lefty.crupps' GNUski bacon

Kontact: Check for New Email: Setting up a Global Shortcut in KDE4

2009-07-16T15:57:00.004-05:00

I've set up a shortcut key to check for new email in Kontact, because in my current version of Kontact I cannot seem to change the Global Shortcuts column.

Now, I just press [F9] from anywhere and my Kontact will check all accounts for new emails.

In KDE 4.2.4, this is pretty easy to set up, although figuring out the D-Bus call was a bit confusing for me. On the Debian IRC channel #debian-kde I got a bit of assistance from gkiagia, so thanks go to him (or her?)

Open your System Settings > Input Actions, right-click and add a New Global Shortcut > D-Bus Command, name it what you'd like, and add the information that you see in my screenshot (click it to enlarge it and make it readable). Enjoy!

Postfix on Debian: Fixing the bounced email issue "553 5.5.4 ... Domain name required for sender address root (in reply to RCPT TO command))"

2009-07-16T14:10:00.003-05:00

After many google searches, Pickcoder on the Freenode IRC channel #postfix helped me out with this one.

After setting up Postfix as the MTA on a Debian box using these instructions, I was able to send email through the SMTP server. However, when sending from the command line, I was getting bounce messages in my /var/log/mail.info file:

shell$ mail -s "Test email" someone@somewhere.com
this is a test [ctrl][d]

shell$ tail /var/log/mail.info
Jul 16 13:17:44 server postfix/smtp[873]: E676D180278: to=, relay=email.somewhere.com[12.12.123.123]:25, delay=0.63, delays=0.05/0.02/0.44/0.11, dsn=5.5.4, status=bounced (host email.somewhere.com[12.12.123.123] said: 553 5.5.4 ... Domain name required for sender address root (in reply to RCPT TO command))

The trick to fixing this was that the account (root in this example) didn't get its hostname nor FQDN attached to the end of the address, so my email looked like it was coming from 'root' rather than 'root@someserver.com'.

The actual fix is to edit the /etc/postfix/main.cf file and chage the line that reads "append_at_myorigin = no" to "append_at_myorigin = yes"

Edit the file with vim or your preferred editor:

shell$ vim /etc/postfix/main.cf

and change the line from

append_at_myorigin = no

append_at_myorigin = yes

Make sure to restart Postfix:

shell$ /etc/init.d/postfix restart

And then try your mail command (up above) again. If you check the mail.info logfile, the status should now read, "status=sent"

Gripes with Ubuntu

2009-06-22T15:17:00.004-05:00

I don't use Ubuntu, I use Debian. I tried Kubuntu for a while but I was never really happy with it.

I don't want to be negative, but Ubuntu just doesn't cut the souce with me. When people ask why I don't use Ubuntu, I can come up with many reasons. I've decided to list them here and then perhaps the Ubuntu community can address them within the Ubuntu and related distributions, and win me over. But, I don't expect hat will happen since I am so happy with Debian Sid as it is.

Over all, I want to express that this saddens me. I'd love to see more Linux on the desktop, but I really don't want to suggest to people that Ubuntu is the way to go. I feel that KDE has more going for it and that Ubuntu has too many problems. Of course, I am just one person, but here are my main grips with Ubuntu.

(1) Ubuntu packages aren't compatible with Debian yet are called '.deb packages' — makes it very painful to find a Debian package some times, and it's not useful for new users to have two distro packages that are named the same but incompatible. Yes, Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE, and OpenSuse (and others, I am sure) all use the .rpm format, but they have this same issue and that doesn't make it OK. Please, rename your packages .ubu or keep them compatible.

(2) I really dislike Gnome desktop and feel its extremely limiting in what you can do with it and how the defaults are usually poor decisions, IMHO. As long as Gnome is the main focus of Ubuntu, I am not interested.

(3) Ubuntu it's incredibly unstable and has issues that no other Linux distro that I've tried has. Others may disagree, but in my experience the Ubuntu packages have many issues that don't affect other distros. Check this bug that has been open for over a year https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/119730

(4) as a KDE user, the Kubuntu is horrible; lots of KDE people feel this way. If you want to try KDE, don't expect to really get a feel for it with Kubuntu.

(5) KDE doesn't get much attention even though its claimed to be an equal desktop. Kubuntu also gets the short end when any new system tools are created by the Ubuntu devs or community. Free Software shouldn't focus on excluding a major DE from innovations.

(6) I've never once had a successful upgrade from one release to the next. This may be because I've installed 3rd party repos, but if needed apps aren't provided by the distro, what is a user to do? Once even without these 3rd party repos it still failed. I've never had this issue with Debian.

(7) Cananocal releases LTS versions with new software like PulseAudio, which has caused a lot of issues for people; a LTS should NOT have untested software.

