Finally a little respect, but long way to go

Usually when I go to the main library in my town I have to browse the computer books to see what's new. I have to say browse because Linux books were scattered throughout the Microsoft forest. Well, I couldn't believe my eyes, someone put all the Linux books on one shelf. I was elated, this is a Linux impact statement (at least to me) that says Linux is worthy and recognized, sort of. You can find them without whining.

There is still a long way to go with books in the Linux world. Most books deal with the operating system, usually from a system administrator's view point. But there needs to be more books on the applications that people use. Our library has a couple of books on Open Office but none on GIMP. While I enjoy that I can get articles and downloads about Linux applications off the net, there is great comfort in having a printed book. Books still say there is authoritative and enthusiastic interest.

So, maybe your local computer enthusiast group can pool their resources together in a fund, buy Linux and Linux application books and donate them to the library. That way over time all can share. One book at a time goes a long way. This is your official homework project!!

But since Linux info has grounded itself in the digital format for these many years, you also have to wonder why technology to access this knowledge has not been front page. Digital reading devices should be as popular as iPods. Maybe there will be a drive to cut down on paper printing. Newspapers are struggling as it is. My idea is a simple one. A digital device about the size of a magazine with a USB port. There would be kiosks into which you can plug-in your jump drive and for a small fee download your choice of newspapers and magazines. Then you plug it into your reader and read away. Subscription services could email your copies to your account. And so what if the only thing you can do with the device is read. If I had wanted a full fledged computer we already have netbooks and laptop computers and such. Keeping it simple also keeps the cost down. Some genius wants to put interactive content, sound, color, a real multimedia and pricey machine, all I want is a digital newspaper I can read.

Envision this, when I turn on my cell phone it makes a sound, displays a boot screen and then allows me to call or receive calls. Suppose a similar device or the phone itself could have a USB jack/port and you could download your subscription PDF file magazine or newspaper, then go to any LCD display plug it in and read away.

Another thing is that digital content producers want digital content in file formats they control. Look, just put it all in a PDF document format we already know and love, be done with it. For instance there is a Ubuntu magazine called "Full Circle" in .pdf format. It is a wonderful and colorful magazine. The local computer group here has a newsletter in .pdf, it is very informative and interesting. I wouldn't mind paying or donating small change for .pdf publications, even newspapers can do this.

The point, quit designing I can do everything but not so well products. It is good enough to do a few things well.

Oh yeah, speaking of books, "How to do Everything: Ubuntu" by Jeffrey T. Orloff (McGrall Hill 2008) is the most understandable Linux book I've come across so far. It has history, dispels the mysteries, has some nut and bolt talk, some mouse workouts and is user friendly. It gives you enough info so that you can comfortably "work it"and a solid base to inquire further (if you must know). What, no live-CD in the back? No John, I'm not that kind of book! This is a great read me first book.

Well the Linuxville desk is due a Spring clean-up and spruce-up, better get at it, later!

annexing the cave of wonders

Let's see, according to it's legendary beginnings Unix has been with us in some form since the days of machine code. Unix is still a workhorse for many "big iron" machines. It is so strange that the child of Unix known as Linux casts such a little shadow, given the popularity of the PC. Big Iron companies laughed at the PC idea which grew into a new market to be swept up by S. Jobs and B. Gates. I don't know why Torvalds didn't jump into the fray with them. It had to be timing, place and a different vision. It's the results that matter and the outcomes of three directions we deal with today suggest they did not stray from the paths they choose. Mr. Jobs packaged and marketed a hardware and software product. Mr. Gates markets a software solution for the hardware made by others. Finally Mr. Torvalds designed and maintains a kernel upon which the whole of Linux is built by others and runs on hardware built by others, mostly for free, mostly by word of mouth and internet. On a large scale Linux is not marketed like Microsoft products or Apple's, instead Linux lives on the internet inline with how it began. You won't find many Linux books in smaller libraries and no commercials on TV. Linux exist on the net, in the comings and goings of an active community. Linux is always being updated, tweaked, patched, revised and rewritten. Books tend to get out of date fast, especially if they have the live-cd in the back. Still if your local library has zilch and by chance has interlibrary loans like ours does, you just might be in luck. So if you really want to know what Linux is before you jump in or forget about it, look up these books. Ubuntu Linux for Non-Geeks by Rickford Grant is a great book with lots of details and yet not technical. Show and tell, yet not technical. The other book is Moving to Ubuntu Linux by Marcel Gagne'. Marcel has been "Cooking with Linux" for years and knows all the secrets. If you live in my neighborhood, you can't get'em till I'm done.
Well that's all for now, gotta run to Linux class, later

