It really is a personal computer. You get this interface and it becomes yours. Like the Twilight Zone, you control the horizontal, the vertical and you learn what to expect when you do this and when you do that. Hey, don't do that or else............you know!
I've used XFCE, Gnome, KDE, Fluxbox, Openbox, Enlightenment and several other Linux desktops. If you are immediately struck with any of them you are bound to learn all the secrets, shortcuts and workarounds to make navigating your personal computer desktop efficient for yourself. I have gone from not tweaking much with one desktop to tweaking everything to get it right on another. I am still hard pressed to recommend one of them, depends on what you are willing to deal with and what looks good to you.
Today I am exploring the world of Ubuntu Linux with KDE eyes. KDE has improved over the years and although I was never a through thick-n-thin fan, I waited for what its become today, pretty impressive. KDE is not a skinny resource sipping desktop, it's robust, a lot of the bells and whistles have been consolidated and trimmed. This is due to all the progress made in desktop effects and a settling down among folks determined to out do MS and Apple (my opinion). Good job KDE folks, good job!
Your Linuxville guide is always in the love/hate mode when it comes to Linux distros. There is stuff in this distro and stuff in that, it is maddening. Sort of like going to buy a car, you want a Chevy Impala, they ask "you want the vanilla version, the sporty version or the luxury version?" The difference? Seat covers, wheel covers and your public image.
There are several distros that flaunt themselves as artist oriented distros. This usually means they come standard with audio,video, graphical software in some mix.
Ubuntu Studio is DVD sized and is multi-media focused.
ArtistX is also Ubuntu based and is multi-media focused and is DVD size.
OpenArtist is DVD size, has some multi-media stuff but is visual art focused. OpenArtist has all kinds of special configuration scripts to make certain apps work better for drawing and then work with each other.
Puppy Artist Workshop is a version of Puppy Linux. This is a CD size distro. It doesn't try to have it all, just what is useful for most of us pixel pushers. Puppy is a special design of its own. It is not based on Ubuntu, Red Hat or Slackware.
The weird thing is that most folks don't even know you can even do anything in Linux, let alone art of any kind. There is a long list of applications both commercial and open source. The open source stuff is free quality software, you just have to use it and get to know it. Gimp and Inkscape have most if not all of the tools and techniques found in Photoshop and Illustrator. The interfaces are different, some work flows are different and some file formats. Like I said there is a long list and I don't think this one has them all. The kicker is most open source software has MS Windows versions and well as the Linux versions.
So, you can change your OS if you want or not. My attitude is this if you got school kids and they need to write reports and papers, use free software. If you need to train for a job and must have MS Office, buy it. I recommend Open Office Write, AbiWord, IBM Symphony, or KDE's KWord, all are great word processors, free and will produce .doc format documents. I think I like KWord the best. But don't blame me if you get reverse sticker shock. If you want to compensate the writers and developers for their free and open source software offerings, most will take donations to continue their efforts. It's sort of like public radio, commercial free and community supported.
And me, my reasons for using open source software, they come with Linux so I use them. I have a kind a liberty where I don't worry about the price or if I can afford to buy commercial software, because I have all what I need in open source. There is a silent chant in the working world that says "everybody's using Microsoft stuff, so I need to do likewise to be compatible." For 99.5% of the computer users, compatible means "makes standard Microsoft document formats." If other programs can do that you are off the hook. That is how I verify wither or not I need to buy a MS based product. It was the same regarding MS Windows as an operating system. This new Windows 7 will be a game changer though, it is looking better than both XP and Vista, time will tell. But for me another big reason for using open source software is near-zero end user agreements or authorizations and no activations, the software I acquired can be installed on all my machines. I can pass them around to friends and they can do the same without threat of legal reprisals.
Ok, there is one problem that users have, it's sort of like stigma. We hate to use stuff that others around us aren't using. No one likes being the odd ball. It's also kind of ironic how we want to be unique but not different. The TV commercials exploit this, notice that while MS and Mac vie, Linux and open source is not mentioned at all. Also you don't see this stuff on the store shelves, so it is not on your radar. Having been thoroughly informed and entertained in the media and assured by seeing MS and Mac stuff on the shelves, it is a no-brainer choice. Now after you spent your money, committed your time and energy, I come along and say Linux can do what the other guys can do and do it for free. All you can say is "but".
Relax, you have entered the "Linux Zone", it is different here, yet you still get the job done.
Showing posts with label Linux and Open Source Software. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linux and Open Source Software. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
pushing the Titanic with a paddle
It is a simple equation, change one computer user to use open source at a time.
