seeing the light of day

The cave of wonders is immense, you could get lost down there, but what happens when you realize few have seen it. When you hit the light of day folks all around you are misinformed or not knowing, you cock your head back, let out an aspirating cry,"Am I the only one?"

I was on a web site called www.RealNeo.us. It is a meeting place for Northeast Ohio folks to sling ideas around and report on how we can or are fixing things in our area. The site is a big supporter of FOSS that is Free and Open Source Software. Linux is included but FOSS will run on many operating systems. So while you Linux lovers may bang your heads against the MS ceiling, FOSS has burst through long ago. This is great because as I have said, once you have settled on an OS, it is the applications that really matter. And lots of users are unaware of the diverse riches of FOSS.

Let's paint some pictures........

There is this thing called user inertia that says users tend to get stuck on the things they are introduced to, things they are familiar with. This does not necessarily mean they have actual experience, a name brand is a powerful thing. The holders of the brand name do all they can to bolster up your loyalty and faith in the name regardless as to whither they deliver a quality product to you or not. Your loyalty is a pledge of revenue. After you have found this name brand stuff useful, you don't give it up without a fight.

FOSS enters the picture. Many software writers have written free programs since computers became personal. People learning to code, exploring and experimenting and not caring about a killer app that folks will pay hundreds for. There developed a second software model, collaborative development but not for profit, not propriety, not access controlled, not, not, not.
The reality is that there are FOSS that do the exact same things that for a price software does. Computer savvy folks all know these things but many typical off the shelf buyers don't. And making folks aware of FOSS is a challenge as folks are not aware, misinformed or loyal and committed to the other stuff.

FOSS covers a lot of issues that for profit companies are against. Free and open access to information is the leading reason, via file formats that are not to one vendors specs so that you can share info without a particular vendor's software. This also includes fonts so that documents look the same in any word processor, web page and email, and web sites that any web browser can access correctly. I think there should be a set of computer formats and fonts that no company can change and they must be included by law in every software. This way if people want to use propriety formats they can and if they want to use free access rated formats and fonts, they can. Free access rated, what's that? PDF files are a perfect example, but DOC files not. DOC files though a business standard are subject to change at the whim of Microsoft, which is why there are so many versions of DOC.

What does FOSS have to do with you? You may think a VW convertible Bug is a poorman's sportcar, but the top is down, the enjoyment high and the payments are right with no skimp on quality. I've said this before, you want to be a digital artist and Photoshop is $400+ dollars and you put off your dreams because of price or criminalize yourself. GIMP is free, has many of the same tools and features and allows you to exercise and sharpen your skills while you are saving up to get the pro-ware. I bought a HP desktop, came with MS Works, a usable but incompatible with MS Office, home office suite. I was always doing my homework and resumes in the wrong file format. Then not using or needing the whole MS Office package for my occasional use, I couldn't see buying MS Office, even the student edition was too much. Open Office.org for free will do all what MS Office will does. If you don't need all the advanced features that MS Office claims to have, you really aren't beholden to MS to use or buy their product.

FOSS and the digital divide are made for each other. Folks want to give older computers to needy folks and use no longer supported software that will be on them. Sure they get connected but why give your junker to someone you are trying to help. FOSS will run on older, even MS powered (Win95/98,XP) computers, be up to date and the cost is zero.

Training is a big thing as you need skills to work. I tell people over and over, computer skills are transferable. Schools are saying you need to learn this because this is what is used in business and they train you to use an industry standard product, like Microsoft stuff or Adobe. I learned to type in high school, no one ever said the typewriter we are learning on is the industry standard. I could and did transfer the skills to any keyboard. If your budget doesn't allow you to obtain the software they use in business or at school, FOSS gives you the ability to hone the skills you need without spending a single buck.

Funny how in Northeast Ohio, where I live, with all the computer groups, software users organizations, libraries and schools, FOSS is neither promoted or taught. If commercial software is the key to the digital divide, then why ain't the divide disappearing? People who use and love commercial software really don't have a mind or time for anything else. We really need to identify the FOSS community here, outline ways to learn FOSS, gather materials, videos, make courses and present them to the different layers of the teaching/learning community.


As I sit here at the Linuxville desk, rubbing my eyes and adjusting to the light of day, I realize FOSS is an overlooked and under realized solution to many problems a computer could fix. The freedom of access, the learning of skills and doing useful practical stuff at minimum cost and a tiny little learning curve make FOSS an endless wave you could surf for miles.

cave of wonders, the catacombs

Underneath the town of Linuxville is not only the history of Unix but also room after room down a long corridor. The rooms, 400+ are distros, all similar to some degree but different. On a source code level, you could never get lost as long as you had your handy compiler. On the surface things are more defined for the type of user. Some rooms are so similar, closer inspection is the only way to see they are different. As you know, I am a Ubuntu kind of guy and have tried most of the Ubuntu flavors, but I started out with Slackware and Red Hat. Now Red Hat has the non-commercial focused Fedora distro. I have installed Fedora 9 on the same drive I have Ubuntu on. My Fedora uses the Gnome desktop. You can't tell if you are using Ubuntu or Fedora except for the little icon indicating where the menu is. Yeah, using the same desktop GUI does that. The desktop GUI is the same and under that both the Linux and the communities behind them are just a tad bit different. Ubuntu has Canonical, Fedora has Red Hat, Ubuntu is Debian (.deb), Fedora is Red Hat Packaging Manager (.rpm). You can argue all day about the advantages of each. I could recommend either, no sweat. So, with philosophical and minor technical differences you might find either will do what you need to do and still get support. My impression is that Ubuntu is a newer and global out reach, Fedora is an established, well known system, almost a standard worldwide for Linux. It is a good thing the pool of applications are the same for either system, albeit it is said that Debian based software repositories have more stuff. If you are looking for work here in the US like yours truly, the Red Hat brand is more familiar to server folks and engineering folks. Knowing Fedora ins and outs puts you in the ballpark for Admin work. You know, businesses like to channel you to a brand-named experience, do you know Red Hat, Suse or.........whatever. And alas, there are not enough Linux businesses or home users for a vibrant and profitable Linux based PC support person. Besides, from my experience so far, Linux runs great so there is less need for Linux support once it is setup. But users could still use the help and I could use the work.

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

Homeland Security begins at home.

When gov folks talk of homeland security, they immediately refer to threats from outside our borders. It's so apparent that gov policies, postures, stances and attitudes all contribute to the tensions expressed by people who are involved and then it's all aggravated by the media, giving us the play by play. But threats and intrusions come at us a number of ways and many don't require a misplaced nuke. If you own a computer, have online accounts and privileged access, you should be concerned with something called "the password". Shhhhhhh........., it's a secret that every user harbors and unfortunately easy to circumvent. A birthday, a pet name, even a social security number are commonly used to protect vital info. If you make it too cryptic, you yourself can't remember it, so you use reverse encryption and spell your name backwards. I am so surprised that with all the computers in use that the gov didn't insist that each citizen would install secure passwords to protect and cover ourselves. On our side we say we couldn't remember all the passwords to all the things we need them for. Yes, we could write them down, keep them hidden but handy, but that too is risky. I say go ahead, write them down, but lock them away somewhere away from your computer. Then employ a password safe on your computer. What's a password safe. It is a program that stores your passwords in a file/database in a highly encrypted format and either allows you to see the required password when needed or fills in the required password when needed. Access to this feature is often hidden behind a master password which should be cryptic but, you only have to remember one of them. So with the layers of encrypted strong passwords, you have adequate defence against intrusion and theft.
Most average folk are not under direct threat, but you just might be lucky. And you should know that these intruders don't guess your passwords, they use computers, so you should make it hard for them.

Ubuntu Linux has a few password safes or managers, I am looking at one called KeepassX. This was made for MS windows platforms years ago, is now open source and has a Linux version, hence the "X". Installation is too easy but how to use it must be a secret because I can't seem to find a tutorial on the home page or the project site. For more info go to KeepassX.org and to get a partial instruction check out this blog, Keepassx password manager.

So, the trick is to make your easily guessed passwords sound like Charlie Brown's mother, "Wah, wah, wah, wah!?!", then hide them behind another encrypted password. Do copy them down but store them elsewhere, off site preferred. Being safe takes a little practice, may be a bit inconvenient, but in the end you have one less backside to cover.

This is your Linuxville guide with this security bulletin and public service announcement. Please deadbolt your routers, PC's and padlock your mouse to the desk.

Zen and the art of...............