(8) Bug reports go for a long time with out being addressed, and then the response becomes, "The next version of Ubuntu is out; upgrade to that and tell us if it is fixed". Bugs should be fixed in this release, not pushed off to the next. What if a user's environment demands that they stay at release 8.04LTS or whatever? Here is one example of many like this that have been responded to bug reports https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/118842/comments/15

(9) Bug reports then get closed due to lack of attention, when its the developer's lack of attention that defines this, in my opinion and experience.

(10) I'll file a wish for newer versions of software, and the release team would respond with, "Too late for the next release, we'll get the one after that" — when (1) each release should have been synced with newer software already, but it's not happening, and (2) they'll then miss the software upgrade for the next release also. Here is a good example of this, with each comment promising it'll be available for the next release https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kmediafactory/+bug/194438

These are only 10 of the issues that I've had with Ubuntu, but they're enough to keep me away. I am sure others have disagreements with me over some of these issues, and I would like to see Free Software and Linux succeed but it seems to me that Cananocal needs some major improvements.

Two wishes for Gran Canaria Desktop Summit

2009-06-16T07:47:00.002-05:00

The KDE Desktop people and the GNOME Desktop people are joining forces this year for the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit. I have two requests which I am sure won't get addressed, but here we go anyways :)

1. Let the file picker dialog (Open, Save, and Save as) for any application bring up the DE file picker, not the file picker based on that toolkit. For example, if I use Handbrake (a GTK app), I want the file picker to use my KDE file picker on my KDE system. GNOME users should get their native file picker also when using the great KDE apps available to them.

2. Let 'single-click to open' or 'double-click to open' work (and be set) across desktops. In my KDE 4.2.4 (Debian Sid) I very much like my single-click policy, but when I use a Gnome app I have to double-click every file and folder to navigate anywhere (usually in relation to Wish 1, above). I am guessing there is a way to set GNOME to single-click but likely I would need to fully install GNOME in order to find the one-of-a-million config apps which does this.

What are your wishes for the joint desktop summit, my readers?

2.6.30 Kernel and Sidux

2009-06-11T07:18:00.002-05:00

Sidux Linux, based on Debian Sid (the 'unstable' branch) and touted as being 'Debian Hot & Spicy!', has released their 2.6.30 kernel with a huge surprise.

If you read around the web about the release of this new kernel, nearly every article discusses increased performance and a large number of new drivers for the 2.6.30 kernel release. But within Sidux, the kernel developer slh has decided to remove all non-Free (Libre) firmware from the Sidux kernels. The result is poor hardware performance within Sidux 2.6.30 kernels, at least thus far according to rants on the OFTC irc network on the #sidux and #smxi channels.

On my own system, my ATi Radeon card has much worse performance (under the Sidux 2.6.30 kernel) with the XOrg radeon driver or the XOrg radeonhd driver, both of which were suppose to be improved with the 2.6.30 kernel. Perhaps my drivers need to be at a newer version for the improvement to be seen, but there shouldn't be a regression. IRC forums suggested that I download the firmware from the internet (providing a link for me, even) but performance didn't improve. Graphics are still choppy when scrolling, and my fan was running higher than ever -- until I rebooted back into 2.6.29 for now.

Removing the non-Free bits from a kernel does increase the "Free Software" aspect of a kernel, which I do appreciate and support. But at the cost of hardware functionality, for many users, without warning? Had I wanted to be that in tune with Free/Libre software I could be running gNewSense Linux. Debian has long been a promoter of Software Libre and had struck a balance with FLOSS and closed firmware within the kernel; Sidux was supposed to be as close to Debian as possible, and thereforseemed to followed the same 'binary bits' philosophy, but no more.

Debian itself isn't yet at the 2.6.30 kernel and I don't know what they will do. Sidux may fix this, perhaps by a seperate firmware package to install, or perhaps the pressure will force slh to put the firmware back in, or perhaps another kernel will be available in the repositories. If something doesn't happen, however, I see Sidux alianating many of its user base.

Frustrations with help for a newbie

2009-05-04T16:00:00.002-05:00

I recently set some friends up with Debian Sid using the KDE4 desktop (4.1.0 i think; I am waiting to do their update to 4.2.2 and it may well be 4.2.3 or higher at that point!) and I got a call for help with the Gimp.

This user had used the Gimp on his Windows XP setup before but was never impressed with its strange* functionality. On desktop Linux, however, Gimp is king for photo editing, although Krita is coming along (and has some strange functionality of its own, IMHO).

His question: "How do I make a layer, or parts of a layer, transparent to 20%?"

Seemed simple enough to me, but a few moment of poking around andI had to confess that I didn't know. I walked him through firing up Konversation and got him on the #gimp IRC channel for some help. I joined the channel also to make sure things would work and to help him if needed.

He asked his question, "How do I make a layer, or parts of a layer, transparent to 20%?" and the response was, "Use a mask." Not, "Use a mask and go to the Layer menu and set transparency at ...." or "Here is a tutorial," just "Use a mask."

