well but over the first few days little problems started cropping up. The final straw was my sound going south. Ya just got to have sound man. So today I backed up everything and did a clean install plus a little reorganizing my partitions. Everything seems to be working better now.

A few things are still kind of weird though.

• gDesklets with no longer load on startup
• I am unable to use the "Normal" visual-effects because certain programs aren't working properly with them. (Thingamablog being one of them.)
• When logging in I can't get the start up screen to stay black. Once I log in it goes to the Ubuntu tan color until the wallpaper sets itself.

Of course some things are working now that didn't work before such as my usb powered external hard drive With 7.04 it would not unmount properly, now it does. Who knows?!

I like the new Tracker Search Tool. It doesn't take up as much resources as Google Desktop Search did. Google was a dog when it came to viewing email. It would just bring my laptop to a crawl.

Overall I am pretty happy with the OS and am looking forward to 8.04 as the LTS version will have support for 3 years as apposed to 18 months.

10 Rocking Features in 10 Days - Countdown to Ubuntu 7.10

Shuttleworth on Ballmer - Linux-Watch

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has once more claimed that Linux and open source violates Microsoft's intellectual property and patents. Canonical's CEO Mark Shuttleworth thinks Ballmer has it all wrong.

Ballmer comments reflect deeper problems - ZDnet

Ballmer Claims Red Hat Violates Microsoft IP - PCWorld

All open source dev should happen on Windows - Register

Ballmer threatens Linux and open source with patents again - Linux-Watch

After reading Xandros 4: The best desktop Linux for Windows users on DesktopLinux I headed over to Xandros to check it out. I happened to click on one of the purchase links and this page came up with the following:

Through its agreement with Xandros, Microsoft offers patent covenants for Xandros customers. These covenants will provide customers confidence that the Xandros technologies they use and deploy in their environments are compliant with Microsoft's intellectual property.

Would you like to purchase patent protection for your Xandros Desktop?

If you click on the "Yes, please tell me more" link you go to this page with the following:

Microsoft's patent assurance program provides you with perpetual protection for your Xandros Desktop. This includes the software included when you purchase Xandros Desktop, any service packs to that version, and any additional software that is available from Xandros' repository through Xandros Networks. It does not include third-party software not included with your Xandros Desktop, software downloaded through non-Xandros repositories, or major version upgrades (e.g. from version 4.2 to 5.0).

With its assurance program, Microsoft agrees to never hold you legally liable for violating Microsoft intellectual property. This program is available for $50.

Let me get this right, I have to pay an additional $50 for not being liable for a possible 235 patents that Microsoft claims LInux and other open-source programs violate but will not actually identify.

It makes me wonder what this money really is for. Is it just a kick back to Microsoft?

Overall it just sounds like extortion to me.

New iPods reengineered to block synching with Linux - boingboing

The latest iPods have a cryptographic "checksum" in their song databases that prevents third-party applications from synching with the portable music players. This means that iPods can no longer be used with operating systems where iTunes doesn't exist -- like Linux, where gtkpod and Amarok are common free tools used by iPod owners to load their players.

Notice that this has nothing to do with piracy -- this is about Apple limiting the choices available to people who buy their iPod hardware. I kept my iPod when I switched to Ubuntu Linux a year ago, and I've been using it happily with my machine ever since (though it took me a solid week to get all my DRMed Audible audiobooks out of iTunes -- I had to run two machines 24/7, playing hundreds of hours of audio through a program called AudioHijack, to remove the DRM from my collection, which had cost me thousands of dollars to build). I'd considered buying another iPod when this one started to show its age -- it's a perfectly nice player to use, provided you stay away from the DRM.

The new hardware limits the number of potential customers for Apple's products, adding engineering cost to a device in order to reduce its functionality. It's hard to understand why Apple would do this, but the most likely explanations are that Apple wants to be sure that competitors can't build their own players to load up iPods -- now that half of the major labels have gone DRM free, it's conceivable that we'd get a Rhapsody or Amazon player that automatically loaded the non-DRM tracks they sold you on your iPod (again, note that this has nothing to do with preventing piracy -- this is about preventing competition with the iTunes Store).

Read on ...

