E-Dribble

I’m no longer using linux for my day to day stuff, so I don’t have any tentativeness concerning upgrading whatever linux install is on the computer partition that I’m not using.  In the case of my laptop, it’s Ubuntu.  I had read that they had released the beta of 10 and since I could care less if the install was unusable after the upgrade, I upgraded from 9.

I have used it for a couple hours and no matter how much I explored, I can only find one change between the old and new.  This change, however, will alter the landscape of linux computing.  Years from now, after every distribution, in all OS camps have followed in Ubuntu’s steps, the four of you that read this will remember my heralding of a new era.

So what’s the change?  What incredible insight did Mark Shuttleworth have that is sure to forever change the way we compute? (continue reading…)

From ComputerworldUK: Linux will trounce Windows 7

From Datamation: Google Chrome OS: Desktop linux’ last chance

A dichotomy, you presume? Well, not really.  What can be gained by combining the two posts is very simple:  Before linux becomes extinct, it will trounce Windows 7.

I guess there’s some comfort to be had in that.

I love computer games.  Some games, I love more than I should(My productivity dropped alarmingly during my WoW period). Since I love games so much, I have a very zoomy computer off to my left with smile inducing specs.  Nothing but games gets installed on it.

I wouldn’t contemplate running anything but Windows on it. Although I sometimes find games that I want to play that will run on linux, I have never found a game that I wanted to play that wouldn’t run on Windows. Windows does gaming better.

(continue reading…)

A couple of months ago, I purchased a used copy of Chris Cornell’s latest solo album. After listening to it, I threw it away. Don’t worry, UMG. I didn’t make a copy of it prior to throwing it away. I didn’t want it in the house.

I forgot about it until reading Wired’s “Top 5 Audio Atrocities to Throw Down a Sonic Black Hole”, in which Chris Cornell came in at number 1.

I know our tastes are supposed to mature over time, but I’m pretty sure there will never come a time that I can tolerate the music he released on that album. With music by Timbaland and produced backing vocals(see comments) by Justin Timberlake, it’s almost as if he systematically and methodically did everything he could think of to disgust and ostracize his fans.

There’s hope though. I hear we’re going to hear something amazing from him and Lady GaGa.

Sugarlabs, a fork of the huge failure that was the OLPC released an OS intended for USB installation so every aging and decrepit computer can have the ability to run an operating system and educational software.

It seems that Sugarlabs brought along some of the huge resources of FAIL at OLPC. It’s the only way I can explain how they missed the most obvious fact of obsolete hardware; If a decrepit computer even has a USB port, chances are huge that it’s bios is not going to allow you to boot from it.

At least they forked the development. You know how I love that.

The Chinese have purchased the Hummer brand from the dying hands of GM.  For a country that considers itself superior to us, they sure have a funny way of showing it.  The article also notes that GM will be closing the Pontiac, Saturn and Saab brands as well as 1/3 of their entire dealer network.

I have more to say about this, but it will have to wait.  Mr. Obama has assigned me to the afternoon detail on the local road crew and I can’t find my God damned orange vest.

I saw it all go down.

Well, I tried linux Mint over the last few days.  Argueably the most easy to use and feature-rich distro currently available.  How could I go wrong?

Well, let me just say this.  I’m getting much quicker at reaching critical failure, which in and of itself is very useful.  I used to waste weeks in the hope that someone could help me end up with an install that I could use at work before I gave up and became productive again on my Windows box.  I’ve now been able to reach the same conclusion in the span of days.  Add to this the fact that I now know not to install it on the box that I make a living on, and you’ve got yourself what may be the first stress-free linux install ever.  I simply threw my old work box on the test bench, installed, found it to be lacking,  waited 3 days for useful assistance and retired the attempt.

I got so excited when I saw the clean fonts and snappy response of linux.  It made me realize how much I missed it.  Then I began working on dualhead and network printing, which made me remember how much I loathed it.

(continue reading…)

Remember when I told you that the Openmoko phone was dead in the water?  Well, it seems that my informants at /. might have jumped the gun and now state that the phone is actually still being developed.  Hey, you can hardly blame me.  I just regurgitate all the crap that I find.

I understand that some of you may be under the mistaken assumption that I enjoy these FOSS failures, which would be untrue.  I’m the largest proponent of open source that you will find.  However, I don’t feel that you should get bonus points for developing open source apps if you’re incompetent.  From the complaints rolling in concerning the Openmoko platform, it’s indeed being handled by idiots.  Most complaints concern the fact that the devs concentrate on  bells and whistles while users can not actually successfully make a phone call on the phone.  During the development process it remained a fact that they couldn’t make a phone call, but the interface looks prettier than it did when they couldn’t make a phone call a year ago.

I bet you couldn’t guess that I’m blogging this from my OLPC while I call my publisher on my Neo Freerunner.

Hey, remember when I told you about the Openmoko phone?  The FOSS phone that was going to change the way carriers, providers and vendors treated the end user?

Well, you can now officially consider it another open source attempt that is being buried and forgotten.  I know, shocker.

Who would have thought that an open source endeavor such as this would have failed, what with the incredible success rate that these types of efforts enjoy?

I would be blogging this from my linux OLPC laptop, but, well, you know.