Hey folks, I just turned 57 and I am thinking about lessons learned that you pixel-pushers can appropriate. Doing art of any kind on the computer does require personal skills not directly taught in the classroom but they are significant none the less. We as a society are caught up in a web of instant gratification, fast answers, fly-by's, hit and run and browse. Clipart was the thing for a while and you can download many user graphic files, but to do your own......... I think this is especially true when approaching Linux and open source software after using popular MS platform stuff for a time, being convinced of their necessity and perfection. OR you are approaching this stuff for the first time and you have overwhelming questions. This is where zen comes in. You've got to push aside all the noise and actually learn to use the software. As you sit transfixed on your computer screen the world around you fades away and you enter a serendipity and splendor no one knows but you. But I know you want it like on the Matrix movie, an instantaneous download, a gasp and an outcry "I know Ubuntu". Come on folks, that's dream stuff. I can't tell you how many artists I know who go into seclusion to re-hone skills, perfect a technique or learn a new art form. You have to take time to be alone with it, to see how you and it can work together, to collaborate, to make magic. You have to spend the time.
This is the enigma of art, the sacrifice of learning. There is the pain of learning and we feel it because it's inconvenient and constant (teens know this), it changes all of our world view and we out grow things, we change.

Back in the near past, you learned by pouring over manuals and viewing screen shots, then came powerpoint presentations. Today we have those things plus video tutorials. To be able to see the application in action while it's being explained and even being able to open the app and work along side is the clincher. Once you say to yourself,"I think I can do this" you can begin to ask "and how do I do this also?". We have gone from trails of breadcrumbs to trails of loaves. Look on that rock, is that a sandwich and ice tea? In any case, someone has gone before you and prepared a meal for your enjoyment and it's free. There are a number of graphics apps in Linux, these are the big three on my desktop.

Blender 3D is a wonderful though slightly complex modeling and animation program. The Blender web site has instructional videos that are very good. Also checkout the Blender Underground for a start.

GIMP folks can check out Biehl on line tutorials, this is one of many.

Inkscape users can go to Hot Buttered IT

I also have Xara Xtreme and K-3D which have video tutorials too. Videos are great because sometimes describing a workflow with text can be combersome. Seeing what to click and what to expect afterwards clears up a lot of newbie nerves. And you all know what a picture's worth, right? So, at a time when schools aren't teaching what you are interested in, cost are too high, time is limited and professional software way too expensive, you can get for free what you need to learn the tools of the trade. No, Photoshop is not a tool, it is an application. In it there are tools, brushes, vector curves, gradients, fills, strokes, etc., stuff you can also find in GIMP and Inkscape. Learn how to use them for free and transfer that knowledge to Photoshop if you need to. Beats starting from scratch and being in debt at the same time. Think about it, then go for it!!

guide to overcoming user inertia

Had to replace the kitchen faucet, looks so simple to swap the new for the old. Things I didn't count on hindered me. The new unit is improved over the old one, but you have to remove the old one first. There was no room to get a wrench in there so I had to remove the sink from the counter. The sink hold down clips were also in awkward places. OK, I got those clips off, the sink out and the old faucet unmounted. I didn't mention I also had to disconnect the drains and close the water supply lines. Putting the new stuff in was easy but there were details so like a good boy I read the instructions. I looked at the recommended order of assembly, counted the parts and took note of the no wench warning. A no wench warning? Seems some users would tighten too much. Then I put it all back together and it worked fine except it leaked. All the twisting of flexible and swivel connections and my finger tight fittings at the faucet end worked themselves loose. Being a better design than the previous faucet, I could reach up into the tight space to unscrew the faucet. I carefully tightened the fittings (using a wrench) and remounted the assembly. It works fine.
I wrote all this to say a few things concerning software, especially Linux and open source software. It may not look like what you are use to seeing, yet have the same tools or functions. It may cost less, be free or not be what is in popular use. But just because you are unfamiliar with it doesn't mean it's inferior, lacking in quality or too hard to learn. What is helping me, because I dislike reading manuals, is the instructional videos on the web. I know how hard it is for some to admit you don't understand, can't figure it out or don't get the logic. Manuals aren't for dumb people but are a shortcut for smart people to save the time and aggravation of having to figure it out. Instructional videos are even better, they give you a chance to see how it works with explanations in real time.
I am beginning to play with the graphics apps on my Ubuntu Linux machine. I have Inkscape, GIMP, Blender3D, K-3D and a few others. The videos save me from hours of reading and static screenshots. I used Rhino3D on XP but was afraid of Blender3D because the interface is so different. The videos are taking away that fear, I am beginning to comprehend what's going on there. It is the same with GIMP and Inkscape, the videos make the approach sane. Making instructional videos is quite an art, so I extend my thanks to all you who spend time explaining step by step how to use these applications so I can learn. So you see, here is the Linuxville guide getting guided by other guides, cool.

the world according to Arno

If you've worn the same glasses for years and think your vision is just fine thank you, then it's time for an upgrade. Perhaps your vision has degraded and you've gotten use to it. I was thinking of GM and the announcement of the Volt. It really looks sharp and engineered to the hilt. But wait, there are problems afoot that shorten my praise. In this country we like to argue the extremes, then pick the lessor of two evils. We bash the middle ground as being too much or not enough. Then with great fanfare and apologies we reluctantly accept a somewhat more viable solution from the middle.

Batteries suck, always have, always will and putting more than one in a car is a portable environmental disaster in a neighborhood near you. Can you imagine the impact of millions of car batteries needing to be recharged/recycled, talk about hazardous waste!! And I thought old tires were bad. I guess we can bury them next door to the nuke waste. And can the present power grid handle all the electric only cars recharging or will we all have to buy not so green gas powered generators to charge up our car batteries? How to charge your car after a storm knocks out the power will be a best seller book.

We have had diesel electric trains for years now. The systems are not that complex and they haul much of our country's resources. A diesel engine, an alternator for the accessories and one for the drive motors, and the drive motors and drive electronics. You mean we can't put similar in trucks and cars. The hybrid is the best solution. An alternative fueled and efficient power generating unit and electric motor combo is a wise/less costly solution. We won't have to rebuild infrastructure or change personal driving habits or give financial institutions more means to enslave us. Personally I don't like poop scooping for my dog/cat or plugging in my car, daily.

Dear GM, even you can't afford this car, the Volt. There are not enough upper middle class folk who can or will buy your car so you can recoup your investment and I, average American car buyer, can buy 3 gas guzzlers (from you) for what the Volt would sell for.
Here's what you can do to save us and you:
1. Develop an auto recycling industry that reclaims materials for new uses instead of maintaining old cars, (old steel mills will do). Quit building the present gas guzzling cars. Watch the movie, "Who killed the Electric Car?" and deliver the same fate to the gas guzzler, boy would that be ironic!!
2. Develop programs to trade our gas guzzlers in for a greener alternative, and don't resell or export. Did I say recall?
3. Develop incentives, discounts, tax credits, insurance cuts, in other words, lower the cost of living to own a hybrid vehicle.
4. Gas guzzling car commercials have got to stop. Can't imagine green if we don't see green on TV. Popular faces should drive green on TV.
5. Let your workers get them, drive them, show them off and post their unscripted opinions on the web.
6. Lose the trickle down game plan. Build for a targeted tad lower than middle-class market as the basic standard affordable product. Fuel the amenities and accessories after-market. If affluent folks (a smaller market) want more car, build it later. Build up don't dumb down.

What has this got to do with Linux and open source. In principle we have been life long consumers who leave it to the pros to design and deliver products, yet they keep an eye on us to see what we do with their products. Some very innovative ideas have come out the back yards of car owners. The race tracks and car shows are full of them. Then they borrow, buy or steal the ideas and decide if they should be shelved or marketed. Why patent an idea not to use it or keep others from using it? I am glad there is Linux and open source, not owned by a company, I have rights to tweak and play with. And if I discover a new use or process, I have opportunity to do something new and different. Will car technology become so sophisticated that dealers will lock the hood? Will cars become so expensive that leasing is the only option? Will we become paying users of home, car and software, instead of owners? Has the market accessed our potential life time worth and priced ownership just out of our reach to fuel the market? There are more questions to ponder while sitting here at the Linuxville desk................

real world and virtual world collide

As a young teen really wanting a car filled my dreams. In the mail I would get this aftermarket car catalog "Whitney's". It was thick and full of fuzzy dice to bored and stroked engines. I used to mark it up with pencils, then pens, then highlighters, then markers. You could buy the parts to build a car from scratch. My favorite was the sports car built on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis. If you thought Pokeymon geeks were bad, you haven't known car geeks. Anyway, this is what Linux is like, a computer aftermarket. The only thing missing is the catalog. If the internet were not here, there would be a thick catalog, listing and describing all the parts. You would know what Linux is, how the parts work together and how to get it the way you want it. Actually if you know where to look the internet resources are quite good.