A single user doing personal computing usually has no problem seeing the light of change. A small business might also realize the benefits of open source applications. Schools, larger businesses and governments are reluctant to change because the cost of change is not just measured in money spent. It is not only the cost of new software, training or workflows. It is changing the minds of people all entrenched, networked and efficient at doing things as they stand. Everybody agrees that to outfit a larger concern with open source software you have to reset the mentalities of all the execs, management, support techs and work staff. This is changing the tools by which business is done. Retooling takes time and costs money.
Because of entrenchment, we have given in to teaching the next generation to follow suit, to continue doing business with the same tools, the same methods and projecting the same outcomes. Today we see that many have over stepped and over reached to the ruin of business itself. So, to make adjustments we are asking a new generation to strive to use the same tools and methods in new and creative ways.
We have outlawed the use of lead in consumer products, but the promise of the possibility of turning lead into gold still gives us reason to teach lead use to each new generation. This is true with coal and oil and all the chemicals, processes and products derived from them. To just abandon them, stop using them, is too big a change. It is unthinkable not to use them and to find alternatives puts everything we have now in jeopardy.
The American way is at stake and the way we live and do business, what we value....................
Meanwhile in the background, in diverse corners of the globe the much envied and coveted ways and means of doing business and education by which we have promoted and leveraged indirect authority and influence, is slipping as great quantities of peoples are realizing open source ways. Solar power, wind power and open source software can be had and used without war and without threats of war, without treaty violations, without patient infringement.
Oh, and by the way, some folks have invented the almost neutral backyard nuclear power generating station (still being tested and proven) so nations wanting a big political leverage/physical disaster waiting to happen doomsday device should reconsider. I don't endorse nukes, but who am I, right?
The problem is who makes the bucks? Who controls the revenue stream from the sale and use of the tools of education and business? I know this is the fact. Schools contact me all the time wanting me to attend because having been guided through their coursework at great cost to me means I've become qualified to obtain employment to be able to pay them back. If I have the right stuff, I could download the same material, learn the same knowledge and be equally able to do the work. Seems being qualified to work is a matter of paying some sort of dues to an approved institution. Then if you don't live here and got the education and skills, you can come here and work, not many questions asked. That element called the "right stuff" is rampant among people struggling to improve themselves and their nations. They won't forever endure the deals from Microsoft. MS was so worried about the One-Laptop-Per-Child program because the laptops was not using their software. MS should have been about putting solar arrays in those remote and diverse places so that kids could power those laptops and have lights, communications and pumps for drinking water, etc. Allegiance to a brand-name may grant limited opportunities but most often leaves you subject to the will of your benefactor. Believe me, mutual benefits mean you take a little less and give something in return. Now you must fight for rights, control and destiny's future. It's the give me a fish or a fishing pole/net scenario.
Don't mean to point fingers and name names, just to state principle from a point of view. Business should ask if a person has word processing skills, then what software. Using Open Office should not disqualify one from working a job using MS Word. If the job requires advanced or MS Word specific skills then say no or provide training and be done with it. Businesses have gotten out of the habit of making experts and prefer to buy an expert, trained and experienced already. To follow the just do the work trend, we've eliminated training for specific skills, research and development, engineering, and now manufacturing. We've become corporate HQ's pushing virtual paperwork for warranty, insurance, maintenance agreements, and law offices to protect patients and copy-right violations. Oh gee, no wonder average folks can't find work? You need a 4 year degree minimum to do anything. The infrastructure and substructure of business is swallowed and overshadowed by the superstructure.
The pyramid is built for the top stone only and is the monument of a single self. We ignore the fact that it is a death chamber and grave stone, while an engineering marvel, contributes nothing to the livelihood of the neighborhood except slavery in the past and tourist dollars today. Ever wonder why it is ideal to have a hermetically sealed stainless steel casket to bury a lifeless decaying corpse that will never, ever be used again? I don't need no stinking pyramid, got my own millennium time capsule! I will preserve my memory, I will defy even the dust I am destined to return to. It's my dust, darn it, my molecules, they must not be mingled, blended or dispersed!!??.............
We have been misdirected in many things, sometimes too much. In spite of all our experience we still can't admit a wrongness about our ways. I don't think anybody in the Open Source community wants to totally dismantle and decimate all we know. But what we would like to see is new ways to see and deal with problems that pledge our world. And what we are realizing is that fighting for the rights to have and use old tools and knowledge is a time and resource and people waster. We would like to see education improve life around the world and not used as a political weapon or means to enslave with ignorance and misinformation. Open source is a way, like solar panels and wind generators, to embrace and use what we already have.
A single user doing personal computing usually has no problem seeing the light of change. A small business might also realize the benefits of open source applications. Schools, larger businesses and governments are reluctant to change because the cost of change is not just measured in money spent. It is not only the cost of new software, training or workflows. It is changing the minds of people all entrenched, networked and efficient at doing things as they stand. Everybody agrees that to outfit a larger concern with open source software you have to reset the mentalities of all the execs, management, support techs and work staff. This is changing the tools by which business is done. Retooling takes time and costs money.
