February 22nd 2008
You are walking home late at night and two girls run past, one turns to the other and says “this is the millionth time I have ran today” and you cannot help but say “You would have to start and stop running 10 times a second, while you said that you would have to have done it 30 times”
You know its real bad when you get home, do the calculation and and are disappointed you did not say 11.5 and then blog about it.
February 19th 2008
I have run Linux systems for about a decade, but not always as my main OS though. Whereas I used to enjoy the learning curve linux forced on you, at some point it was both more interesting and easier to use than windows. The selection of packages in Ubuntu is superb and there is no show-stopping apps that I need to run windows for. With all the compiz niceness we are winning the eye candy wars, and of course it increases my productivity… marginally. The installer is unbeatable, people who think windows is easier are mad or deluded by the fact someone else did it for them. Hardware support is brilliant in Linux in general and particularly in Ubuntu; even if you dont like binary drivers, having stuff work is what you want.
I have been amazed at how well Ubuntu works on my laptop (a Dell D430), every device works, I have Compiz on my Intel graphics card, the USB DVD-RW works, the docking station works, all the function keys work, everything works. The only slight niggle was attaching a projector the other day, I had never done dual monitors and Fn-F8 seemed to work but I had to change my screen resolution to match the projectors, I could not get it to work in dual monitor mode (I only tried a few mins as the pressure was on to get an image up)
Ubuntu is Debian. I have said this to people before, possibly to be controversial but I think there is a point to be made. Ubuntu is Debian at least in the way Debian is GNU + Linux + X.org + …, it would not exist without the work of the Debian developers. It is distinct enough that I will never state that identity again, I was over egging the pudding. I like the idea of them selecting a core of packages from Debian testing/unstable, QAing them, adding apps not found in there and tweaking the settings. I spent an awful long time trying to do that single handedly in the past, using apt-pining and loads of 3rd party repos, and it was a pain and certainly not as stable as Ubuntu is. I like that they recompile Debian packages and make them available in Universe and Multiverse, but think they are a bit coy about saying where they come from, “a snapshot of the free world” or something I think they say. I think people perhaps need to be a bit more thoughtful when giving credit, hard work by Debian, the kernel guys, Gnome and pick_your_favorite_app will make Ubuntu look better, as of course will all the good work the Ubuntu guys do. I think I will continue to use Debian stable for servers for some time though, Ubuntu LTS does not seem as safe a bet to me.
February 18th 2008
I have blogged about this before, go get it here ,it is out of beta now. OpenSolaris kernel, GNU userland (most of Ubuntu’s packages).
I have mentioned before that Ian Murdock, the chap who started Debian, has joined Sun to work on Project Indiana. This is basically a binary distro using the OpenSolaris codebase and including a load of free software that folk have come to expect from a linux distro. This may work, but it’s not great now and the binary distros of Solaris, called Developer Preview and Community are dire.
In the great tradition of Debian + YOUR_FAVOURITE_KERNEL (a la Gnu/Hurd Gnu/FreeBSD and GNU/NetBSD) comes Nexenta. I use it and like it, ZFS + Samba were my goals I have that now, but I am looking forward to the new in-kernel CIFS server, expect benchmarks after I move house.
February 17th 2008
Desktop Data Manager is superb tool; providing a clipboard manager, a screenshot taking app that allows you to select regions and a reasonable download manager. I mainly use the screenshot tool at the moment.
From their page:
Clipboard Manager
Screenshot-Taking Applications
Download Manager
What sets DDM apart from Klipper/Glipper/…
February 16th 2008
Near where I currently live in Otley is very well mapped by OSM, here is a screenshot.
Compare this to google maps (Only when I did this comparison did I notice how much screen space is wasted on the left of the google maps).
My first experience with the OSM online editor was a bit frustrating, not as intuitive as I would have liked but it will get better I am sure. I am looking forward to contributing something more substantial at the weekend. I am going to take some traces near my Mums on Sat and then the WYLUG mapping meet on Sun after a party on Sat night in Chester. It’s good to be busy.
February 16th 2008
I have decided to get involved in OpenStreetMap.
When asked a little while ago by someone at WYLUG I poo-pooed it, thinking that it was too big a task and seeing the little progress they had made. I am glad to say I was wrong, it is taking shape nicely now. I guess Wikipedia, GNU and Linux all must have looked like quixotic endeavors in the early days; though the people with the vision, that seemed to be tilting at windmills, were proved right. I thought it a shame that we would have the skill to put together sat-nav software but no free access to map data. These slides helped convince me as well as a recent WYLUG talk.
The Leeds mapping is OK now, but some folk from WYLUG are going to get together and plug a few gaps next weekend. So obviously I need a GPS…
… in a smartphone. Regardless of what some people claim, a GPS enabled S60 nokia is totally essential for the enterprise. Seriously though, I had been considering a new phone with a half decent camera and saw the N95 8G with its built in GPS and nice big screen. I went for the N82 though as it was slightly lighter, cheaper, has better GPS reception, has a xenon flash and had a lens cover (I cannot stand the thought of the lens not being covered when not in use). I think convergence has basically happened, that will give me better pics than the 2.8Mpixel camera I carried round for 3 years and will be an OK sat-nav device in the car, a phone and a reasonable mp3 player (with a normal size headphone socket on the phone). The downside is a smaller screen. S60 has a Python implementation too so I will be able to play with that a bit.
I have some friends that did 120,000 KM in a round the world trip , I hope they kept traces on the way as they may be incredibly useful.
In other good news, I am the 4th Tom Hall on google. I think I can get to 2nd as I should be able to beat a county and western singer from Texas.