Politics and Technology

Regular readers of this blog know I am a big fan of the free Linux operating system, and open source software in general. One of the best Linux distributions out there is the Linux Mint project. It is based on the excellent Ubuntu Linux, but includes some of the niceties, such as multimedia codecs, right from the "get go".

Therefore, I was dismayed to read at Extreme Tech that one of the Mint developers, Clement Lefebvre, made a highly political post regarding the Israeli / Palestinian conflict. In it, he asked those who support the Israeli government to not use Linux Mint, nor contribute to the project. Initially, the post was made on the official Linux Mint blog, but has since been moved to Lefebvre's personal blog.

This is unfortunate, because whatever one's position on geopolitics, Linux has always been developed in the spirit of open, non-political cooperation. Also, Lefebvre is not the only developer, and should never have made such a statement.

Still, Mint is a great distro. I hope this episode doesn't cause it to fall by the wayside. Clement, you are out of line on this, and should retract the tying of Mint to your political views. You are certainly entitled to them, but despite your statements to the contrary, you did bond Mint and your politics with your statement about who should not use the product. Open source is open to all. You have erred, and erred greatly. Hopefully, you will retract this misguided statement, apologize, and put it behind you.

I Laugh at Conficker!

The Conficker computer worm is scheduled to hit infected computers running Microsoft Windows operating system tomorrow. No one really knows what havoc Conficker will wreak upon the web and individual computer users. It also could be a big nothing.

However, I have the ultimate Windows Virus protection. I don't run Windows on my personal laptop machine at all. When these things occur, I just relax, and enjoy the speed, convenience, and power that is GNU/Linux.

Not only that, but I haven't paid for software in years. There is always a free, open-source program for just about everything I need to accomplish.

So while you Windows users are checking your systems, downloading fixes, and wondering what tomorrow will bring, I will rest easy with the knowledge that my personal system is fine today, and fine tomorrow.

I will admit that I do have a Windows XP machine in the basement that rarely gets used, and the Lovely Spouse runs Windows XP on her laptop, but she is updating AVG Anti-Virus as I write this. My work PC is the responsibility of the corporate IT department, so I couldn't do anything to it if I wanted too...they have administrator rights locked down tight. (Well, I could crack in, but won't do it. Not worth it.).

Conficker, I laugh in your face!!

Nothing Like A Fresh OS!

Well, I have been running this laptop PC with PCLinuxOS for quite a while now, and it has been a real solid workhorse. This particular machine seems to be quite picky about what it likes and doesn't like. So anyway, I was curious about the new 2009 release of PCLOS, and decided to give it a try. I downloaded the CD image and burned it to disk, then installed it (of course I backed up my /home directory first). While things seemed to work pretty good, the MSNBC web site was all garbled in Firefox. I am sure there is a fix, but I thought why not try out a few of the new distros to see what is out there, as I haven't done so for a long time.

I first tried Linux Mint 6.0 which is based on Ubuntu, but includes the multimedia codecs that Ubuntu requires you to download and add. I almost stayed with Mint, but then my sound suddenly stopped working. Okay, so lets try another. I installed OpenSUSE 11.1, and it too is very nice, but it seemed a bit bloated and slow. So then it was off to Fedora 10, the free distribution sponsored by Red Hat. It looked great, but I was dismayed to find that my system froze up after a few minutes and required a hard reboot. I really like Fedora, so I figured let's try to find the fix.

Off I go to the Fedora Forum, and a quick search yielded a solution which involved adding one word to a line in a configuration file. I made the change, and everything became stable. So it was now a matter of downloading the codecs (yes, Fedora also requires that), using Yum to install some additional programs I use from the repositories, and configuring the printer/scanner. I also downloaded CUPS-PDF, so I could print to PDF files.

So now, I am back up and running full steam ahead. The thing I noticed is that all of the new Linuxes support my wifi card on the laptop...something that a year ago didn't happen. I have been using a Windows XP driver with NDISWRAPPER to run wifi, but now that intermediary layer is no longer required.