Because of entrenchment, we have given in to teaching the next generation to follow suit, to continue doing business with the same tools, the same methods and projecting the same outcomes. Today we see that many have over stepped and over reached to the ruin of business itself. So, to make adjustments we are asking a new generation to strive to use the same tools and methods in new and creative ways.
We have outlawed the use of lead in consumer products, but the promise of the possibility of turning lead into gold still gives us reason to teach lead use to each new generation. This is true with coal and oil and all the chemicals, processes and products derived from them. To just abandon them, stop using them, is too big a change. It is unthinkable not to use them and to find alternatives puts everything we have now in jeopardy.
The American way is at stake and the way we live and do business, what we value....................
Meanwhile in the background, in diverse corners of the globe the much envied and coveted ways and means of doing business and education by which we have promoted and leveraged indirect authority and influence, is slipping as great quantities of peoples are realizing open source ways. Solar power, wind power and open source software can be had and used without war and without threats of war, without treaty violations, without patient infringement.
Oh, and by the way, some folks have invented the almost neutral backyard nuclear power generating station (still being tested and proven) so nations wanting a big political leverage/physical disaster waiting to happen doomsday device should reconsider. I don't endorse nukes, but who am I, right?
The problem is who makes the bucks? Who controls the revenue stream from the sale and use of the tools of education and business? I know this is the fact. Schools contact me all the time wanting me to attend because having been guided through their coursework at great cost to me means I've become qualified to obtain employment to be able to pay them back. If I have the right stuff, I could download the same material, learn the same knowledge and be equally able to do the work. Seems being qualified to work is a matter of paying some sort of dues to an approved institution. Then if you don't live here and got the education and skills, you can come here and work, not many questions asked. That element called the "right stuff" is rampant among people struggling to improve themselves and their nations. They won't forever endure the deals from Microsoft. MS was so worried about the One-Laptop-Per-Child program because the laptops was not using their software. MS should have been about putting solar arrays in those remote and diverse places so that kids could power those laptops and have lights, communications and pumps for drinking water, etc. Allegiance to a brand-name may grant limited opportunities but most often leaves you subject to the will of your benefactor. Believe me, mutual benefits mean you take a little less and give something in return. Now you must fight for rights, control and destiny's future. It's the give me a fish or a fishing pole/net scenario.
Don't mean to point fingers and name names, just to state principle from a point of view. Business should ask if a person has word processing skills, then what software. Using Open Office should not disqualify one from working a job using MS Word. If the job requires advanced or MS Word specific skills then say no or provide training and be done with it. Businesses have gotten out of the habit of making experts and prefer to buy an expert, trained and experienced already. To follow the just do the work trend, we've eliminated training for specific skills, research and development, engineering, and now manufacturing. We've become corporate HQ's pushing virtual paperwork for warranty, insurance, maintenance agreements, and law offices to protect patients and copy-right violations. Oh gee, no wonder average folks can't find work? You need a 4 year degree minimum to do anything. The infrastructure and substructure of business is swallowed and overshadowed by the superstructure.
The pyramid is built for the top stone only and is the monument of a single self. We ignore the fact that it is a death chamber and grave stone, while an engineering marvel, contributes nothing to the livelihood of the neighborhood except slavery in the past and tourist dollars today. Ever wonder why it is ideal to have a hermetically sealed stainless steel casket to bury a lifeless decaying corpse that will never, ever be used again? I don't need no stinking pyramid, got my own millennium time capsule! I will preserve my memory, I will defy even the dust I am destined to return to. It's my dust, darn it, my molecules, they must not be mingled, blended or dispersed!!??.............
We have been misdirected in many things, sometimes too much. In spite of all our experience we still can't admit a wrongness about our ways. I don't think anybody in the Open Source community wants to totally dismantle and decimate all we know. But what we would like to see is new ways to see and deal with problems that pledge our world. And what we are realizing is that fighting for the rights to have and use old tools and knowledge is a time and resource and people waster. We would like to see education improve life around the world and not used as a political weapon or means to enslave with ignorance and misinformation. Open source is a way, like solar panels and wind generators, to embrace and use what we already have.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
making open source known and loved
He who writes the history has the strength of his point of view. I am thinking about who discovered America......., first? Does first claim really give people power, authority and influence? I do know that if you repeat a thing enough in the public's ear, it tends to stick, the same as when things appear in print. So you make a claim and repeat it until everyone believes it. The trouble is that it may not be the whole truth and maybe falsehood entirely. So, Columbus was here first from a certain point of view. The people he met here did not write history so they had no valid claim to the people Columbus reported to. He who writes the ads has the strength of his point of view. History/advertising/history, there is no difference.