What's on the Linuxville guide's real desktop these days? Besides my excursion into the annals of computer graphics history, I am looking at the kinds of art that can be produced on a computer. Beyond digital photos, web pages, ad art, banners, game design, animation and special effects, if you have intent to print, there is still a lot. I have also discovered that if you plan to do more than web surfing and email you might need more computer resources than average users need. Graphics tend to be memory hogs the more complex they are.

Been library hopping lately. Even though I can reserve a book from anywhere in the system and have it delivered to my local branch, I am disappointed by what I see on the physical shelves. Book procurers only buy mostly MS windows related books. This is in spite of how many people already know about MS Windows in good detail. Linux which is free to own and use gets very little shelf space. I am not so worried about Linux as it lives on the web. But free and open source applications get even less shelf space. The GIMP books are rare, Open Office.org books are also rare. People use public libraries as a free resource, yet when they get there only find books about the most expensive software in the world. Talk about opportunities lost to lift and educate the masses. The reference librarian should be quick to say if you don't have this software try this open source one. Then I must complain about the Photoshop presence. The computer graphics sections has tons of Photoshop books then also again in the digital photography section. Two subjects not covered in my travels, digital art as in actual drawing/sketching and digital painting as in fine art. Yeah, you can find comic/game animation, sometimes computer fantasy art, but far too many digital photography books. Books you do find are on a professional level, not beginner or intermediate levels. Libraries should be in the educational opportunity and idea possibility business. Linux, open source software, computer art and design all fit into these themes.

spitting out ideas

I always thought that in the present times of generational confusion and economic limitations it's good to see what you can do with what you already have. The caveat is that we want something new and not a remake, retro or sequel. So I am proposing a few ideas.

1. Instead of chanting foreign oil independence with the motive of maintaining present oil use levels, preach conservation, industries, materials, processes and machines that use less oil. By using less we have more. How much oil does an electric car or hybrid use compared to a regular gas car used by a typical driver. We have diesel/electric trains but no diesel/electric trucks. Now multiply all that times all the cars and trucks on the road. It's basically the marketing folks who think we can't or won't change.

2. To give you geeks something to do, how about a wing processing unit. Instead of buying a whole new computer and ditching or recycling the old one, a wing processing unit could plug into existing computers to add processing power. Dyne:bolic Linux has the ability to move processing load to faster networked computers. The wing processing unit only needs a cpu, memory, ethernet, maybe a CD player and would appear as a tiny server. I could keep my present desktop a lot longer and just upgrade/replace/add a wing processing unit. Less waste all around and cheaper to build.

3. Beam me up Scotti! A new wireless phone attachment, not the Borg-like ear piece but a lapel badge/shoulder pin. I could stay at my computer in the other room and not chase after the handset when it rings. Also being a comm link I could tell my wife I got it with out yelling through out the house. Would be great at an office too.

4. On the desktop the browser could be the front end to the operating system and access the whole computer. It could be customized like a web page, use icons, links, whatever, yet be the internet browser and file manager like KDE's Konqueror only better.

The Linux class explored DSL and Puppy Linux and we did it through Virtualbox on a Vista machine. Although Linux is exciting in any form to me, Virtualbox does present limitations that require tweaking so it's not in the way. Vista did as it was supposed to do, present us with the blue screen of death when the system crashed. Virtual machines can be touchy at times. DSL or Damn Small Linux is only 50mg on a CD and can be easily put on a jump drive. You would be impressed at the applications included in this really portable Linux. Puppy is Puppy, fresh, agile and quite complete. I just got a version of Puppy called Grafpup, just right for the graphics minded, like yours truly. By the experience of the class DSL and Puppy ran just fine from the live-CD or installed on a hard drive. Oh, I didn't mention ReactOS which is supposed to be an open source version of MS Windows. It was interesting to see and even though it's in the early stages of development some promising stuff is there. It probably would have run better out side of Virtualbox also.

On a personal note, I am trying to find time to get my artistic act together. The many public libraries have a zillion books on Photoshop, Illustrator and other Microsoft platform software. The latest Linux and graphics applications are documented and explored on the web, the libraries have near nothing. Shame on them. You have to realize that Linux was born on the web and lives on the web to this day. But at the library I did find many books about the history of computer graphics and computer art. Yes, there was computer art before Mac, MS, Photoshop and all that. I laugh at young people for what they don't know that was started just before "their time". No, the chisel and stone was before my time too.

lipstick on pigs and pitbulls, a true standard

Lipstick on a pig is a funny expression in America. Dressing up the same old thing as a new and exciting product is common practice. You already invested lots of resources, you believe so strongly in your product and you can't see anything wrong with it, yet people are complaining about it. So, you repackage it, describe it as something people want and hope they don't notice.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94481288 This link is to an NPR story, a farmer who tried to actually put lipstick on a pig.

Let's look at the problems. Pigs aren't very attractive, pigs don't have lips, people tend to eat pigs, pitbulls might look better than pigs, don't have lips either, have potential to bite their masters and neighbors. Of course I am eluding to the upcoming election but the trend is a common practice. Microsoft is using the sitcom comedian Seinfeld as lipstick for his pig and the Big 3 American car makers are pushing gas burning new cars as "greener" (green lipstick, yuck!). There is quite a list on which people are smearing the lipstick these days. If you have that kind of mind, you might think lipstick is an improvement, but there is something deceiving here. In a country that boast in technical prowess, inventiveness and more educated people per square mile, we certainly have a lot of pig salesman and lipstick peddlers. Oh, and don't forget, visionary people who put the two together.

I talk about many things but Linux mainly. If some company were to advertise Linux, thus marketing Linux as a product, would it become the posterchild for the whole Linux world? Would it represent or define what Linux is in the minds of would be users? Would people have an expectation of what Linux should be because some brandname product has set the standard? Would ad folks find ways to say Linux is a pig or pitbull so they could put lipstick on it? Truth be told, Linux is just the kernel. You could possibly fit it on a floppy disk. Hey, you could embed the kernel in the flashROM on the motherboard!! No, motherboards would no longer be useful for any OS of your choice and if Linux were a brandname we'd probably have to ditch the word "distro".

A friend hip me to Artweaver, a MS windows only program. It has two main features, it's free and it looks like Photoshop. Some folks are applauding it, some are bashing GIMP instead. Looking like Photoshop and being free seems to be a winning combo, yet GIMPshop takes the hits because it's still GIMP, go figure. GIMPshop is GIMP with the tools arranged to look like Photoshop. In this case free and like Photoshop is not winning, hummmmm....... It's really too bad comedians can't screen their audiences. Ever wonder how they smuggle in a sack of tomatoes to throw. I think the solution is simple. Make the Photoshop style interface the standard then have a button you can push to switch to the traditional GIMP desktop, if you want it. As for Artweaver, sorry, it's not really free or close to being free until an open source Linux version comes out. Look at Xara Xtreme. You have to ask if you need a conversion program for files to work with the other programs you are using.

The Linux class is going great, exploring the live-CD OS is fun. It is cool to hear what others have discovered and get their spin on it. One person is looking at ReactOS, a couple more at Puppy, DSL and whatever. It is hard to get all the best or preferred stuff in one distro, we like to emphasize different things. So read the instructions that say your basic "kit" includes this, build and adjust to suit and don't forget mileage may vary. I did Dyne:bolic Linux last class, it was fun and it has features I wish were in Ubuntu.

I have this view of Linux. The kernel is the part that can be compiled to run on any machine and orchestrates the interaction between the other parts (also compiled to suit), the libraries and utilities and user interface and the applications. All the pieces and parts may run great in some situations or poorly thus distros have been devised of stuff that work great together. It may be cosmetic (different GUI), an arrangement set for a purpose (server/desktop) or a hardware requirement (32 bit Intel/64 bit AMD) or a language/cultural thing that sets a distro apart. You the user can start by selecting a distro that seems right for you and adjust it for a better fit. I also believe from a user's side certain things should be transparent to any OS. Common fonts and file formats should be released from the control of any computer OS platform company. My documents should look great in any application, on any platform and in any web browser, and I should be able to move data without application specific conversion, between similar programs. The SVG format and the FLI formats are examples, different apps have different implementations of the same standard, thus they are not really standards, right! Come on folks, it's what the user uses that should be a standard.