Buried treasure in Linuxville

One day a few years back I was lurking around a store called "Half Priced Books" looking for Linux material. They were having a sale which meant books were even cheaper. I stumbled upon "Linux Journal" for the year 1999. I am not much of a magazine collector but I know treasure when I see it. I've bought a few more mags the years that followed, today it is all internet. There was though one mag called "Linux User and Developer" from the UK which had Fedora Core 2 in it. Anyway back to the Linux Journal of 1999, the whole Linux world was different. 95% of the articles and emphasis was on servers and server applications, peppered with workstation stuff. The desktop was not a big topic. Most users seemed to be destined for system admins or engineering workstation and coding work. I don't think anybody had a notion that Linux could be a popular desktop OS. The times have changed and now many of the Linux vets are having to figure how to deal with users who just use the GUI. These mouse jockeys and app mavens really don't want or need to know the depths of Linux. They just point and click just as they did in MS Windows or Mac OS. But looking back is so cool. You can see that even though coders and developers world wide put Linux together, Linux is well thought out and proven by the developers and the users.

Well, what's going to happen to Linuxville in the future is an on going thing. I think we will have to separate the server from the workstation at least in the way we teach Linux to new folks. This is because most desktop users will not be interested in server functions and applications. The desktop deserves it's own focus. I really see a need for users to write more how-to's for all those applications. And to put in one book the popular desktops and window managers. Hey, people still like books you know!

The Linuxville travelguide - rewrite needed.

It is a funny situation, no one knows or cares about Linux until they are actually faced with the chance to use it. Then if the curiosity bug bites you, you try to read up on it or search the internet. It is a total shame that most books and internet sites seem slanted toward users involved with servers and or programmers workstations. They tend to start out with the command line or terminal, and using text editors. So, here you are wanting to dive in and try Linux and you are hit with learning standard Bash commands, or learning Vim and Emacs. All you really want is to run programs with a click, read your email, write a letter, balance the checkbook, search the internet, view some video and play a CD. My advice to all you Linuxville Travelguide writers is: now that the target audience has shifted to include normal everyday computer users you must write less about text input and more on using the GUI on the desktop when explaining Linux to them. Now, exploiting the GUI on the desktop does not cheapen Linux or make it less than what it is. It does make it more approachable and imminently more useful to everyday computer users. In my everyday routine, I turn on, boot up, log in, check email, go to internet, all with a point and click. Once it is all set up it is no bother at all. The perception of Linux being hard is not just from what it takes to install it but from how some have chosen to explain it to new users. From our local public library I just got a thin book called "Linux for the rest of us" by Mark Rais. It is a very very good book being just over 100 pages long and hits all the high points of Linux, but the assumption still seems to be that "the rest of us" to whom Linux is for is would be system administrators and coders. I think it is rather ironic that system admins need to know so much about Linux but once a server is set up it only needs to be touched once in a while. Whereas the desktop Linux user really doesn't need to know that much in order to use Linux on the desktop everyday. The GUI makes Linux as simple to use as any operating system. I recommend another book called, "Point and Click Linux" by Robin "Roblimo" Miller. This book confirms what I am talking about. Having made my rant for the day, you can all say it with me, "Linux is not hard at all".