you need a cyber plumber tool #z23.5 ver2, series 9rc

Ever do a plumbing project and it takes you hours because you don't have the tool to do the job easy? You run to the hardware store, the clerk says, "you need one of these!" It's just like the one you have but the head is bent over and the handle is really long. You reluctantly stick out your battered hand to fork over the cash. When you get back home the job takes 5 minutes.

Computing can be like plumbing. All the wires are in place but it's sometimes hard getting the data to flow where it needs to go. Here in the Linuxville guide office lab, I have a Compaq Proliant DL380, humming like a vacuum cleaner and my main PC (HP Pavilion a1030e). One runs Ubuntu 10,04 the other #!CrunchBang Linux (Ubuntu 9.04). I first needed them to share a keyboard and mouse. This is done via Synergy. Sort of a KVM in software. You run the server module on one and the client module on the other. The server's keyboard and mouse can now be used for both machines depending on where the cursor is positioned. In their specs, they say Synergy can cut-n-paste between server and client. I have not been able to discover how and if this works.

"Let them share data." There are so many ways to do this, FTP, NFS, remote, and others.......just get a little app called "Giver". Giver runs on both computers and they see each other through the network. Sort of like a data chat. Now I can pass files and folders back and forth with no effort.

Let's go back to the DL380. Why you got a big old rack mounted server in there? Well I don't really need it for a network resource manager or a user manager or web server. I could, but right now it's a beefy computer. Older yes, but it's got dual processors, RAID 1 disk array and I can learn a lot by tinkering. It needs more memory and there is no USB (I can get a PCI card for that!) and it is SCSI (scuzzy) inside. Some parts of computing you only learn by fingering the hardware.

So many techies only use computers to manage data. Caring for big and small data systems for businesses is fine. But since I worked as a drafter at NASA and seen engineers make boards from scratch and write software to run on them, I have an appreciation for "creative computing." I just wish I was smarter, techier, nerdier, etc. Also my fav movies are "TRON and Star Wars". For both of these movies, computers to produce the movies were invented as needed. They designed the hardware and software to do the jobs required. They were pie-n-ears (LOL) that's pioneers. I think that's the part missing with kids today. We want them to grow-up to be data managers, they resist (of course). It's like taking typing class in the old days. Creative computing looks more inviting. You can still manage a businesses data but the computer can do so much from remote controlling your car to designing your belt buckle (you wear a belt?).

And of course I will promote Linux. Linux does not put the $ and legal restraints on you. It is very handy when creative computing is before you. It will do the normal stuff too, quite well I might add. So with that, I take off, but take a look at these tools, next time you boot up. Guake Terminal, Synergy, Giver and the distro #!CrunchBang.

still in the lab - the next day

Back here in the lab there is great excitement, but I told you that already. Along with the stuff I got a few days ago, I procured two servers from a friend. Now what good is old servers? I can see your minds racing as did mine. But you got to think, if you don't know much about servers, you've gotta find out.  First of all a server is a "C", not a "PC" as far as hardware is concerned. A server in software can actually exist on any hardware it will run on. A server is the eye of the resource storm and is used to manage, direct, deploy, store, allocate, etc, etc, etc, connecting users to data. Don't take it personal, it's not a Personal Computer.

BUT when you pop the top, you find it's just like a "PC" inside. The hardware may be more robust or the divice connections different (mine is SCSI or scuzzy). So, what am I doing with? I have no web hosting aspirations, no need for business type infrastructure data processing configurations. The most logical thing for me was to see if I could use this advanced fire power for a "PC".

Well, it's got dual CPUs and a RAID disk array, needs more memory and maybe it will run Blender 3D better than my regular PC.

I tried a dozen different Linux versions on it. All the mainline Linuxes have too much whizbang to work. I tried #!CrunchBang Linux and it worked. It installed almost without a hitch. I had to exchange the CD ROM drive from one server to the other. Always get two junkers, one for spare parts!


The servers are rack mount sound like a vacuum cleaner and are designed to run forever.............................What kind? Compaq Proliant DL380.


This is why I have a lab and use Linux. Useful work is over rated, IT'S ALIVE!!!

coming to terms at last

My second machine has been acting strange ever since the hard drive bellied up. The new drive, a Maxtor 10 gig, is fussy, but then so are the two CD Rom drives that have to cipher disks. Older PCs are much like older cars, reliable when they run, but wear and tear show at odd times.

Xubuntu didn't do so good. So I whipped out my copy of #!Crunchbang. It sliced through my hardware like a clean knife and is a fast install as I ever seen. Crunchbang is Ubuntu based but has Openbox window manager. It is lean and mean with a stark black screen and white letters. You have to tweak it to make the colors come out but you don't want to spoil it. As my second machine I don't need it to do heavy lifting so I'm using it for doc storage and to play back video tutorials.