On the Ubuntu front, Mark Shuttleworth has put out the call to all developers to sell their lipstick stock and put real effort into making Ubuntu look as good if not better than Vista and Mac OS. I am glad they won't waste time trying to discover which new mascot looks good in lipstick or a grille of human dentures. I think integrating all the effects of compiz was fun as in graffiti, but polish is more a fine art. Let's see Suse's got green, Mandrivia's got yellow, Fedora's got blue, Ubuntu's got brown, hey isn't that like branding, having a signature desktop? The default desktop is big stuff, it makes the first impression and sets the tone. Brown needs lots of help.
Ubuntu users need to weigh in, not complain, but offer alternatives, solutions and ideas. That's the Linux way.

............And other neat tricks

Thank goodness for clarity, I think I got it now. Dyne 2.5.2 does in fact do clustering. The computers have to be on the same network, and their IP's and hostnames listed in a config file. When they see each other they automatically share the work load. Of course they have to be running Dyne to do it. Are there trade offs?? YES! Networking several older machines will probably cost more to run than one fairly high powered newer one. I only have two, so no big deal, how about you? Then with Synergy you can use them all with one keyboard/video/mouse. If you like to tinker and toy and experiment, YOU can do it. Yeah, MS and Apple only let you use their stuff in the prescribed ways. Linux lets you tinker with hardware and code, invent new systems, be a classical "hacker" if you want to. The word "hacker" has been demonized in a negative sense. So if you can understand my advice, if you want your kids to be just computer users, MS and Apple are ok I guess, but if you want them to be something more, Dynebolic Linux opens too many doors to count. Aside from the great applications for multimedia creation, you can do system setups and configs yet to be discovered and application development. The main thing is that it is not all worked out for you, there are still challenges and problems and worlds to conquer and you don't need corporate sponsorship or permission or a user's agreement to use any of it, or to modify any of it. The best knowledge of the scientific community is shared knowledge, the same is true in the Linux computer community. Linuxville residences all have access and share from the mouse mauler to the coder.

More Linux light

Linux has been for much of it's life a victim of it's own progress. How to develop an outcome that advances on all fronts and yet maintaining the backward compatibility. What brought this up, you ask? I was reading over the Dyne:bolic Linux web site and there is a blurb about turning your networked computers into a cluster. A cluster allows you to combine and share the computer power and resources of several networked machines, spread the work among them to get it done faster. Today we have so-called multi-core CPUs that are supposed to do the same in theory. But while operating systems might take advantage of this, the applications do not. You have the latest dual-core cpu's and you got single core applications. Anyway, further investigation reveals that Dyne:bolic Linux version 1.4.1 has openMosix. OpenMosix is a kernel extension that makes for turning separate PC's on the same network into a cluster. This means you could have more computer power and resources for said application and the application doesn't have to be specially designed for it to work. For doing web surfing this is meaningless, but for math intensive graphics......wow. I've done rendering in Rhino3D a MS win software. A final rendering might take 1/2 hour or more to process. A cluster might take 5 or 10 minutes for the same rendering.

A hot topic for a while was building a Blender3D render farm with off the shelf hardware. Today that hardware is mostly used equipment and even cheaper. So, if you ask me, that technology can come off the cutting edge and make a way to the masses. All you geeks and geek artist can explore and extend that technology in practical ways without the complexities of the Beowulf cluster. If I am wrong, tell me.

As of March 2008 the openMosix project closed. They claim the advent of dual-core PC's obsoleted further development. Hey, how many of you folks have hardware made obsolete by MS Vista and is not that old? My main box and my spare are both single core, not that old and I could use the extra computer power on some projects. Dyne:bolic is at version 2.5.2 now and uses a newer kernel. Because openMosix is done for now it is not in the latest Dyne. You know, sometimes the price of progress is to set aside amazingly powerful and/or useful stuff and move on to something else. I think all the user request for wireless support, the dual-core cpu especially in the laptop market and possibilly the home server idea has overshadowed the openMosix folks.

I don't know, nothing left but to download Dyne:bolic 1.4.1 (still available) and see for myself. No big thing folks, I know some of you refused to give up Win95 when Win98/XP came along. And just think of the hassle if it weren't for live-CD's. I guess they should come up with a multi-core version of openMosix and make openMosix an extension to run on any distro. I see that Phantom of the Opera movie, he is at the keyboard, all the PC's lights are blinking and the house power goes dim.........(ooh the power!!) Come on guys, your work's not finished yet.

Just an addition, The Dyne:bolic 2.5.2, the latest does say in the lines that you can cluster with it also. The 1.4.1 version works fine, I have to look into the 2.5.2 version. This is a cool feature if you can find a use for it. Us common folk don't crunch many numbers, our thing is interactive computing. Does clustering speed up games or 3D graphics?

Linux Illumination

The first thing that dawned on me was the reason folks make so many Linux distributions, besides saying wouldn't it be nice if. After trying out a few different distros I always wish certain features from one distro were present in this other one. Of course there is the language or culture centric thing. It's like climbing a mountain and putting your flag on it. Hey, who's the guy who climbs Mt. Everest and removes all those flags so that other climbers can have a so called "I'm first" experience? You will notice that you use the same applications over and over again. A distro with those apps means you don't have to install them yourself. If you find your favorite apps are wrapped in your favorite desktop GUI, you almost have a winner. Almost?!? Yeah, the packaging system is not .rpm or .deb or whatever. So, while you are throwing together stuff you appreciate, you might throw in some snazzy artwork, useful utilities and a digital flag to rename your mountain (GNU-buntu?!).

I am partial to this also having missed Xubuntu I went and installed Xfce desktop on my Ubuntu. ooh.....Life is very sweet indeed............
That's Xfce sporting a pen drawing I scanned in using the Xsane plugin in GIMP, then imported into Inkscape. Don't let the spare look of Xfce fool you, a right mouse click on the desktop and I've got menus galore. So, Gnome has some things I like and Xfce has things also. The two are compatible so I am able to blend some functions. I just like uncluttered looks and feels.

If you are into focused distros some are more multimedia oriented. Dyne:bolic is my dual-boot partner, I really didn't need to install it as the live-CD is quite handy. Grafpup of the Puppy Linux lineage is worth a look and I like Wolvix also.

And if you are especially into doing art, using Linux and opensource software to do it, check out http://www.linuxgraphicsusers.com. It is a newer site, not over run with old pros. If you are beginning to explore your digital art potential, this is a good starting place. There is a forum and tutorials and great encouraging attitudes and people petting penguins.

What's new? I got this new job and part of the training involves learning various CAD software. I am into Unigraphics NX4 right now. It's a pro 3D modelling application with off the chart functions, but learning to think in 3D will help me figure out K-3D on my Ubuntu box. K-3D has a simpler user interface than Blender 3D, so I hope to do something with it, someday.

There is so much Linux out there, but it's the applications that make it useful. You will use the same apps no matter which Linux you choose. That should make choosing a little easier, right?

Linux with sunglasses, Dyne:bolic

Most Linux news concerns the big picture. What corporations and systems admin are talking and doing about Linux. And what seems to be the interest of the masses. So, articles are rampant about migrating from XP and the grunts of wireless laptop owners. The one unavoidable thing for most is that if you want Linux, you have to install it or get some savvy geekologist to do the task. This includes configuring, adjusting and bracing yourself for learning a different world view. Yeah, things are different in Linuxville. While most versions of Linux have evolved from the same approach, there a few of note that have taken a different approach. Dyne:bolic is one of those and if you don't play with it you'll never appreciate it. I am writing from within it using a web browser called Bon Echo, which is Firefox. Smooth and stable it all is and the install was painlessly simple, just copy a file from the CD to the root ("/") directory, booting the CD finds the copied file and initiates it. Since I already had Grub and QGrubeditor, I edited Grub using the info from the Dyne:bolic manual and now am dual-booting Ubuntu and Dyne:bolic. It had Abiword which is very cool but I wanted Open Office.org. I downloaded it from the website on the Dyne:bolic page and installed it by moving the file to the module directory and rebooting. Imagine downloading directly to the module directory and rebooting instead of all the hassles of Synaptic and Synaptic is easy. OK, so you don't have the complete catalog of a Debian based distro, but Dyne:bolic is meant to be portable, run on older and lean machines, be as complete a multimedia distro to be used in "any" part of the world. So, this is not a review so much as it is an endorsement. Get it, load it, play with it, use it...........be advised, it is not billed as cutting edge, but it is not fodder for the mainstream, or driven by the hype market either, yet it does the same things as the high priced spread with high usability.