I also noticed that the default Fedora install puts a lot of foreign fonts on your system, supporting languages like Thai, Arabic, Urdu, and many others, even though I selected US English as my language of choice. So I uninstalled those, and replaced them with others that I will use.

I also found out that the default version of the multitrack sound editor, Audacity, that comes from Fedora doesn't support MP3 files. I found a version that does in one of the extra repositories and replaced the original one with that, and all is well.

The bottom line here is this...Fedora is terrific once you get past the issues to tweak your system, but it is not a distribution for a Linux neophyte. I am very happy with my setup now, but it took too much manual intervention for a beginner. For them, I would suggest Linux Mint, or even Ubuntu. Probably PCLinusOS is a good choice as well, as long as their system isn't as particular as mine.

In all fairness though, most regular computer users never install Windows either, which has its own set of installation issues. They just buy a computer with it already installed and never reinstall the OS. In fact, I know of several people who have bought new PCs, when their perfectly good one flakes out because of Windows issues.

As I continue to work with this new Fedora installation, I will post about any new issues that arise. So far, so good.

For information, this is a Gateway MT3701 laptop with 1 GB of RAM, an Intel Pentium Dual Core processor, and an ATI Radeon Express 200M video card.

Linux Broadcasts

As a big proponent of the GNU/Linux operating system, I thought I would recommend a few broadcasts you can listen to on the Internet that deal with this great alternative to Microsoft Windows. This is a good way to listen and learn about how to use Linux and the benefits you can derive from it.

The Gutsy Geeks (originally PC Chat) airs on KXAM, AM 1310 in Phoenix, and worldwide via the Internet. You can listen live, or listen to the podcast of the show on demand. The other show, Going Linux, is strictly a podcast. It includes show notes available for each program on their website, and covers a wide variety of topics related to Linux. Then there's the Linux Basement, which currently has 34 installments under its belt.

There's also a new one that I intend to check out, Linux Geekdom. They are just getting started, so I will be downloading and listening soon.

With all the issues with Windows Vista, Linux is a valuable (and free) upgrade for your PC. My Gateway MT-3705 laptop was slow as molasses in Alaska when Vista was installed. By replacing it with Linux, it boots quickly, responds quickly, and does everything I need it to do with speed and finesse. I also have found that the Gnome desktop environment is much faster than KDE. While I like both, I am finding that Gnome is much more responsive. I am still using the PCLinuxOS distribution and find that it is meeting my needs very well.

My PCLOS Haiku

On the discussion board for PCLinuxOS, someone started a thread to post haiku about the operating system. Developed by a guy in Houston who calls himself Texstar online, it is a great Linux distribution. So anyway, I wrote some haiku for the thread at the forum, and decided to post them here. So away we go . . .

Haiku #1

PC was too slow
Got an OS from Texstar
Best upgrade ever!

Haiku #2

My OS of choice?
Make mine PCLOS.
No Microsoft here.

Haiku #3

Use Linux? Of course!
Customizable? You bet!
Fast, safe, and secure!

Livin' La Vida Linux

I finally have the speedy laptop computer I knew this one could be. I mentioned before how I pulled out the original hard drive containing my Windows Vista installation and replaced it with a new drive onto which I loaded PCLinuxOS Mini-Me 2008. This is the first Linux distro I have found that supports everything in my Gateway MT3705 lappy, and this baby now boots up quickly, has so far run smoothly (with a couple of notable exceptions that were my fault), and is very stable. I also have toyed around more with Compiz-Fusion, and the snazzy desktop effect it gives are phenomenal. Still, they are a bit experimental, so for everyday use, I have C-F turned off.

I like PCLOS Mini-Me, as it gives you a quick, minimalist setup, onto which you can use apt-get or Synaptic to install whatever other programs you like. Using the Wine libraries, I even have the Windows version of Adobe Photoshop running on this computer. Not bad!

Another distribution of Linux, the venerable Suse Linux, is now owned by Novell. They have put together some clever spoofs of the "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" ads by Apple. They are pretty good, so I figured I'd share them here. Besides, wouldn't you rather have a babe like Linux working with you than the stodgy PC guy or the "thinks he's hip" Mac guy?


