Tag: Linux Nation

For the 9th week in a row… Seven more days pass, 15 more stories from the Digg Linux/Unix section. I like doing this piece every week… I actually missed a few of these. Maybe I don’t pay enough attention to what’s popular… I tend to spend more time in the upcoming section on Digg since that’s mildly more interesting in general.

1. How to tell if a web site sucks, a flowchart
I love this flowchart.. I’m sure this website is NOT Brain rot, Web 2.0 fluff, a fanboy site, but unfortunately I might be a “Newb ego blogger,” since my picture is in the sidebar – does it make you wanna hurl? If not, fsckin.com is the real deal. What I’m not sure of is why this is in the Linux section at the number 1 story with over 3500 diggs. Hmm. Strange.

2. BBC admits massive underestimate of Linux users
I’ll forgive them, since they greenlighted Dr. Who for yet another season.

3. Introducing the real 3D Compiz!
This is sweet! Using red/blue glasses you can view your desktop in true 3D.

4. Firefox 3.0b1 has NOT been released.
It’s actually “Firefox 3.0 Beta 1 Release Candidate 1.” Who knew?

5. Turn Your Old PC into a Webapp Monster with gOS
Lifehacker quotes me in this, so it’s worth reading. I really like gOS, I ran it for about a week and had no big problems with it, other than the fact that it’s designed for a Linux neophyte. http://www.fsckin.com/2007/11/03/interview-with-gos-founder-linux-for-human-beings-who-shop-at-walmart/

6. Linux.com :: When open source projects close the process, something’s wrong
Somewhat boring nerd drama… KDE had icons STOLEN!!!!!1111 from their public SVN repo, that were licensed under both LGPL and CC, and they cry about it. Secondly, the GIMP UI brainstorm is like throwing a penny in a wishing well. The developer mailing list shows how absolutely patheticly prepared they are for new developers to join the team. http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/lists/gimp-developer/2007-August/018376.html It’s just rotten how badly this would-be volunteer gets completely shot down… and he doesn’t come back for more.

7. Ubuntu: Just how popular is it?
Nobody knows in the end… but it’s more popular than anything else. Go figure.

8. Why Linux Will Succeed On The Desktop
From the article: “I believe Linux will become the de-facto standard desktop operating system. Though it’ll take a while for many users to break free from ties to Windows, there is good reason to believe that this day will come.” – Nicholas Petreley

9. We’re only Human after all: a review of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon
YARoU (Yet Another Review of Ubuntu) – Two weeks late.

10. Anatomy of the Linux File System
Boring… I buried this.

11. Lego-like computer building blocks run Linux
This is really cool… worth reading.

12. Ubuntu – Outside the Sandbox
Daddy runs Ubuntu and gets quizzed by geek son.
What did you like most about using Ubuntu Linux? I didn’t really find it to be any different than using Windows.

13. Up close with the Eee PC user interface
A neat video of the Eee PC UI… Blimblam!

14. Ubuntu to get visual refresh with Hardy Heron
Ok, ok… I give up, more crap about the new theme for Ubuntu 8.10. I wonder how many times this is going to be dugg before it actually is released? I bet something like once a week.

15. Linux Game Company Opens Doors
Hmmm… I think this should have been buried.. this looks totally bunk… some bullshit get rich quick scheme… they’re trying to raise $40 grand for a 2D space shooter? Lame!

Every week I comment on the top stories of the week in the Digg.com Linux/Unix area.  Last week there was so much junky Ubuntu news, due to the release of Gutsy Gibbon, I needed to cut it out a little bit, just to keep some sanity.  This week, there seems to be a good balance so I’ve left the list as-is and we’re back to the top 15 of the week format.

1.  Ten Absolutely Stupid Quotes By Steve Ballmer
Oh, my god.  If you’ve ever enjoyed watching the Steve Ballmer developers video, you’ll enjoy this list.  I haven’t seen all of these until now.

2.  ATI Releases Catalyst 7.10 Drivers for Linux
This is pretty fsckin great news if you have an ATI video card.

“The Catalyst control center for Linux now has a new 3D user interface as well that allows users to adjust settings like anti-aliasing, anisotropic filtering and VSync. This release also provides support for X.org version 7.3.” – Shane McGlaun

3.  Itty-bitty, teeny-weeny Linux PCs 
Want a computer that James Bond would envy?  Something like the 3ePC from Asus might get a reaction.  I’m personally considering buying one of these.