Rediscovering Dynebolic Linux

My last post had me ready to dig into Wolvix. I started having problems with my computer, but I don't know if it was the CD, the CD drive, the downloaded ISO or what. Actually I have a stack of CD's that I have burned and not spent much time with. So, I set aside Wolvix for now until I can figure out what's the problem. In the mean time I am rediscovering Dynebolic Linux. Dynebolic? What's that? It's not in the Distrowatch top 100 any more, but that doesn't make it not cool. Distrowatch has to do with hits and inquiries, not popularity. But you should talk about Dynebolic because it's got some unique features. Like Puppy Linux, the packaging system is a bit different. What got to me is that to install it to disk, you just copy the "/dyne" folder from the CD to the root directory of your file system (Linux, XP, Beos, there's a few), set up Grub the bootloader and you are in there. Now don't copy that folder to the folder called "root" in Linux like I did or it won't work. It's the "/" or top of the file system, the one with the system folders in it. The included manual tells you how to edit the Grub configuration file, it is easy but scary.

Every Linux has got some mystique about it and the developers of Dynebolic are for sure Rastafarian. There purpose is very clear, Dynebolic is free software, multimedia focused and made to run on anything. The artwork is very spicy and the desktop has Windowmaker and XFCE which makes it very flexible and low on resource use. I won't hold you in suspense........
I don't know about Windowmaker shown here but XFCE is cool no matter what. The artist has other artwork on her web site and you could add your own, anytime. Multimedia, that's graphics, TV streaming and editing, internet broadcasting and officeware. There are modules instead of packaging like .deb or .rpm, that have different focuses like games. In a good way once you have settled on one Linux distro, you don't really need another and if I had seen Dynebolic first it would have been questionable about the need for Ubuntu or others. All my needs are here, office, graphics, internet. If you put this on your big jump drive, you could use it anywhere and never install it ever. So this Linux covers a lot of ground, but some will say stuff is missing. If you only use a jump drive or the live-CD there are no worries, the hard drive install might need some security tweaks. I don't know mon, Distrowatch says it's from Italy, but Rasta is from Jamaica. Dynebolic is revolutionary in concept because it is simple to move between PC's and install without reformatting. But, if all you care about is the applications, yes they work well. If you are curious dig into Dynebolic Linux, "don't worry mon, be happy"

Only in Linuxville

As you guessed Linuxville is a virtual place and virtually anything can happen. I already talked about looking into setting up an artist website and like pulling Indiana Jones out of retirement, the Linux exploration will continue.

The latest thing to happen is the GRUB bootloader was giving me hassles. So to all you wonder workers and especially to Gparted developers, if it would not put you out too much, put some GRUB utilities along side of Gparted. When you install another operating system on your hard drive GRUB does not always update itself, the added OS does not always recognize previously installed GRUB. And to top it all off, when GRUB is installed you only get 10 seconds to choose your OS before the default one boots itself. Or you GRUB developers could build-in better GRUB tools, make us all happy. Gparted is a very handy hard disc management application that is actually a mini-live Linux CD. It does all the partition and format stuff, even for Microsoft formats. The Gparted ISO is free folks!! Download it, burn it, boot it!!!!!

So, what brought up all this fixin and tweaking? Wolvix!! What's Wolvix? Wolvix is a smallish Linux, based on Slackware. It's 483 MB is one half the size of mainstream distros, yet you get all the standard applications. It even comes with ISO tools so you can make an even smaller live-CD if you'd like. The desktop of choice is XFCE which is light weight and fast (a relative term). You could install it onto a large bootable jump drive and really have a portable office or art studio. Yes, it has both GIMP and Inkscape. Ya want ta see.............?
This is just after adding some color to the standard grey desktop, hey, the howling wolf silhouette is missing. All the standard wallpapers are grey.
I downloaded sky/clouds wallpaper, the icon bar automatically disappears, of course.
Here, Abiword, GIMP and GQview is open. I think the screenshot app crops out edge details.

What's a Ubuntu guy doing installing Wolvix? Well a couple of things. If you are using the live-CD it does not make much difference, however installing a full size distro onto a small partition is problem. A smallish Linux distro allows you some room to add only what you need. Wolvix is pretty complete, it even has Open Office.org along with Abiword. Why, I don't know. And what's Slackware compared to Ubuntu? Slackware, which is the base for Wolvix is one of the oldest Linux distros there is. It has a rep for stability and for being command line driven. Slackware is up to date and it has the modern GUI desktops, but still is slow with modern conveniences. It just recently acquired Slack-apt to resolve software dependencies. Ubuntu is Debian based. Debian is almost as old as Slackware but is more popular and development has flourished. The Slackware/Wolvix software repositories are not as flushed as the Ubuntu ones. You have to realize though, there is no difference except packaging format for the same application running on either. Linux is Linux is Linux and opinions and mileage may vary.

Our Linux class is taking to exploring some of the various live-CD Linuxes. As you guessed Wolvix is my choice. This version is called Hunter 1.1.0 with 2.0 coming soon. My view of Linux? The many versions of distros have wrappers, arrangements, utilities, and tweaks to attract many different audiences. But in all, the same applications can be had on most any distribution. This means you can find one that best fits your hardware and experience and/or purpose and be assured the same applications are there. Then after all the OS smoke and mirror shows are over, you can settle down to the everyday life in Linuxville.

Linuxville Embassy changes ahead

I've been told that my compass has spun in the art direction of late to the demise of Linux exploration. My main problem is time and head size. I just can't wear all those hats with the liberty I had in the past. I got a real 9 to 5'ver now and keeping an eye on my parents and my wife's also, oh, and did I mention the new grand-daughter? What's a guy to do?

I'm contemplating a real web site for the artist side of things. That is going to take some time and will also require some looking into some new Linux applications for web design and HTML. HTML is the "hyper-text mark-up language", the reason they are called "web" sites. Of course with web design is all the trappings, fonts, clip-art, it should be an experience. Then after you spend so much time looking around, the time has come to settle down to get some real work done. There are plenty of web sites that "look around in Linux". Besides by now I know you all can "google it" or "yahoo it". Your Linuxville guide might offer a brief rundown here and there are always occasional flashbacks.

I do have some realizations you could ponder. Linux has many marketable qualities, one being that it will run on older hardware. I say this is great if you are going to use that PC for regular stuff like email, net surfing, tinkering and putt-zing. I would say don't even bother to install, just run off the live-CD, use web based email and save to a jump drive. This is a totally portable appliance like setup you can use anywhere. If you want to do heavier work, you should consider the best hardware (Linux compatible of course) you can get, all the memory you can put in the PC and keep an ethernet cable handy (just in case). You can get the most out of Linux if your machine is able to utilize it. This is true for XP and Vista also. I am doing graphics and I did notice a performance hit on my Linux machine using Inkscape. A graphics card upgrade and system memory upgrade will fix that. The more complex the drawing, the larger the drawing, you need more memory for crunching numbers and formatting on the fly. We won't even get into what avid gamers need, they are like hot-rodders at the races. Still, I am not looking for extreme technology, just to raise the bar a little.

For once the hardware at work has more umph than my home system. It's twice as fast and has a wider and larger screen. Seeing more image on the desktop is very cool, too bad it's an XP machine. Linux is still exciting but I am moving into an appreciation phase on the other side of installation. To all you people still dipping the big toe in Linuxville waters, don't be fooled by the penguins, the water is a balmy 75 degrees, always.

Stepping back from the edge

I was doing a sight survey of all the digital graphics on the web. There are droves of pros and pro-want-a-bees racing toward the cutting edge of graphics. This is driven by mostly the film and game markets. Computer realism has developed to the point that real-life-looking animation has turned 2D cartooning into just another genre. Go to any movie, you judge. Soon there will be actors who only exist virtually, they will be copyrighted personas. The mix of human and animation is getting old school, remember Roger Rabbit and what about Hellboy? Look at games these days. They keep getting more life like every year. Look for immersion simulations of every description. Are we trying to develop a halo-deck aka Star Trek or be digitized onto the game grid like in Tron?

Well, this virtual-reality stuff is exciting, it is a vibrant and highly skilled industry. I am sure many art schools are bending over to train creative folks to do all this stuff................
"Oh, shall I be a doctor or an 3D animation specialist when I grow up?" No matter what, the smell of blood on the cutting edge is sooooooooo attractive.

I take a deep breath and step back from the edge. Maybe my older inner man is talking. I am not one to be fighting to decide which cliff we all jump from. Oh computers are wonderful things, but for some applications you don't need a "Beowulf cluster", server farm or a graphics card more powerful than the motherboard itself. You don't need a doctorate or even a BS in graphic art, programming or a carnal knowledge of gaming. And you won't be shunned or banished for not using Photoshop or Illustrator. It is rumored the $10,000 military spec screwdriver doesn't perform any better at turning a screw than my $10 Home Depot original. And how much specialized physical therapy do you need to twist your wrist, or click the mouse?