We buy sneakers with the brand-name because they are endorsed by well known champions. We buy because we like to emulate and imitate and psyche ourselves into believing we are improved by having bought. What about track stars wearing the best engineered sneakers in the world being beaten consistently by unknowns wearing shoes made from recycled tire treads? Not a problem, the brand-name sneaker company will go all out to put their shoes on those faster feet. The name-brand sneaker maker's reputation remains intact and the advertising rings true. The real truth is, it's not the shoes!
Who writes history/ads, who believes them? So far in the cyber-world, the commercial names have the advantage because they write the history/ads. Any business with a product who does not market is unknown, period. It does not matter if you have truly the best product ever made, if you don't advertise it, no one will know to buy.
Linux and Open Source Software need to develop a marketing plan according to the open source way of doing business. One example I listen to everyday is Public radio/TV. It delivers in an open format news and shows not found on network radio/TV with little to no commercial advertising support, being funded by individual listeners and foundation donations. This requires two things, the ability to ask users for funding and support in a more obvious way and a certain accountability so that folks know where bucks are going. It's all about how this program is explained into the public's ear, what they see in the media. Then repeat it, until we all believe it, accept it, do it. We sort of have done some of this already but public radio/TV is well known and Linux and Open Source Software is not, so we have a lot of work to do.
Linux and Open Source Software are free, yet people have a hard time believing that. They are right for thinking that, everything cost something. While it is free, support is requested. This can be donations of money, word of mouth promoting, bug reporting, project development or however people can be involved in the user support community.
The commercial concerns in cyber-world want Linux and Open Source Software to endorse the traditional business models and structures, play by their rules, they call it a level playing field. Linux and Open Source Software does not fit those models, those structures and transends field play. We are a parallel universe sharing the same space and allowing people to travel inter-dimensionally back and forth as needed. We should stick with the open source way, we have come this far, and have worked wonders.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
the secret of brand-X
You know in every movie you get a kick out of there is some scene that is memorable. The one where the Joker dressed as an artist goes through the museum with boom-box and spray paint making adjustments to great works of art in Gotham City. Or in Star Wars, Luke discovers "open source", I mean the force. He gets reminded by a whisper later " use open source Luke", I mean "use the force Luke". Obiwan says "you have entered into a wider reality" or something like that. In the DOS days, I remember the free trade of software. It was sporting to put your stuff out there for others to use and fiddle with. Soon however, this practice faded away. The software got better and user rights became pinched with price and user agreements and copyright restrictions. Software became marketable entities. Of course with continuing improvements and growing user base, prices go up also and user restrictions become binding but veiled threats (who reads those things anyway). There is word of mouth, ads, and of course comparisons. The psychological leverage of a name brand says that buying this you will succeed. Why then open source?, because guys with the best engineered sneakers in the world are consistently beaten by guys with running shoes made from recycled tire treads!!! Today you have a choice to spend the bucks or "borrow" a copy or get for free the means to manipulate a Bezier curve. If the Bezier curve is a standard in vector graphics, you are paying good money for what if the priced and free programs do the exact same thing. So you are aspiring to get into computer graphics, want to play with the tools before you commit big bucks for a "professional graphics suite", or you are considering putting it all on the back burner because you can't afford to get the "pro tools", yet. You need to change your thinking, open source is here to meet your aspirations and demands. Without the man, walking or running, a sneaker (any brand name) is just a foot covering. If you become great at Bezier curves, it doesn't matter the software that does them. So, in this corner, Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator, in the other, behind the brand-X mask, GIMP, Inkscape, Sodipodi, OpenOffice.org Draw, Scribus, Xara Xtreme to name a few. Let the developers compete, but you the user can reap the spoils because you are "the user".
There is a difference between computer aided drafting and fine art drawing. Drafting involves the accurate dimensions of things and diagrams closely tied to grids for neat efficient appearance. Fine art drawing on the computer is a lot of eyeball judgment. With fine art drawing, there are pen and tablet devices that are a little better than drawing with a mouse. But the main thing is the required methods to get things done I call a work flow. Work flows are how things are done, draw a line, adjust a line, erase a line. Then working with layers is so different than doing it on paper. The advantage is that you can isolate elements, adjust only those elements without effecting the elements on other layers. Say you have a background and a foreground with your picture. You could trim around your image so that the background would show through when viewed together. Then you could change either the foreground or background at your discretion.
The most wonderful thing on a pencil is a large eraser, on a computer it's undo and redo. Computers also allow you to cut, paste, drag, drop and other useful things that are very labor intensive on paper. You can setup a pretty snazzy art studio with a decent computer, some graphics applications, a scanner, color printer and a determination to fit your wild ideas into the constraints of work flows to express them. Constraints, what constraints? Well, if you are working in bit-mapped graphics or pixel graphics this is one thing. A bit or pixel say the size of the head of a pin when blown up will look like the tile on your bathroom wall. The little picture becomes a mosaic of colored squares. It resembles the original but is a blocky representation at best. Vector graphics on the other hand are computer generated end points. When you blow them up they retain the proportions of the original, no matter how big you make them. So, you can do a little vector drawing and print it out on a big format. We say it's scalable. The bit-mapped graphic closely resembles traditional art work with pencil or brush. Vector graphics is something born on the computer and uses the computer's math power to represent a picture.