Tomorrow with be the 16th anniversary of Linus Torvalds upload of Linux kernal 0.0.1 to the internet. In honor here is his initial email about Linux

From: torvalds@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Linus Benedict Torvalds)
Newsgroups: comp.os.minix
Subject: What would you like to see most in minix?
Summary: small poll for my new operating system
Message-ID: <1991Aug25.205708.9541@klaava.Helsinki.FI>
Date: 25 Aug 91 20:57:08 GMT
Organization: University of Helsinki

Hello everybody out there using minix -
I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready.I'd like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system(due to practical reasons)
among other things). I've currently ported bash(1.08) and gcc(1.40),and
things seem to work.This implies that I'll get something practical within a
few months, andI'd like to know what features most people would want. Any
suggestions are welcome, but I won't promise I'll implement them :-)
Linus (torvalds@kruuna.helsinki.fi)
PS. Yes - it's free of any minix code, and it has a multi-threaded fs.
It is NOT protable (uses 386 task switching etc), and it probably never
will support anything other than AT-harddisks, as that's
all I have :-(.

Why Linux won't make it to a desktop near you - DesktopLinux

You're a marketer who finds an exciting new product developed by some really smart people. A great product few people have heard of is the Holy Grail of marketing -- all you have to do is tell everyone about it, and the world will beat a path to your door.

Isn't that the theory?

When you look more closely, you find it's not that simple. In fact, you find a set of insurmountable obstacles.

Read on ...

Create your own Einstein images @ www.hetemeel.com

Google has finally release a native Linux application of Google Desktop.

From DesktopLinux.com:

This first beta version doesn't offer the sidebar and gadgets, which are found in other versions of the application. Those will come later, according to a Google representative, who stated, "We focused most of our efforts on desktop search. Gadgets and sidebar are not supported, but will probably be added in the future."

The first version supports many popular versions of Linux. It comes in the form of both RPM and a DEB distribution packages. The RPM can be installed on Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE, and Mandriva distributions. The DEB will install on Debian and Ubuntu systems. The program works with both KDE and GNOME.

Officially, Google Desktop is supported on Debian 4.0, Fedora Core 6, Ubuntu 6.10, SUSE 10.1, and Red Flag 5. It should work, however, on any modern Linux that has glibc 2.3.2+ and gtk+ 2.2.0+ installed. For example, it also worked on MEPIS 6.5, even though Google doesn't mention compatibility with that distribution. At this time, it only supports PCs with 32-bit x86 compatible processors.

Read on ...

I have installed it and it shall be interesting to see how it compares to Beagle. One thing I have noted already is that it does index Thunderbird email, Beagle doesn't.

From ZDNet Australia:

Ubuntu, Red Hat reject Microsoft patent deal

Red Hat, the largest Linux vendor, and Ubuntu-maker Canonical have both rejected calls from Microsoft to forge a deal similar to the one the Redmond giant signed with Linux distributors Novell, Xandros, and Linspire.

Read on ...

via DesktopLinux

Linspire Inc. on June 13 announced an agreement to license voice-enabled instant messaging, Windows Media 10 CODECs, and TrueType font technologies from Microsoft for its Linux distribution. Additionally, Microsoft will offer protection to Linspire customers against possible violations of Microsoft patents by Linux, Linspire said.

In his June 14 weekly Linspire Letter, Linspire CEO Kevin Carmony stated, "This agreement will offer several advantages to Linspire Linux users not found anywhere else, such as Windows Media 10 support, genuine Microsoft TrueType fonts, Microsoft patent coverage, improved interoperability with Microsoft Windows computers, and so on."

Read on ...

From Open Source Law publications:

Brenden Scotts reply to the May 14th, Fortune article Microsoft takes on the free world

Software Patents: Microsoft jumps the shark (pdf)

There are a couple of interviews with Mark Shuttleworth recently.

"I'd love to work with Microsoft" - Duncan McLeod spoke to software billionaire Mark Shuttleworth last week about his Ubuntu Linux deal with Dell, the Microsoft software patent fracas, and his desire to return to live in SA. This is an edited extract.
(An edited interview with the complete one available on mp3)

Mark Shuttleworth Talks Dell, Hardware, Ubuntu 7.10 & More - Mark Shuttleworth has flown into space on a Soyuz TM-34 and founded Thawte Consulting that later sold to Verisign for over $500 million, but he is now known most for being the founder and leader of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. In addition to Ubuntu he also established HBD Venture Capital and is involved with several other free software projects. Earlier today we had spoke with Mark Shuttleworth to discuss the latest happenings in the Ubuntu world including Dell shipping Ubuntu PCs, getting open-source drivers from hardware vendors, and what is coming down the road for Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon.
(This is the one where he refers to Linux as "a bit of a dorky teenager" on page 3)

Dell Backpedals on Preloading Linux - newsfactor

The Linux camp's ears perked up earlier this week when Dell said it planned to unveil a new line of certified, Linux-loaded desktop and laptop PCs. But business users who want to buy a Dell machine with the open-source operating system preinstalled won't have that Linux luxury in the near-term.

