Linuxville news

I am going to expose myself to the would be art world to teach them the art of being an artist, digital artist. This coming from a guy who learned PC art via electrical drafting. What has computer aided drafting to do with computer art. It’s the tools man, the tools. There is some hardware needed to draw, then some software code used to draw. Guess what? The code was changed to accommodate the different kinds of drawing. Using a drafting program like AutoCAD is very similar to using Inkscape in the way it draws lines. Now trying to draw or paint in GIMP is another thing altogether. I think teaching how the tools work would work. So, I am not teaching how to be an artist but how to use digital artist tools to make art. Let the artist be the artist or discover he/she is an artist. This is all about the work side, the side most people don’t see.

After mildly bragging about using Linux and all the free open source software, I let it slip that there are Windows versions of open source also. Today I downloaded a DVD called Open Disc from http://www.theopendisc.com/   There are over 40 software titles on the disc. What is special here? They all are Windows versions of open source titles. The disc includes manuals and description pages, install executables and no malware. That’s NO MALWARE!!  I make a note here because I helped a friend download and install Real Player and down his computer went. I do not use Windows myself but a lot of my friends do. Downloading software for the Windows platform is scary business. Since I’m not an avid Windows user I don’t know which sites are safe to download from. Linux on the other hand has protected repositories from which to download from. So, the Open Disc is a safe way to get the Windows versions of Open Source software without extra crap slipping in.

Man, there is building excitement a brewing in Linuxville. No lines like at the Apple Store, but users hunched over their keyboard all waiting to download the spanking brand new Ubuntu 11.10 dubbed Oneiric Ocelot. Hey, I just use them, I don’t name them. Maybe the controversy will be over as both Canonical's Unity desktop and Gnome’s Shell will be available. Oh it’s crap, it’s well....., No it’s great. I will let you know my two-bits when I see them myself. Stay tuned, Oct 13, 2011.