In Linuxville, the tradition is not to make you a consumer, but give you the tools so that you can do things yourself. You can start doing stuff right away because all is free or low cost. And if you think I am trying to persuade you into the Linux fold, you are correct, but I recommend also you investigate open source software if you are inclined to stay with the Microsoft powered PC. Today there is no need for the wallet to limit your access to software and the skills to use them.
There is a difference between computer aided drafting and fine art drawing. Drafting involves the accurate dimensions of things and diagrams closely tied to grids for neat efficient appearance. Fine art drawing on the computer is a lot of eyeball judgment. With fine art drawing, there are pen and tablet devices that are a little better than drawing with a mouse. But the main thing is the required methods to get things done I call a work flow. Work flows are how things are done, draw a line, adjust a line, erase a line. Then working with layers is so different than doing it on paper. The advantage is that you can isolate elements, adjust only those elements without effecting the elements on other layers. Say you have a background and a foreground with your picture. You could trim around your image so that the background would show through when viewed together. Then you could change either the foreground or background at your discretion.
The most wonderful thing on a pencil is a large eraser, on a computer it's undo and redo. Computers also allow you to cut, paste, drag, drop and other useful things that are very labor intensive on paper. You can setup a pretty snazzy art studio with a decent computer, some graphics applications, a scanner, color printer and a determination to fit your wild ideas into the constraints of work flows to express them. Constraints, what constraints? Well, if you are working in bit-mapped graphics or pixel graphics this is one thing. A bit or pixel say the size of the head of a pin when blown up will look like the tile on your bathroom wall. The little picture becomes a mosaic of colored squares. It resembles the original but is a blocky representation at best. Vector graphics on the other hand are computer generated end points. When you blow them up they retain the proportions of the original, no matter how big you make them. So, you can do a little vector drawing and print it out on a big format. We say it's scalable. The bit-mapped graphic closely resembles traditional art work with pencil or brush. Vector graphics is something born on the computer and uses the computer's math power to represent a picture.
In Linuxville, the tradition is not to make you a consumer, but give you the tools so that you can do things yourself. You can start doing stuff right away because all is free or low cost. And if you think I am trying to persuade you into the Linux fold, you are correct, but I recommend also you investigate open source software if you are inclined to stay with the Microsoft powered PC. Today there is no need for the wallet to limit your access to software and the skills to use them.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Front porch in Linuxville revisited
You know, backyards and attics are kind of private worlds, it's good to retreat once in a while, get some perspective on things. My all time favorite place is the front porch. From there you can choose to engage the whole world or sit back and be a spectator. Surveying Linuxville you can see things in a good light and select at your leisure what you wish to get involved with. Like looking at people, you can almost see their genetic make-up in their faces. Some faces are are so familiar, some so similar to others. In college a couple of African med students said I reminded them of some folks they knew back home. I am talking about Linux. 400+ distros and on the surface they each seem so unique. The GUI makes some distros so similar, they could be clones. Put Xfce on any distro and you have the Xfce look and feel. The same with KDE or Gnome or any of the desktops and window managers. Look at people faces, no makeup or with makeup to express any assorted appearance agenda. Content, well, some are more talented than others in certain areas, but the thing that matters is always the same. The applications are the same whither on Ubuntu or Fedora, OpenOffice.org is OpenOffice.org. People just like to compare and fuss, that is in their nature. This is too much, I like this, I hate that, this is lame, this is excellent and that is not enough. Many of you don't remember the folk song about little boxes made of ticky tack, all made the same. When the WWII soldiers came home, neighborhoods sprang up like a rash. It was more economical and efficient to build them the way they did, small lots, close together to share resources and to accommodate the numbers. Sounds like the marketing strategy of a certain software company. It met the need for the time but how cool is a 60+ year old house with aluminum siding and amenities designed for your grand parent's day. Well, you can buy into it all or move on to something suited to the present reality. Even if you don't buy into this unabashed Linux promo, you have to wonder why in the face of the digital divide do we still feel throwing scarce dollars at the teaching of technology problem will solve it. Forget about paying Mr. Gates and Mr. Jobs for their digital enslavement. OpenOffice.org and other open source software are valuable to train students to use the tools that are out there. Other than Nike, who asks a runner if they wear Nike shoes as a perquisite to race. Businesses should expect you to be able to use a word processor, it shouldn't matter the brand, there is not much difference between them anyway because we expect certain things to be in the applications. We compare free with commercial and say what's the catch? OpenOffice.org will run on MS Windows or Linux. I would rather push Linux but am probably already asking too much to consider open source. No. Part of the technology solution is putting tools in the hands of students. They will continue to lack those tools if we require them to buy them from vendors whose main business is to extract those dollars. Linux is free, open source software is free, they are valuable learning tools and resources that can be tapped today. You see speaking from one's front porch gives you a little strength compared to none on a soapbox in the square. I have my humble beginnings and I have learned a few things, I can't consider myself an extraordinary individual, geek, genius or tech guru but, having to adapt to many environments in the working world I see what could have made life better for me if it were available at that time. Linux and or open source is the way to go today. If you still feel to throw money at Steve and Bill, therapy might help. Even deep discounts and signed co-operation agreements can't beat free.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Still in disguise