Although Dell is dancing around the idea of reintroducing Linux desktops and notebooks, the computer maker said it won't make a move until one of the competing flavors of Linux emerges as a business favorite. Dell now maintains that it doesn't want to pick one Linux distribution and alienate users with a preference for another.

Read on

~ More ~

The empire strikes back - ITWire

With one stroke, Microsoft has reasserted its number one position as deal maker and decision maker in the computer industry, reminding all wannabes that they are just that - wannabes.

Yesterday's announcement that Dell would be joining the Microsoft-Novell pact is proof positive that Microsoft is playing the same game it always has - extend, embrace and then extinguish.

Notice that Dell wasn't exactly prominent in the announcement of the deal - most of the talking was done by Microsoft, in itself a reminder that whether you are a big player or not in the tech industry, you had better do as the boys in Redmond say. No getting too much out of line.

Read on

Via consumeraffairs.com

The news that Dell will begin making the fast-growing Ubuntu flavor of Linux available on some of its machines should be welcomed by consumers everywhere.

It not only makes a tiny dent in Microsoft's armor but also is one of the few times consumers can actually get something for nothing. Best of all, the something for nothing is, in this reviewer's humble opinion, a lot better than the high-priced spreads.

Though its name may sound odd initially, there's nothing odd about the way Ubuntu works. It is fast, lean and responsive, like a sleek jungle cat prowling through the South Africa outback.

Read on

I have summitted my laptop configuration to Linux on Laptops for their consideration.

Now it is wait and see time.

From the free features section of Wall Street Journal comes:

Linux Starts to Find Home on Desktops
More Businesses Adopt Cost-Saving Software For Some Workers' PCs

The Linux operating system, having made inroads into corporations' backroom server computers, is showing hints of inching into a much broader market: employees' personal computers.

The much-hyped notion that Linux would be viable software to run desktop and notebook PCs seemed dead on arrival a few years ago. But the idea is showing some new vital signs.

Chief information officers have experienced the cost savings that Linux has brought to their server computers, which do narrow and repetitive tasks such as data storage and serving up Web sites. Now some CIOs are taking new interest in installing Linux on workers' PCs as well, for certain narrow applications.

Auto maker PSA Peugeot Citroen last month said it will start using Linux on 20,000 of its workers' PCs. Novell Inc., which sells a version of Linux and is supplying it to Peugeot, says it has recently signed up several large U.S. financial institutions that are installing Linux on some employee PCs. Sales of Linux PCs are showing a "really nice uptick" at Novell, says Ronald Hovsepian, chief executive of Novell.

Read on ...

MIT Technology Review - Open Source and You

The real value of open-source software is the community it fosters.

No one would buy a car with the hood welded shut, but that is essentially what commercial software is. However, since computing began, some software has been distributed in such a way that users can change or repair it by modifying its source code--the step-by-step instructions that the computer executes when the software runs. Software distributed under a license that allows a programmer to modify the source code and freely distribute an improved version of it is called open source.

Open-source software can make good business sense. For example, a company might be able to reduce costs by building a product on top of an existing open-source application rather than writing it from scratch. But does open source matter to those who do not program computers? I think the answer is yes.

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I am sitting over at my local Einsteins using their hotspot and enjoying it. I wasn't sure how easy it would go with my Linux system, but no problemo. Just a click in the NetworkManager and away we go. It is slow compared to my wireless at home, but it's nice to be out of the house and connected.

Last week the power supply died on my DVR. With this opportunity at hand, I decided to go with a new Silverstone LC13 HTPC case to replace the Silverstone TJ06 case I had been using as I wanted to get it up off the floor. Because of the 3 dogs in the house and where it was located, the case seemed to be taking more that average amount of dust and dog hair which led to the eventual downfall of the power supply, and luckily just that. So, anyway, most of yesterday was spent rebuilding that system. I had no problems with the disassemble and rebuild, it was all very straight forward. The longest part of the day was installing WinXP and the required drivers, but once I was to the BeyondTV install, it was all downhill from there. The LC13 is not as quiet as the TJ06, but it does look better in the living room than the big tower case.

I did receive a little grief yesterday about using WinXP on that system. I would like to change over to Linux on it, but I am waiting for Linux DVR software to come of age. There are a few out there such as MythTV, but from what I have read they are close although still needing some development.

Since switching from XP to Ubuntu, I have noticed my battery is lasting longer per charge. Whether this would be true for all Linux distro's, I don't know, but I have noticed it with Ubuntu. I also don't know why except it must not have as much overhead and demands that XP did.

I am having an issue with the sleep mode. I rarely shut down my computer now, I usually just put it into sleep mode. After doing this a half dozen times, the power comes on but I just get a blank screen. I then have to do a forced shutdown. I have noted that this happens to others with laptops via various forums. It will be interesting to see whether the 7.04 release will take care of this issue.