4.  Linux Doesn’t Lack Drivers, it Lacks Complete Drivers
I think this article hits the point squarely on the head with the following quote.

“Linux may be free as in beer, but it effectively costs me $50 if it reduces my $80 mouse to the feature set of a $30 mouse.”

5.  Cracking Windows passwords with Linux
Whether you’re cracking windows NTLM passwords with rainbow tables or just using a registry tool to remove the password completely, this is a really great guide to recovering a password on a Windows XP machine.  Highly recommended.

6.  Mac4Lin – Mac OS X Leopard Is Coming to Your Linux Desktop
Well… I’ll admit I tried this guide, and it failed badly because the instructions are specifically for Feisty Fawn and Gutsy doesn’t have a few of the files in the default repositories… it still left me asking myself, “Why do this?  There are better themes out there that aren’t in a legal grey area.”

7.  Current plans for Ubuntu 8.04
This is good.  Way good.  I wrote a very comprehensive article about these plans and what I think of them (including a new default theme for the next version of Ubuntu), check it out here.

8.  Mandriva: An open letter to Steve Ballmer
Have you ever read 419 Eater?  Perhaps you did all the research, fact checking, etc to make sure these fine folks from Nigeria were able to be trusted… but I can’t say that I didn’t expect something like this to happen.  Microsoft has deep pockets, and when they partner with unsavory folks like this, it makes Microsoft look really bad.

9.  Ubuntu Certificate of Authenticity
AHHHHAHAHAHA…. I love this.

10.  New York Times opens up code
NYTimes has been releasing open source code since July, but this is a good article that explains how it all came about.

11.  Mythbuntu 7.10 hits 20,000 downloads in one week
I didn’t know that many people used Mythbuntu. 

12.  Ubuntu 8.04 to finally get a new default theme? 
Two articles this week on themes….. see my comments on it here.

13.  Wine 0.9.48 Released
Everyone’s favority not-an-emulator gets a new point release.  It’s usually a good idea to upgrade to the latest version, if you’re feeling adventurous, grab it.

14.  ATI: Linux vs. Windows Vista
This is a really good comparison of ATI video game performance in both Linux and Vista.  Very interesting results, check it out.

15.  Fedora 8 Werewolf (Screenshots)
I’ve tried out a beta of Fedora 8 and was fairly impressed.  The biggest piece of news with the latest release (for me, anyways) is Codec Buddy, which makes it easier to install codecs for proprietary formats.

That’s all for the week, if you haven’t already, check out the video where I go and delete every file on a Linux machine while it’s still running.  You might be asking why I’d do this… the answer is simple – because I can!  If you’ve ever personally wondered what happens, you can’t say I didn’t show you.  🙂

See you next week!

This is the 6th weekly edition of “Linux Nation” where I talk about the top stories of the week in the Linux/Unix section on Digg.com.  I’ll be out of town for the next couple of days, so expect a huge update on Monday after spending a weekend with my brand new black Macbook that I’m getting tomorrow!

🙂

1. The Gutsy Gibbon is out!

I’m reminded of a scene in a pretty famous movie…

Yippee-ki-yay, motherfu(BANG)! -John McClane

2. Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Torrent RELEASED

See #1.

3. Go to school on how to admin a server

Wow! After going through in detail, this website has TONS of very in depth articles on setting up all sorts of Linux servers. Very nice!

4. Linux vs. Patents : first round 🙁

Ahh… IP Innovation. Notice the singular innovation? I did. Apparently these patents go all the way back to Xerox Parc, and if you’ve ever seen the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley, you’ll know EXACTLY what this is about. It’s quite comedic. Apple settled with these folks awhile back, I wonder when Microsoft is being sued?

5. Red Hat sued for patent infringement!!

See #4. Goto your local library and pickup Pirates of Silicon Valley and watch it for free… you’ll understand.

6. Ten Funny Quotes By Linus Torvalds

Linus, Linus, Linus. You’re so passionate about the right things, good read.

7. Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) Release Candidate

Apparently this week is going to be a Gutsy Gibbon marathon. See #1.