Oh yeah, Conky is on deck with this distro with it's on screen system monitor and a listing of keyboard shortcuts to make learning them a breeze. All it need now is Synergy to share keyboard and mouse.
I sense a GNU-vana moment approaching. It's an endless cycle upgrade, then learn new stuff, then make it better again, then fix when it brakes, then............If I had new stuff I would be bored, Linux just works, gives me nothing to do, so I tinker.

total tech immersion

Today I had a total tech immersion. First I got out the vacuum, tracked down and confronted every dust bunny from behind the desk to inside the PCs. Then I decided it was time to rebuild my older PC. I had a different case that was 5 pounds lighter than the old one. I stripped out all the parts down to the motherboard, moved the power supply, mounted all the drives. It was a good time to rearrange things for a more efficient solution.

The hardest part was plugging in all the wires, good thing I had a diagram that maps out what is what. I got it all together and plugged it in, it didn't work. I checked out all the details but had the unit on it's side. It finally worked and I was into XP before you know it. Now wait! I installed two hard drives, I just wanted to see if it all worked.

Then I slipped in the Linux live CD. This one was called Crunchbang, a remix of Ubuntu I mentioned in a previous blog post. I made sure the CD player was the first boot device, hit the button, Crunchbang booted up. I found the disk partioner supplied with Crunchbang, divied the drive into two pieces, a main one and a swap area. Then I hit install, followed the prompts and soon Crunchbang was installed. So when I boot up I can select XP or Crunchbang Linux and roll with it.

Of course the day wasn't finished until I had sound and could play my collection of YouTube videos in .flv format. It worked right out the box, I still can't do that in XP. Then I needed a picture viewer that could made a displayed pic a wallpaper. I am set now. Crunchbang is not bad to be so lean. Now I will tell you the secret of computer life. Get a smallish drive just for the operating system and installed applications. Put your stuff on a different drive. This will save you much agony in the long run.

Well I'd better shutdown and sleep or I'll be up two days before you know it. What a day!

Life in Linuxville

Linuxville is a lot like "The Village" in the old TV show "The Prisoner", a lot of old school characters that have settled in and new detainees who have yet to learn why they are here. You keep saying "I am not a penguin". Relax, we are not stranded on an iceberg, that's the air conditioning on high......and there are more than one kind of penguin! Besides, you look good in black and white, fish is healthy (omega3) and the guy in the Batman comics is not one of us.

Day to day life here is intoxicating, there is so much to explore and Linux makes this possible through the Live-CD and bootable jump drives. It is hard to resist changing your whole computer install. There is always a more interesting distro, with features other distros don't have. You will find yourself wondering how to get that feature in your distro of choice. I'm not trying to stir up the wonderlust for distro-hopping. But if you are prone, it is good to be prepaired.

Dual disk drives, USB drives, jump drives all help if you want to make switching distros permanent. Most just want to look and see (live-CDs are so cool!). If you are prone to change, put your data files on a separate drive.

In a dusty corner of my hobble I have some old laptops I wanted to put a skinny Linux on. You know tiny hard drives and meager RAM, Win 95 units. I fished around through various Linux distros, two seemed to work, Feather Linux and Dynebolic 1.4.1 (older version).

I also found a lean-n-mean Ubuntu based distro, a rather surprising find someone mentioned, "Crunchbang Linux". It uses Openbox for the GUI, so it is so uncluttered with gadgets it's unencumbered, fast. Like Yoda says, "just do, there is no try!", quite snappy. The black theme is black but not sinister, or evil as some think black is. If black is evil then the current trend for black packaged computer cases is taking us all to heck. I know with Ubuntu the brown themes are hard to swallow for some. White can be evil, if you think that. It is said that dark themes are more energy conserving that light ones on a monitor. Now blue as in BSOD (blue screen of death) is evil!?! Black is very clean, crisp, modern and can be changed, if you don't do black. There is a on-screen list of keyboard shortcuts on the Crunchbang desktop which is pure genius. Learning keyboard shortcuts takes constant reminding to get the habit down. All GUIs might benefit from a pop up app that does this. Hit the Win/Lin key, the shortcut pop up pops up and you never grab your mouse. Oh, the end of the mouse as we know it is near.

I have often ranted about the demise of the ATX case desktop in favor of a laptop without the screen. I have one of the older laptops and the screen is busted, so I took it off, plugged my extra monitor in the back. It looks good, just a tad bigger than my desktop keyboard because it is a laptop, but it is the whole computer. It slides where the keyboard goes and I don't have to reach under the desk to use the CD or USB ports. Gamers like their ATX but general users might appreciate a desktop that is no different from a laptop. Laptop makers might consider making the clam shell screen optional. With the clam shell LCD it's a laptop, without it's a compact desktop. I like this concept, it helps also to extend the life of laptops.

The wierd thing about computer life extension is that older RAM memory is more expensive than new RAM memory. Buying memory upgrades for an older computer is more expensive. It's not like they have to scrounge to find the older memory sticks. They are making you pay a premium price to upgrade your existing computer as an incentive to buy a whole new computer. But they don't give you a discount on the new computer for recycling the old computer. If you just curb it or closet it and it still works, you or somebody will want to upgrade it to use it. It's a conspiracy, they are trying to ram the RAM down our throats!?!