PC & Mac get caught running Linux!


Are there more than 2 choices?


Pleather! Hahahaha

Low Tech Solution to a High Tech Problem

Sometimes a little ingenuity and a simple approach beats a high-tech solution. Tonight, I thought I would get fancy and try out some experimental display drivers on the new PCLinuxOS installation I put on this laptop. Specifically, I was toying with Compiz-Fusion settings. Compiz-Fusion is a software subsystem that gives you all sorts of fancy graphic effects. However, I changed one setting that hosed the display. All I could see was a black screen with a few white blocks here and there, along with the mouse pointer. Uh-Oh!

Since I have spent a few hours downloading and installing various software packages, I didn't want to start all over again with a reinstallation, but knew that I had that option if I couldn't find any other way to get this problem reversed. Knowing that I have that ace in the hole, along with the other hard drive with Windows Vista intact, was a safety net that kept me cool and collected. I got to thinking, "If only I knew where to click on the screen to change back to the old settings everything would be fine." That led to the idea that turned out to be a very quick and simple solution.

I booted my system from the Live CD of PCLinuxOS, ran the configuration tool from there, and used pieces of paper sticky notes to indicate where I had to click to change the settings. It was a total of 5 clicks around the screen, so I numbered the paper in the proper order. I then shut down the system, removed the CD, and once again booted from the hard drive.

Click by click, following my paper trail of sticky note pieces, I went through blindly on the black screen. Then I shut down the system, and rebooted again. Voila! It worked like a charm. So, I guess that is one setting I will leave alone. Still, one reason to install Linux is to experiment and learn, and I did indeed learn from this. My solution was certainly faster than a reinstallation of the OS and all the programs. In a matter of less than 2 minutes, I was back in business!

So there are times when an unorthodox solution turns out to be the right one. This was one such instance.

Coffee Shop, CLUE, and Linux

It's about 5:30 PM, and I have left the office for the day. I am sitting in the Caribou Coffee shop not far from work, enjoying a strawberry-banana smoothie. It is quite tasty, but in a weird way, it reminds me of the taste of those Gerber baby bananas. Or at least sort of how I remember them, since I haven't eaten any of those in a very, very long time.

In any case, I decided to stop by and relax for a few minutes. After I leave here, I am headed to the monthly general meeting of CLUE, the Colorado Linux Users & Enthusiasts. Hopefully, it will be a good program tonight, as I haven't made the effort in several months. I am particularly interested now, since over the last weekend I managed to get GNU/Linux up and running on my laptop.

Last November I posted on here about my intent to do this from the time I purchased this machine over a year ago. My efforts were thwarted in that there were no drivers for some of the hardware in any of the Linux distros I tried. Well, after trying the latest Mini-Me 2008 version of PCLinuxOS on this Gateway MT-3705, I decided to take the plunge.

In order to not risk mucking up my Vista installation, I went to Best Buy and found a 120 GB laptop hard drive on clearance for $62. What a deal! I went home and replaced the Vista drive with the new Hitachi model, loaded PCLinuxOS Mini Me, and we were off to the races! I haven't tried a couple of things, like burning DVDs or CDs for example, but so far, so good. I did have to use Ndiswrapper and a Windows XP driver for the network card, and it is working perfectly. The sound, another problem on previous Linuxes (except Fedora 8), also works from the get go. I couldn't use Fedora though, since it doesn't support Ndiswrapper without some complicated tweaking, which was more than I wanted to do.

Since Mini Me is a light version without much software, I then fired up Synaptic to get Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and a host of other programs; grabbed the Microsoft core web fonts, and now this machine is doing great. I have had quite a few hits on this blog about this subject from other users of the same machine, so hopefully this will help others.

So for now, my Vista install is safe and sound on the hard drive I removed. If I ever need to get to it, it will be pretty easy. However, if I ever do want to reinstall Windows on this, I will likely repartition and make space for XP after I round up the drivers for it. Vista is nice, but XP just seems to be a better choice.