So I ask all you resourceful folk of the entrepreneurial mind set, what can you do with the technology you have now? Then, what's become of the art world if galleries, museums, interior designers, etc. only accept as art, art from certified art school graduates? What if good art comes from people who are not trained professionals or from folks who are not full time artist?

There is a lot of room in the world for every person to create art, but as to making a living off that art, that's another question. That involves other people seeing value in your work. Art production is one thing, marketing and selling is another. For sure artist have to be personable enough to deal with people and skillful enough to create a marketable product.

My last word to you diverse digital adventurers is the two "N's", Niche and Name. Even if you are well trained to do everything, most likely there is a niche that well suits your creations. Be it a wide berth or a narrow specialty, that niche becomes synonymous with your name. Folks will see your name and know what to expect of your work and your reputation, if it precedes you .

So much to learn and do, we shall see what develops, see ya!

Filling the blank canvas

Culture is such a funny thing, even in Linuxville, schools of thought, conventional wisdom, what you need to know and taboos. You get raised up a certain way, shaped by family life and peer pressure. If you get the chance to peer beyond the small bubble, it's a whole different world, for a while. This was my life in and out a small suburban village outside a big city. I got a break from the peer pressure noise in college. I discovered free jazz and met people from other cities and country's, got to talk about ideas that didn't involve chasing girls, doing drugs, drinking beer or even obsessing over sports. I wore my dashiki every chance I could, played my saxophone and conga drums in a drum and dance troop, wrote poetry I hope no one remembers. I bought a vibraharp and a thumb-piano. But my restless exploring mind didn't stop to take time to learn these toys. In the deep recesses of my mind I wrestled with forms and shapes and expressions, what to put on the blank canvas, for I was also a painter. Acrylic paint was just the thing, it dried fast and didn't stink of turpentine. There was so much to resolve and painting just could not keep up with the flurry of images, my imagination so frustrated, my hands not so skilled. Leaving college, I got into electrical drafting, well, it paided the bills. I learned a different kind of drawing, pushing the artistic dreams into the background. I let my new learned skills season and shape my ideas. I would often get scolded by other artist for not working on my art. So for years I kept notebooks, sketching and working out the dreams in my head. My main problem was the media. I was still thinking of acrylic paint, wire and clay and other tangible junk that artist use. One day at work I got to maintain a wide plotter. I marveled at how the little image on my computer screen could come out so big on the plotter. So I chanced to scan in a drawing from my notebook and plot it out rather large. It was ugly but it proved a concept. Today there are wide inkjet plotters that print the same quality as that letter size photo printer on your desk. So, we found the medium that's suitable and an output that's versatile and sufficent, all we need is content. This is where the problem begins, the blank canvas or screen. My notebooks have become a starting point, I guess. You can imagine, being a draftsperson for so many years has had to have some effect on my techniques or style. And to top it all off, since I was not totally schooled as an artist professional, I am somewhat free from constraints, though there is much I don't know. Yes, you have to forget all your training to remember what you actually learned, that's suffering. Something comes to the top, pushes through your mind, pulses through your hands. You become resourceful, you find a way to express it. With me the computer has grown up just in time, it is the right tool for me. Then I don't have dreams of going where other digital artist seem to be going. I have a view to which I can apply these tools, somewhere between simplicity and complexity. I see every room has six surfaces, every house and building, multiple rooms, all waiting for somebody's art. Why not mine?

bells and whistles or chiming in and pucker a tweet

Wouldn't it be great if you could get all you ever imagined in a drawing program and all you had to do was click the icon. It doesn't happen in the real world and it won't happen on your desktop. Besides, if you take the human element out of drawing on the computer, you wouldn't need the human and you couldn't call it art. You'd call it math, science or programming. But still the most complex iteration of code could never equal the subtle expression in a line under control of the whims of thought, emotion and imagination of the human mind and articulation of the hand. Mimic maybe, but never equal. In art we call "workflow" the process that gives form and direction and the final result. Process can be computerized but there is no one program that does it all well. So, we have bit-mapped software and vector software. I am learning to use both on the same projects to make up for what the other lacks. You learn to import and export parts of a drawing to work on it with the most advantageous tools. Bit-mapped programs have erase as well as undo, then you can trace the bit-mapped image back into the vector program and integrate it back into place. It is like a sidebar to explain a point in detail, then getting back to the main story. Gimp and Inkscape work great together. In Inkscape, I think the object fill is so limited, even if you can get it just right you can't alter it much once in place. But if you design your fill pattern, export it as a bit-map into GIMP, make tweaks and adjustments, import it back into Inkscape, trace the bit-map, now you can do a Boolean operation to fit the object to be filled. Yeah, it is a pain to go back and forth, but they say artist must suffer to get great art. And just think, because it is all on your computer you don't have balled up sheets of paper all over the room, reminding you of frustration and anguish. Trial and error is replaced by discovery and recovery. Don't forget to save your work often, "to back up is the beginning of wisdom."

What's so cool about computers is if you come across a color combination you really like, you can save the picture and use a color picker tool to find out what that color is. Gimp has a built-in color picker tool and there is a stand alone application called Gcolor2 in Ubuntu Linux you can download. This app will tell you the numerical value of the color many other applications understand as well. Then if you need companion colors that harmonize or compliment, Agave is the application which suggest which colors work well together.

So, to dispel the notion that computers replace the artist, automatically producing output that can't really be called art. Computers are tools, they require skilled manipulation and imagination, just as would any art materials and media. Computers do nothing without an operator and without an artist, be it a programmer or pixel pusher, can not make art. If you are stuck on traditional artist media, that is fine. But the technology to produce/reproduce art works has progressed to a great degree. You have to ask which is the original art work, the graphic file or the finished printout or copies?? Digital changes everything. In drafting, we see a machine like precision and clarity of details. You can have that in art but I'd rather not. I like the hand drawn and the opportunity to discover the story. If it looks like a square I don't want to measure it or know if it's true, the impression of squareness is enough, that's art.

sorting and collating pixels

If you are a pro graphics person, whatever your title or stick I'm sure you have much love for Photoshop or Illustrator or any number of MS platform applications. The ease of use and of access is great stuff for anyone, but wait. You have to fork over so much dough to own these applications. Art materials have always been a pain for me, my extra moneys were always slated for more immediate needs. So, though skeptical about open source and Linux, I had to give it a shot. GIMP, the long time graphic champ has won over many converts. Having never owned Photoshop, I haven't been plagued by not having it. I've enjoyed the freedom of not having learned it first. Gimp is OK for photo work but photos are not my area of interest. I like to draw. Here's a shot of GIMP on my desktop..........
GIMP has lots of fancy filters, scanner control, format conversion and a scripting language so you can customize it even further. Then I checked out a few other pixel blasters like, Gpaint which looks and feels like MS Mpaint and mtPaint which is an older Linux graphics editor. Then there is KolorPaint and Krita which are part of the KDE desktop suite. The one I find really useful is Xpaint. This is also an older graphics editor but I think it is more useful if you want to draw. It looks like this.........
The interface is older but it is fun to draw stuff on this application. Again, my focus is on digital fine art graphics. But you could do all sorts of graphics and the tools are free. I'm going to throw in Inkscape too because it is a wonder. If you want to get into scalable vector graphics but can't afford Adobe products, Inkscape can stand up on it's own. And it looks like this........
So, I am learning to use what I have at hand, pushing pixels and slinging vectors with free graphics tools. It is much the same as with any art medium, you might afford the best paints and photo processing services or you can pound your own pigments, mix your own photo chemicals.
To the artist the process learned to get ideas into an artistic form is a pain but once the workflow ceases to be a hindrance, all sorts of things can happen.

I go to the library, they have for a smallish city, a big mostly MS oriented computer section. There are a dozen Linux books and a few open source software books. Yeah, you could use Photoshop and Illustrator books and convert them for GIMP and Inkscape work. But the books they have are not for new beginners, amateurs, and would-be artist. They are also focused on photography. So, in that light, digital fine art is still a new thing in the art world, in spite of all the digital media in the world. I really have to thank folks who do video tutorials and post them on the internet. If you want to do other than cartoon or game art, photo or film editing or even web design and desktop publishing, free and open source graphics applications can propel you into a whole other world.
If you are looking at your 11"x8 1/2" page printer, thinking this is the limit for your art, you need to rescan the horizon. Us draftsman have known of wide printers/plotters for years now. You could send your scalable vector file to a service that will print it out for you in larger formats. Some plotters have come down in price so you can own one if you have the resources. That desktop photo quality printer on your desk is but a sample of a larger world. Some of these wide plotters will also print on canvas instead of paper, some inks have archival quality. This is all factual info of the possibilities of digital art. It blows the art market based on the rarity of one of a kind art work, out of the water. It's something to think about as you stroll through the Linuxville countryside.