8. Linux Jeolousy: My Wife Switched to Ubuntu

Not only does she like Linux, she can do neat tricks with her tongue – watch! Just kidding.

9. Wine is Getting Good – there’s less and less need for Windows every day

Amen! By the way, check out my article on running the Orange Box in Wine, it’s seriously easy. I haven’t had any need for windows at all, other than my pesky iPhone… arrrg. I guess that’s what a laptop from work is for, right?

10. 13 reasons why Linux should be on your desktop

I like this quote from the article:

“Once the gloss wears off, it’s about applications” – Kim Brebach

11. PICTURES: Ubuntu gets gutsy, Screenshots

PICS PICS PICS!

12. Wired Review: Ubuntu’s New ‘Gutsy Gibbon’ Brings Linux Out of the Jungle

This is a really sweet article, I hope it makes it into print.

13.465 Free Fonts for Ubuntu

These aren’t really “free” as in speech, but they are “free” as in beer.

14. A Look at Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon” RC1

See #1… again. I have a fever, and the only cure is more Gutsy Gibbon!

15. 7 reasons why Ubuntu is so successful

Probably the biggest reason is the last one listed:

7) Fragmented competitors: When Ubuntu started it’s “march to glory” there were three “big” distributions, SuSE, Mandriva, and Fedora. Debian and Slackware were popular but were not very appealling to newbies (Debian still had a text based installer…). All of the “big three” were not at their best when Ubuntu came out and started gathering users. SuSE had recently been bought by Novell and was still undergoing internal reconstructions, Mandriva has in the middle of a severe financial crisis, and Fedora was just at FC2 which wasn’t nearly as easy as it now is. – Linux4Coffee

That’s pretty damn insightful. The rest of the article is a great read, have a look.

That’s it this week, enjoy Gutsy Gibbon without me!

It’s that time of week again, every Thursday I write about the most popular stories in the Linux/Unix section on Digg.com.

This is makes one month that I’ve been writing these, if you like “Linux Nation”, please comment. 🙂

There are (as usual) lots of fantastic stories this week.

1. CNN call him a Linux hero, but local government inspector wants to shut him [down]
James Burgett makes the top story again this week. This time the title isn’t quite so misleading. Story number 11 is also about James. Mr. Burgett, who runs a non-profit and gives away computers which run Linux. He had a routine inspection from the Deptartment of “Way-too-long-a-name” and they wanted to make sure all the computers he had lying around were on the up and up.

This is the 3rd Weekly Linux Nation news report for the week, where I link to and provide some brief commentary with my opinions about the most popular stories for the week in the Linux/Unix section on the Digg.com website. I am committed to doing this every Thursday.

“Why Thursday?” you may be asking – why the hell not! Enough banter. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

1. Man is Dugg for donating 16,000 Linux boxes, then gets the regulatory axe

Number one with a bullet, this story is worth reading. Summary: Guy donates computers to those in need, and then the Department of Toxic Substance Control of the California Environmental Protection Agency issues him a citation for hazardous materials.

First get over the fact that the Department of Toxic Substance Control of the California Environmental Protection Agency has of way-too-long-of-a-department-name-and-should-be-shortened-asap-p.s.-add-yellow-dolphins-as-our-logo-thanks.

Second, this guy donates computers to people and organizations that could not otherwise afford to buy them.

These computers he gives away are put to good use, which would otherwise be sitting in a landfill or elsewhere, poisoning the water supply, giving cancer to baby kittens dwelling in sewers, and far, far more evil things. So where’s the problem?

Sounds like this inspector has a hair trigger up his ass.

2. OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications

Cynical Summary: Author browses Sourceforge, Freshmeat and other similar websites, writes about it, and get a ton of diggs. If you’re looking for something new, I can assure that you will find it in this very long list, with screenshots and such – obviously quite a bit of work went into writing this article, especially with the descriptions.

Mr. Sharma, keep up the good work. This article is one in a series of “GOD” articles that have all been very exhaustive and informative. Give it a read.

I’ll be posting a new “Linux Nation” every Thursday starting today. Why Thursday? Why not. It’s a not so busy day for me, and I started it last week on Thursday, so I’ll keep doing what works.