A friend of mine brought the why MS XP in a window question to me. He never gave me time to answer, so I had time to think about it. My purpose is to access the MS Internet Explorer only web sites that are the rage with government and charity groups. I could have used Wine or similar emulation software. Being a techie/user I do need to keep a finger on what other folks are using, gotta keep my skills up. But in these tough and tight times, let me paint a little picture so you can know what's behind my thinking. First are those people who insist that a Mac is better and easier than MS on a PC. Well, which is better, a Cadillac or a Lexus (where's my consumer's report)?? For the price of either I can buy two smaller, not bad looking, fully decked, fuel efficient Toyotas or other cars. Now, is it status, prestige or other ego driven values that say you must have the high price car. Now, I just can't see stiffing Mr. Gates to pay Mr. Jobs only to be locked into a different but similar deal. OK, in any case you've already invested in MS or Apple, and have to live with it, right? I bought an HP desktop. Included in the package was MS XP with MS Works productivity suite. This Works is incompatible with regular MS Office files and formats. I could not afford or justify buying MS Office for my occasional use. Many, many users I know would shrug shoulders and say, I will use this until I can afford to buy, borrow or steal (secretly) MS Office. The open source movement has provided a free office suite called OpenOffice.org. It will produce documents that can be saved in MS Office compatible files and formats. If you only use it occasionally, like most home PC users, it is more than adequate for you to acquire and use. Your first reaction (typical), "It's not Microsoft, Microsoft is what everybody else is using." The truth is, the only thing that matters is the file format. As long as the software makes a .doc file, that is all that's necessary. Business users might have a tussle if you are prone to using macros and using Microsoft propriety programming, but you, the average home user have the liberty to have your needs met at no expense. There is a web site, http://www.webi.org/ which has a long list of softwares that are open source and free and run on MS PC's. Please don't give me that MS/Mac quality of software argument, you are biased by familiarity. Don't think that today's open source and free software developers aren't also former, present or future, MS/Apple employees. That side of the world is more than you know. And would you hire a guy/gal who made shoddy software before they came to you for work?
Well, many of these open source softwares run on Linux and MS Windows, a few on Mac. Linux offers a stable platform and virtual machines allow MS Windows to run on the same machine at the same time. Linux has a reputation of being complicated and user unfriendly. Reputations "never" keep up with the present reality if it has indeed changed. I would even say Linux is as easy if not easier to use than using a Mac. Mac is a closer cousin to Linux than most will admit, at least a better looking one some will say. We are so swayed by desktop placements, arrangements and all that stuff. Once we get used to one desktop, it's hard to change or consider another. So, if you are committed to living with your MS desktop and your budget is strained and yet need adequate software, look into to free and open source applications. Save your stimulus package money for a hardware upgrade or a new Lexus.
Well, many of these open source softwares run on Linux and MS Windows, a few on Mac. Linux offers a stable platform and virtual machines allow MS Windows to run on the same machine at the same time. Linux has a reputation of being complicated and user unfriendly. Reputations "never" keep up with the present reality if it has indeed changed. I would even say Linux is as easy if not easier to use than using a Mac. Mac is a closer cousin to Linux than most will admit, at least a better looking one some will say. We are so swayed by desktop placements, arrangements and all that stuff. Once we get used to one desktop, it's hard to change or consider another. So, if you are committed to living with your MS desktop and your budget is strained and yet need adequate software, look into to free and open source applications. Save your stimulus package money for a hardware upgrade or a new Lexus.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Xubuntu renovations in progress
Greetings from Linuxville, excuse the mess. Xubuntu 8.04 has arrived and I've been up to my elbows downloadn', installn' and soon to be tweakn'. Everything downloaded and installed great, except I have a 64-bit machine and a 64-bit Xubuntu, so I needed a "nspluginwrapper" to allow me to use a 32-bit Flash plugin in Firefox. Someone tell Adobe that 64-bit Linux machines are here to stay!! If it weren't for the user fourms, I'd be kickn' my box. Haven't noticed any big changes on the new Xubuntu yet, I'm still nosing around. Did get QGRUBeditor, which is a GUI for managing the Grub boot loader. I still have the older Xubuntu 7.10 on the drive, for now, and I can log into it, my choice. I installed Xubuntu 8.04 right over MS WinXP (ha!) which I plan to reinstall as a virtual machine. The Xubuntu iso file doesn't include a lot of stuff I want, it is after all meant to be lean for lower resource hardware. Being such, it is Ubuntu's best kept secret and I do want to whisper this, Xfce is better than KDE and Gnome!! (my thought). So, after adding some fat apps to my Xubuntu bones, I'm ready to compute.