The road to Linuxville, bumpy for some.

It has come to my attention that folks are still struggling with installing Linux. Mostly it is the laptop brigade and those who insist on wireless. No big deal, you slap in the CD, boot-n-go, right? Gosh I hate logistics, but maneuvering your way to total access and mobility on a Linux desktop is part science and part art (ooh, I said art!). We will start with realizations.

The major influence in the computer world, both software and hardware is Microsoft. Almost everything is seasoned to their liking. This is apparent when you want something different. Hardware is made with Microsoft in mind, that is where the money is, the same is true with drivers that support the hardware.

Chances are you did not intend to install Linux when you bought your computer, otherwise Linux installation would have been a factor in your choice. If Linux were pre-installed all of your problems would have been dealt with. There are lists that show successful operation of Linux on various hardware combinations with various distributions of Linux. They are called Hardware Compatibility List and the major distributions have them. Laptops are a special case so go to http://www.linux-laptop.net and http://tuxmobil.org to see how others have faired with your brand of laptop. Decide wheither you want to dual-boot (have choice of running either MS or Linux) or you want to wipe MS and install Linux.

Oh, you lost, misplaced or trashed the documentation that came with your hardware. This is the beginning of problems for servicing any computer difficulty. You need to know brand names, model numbers, serial numbers, version numbers or at least have a listing on hand. My tip for the day: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html . This Belarc program will give you a listing of everything on your computer, hardware and software. It runs in MS Windows, don't know about Vista. Armed with this you can now enter the Linux exception zone to see if there are known problems that others have encountered for the same or similar hardware as you have.

This is where you get your Google on. Wireless, thanks to Microsoft influenced hardware and hardware driver companies, is a problem in most Linux distributions, but there are exceptions. Lucky you if you have hardware that works well, if not find a geek, a nerd or a techie who has dealt with wireless problems. Local Linux users groups might have a few. User forums on your distributions web site might help. General Linux web sites might point you to info. Computer stores and Tech squads are more than likely Microsoft oriented, little if any Linux experience. You can always ask.

Don't forget, you can run the Linux live-CD, save to a jump drive. And you can buy Linux and purchase a service arrangement if you really need it. Take my word, if Microsoft were not dominate in the computer world, you'd be scrambling to install it too.

Your investment in Microsoft software is wasted on Linux. While you can run some in Wine or virtual machine, it is not 100%. Linux has software to do what MS Windows apps do. If you have specific stuff that only runs in MS Windows that you must have, consider dual-booting.

My main wish is that people wouldn't insist within themselves, that they are so smart, they can figure it out and be a little patient with ones who tend to do the same yet are trying to help. Geeks and gurus are still rare, most are a range of average intelligence. This is why users groups are important, we can share info and cluster to come up with solutions.

Setting up shop in Linuxville

Things are progressing nicely here in Linuxville. And I am getting into doing digital stuff with Ubuntu Linux as my only operating system. And I am putting my artist genes through a good work out with tools freely available with my Ubuntu install. So my encouragement to all you would be artist is to check it out. Yes, yes, I know about the predominance of Adobe and Corel and all those powerful and highly regarded in the industry applications. I know you will buy or "borrow" a copy to have the industry standard. But consider the opportunity you have here. Free applications that do the same thing and because they are still being developed as we speak, you can have a say as to what you would like to be in it. You can make it compete and be better, did I say it's free? I am still having a CAD shortfall but I can do some useful things with Qcad. Scribus, which I just installed is very skilled at brochures, news letters, etc, etc, etc. The GIMP even has color separation extensions for print publishing. Then there is my favorite tool/toy, Inkscape, with which I am having a load of fun honing my talents. Are there problems? Yeah, some applications have propriety file formats that are not so easily transferable to other applications. I got rid of Krita but I think it was more a KDE thing, Xara Xtreme I really like but its version of SVG in not compatible with Inkscape's SVG. Come on folks, this is not very open source now is it? What good is it to run on the Linux platform if you can't co-operate with other applications. If SVG is a standard, it should be SVG in any application, not some specialized version of it.

My nameplate work is moving along, here is more progress..........

These were done using GIMP to scan the drawing and Inkscape to do the rest. I have other things in the works, but I don't want to spoil the unveiling.

My studio is relatively clean, no paints, no stains, no splatters, so digital art is greener in a sense. What does the future hold? I might hook up my digital tablet which is far too sensitive for me and try to do something with that. Also I need to explore output devices like a wide color printer/plotter to at least do poster size printouts. I am trying to imagine what would be the perfect artist studio machine. I don't have a clue, but I seen some stuff. How about a laptop you put together yourself similar to a desktop. Look at this..........http://laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=22 I didn't know there were barebone laptops and I think there is a more bang for your buck factor here. I am sure other hardware makers have barebone offerings.

There are other things artist must consider. Like whither or not to become a formal business or not. Ubuntu Linux does have OpenOffice.org and other apps to handle the paperwork. My hope is that I am not over whelmed by the business end and distracted from doing the art. I can see that wearing many hats require a lumpy head, no one person does everything well. We will have to see what services are out there to off load. Looks good from here.

doing digital stuff

Hey folks, this is back where we started when I first blogged. I displayed some art work and was curious about Linux. We took in the sights and sounds and explored some of the behind the scenes. So as we move on further into this adventure, I really hope you are still as curious as I am. One thing I have to hammer in is that there are NO Linux experts, just very knowledgeable nerdy types who need to be refreshed now and again. Linux is continuously evolving as well as the user base. I want to remind server people not to teach desktop people their skills as a prerequisite to learn Linux. It is ironic that system admins have to know so much, yet Linux will run for years without intervention, if nothing goes wrong. Desktop people don't have to know so much, just some basic concepts on top of pointing and clicking. And my constant reminder, Linux is Linux is Linux, holds true. While the various distributions or versions of Linux are not interchangeable in a compiled form, they share and use the same source code on a lower level. Sort of like cars, same format, different styles, etc, etc, etc. The whole point of Linux or any other operating system is the applications so that you can do digital stuff. YouTube had a tidal wave of vids showing off Linux with compositing effects, whirling cubes with active movies on it's sides, loud grinding music, wobbly windows and sigh........ means nothing if the word processor doesn't work and the CD player doesn't play. The applications are what allows you to do digital stuff. Linux gives you such liberty to do digital stuff with industry standard tools. The tools themselves are standard. They can be found in the marketed namebranded applications on other operating systems as well, but usually Linux packages them and includes them when you install Linux, for free. Then you've got to work on your concept of what free is. It is not like the early days. The software developers are in the market for high paying jobs, why should they put out shoddy software with their own reps at stake. Free and open source software is like a resume, a sample of their fine work and dilligent effort. These folk are not all working for nothing. The focus is to produce computer tools that allow you the user to have a freedom of movement, a freedom of access, a freedom of computer platform and freedom from vendor lock. Case in point, the American car industry under the oil threat and small foriegn car competition has finally found it worth their while to redesign their product offerings. You as a computer user can now ignore both Mr. Gates and Mr. Jobs if you choose to do so. Well, my soapbox is transforming into a stage, so let's move on........
Doing digital stuff is what it is all about. The obvious thing is that computers allow you to view the work of others and then also do work your self. Be it a doc or an email or a photo or a drawing or music or video or, or, or, whatever......... Linux or in my case, Ubuntu Linux can do it all, no sweat. These days I am focused on art work. I was looking for a way to put my sketchbook on the computer and see what the drawing tools provided by Ubuntu Linux can do for me. I don't know who has progressed more, Linux or myself. The tools have improved and I have learned a thing about using them. In my digital artbox there is an application called Xsane which runs my scanner. It is a standalone program but I can work it from inside GIMP. This allows me to use GIMP tools along with scanning. Then I user another program I've mentioned before called Inkscape. Inkscape is a vector drawing app. We've already explained bit-mapped and vector graphics. I use Inkscape to convert bit-mapped to vector. I don't know how well it works on photos or sketchy sketches or color washed drawings but outlined art processes very well. It has been suggested that OpenOffice.org Draw, which also uses vector graphics might be useful. Draw is useful but limited. Draw is more suited for desktop publishing than for fine art. Inkscape has more tools and finer control over the drawing. There are also file formats differences.
I'm am designing a nameplate for promoting my artwork using Inkscape. Here is a sample of that work in progress...........
Well, needs work, but as you can see lineart works really well. Humm, maybe some color.....
Trying to do many scenerios on paper is time consuming and exhausting, but on the computer!!!!

