Linux
gregladen | July 6, 2009This may not be entirely legal so don't tell anyone where you heard it.
Link to Medibuntu Community Documentation page
Always follow the law. And remember, Linux is not for everyone.
gregladen | July 5, 2009I recommend not going the dual boot option. Just wipe the Windows install.
But remember: Linux is not for everybody.
gregladen | July 4, 2009Using the safe, stable, and sexy live CD:
Remember. Linux is not for everyone.
gregladen | July 4, 2009I recommend avoiding dual booting if one or more of your systems is Windows, because Windows does not play nice with other operating systems. But if Windows messed up your booting software (Grub) this is how to fix it.
gregladen | July 3, 2009Before they know how pronounce the thing the story is about:
After they know how pronounce the thing the story is about:
gregladen | June 17, 2009So, Amanda had some 400 photographs that needed to be viewed, selected from (maybe a several dozen selected), then each chosen photo converted to jpeg format, resized to 100o pixels wide and saved.
She began the process on her Windoze laptop. The first photograph took about a minute or two. Realizing that the conversion of the photo had to happen before she could decide whether to use that image or not, I quickly calculated that she had about an hour of work in front of her.
The photos happen to be on a flash card. So, I intervened.
"Let me have those photos for a minute."
"What are you…
gregladen | June 17, 2009Linux in Exile has refined the empirical test of which operating system boots more often. Details and discussion here.
Of course, it also matters that Windows requires constant rebooting for the purpose of routine maintanance, while Linux does not, so the total 'boot wait' time (TBWT) for the two systems is so different that they really can't be compared at all.
Meanwhile, ...the new Linux Kernel (2.6.10) has faster boot time and will run faster than the previous Kernel.
Thanks to the already implemented fastboot patches, the new Kernel 2.6.30 has the ability to recognize hard disks…
gregladen | June 1, 2009A repost, continuing along the lines of bashing the shell.
Having examined Learning the bash Shell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)) (see here, here, and here), it is now time to turn to a more advanced reference to help you geek out on your Linux computer. If you want to have only one book on bash, get Classic Shell Scripting by Robbins and Beebe. This book has an excellent mixture of history, philosophy, rigorously described details and creative solutions.
For instance, after giving a brief history of Unix (required in all such books) the authors layout the basic principles of what is…
gregladen | May 31, 2009... and Ars has a look at it.
The latest alpha build of Chromium provides basic browsing functionality and a few of Chrome's other features. I was able to load pages, open new tabs and windows, use the browser's full-page zoom, download files, view and manage history, and run the Incognito privacy mode.
The rest of the features were only partially implemented. It is possible to reorder tabs in each window, but you can't snap out a tab yet or move tabs between windows. Bookmarking basically works, but with several limitations. Clicking on the bookmark star icon doesn't pop out the bookmark…
gregladen | May 30, 2009This is a repost of a review that is timely, given this week's focus on setting up your Linux server and changing all your computers over to Linux and so on.
Time for another installment of our look at the book Learning the bash Shell (In a Nutshell (O'Reilly)). Today's foray into Linux Land: Unix Command Substitution.
There is more than one way to do this, but here is a sensible way to look at the format. In command substitution you stick something that comes out to be a valid UNIX command insice parentheses preceded with a dollar sign:
$(UNIX command)
The unix command is evaluated…
gregladen | May 30, 2009The dust-up regarding Asus corp and Windows, recently discussed here, is definitely a (well-enough executed) hoax, acording to JH at Linux in Exile:
I got burned this week; I actually believed the hoax that ASUS and Microsoft teamed up, and that an Asus.co.uk page was linking to a It's Better With Windows site.
But looking at it again, I'm convinced it's a hoax. And you should be, too. Here are a few obvious telltales:
See JH's full explanation here.
gregladen | May 29, 2009This is a repost of a review that is timely, given this week's focus on setting up your Linux server and changing all your computers over to Linux and so on.
I started this discussion a while back, and now it is time to continue it.
The Bourne Again Shell, bash, is the default command-line shell in Ubuntu and many *nix (Unix, Linux, etc.) systems. You can think of the shell as the most direct way to get into your operating system, and you can think of shell scripts ('programs' in essence) as macros that can automate computerized tasks.
For the present purposes, I'm discussing the book…
gregladen | May 29, 2009Following on this earlier post, here are links to on line resources that would aid in building, configuring, and using a Linux based computer.
Hardware:
The 800 dollar killer PC. This is a "gaming" PC, but this set of guidelines is more broadly useful than just for games. Just don't forget to substitute Linux for Windows.
Linux-Friendly Hardware
More on Linux Friendly Hardware
Systems and related information:
The Windows to Linux Roadmap
Ubuntu
Xubuntu
Guide to Debian Linux
Open Source Resources Page
Just for fun: Linux from Scratch
Shell Scripting:
Linux Shortcuts and Commands…
gregladen | May 29, 2009... or so it would seem.... UPDATE: Or, this could be a fake. See comments.
The Asus PC Eee PC was designed specifically to run LInux. The idea is in part to make a very inexpensive globally (more or less) accessable open source system so all the poor children around the world who happen to have a hundred bucks could have a PC just like you do.
Now, Microsoft and Asus have teamed up to produce an ad campaing providing what amounts to a series of lies about the hardware/software combo, claiming that "Windows is Better" on this PC (better than Linux, that is).
Is it Ethical? No doubt.…
gregladen | May 28, 2009This is a repost of a review that is timely, given this week's focus on setting up your Linux server and changing all your computers over to Linux and so on.
For the most part, computer operating systems all have a "shell." When people talk about the "command line" ... they are talking about the prompt in a shell. The concept of a shell, and the way we think of a shell today mostly stems from its implementation on Unix systems. A shell is a computer program that has a human interface and a number of built in or accessible functions (mostly other programs) that humans can invoke to make the…
gregladen | May 27, 2009Why would you want to install Ubuntu as a "server" rather than as a desktop? The simple answer is: If you need to ask, you don't want to do it. But, there is a more nuanced answer as well: By installing a server, you get to a) have loads of fun installing a server; b) learn things about the system you never thought were even there to learn; c) have your own server, so serve stuff in your very own home, so when The Internet goes down you can continue to pretend like there's an internet. Just a much, much smaller and less interesting one.
And, if you happen to have anything to serve up in…
gregladen | May 15, 2009Just in case you need one...
No, this does not mean that this blog is going that way. But a lot of blogs are, so this may be useful.