I have heard some things around town. Firefox, it is said, gets slower when you add too many extensions and plugins. I don't know this to be true, I have no complaints. But if you folks are into the social net thing and photos and such, you should look at the Flock browser, it is made for this stuff. I like downloadn' flash movies and such and found a new app called Miro. Miro hooks you up to video feeds and your saved video files so you can organize and play all day. It is sad that the Linux home entertainment center idea seems to have cooled off some. Many of those projects have not seen recent development updates in a while. You'd think with the advent of digital TV, there be more demand for Linux solutions that aren't so complex. There are a few that are on the download list like Elisa and My Media System, but how to make them work is a mystery to me, meanwhile I got Miro and it works great.
Was at my place of employment (a school) and I overheard a student lament over his "borrowed" software collection and that he can't afford to own his own. The kids here learn on top shelf MS compatible applications, you know, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Win Movie Maker, etc, etc, etc.......but in spite of all the school contracts, discounts, the students still can barely get their own. It is safe to say these kids will eventually buy the apps they learned in school. Why is this so different for cars. You learn to drive any car by taking drivers' training. Does learning Photoshop in school indebt you to use only Photoshop? How can you hone your skills if you can't afford the tools? Open source is the unspoken and misunderstood answer to many questions. Here are some hookups. http://www.linuxalt.com/ get a good look at Linux apps that do whatever, http://www.webi.org/ this one you see open source stuff that runs on MS Windows (if you must), and then http://www.schoolforge.net/ here we have a school focus on Linux apps. The funny thing is that most institutions don't understand GPL or the General Public License. They keep worrying about users agreements and about copy right infringements. Linux is free and there is no catch, open source software, even the MS windows versions are the same. You can get, use and recommend these to your friends, students and co-workers. You can give them as gifts, if you want to. Yeah, we all need a psychology upgrade.
I just had to make an addendum, Ubuntu has two application install programs, one is called 'Add/Remove' and the other Synaptic. If you use the Add/Remove for some applications, it may fail to install all the dependences. This happened with Elisa Media Center, which is why it didn't work for me. I used Synaptic to download and Elisa works beautifully and looks like a winner. Miro is a whiner, but only because it allows video downloads in background. This is fine, if you have a huge hard drive and you don't mind editing channels. I'd like more control over internet content than Miro gives. Miro might be good for some but not for me. So, Elisa Media Center is a must have app. I may have to put a computer in the living room.
I have heard some things around town. Firefox, it is said, gets slower when you add too many extensions and plugins. I don't know this to be true, I have no complaints. But if you folks are into the social net thing and photos and such, you should look at the Flock browser, it is made for this stuff. I like downloadn' flash movies and such and found a new app called Miro. Miro hooks you up to video feeds and your saved video files so you can organize and play all day. It is sad that the Linux home entertainment center idea seems to have cooled off some. Many of those projects have not seen recent development updates in a while. You'd think with the advent of digital TV, there be more demand for Linux solutions that aren't so complex. There are a few that are on the download list like Elisa and My Media System, but how to make them work is a mystery to me, meanwhile I got Miro and it works great.
Was at my place of employment (a school) and I overheard a student lament over his "borrowed" software collection and that he can't afford to own his own. The kids here learn on top shelf MS compatible applications, you know, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Win Movie Maker, etc, etc, etc.......but in spite of all the school contracts, discounts, the students still can barely get their own. It is safe to say these kids will eventually buy the apps they learned in school. Why is this so different for cars. You learn to drive any car by taking drivers' training. Does learning Photoshop in school indebt you to use only Photoshop? How can you hone your skills if you can't afford the tools? Open source is the unspoken and misunderstood answer to many questions. Here are some hookups. http://www.linuxalt.com/ get a good look at Linux apps that do whatever, http://www.webi.org/ this one you see open source stuff that runs on MS Windows (if you must), and then http://www.schoolforge.net/ here we have a school focus on Linux apps. The funny thing is that most institutions don't understand GPL or the General Public License. They keep worrying about users agreements and about copy right infringements. Linux is free and there is no catch, open source software, even the MS windows versions are the same. You can get, use and recommend these to your friends, students and co-workers. You can give them as gifts, if you want to. Yeah, we all need a psychology upgrade.