the artist tool kit

Just like when you go to the theater and are awestruck at the visuals, you still can't fathom the behind the scenes activity that went into putting it all together. It is the same with most visual arts. On one side there is the disciplined training and determination of a practiced hand, then you spill the paint, step in it, "hey, that looks quite good". There is a flow of ideas, alternative ideas, adjustments, additions and deletions. These things are easy or difficult depending on the media. I have anguished over mistakes while painting with acrylics, they dry too fast and painting over painted areas is not the same textured surface anymore. With digital media I don't worry about drying time and the wonders of undo and remove are without bounds. I can add virtual textures or print it out on a textured canvas. Some even go through the trouble of simulating textured brush strokes. The outcome of most art is eventually digital. There might be an original oil painting, but sorry, you can only have a copy and lucky you if you own the original. Copies of most art today are usually prints. The process of making prints have evolved and improved over the years. You can capture the quality of any art work with a camera or a direct digital file and print it out on almost any material from glass to canvas to carpet. What has this to do with Linux? Your Linuxville guide, who also happens to dabble a little in art, has found that the digital artist tools found in Linux are quite good and very powerful and free. Not "free for personal use only", but really free. The GIMP is pretty cool if you can put down Photoshop envy for a while. I use the Gimp interface to access my scanner. I scanned most of my hand drawings and will use another application called Inkscape to trace the scanned images and turn them into vector images. Think of bit-mapped images as pictures made from grains of salt, tiny separate grains. Vector images are made of strings, outlining objects. It is easy to edit the strings. Also the strings are stretchy. You can blow it up to a larger size, keeping the same original proportions or bend and distort. The computer as an artist tool can be very automatic and/or hands-on to twiddle with minute details. The computer can help you to blend many artistic techniques, simulating traditional artist media or scanning or photographing or what ever. There is still a lot of controversy over how digital media is regarded. People haggle over monetary issues all the time. Should an oil painting be worth the same as a digitally produced picture? Then if the digitally produced copy is the exact same as the digitally produced original, what is the value of either and who owns the original? The market is not so much in the digital picture itself as it is formatting and producing the output. The same digital picture can be posted, plotted, or printed in any imagined way. Oh, I'm giving away all my secrets.......... Anyway there are a whole slew of services out there so you don't have to own the equipment yourself. You've got to get your name and work out there. Man, it's a crazy world. It is a sign of the times, the deskchair artist, the roving laptop artist, have arrived.

science, art, adventure in Linuxville

Years ago I read a science fiction story about some folks stranded on Mars after a failed rescue attempt. The backdrop was some ancient Martian ruins that resembled typical urban suburb dwellings on earth. As they waited for their own rescue, they eventually broke camp and found the ruins inviting and accommodating. They removed their space suits, made the most of their new surrounding. Soon they forgot all about rescue, settled into merging with the backdrop. Their blue eyes turned almond in color, their skin, a honey golden tan and they melted into the landscape. After some time, a rescue crew finally did come. They wondered what happened to those stranded people, saw the abandoned camp, then the ruins so inviting and accommodating!

On the surface Linuxville is the hot bed of excitement, controversy, discussion and consideration. Using Linux you settle into the backdrop, it is inviting and accommodating.
Shades of Garrison Keillor and Issac Asimov!!

One dream I had as a young man was to roam the world with my artist box filled with paint and a stack of clumsy canvases. It's kind of romantic. More so than whipping out a camera like a tourist, though I have know some pretty serious photo buffs. I could do the same with a laptop and digital camera. The technology has changed, the metaphor remains the same. Having been a draftsman for years has degraded my appreciation for realism though. I am wrapped in a world of lines and how they represent things. An artist touching on new media is the most thrilling thing in the world. People who view and buy art don't always know what went into making the end product, usually they just like what they see. To the artist it is the process, the action of doing it, then the drama of display. In my exploration of the Linux desktop via Ubuntu 8.04, I have discovered free and open source artist tools. The GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program) is like the popular Photoshop, but different. Then Inkscape, a program like Adobe Illustrator, also different. They sport the same tools as their counterparts and have plug-ins and extensions that make for custom functions. Having played with pen and ink, paint, pencil and other things, I am excited to be able to emulate the same qualities and looks and then use the computer to find new constraints or dissove limitations. You might have more regard for traditional art materials and methods, I can understand that, but you need more than one lifetime to master both the old stuff and the new, if you still want a normal life to boot. How many prodigies do you know? It's better to learn the old and timeless principles and apply them in new ways with the tools you have at hand. This is coming from a not so old guy! I am not "dissing" painters and such, I still admire those with those talents and abilities, I'm just being real in a world of change and possibilities. Blending and bending is the keyword these days. Like the movie "Remo Williams, the adventure continues!!"

Linuxville School of the Arts

Let's see, you took the red pill, went down the rabbit hole and woke up in a whole different place called Linuxville. You've committed to being strapped in to learn as much as you can absorb. The slender neural-net spike inserted, you try to relax but the mixture of not knowing what to expect, curiosity and anticipation makes it all impossible. There is a surge, blinding rapid eye movements and an anguished gasp for air, you cry out, "Man, I know Ubuntu!!".........lol. OK, let's see what you got.........

When I worked for a NASA contractor, I met with a small group of guys who wanted to explore Linux. We decided to start having meetings and open it up to other designers and engineers. There were no questions about what is Linux, just can I do this and can I do that. We didn't know that much about Linux ourselves yet we were grilled as if we were experts. Our various interests in Linux at the time did not include user applications. Except for myself, the interest were in setting up a server with remote access and writing code for small devices. I was more interested in desktop functions and applications. That was back around 2004. A few years later, things have improved greatly and I know a little bit more. Besides having a full compliment of useful applications, Linux has been made flexible enough to accommodate a wide swath of equipment and users. You can use it briefly with a live-CD or be committed with a solid stable installation.

My latest adventure is to explore some of the graphic applications. I used to drool over watching people use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, Corel Draw, even PhotoPaint and others that ran on the MS pc. Economics and priorities always came into play, so building up a software library was not in the cards for me. Today it is much different, open source has made a way to give decent software for low to zero cost. The quality of software is wondwerful because developers are also in the market for paying jobs at software companies. There is lots of incentive to put out good product. It's like in sport, your performance is being watched. Linux has boasted in the GIMP for a long time. GIMP is still taking critical heat from Photoshop vets. There are rapidly fading limitations with GIMP that make it an application to watch. It is very mature and stable. Another area where computer artist go crazy over is vector graphics. While Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw and other big guns have swept the market, open source folks have put the same tools in various degrees into OpenOffice.org Draw, Sodipodi, Inkscape, Xara Xtreme and a few others I can't think of at the moment. So, you can get the tools, learn to use them for little to no cost and if you want the "pro-stuff" be familiar already in how to use them. With my intro into using these open source applications I don't see a need to own the industry standards. What is the standard part anyway, the tools or the brand-name?? As always people have their opinions, experiences and preferences. But open source gives you a wider cross-platform choice, see what works for you. The secret is that the tools are the same, skills are transferable and multiple interfaces can be learned, no sweat.

One of the things that has vexed me, tormented me since I started using a computer is transferring my pen and pencil skills onto it. In drafting it was a little easier because drafting relies on constraints and dimensions. Doing non-drafting stuff is so different. Using a mouse is like drawing with a bar of soap, and on top of that the mouse is on the pad, the eye/cursor is on the screen. The eye-hand coordination ability needs to be strengthened. I do have a "graphics tablet", with a wireless pen, but it is far too sensitive for my clumsy drawing technique and I've grown accustom to holding the mouse. I think I am more draftsman than a drawer or sketcher. Actually vector drawing works well with a mouse and the control over all the elements of the work is quite amazing. In the future we must consider a direct touch, draw on the screen display to see if that is more natural. Some laptops have that arrangement. The main thing is to fit your idea into the work flow to accomplish it. You will see you can always do things better, with less intermediate steps. Many think drawing on a computer is automatic or a creative crutch or not worthy of serious art. New tools and new media is always resisted with great pomp. Even Disney had to set up the new school next to the old school, then find a way to blend and upgrade at the same time. So now I am going to spend time figuring out how to put the stuff in my sketchbook onto my computer and make something happen. The most wonderful thing is that I am just a casual artist, doing it for fun. I can roam far and wide to the Linuxville city limits and with open source cross-platforms with the same shirt and shoes, roam some more.