~update~

I have noticed if I unplug any USB devices - mainly my mouse - the sleep problems goes away.

I have been using two different backup options to figure which I like best. To begin with, I did like ntbackup on my old XP install. It was straight forward and I like it did differential backups as I have never been a fan of incremetal backups. With my Ubuntu distribution, I have been using both Keep front end for rdiff and Simple Backup Suite (sbackup). I have decided to go with Keep. My main objection with sbackup is that I have to go into root to look at the backups, Keep doesn't require this. I do miss being able to do a full backup and then weekly differentials though. I will keep looking for possible replacements.

Man, haven't posted in a coons age.

Here are a couple of new links I have found recently pertaining to the installation of XP and Ubuntu:

Installing Ubuntu: A comparison of Ubuntu 6.06 and Windows XP
http://rhosgobel.blogspot.com/2006/06/installing-ubuntu-comparison-of-ubuntu.html

This weekend, I reinstalled XP and Ubuntu.
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=221756

~~

I have been running Ubuntu for a good month and a half and have enjoyed the experience. I have had a couple of problems along the way, but overall, everything has gone incredibly smooth.

Picasa started acting funny a few weeks ago. It requires me to change the permissions on 2 nvidia files after every shutdown. It also imports photos in reverse order of time stamp and photo number. Very bizarre.

Thingamablog still requires to be started from a terminal window.

I am still playing around with music files and my iPods. I have started copying my music onto my laptop with the intention of trying out Banshee's ability to sync with my Nano. Right now I am burning all my purchased iTunes music onto cd's so that I don't have to rely on a Windows machine to update my iPods.

I have liked using Tomboy for making notes and gFTP has worked fairly well for me as a replacement for WS_FTP.

I do miss not having Roboform anymore. I am using KeePass for my passwords, but it doesn't intigrate into a web browser. I guess I could memorize my passwords, but just think of all the brain cells that would require.

Here is a collection of links I have found useful for my beginning Linux experience. They range from help sites to news sites and are in no particular order

http://www.control-escape.com
http://www.linuxlinks.com
http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/
http://lxer.com/
http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/
http://www.ericharshbarger.org/lego/penguin.html - Lego Penguin
http://www.xpenguin.com/penguinlinks.php
http://www.linuxjournal.com/
http://www.linux-mag.com/

Having played around and messed up my first couple installs of Ubuntu, I noticed one quirk - When I re-installed and formatted my drive, there would still be some settings from my previous install. Nothing major, just little things, which makes me wonder whether the Ubuntu disk is really reformatting the drive or just re-partitioning it and moving some of the data.

Very strange.

Check out this cool website for choosing which Linux distro to install

Linux Distibution Chooser

Here is a wonderful article for those thing of moving to Linux/Ubuntu or moving someelse to it. It is worth the read

http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=58862 

To me it is a bit humorous - I always considered myself somewhat of a "Windows Power User". I guess I wasn't - I did modify the registry by hand, was able to install drivers not just form cd's, ect... - I guess I could really be a geek. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!

So, there are a couple of problems showing themselves with my recent Ubuntu install.

Wireless comes and goes. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Haven't quite figured that one out. It does appear there are quite a few people out there like me having these problems, so, more than likely, I am hoping, this will get worked out in future kernel and Ubuntu updates. (That is a nice run on sentence!)

I am having some problems with Ubuntu and Thingamablog. Luckily for me, Bob, who wrote the program, keeps a constant eye on his forum and helped me out pronto. Bob, you rule!

Picasa is causing some problems also. I really liked it as a photo manager in windows and for some reason it is just not working for me in linux. I will have to hit the forums harder for help on that one.

But I still am enjoying playing with it. Must be all the snow we have here in Denver. Nothing left to do but put linux on your laptop

~ Update ~

Yea - Picasa works now. I just have to learn the terminal window more. I am making silly little mistakes in it that prevent things from working correctly

I have installed Ubuntu 6.10 "Edgy Elf" on my Dell Inspiron 6000 and it is working amazingly well. The wireless took a few tries to get going but once I installed Wifi-Radar and Network Monitor everything was working just fine.

I was amazed that the function keys and media keys worked from the get go.

As far as iTunes goes, I have another Windows machine that I use as a DVR and have put my music on that machine.

I was incorrect about the firewall and antivirus. It is suggested to use a firewall with Linux and the most recent Linux kernal comes with a firewall. I have installed antivirus for the main reason of not passing on viruses to other Windows users.

As far as financial stuff, I am just starting a new set of files with Moneydance. It is not free, but I like it's look and feel more than the other applications available for Linux.