1. SUPERGUIDE: How to replace Windows completely with Linux
   ‘Number 1 With A Bullet’ is a “superguide” and that’s no kidding. A 10-part series of articles on replacing Windows completely with Linux. Part 1 through 9 is a list of tasks, such as installing, email and device connectivity, and part 10 is the conclusion. Go ahead, skip straight to the conclusion (like I did), but please read the rest of the articles.
2. Funny (but real) linux commands and results
   Oh my… funny errors from Linux commands. I’m pretty sure this is really old, since many of the commands do not work in the BASH shell, but now it’s making the rounds again, making people laugh out loud about something like this one:
   % “How would you rate Quayle’s incompetence?
   Unmatched “.
Continue reading “Digg “Linux Nation” for Thursday September 20th 2007”

I saw a post over on Diggnation forums saying that Diggnation doesn’t cover enough Linux articles.  Well here’s the solution:  Make a list yourself!  Here’s a list for the past week with my own comments.  Buy me a beer (located at the end of this post) and I’ll think about making it into a weekly video.

1. PC World refuse to repair hardware fault, because of Linux
   • Update:  Linux does not actually void the warranty.  Problem has been fixed.
2. Fix a Frozen System with the Magic SysRq Keys
   • Alt and SysRq (Print Screen) and then typing REISUB will reboot Linux properly after a crash when the commonly used Ctrl-Alt-Backspace or function keys don’t work.  Great Tip! 
3. OOXML: nice little standard? [PIC]
   • OOXML is well documented.  🙂
4. Microsoft starts a “Get the Facts” campaign…against itself
   • Vista TCO is lower than XP.  I don’t believe that for a second!  This appears to be Microsoft doing what they do best, sponsoring surveys and such to get the results they want to be able to publish.
5. Valve recruiting Senior Engineer port Windows-based games to Linux
   • This is great news.  Surely a job posting is not a news release, but now there is some hope that Valve will be porting Steam and their games to Linux.
6. Vietnam Says Buh-bye to Microsoft Office, Chooses OpenOffice.org
   • 20k upgrades to Office 2008 is more expensive than OO.org.  Who knew?
7. AMD Releases 900+ Pages Of ATI GPU Specifications
   • With these specifications, ATI drivers will likely improve in quality on these specific GPUs.  ATI/AMD driver hackers rejoice!
8. Latest VirtualBox 1.5 runs Windows apps directly on your Linux desktop
   • VirtualBox Windows Emulator has a new version, still looks like Win95, but works well.  This does seem a little bit better than running in VMWare since you can run the program in its own window which is decorated by your window manager.
9. AMD: GPU Specifications Without NDAs!
   • Same story as number 7.  Dupe!
10. Lenovo Interested in Linux, Opens Poll for Distro
    • Surprise!  45% of all surveyed want Ubuntu supported on a Levono Thinkpad laptop, then secondarily they want Debian with 11%.
11. How Linux is being subverted.
    • Somehow, somewhere, whenever a company that does business with Microsoft (in this case, Novell) they’re up to some evil plot and want to take over the world.  I don’t quite think this is true, but it’s a good headline.
12. IBM dives into OpenOffice.org development
    • IBM is paying some people in Beijing to work on OO.org.  Not a big deal IMO.
13. Ubuntu Linux Training Software that runs on Windows and Mac only
    • Hmm…. so lemme get this right:  Some folks decided to make training materials for Ubuntu (which they have no relation to as far as i know) and sell it for 89 pounds a pop?  Go them!  Minor problem, it doesn’t run on Ubuntu.  Well… maybe next time guys.
14. Super-Easy Ubuntu Setup From Windows – For Windows Users Eager To Try Linux
    • Goto http://wubi-installer.org/ and install it if you’re running Windows.  I might tie this into my article about distributing Linux via physical medium.
15. Edit PDF Files For Free With PDFedit -OpenSource PDF Editor (Ubuntu Feisty)
    • PDFEdit is actually pretty terrible.  The GUI is total shitty and nearly unusable.  I can say this with much certaincy since I actually tried to use it last night for my Tux Mask.  Using a graphical editor and exporting to PDF from OO.org actually works MUCH MUCH MUCH better.  PDFEditor is not worth the time spent downloading it right now, in my opinion.

So there you go, 15 articles that made the biggest splashes on Digg.com this week and a short summary of each.