I just had to make an addendum, Ubuntu has two application install programs, one is called 'Add/Remove' and the other Synaptic. If you use the Add/Remove for some applications, it may fail to install all the dependences. This happened with Elisa Media Center, which is why it didn't work for me. I used Synaptic to download and Elisa works beautifully and looks like a winner. Miro is a whiner, but only because it allows video downloads in background. This is fine, if you have a huge hard drive and you don't mind editing channels. I'd like more control over internet content than Miro gives. Miro might be good for some but not for me. So, Elisa Media Center is a must have app. I may have to put a computer in the living room.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Welcome to Linuxville, here's the lay of the land
It is like the scene in the movie Tron where Tron contacts the girl, Yori, embraces her and she responds with statistical codes while looking him intently in the eyes. Then he shakes her, she awakens and engages in normal conversation. We MS programmed users think and speak Microsoft until slapped around a little. We all do it, when we want to write a document and instinctively reach for Word. Then when Linux is presented we ask will Word run on it? In your mind, write doc = use Word. This is entirely understandable as popular usage causes some leakage into the common vocabulary. The real truth is that we want the familiarity of Word and the ability to produce a Word compatible document. Well, let's examine that a little bit. If a product was exactly like MS Word, Microsoft wouldn't stand for that so it has to be a little different. Then it can't be a whole new thing because it won't be familiar to us. Then the document format must be consistent and compatible with Word because that is what is in popular use. So what does MS do? They change the user interface so the product appears to be new (we must have the new stuff!) but they also change the file formats just enough to be incompatible with the older formats. They call it an improvement but they intend to control the file formats and make their product indispensable. Now other document application developers must lease the rights to use the new formats making them subject to the wiles and whims of Microsoft. This is just business to MS and we too must sign a users agreement so we are not exempt from their influence. We don't care about these things, all we really want is to make the document. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) comes to the rescue. Open Office Writer is what I am talking about or Abiword or Kwrite. They each have a similar interface as MS Word, that is point and click, drop down menus and tool tips. They each can read and write the current MS Word file formats (until MS changes them again) and they each can be acquired off the internet for free. The only reason we don't use them is because we are convinced that MS Word is the only one that can do the job. I sort of advocate that certain file formats should be public domain for free and open computing. Then if you want a vendor's propriety format to use, that is your choice, not your obligation to use a certain vendor's product. Free and open computing, what a concept!! You don't have a business, yet you must have MS Word because that's what businesses use. It's not your fault, businesses ask if you are experienced in using MS Word instead of if you have word processor experience. They too have assumed MS Word is the acceptable standard. I am pointing out that the use of Linux and open source software is a challenge to the concept of using MS compatible products.
If you are like me, can't always justify the cost of upgrading both hardware and software to do the same things I do on my old computer, then Linux and open source software is a viable option well worth looking into. "Take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes"(The Matrix movie). Go to http://www.linuxalt.com/ if you are curious. Then I also ask that you new computer buyers getting ready to jump into MS hyperspace to look here, http://www.webi.org/ for FOSS stuff to run on your MS system. Consider it like clipping coupons to save money, and if you must spend something, donate to the software projects, they could use the funding, it will be appreciated. Yeah, I know, Linux and FOSS seem to skirt the normal economics of doing business but when times are tight and cost matters, the way of doing business as usual must be adjusted. You must bite the hand that feeds you once in a while to keep it real. I am also here to tell you home users that there is no reason on earth to go into debt in order to compute. If you need commercial stuff for your survival, that is OK, but if not, there is no threat to the economy or national interest to use free and open source software. Me, I'm just here to shake you a little, you might awaken to engage in a normal conversation. Then we can once again gain access and control over our computing experience.
If you are like me, can't always justify the cost of upgrading both hardware and software to do the same things I do on my old computer, then Linux and open source software is a viable option well worth looking into. "Take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes"(The Matrix movie). Go to http://www.linuxalt.com/ if you are curious. Then I also ask that you new computer buyers getting ready to jump into MS hyperspace to look here, http://www.webi.org/ for FOSS stuff to run on your MS system. Consider it like clipping coupons to save money, and if you must spend something, donate to the software projects, they could use the funding, it will be appreciated. Yeah, I know, Linux and FOSS seem to skirt the normal economics of doing business but when times are tight and cost matters, the way of doing business as usual must be adjusted. You must bite the hand that feeds you once in a while to keep it real. I am also here to tell you home users that there is no reason on earth to go into debt in order to compute. If you need commercial stuff for your survival, that is OK, but if not, there is no threat to the economy or national interest to use free and open source software. Me, I'm just here to shake you a little, you might awaken to engage in a normal conversation. Then we can once again gain access and control over our computing experience.
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