I followed along and added a mask to my own setup... and then I was completely lost. White? Black? Grey? What do these mean? Where are the tooltips? A google search of YouTube brought up a video showing how to somewhat blend one layer into another, but at no point was it clear on how to fade a top layer to let the bottom show through.

My friend said after a few minutes with little help, "I think i got it, thanks" and logged off. Maybe he did, but I sure didn't. I am not sure why he didn't stick around to wait for more assistance, but he left in a hurry. And the initial 'helper' never offered more help than, "I said, use a mask."

I am not saying that the Gimp is broken, but I would like to see it better. I am not saying that the help wasn't there, because an answer was provided quickly, if without depth. I am not saying my friend wasn't guilty of not RTFM, because he certainly didn't (nor have I).

But if we want people to use the software, we have to have the patience to walk someone through their issue until it is resolved, if we have this ability. If we don't have the knowledge or patience, then we shouldn't be offering help at all.

Am I wrong? Does someone have another take on this? Does someone have a concise answer to my friends' question?

*that is just how Photoshop users see it, no bones about it. I don't even use Photoshop now, and only used it a very little bit about 6 years ago, and I still find the Gimp painful and confusing. Its not holdover use patterns from another app, its just not how my brain works. Nor others' brains, by the common reactions that are out there.

GRUB Stage 1.5: Error 2 — HowTo fix

2009-04-29T12:21:00.003-05:00

After moving my Debian Sid install from an older AMD Athlon XP+ to a newer computer with Intel Pentium D, dual-core setup, I also had a whole new kit to deal with. New motherboard, new video card (from NVidia to onboard ATi, and then to a purchased ATi card), and also some older parts made the move with me...

Anyways, after I did all of this and struggled with the ATi drivers (eventually giving up and just using the instantly-implemented XOrg drivers), my whole computer seemed kinda sluggish. Video playback was choppy especially...

So I decided to try Sidux, which is based on Debian Sid but has some 'enhancements'. Last night I installed it onto my ATA drive /dev/hda1 (so Debian used to call it), with my storage drives still being two SATA drives. When I booted the Sidux LiveCD it called my ATA drive /dev/sdc so I installed it there (yes I mounted the drive to be sure!) but when I rebooted, I got this:

Loading GRUB
Grub Stage 1.5

Error 2

Eventually I found that the drives were being called different things by the BIOS when booting from a CD than what they're named when booting from the hard drive (ODD!?) and so I just had to unplug my two SATA drives, boot and install to the only remaining drive partition (now labeled as /dev/sda1), and power down. Then I reattached my SATA drives and when I booted, everything worked perfectly.

The Sidux system is very snappy, and I have loaded KDE 4.2.2-2 from Debian Sid and all seems to be great so far! Still, I wonder about some of their changes, like why they chose to use Runlevel 5 rather than Debian's default Runlevel 2 for graphics and networking, and likely some others that I've not come across yet...

Happy to have a system that can be fully reinstalled in a few hours time with everything up-to-date and all of my devices working, but not happy how my BIOS handles its hard drives but whatever, its fixed!

Free 3D Video Drivers needed to spread the Linux Desktop

2009-03-06T07:35:00.004-06:00

Desktop use of GNU/Linux is on the rise, and one of the factors leading people towards its use is videos such as these, showing off the newest KDE4 effects, the new Elive distribution with E17, or Compiz effects in Gnome.

However, to get these effects on a KDE or Gnome desktop, you must* use a 3D-accelerating hardware driver for your video card. Most video cards are produced by NVidia, ATi, and Intel, but of these three, currently only Intel has advanced Free/Libre/OpenSource drivers, used by Xorg in your system the moment X is installed.

If you have a computer with a built-in Intel video 'card', your 3D graphics and the effects that you see in those videos should work out of the box after installing a modern Linux distribution. Debian Sid with KDE 4.2 works great on my EeePC 701, for example, without any extra work on my part.

If you have an NVidia or ATi card, however, life isn't so easy. The *buntu people have Envy which assists with installing a closed, proprietary driver, but it's not perfect. As I am not interested in running *buntu, and it has failed for me in the past for Debian installations, I have to pass on this one.

The point is, installing these closed GPU drivers on one distribution or another is filled with occasional successes and (more often) failures. I have to say, NVidia seems to work a lot more often than ATi driver installations, and I maybe should have bought another NVidia card when I recently upgraded. I went with an ATi RadeonHD 3450, however, because of the lure of Free Software drivers....

Free Software drivers are in the works for both ATi and NVidia cards. ATi has released documentation since their purchase by AMD, leading to the FLOSS drivers 'radeon' and 'radeonhd'. My card, an ATi 3450 that I purchased with the express intent to use the radeonhd drivers, isn't yet supported for 3D but support for this functionality is in the works. See its progress here:
http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature

Unfortunately for all Free Software users, and especially for the developer himself, Novell has layed off Luc Verhaegen, so that is one fewer developer working on getting 3D Acceleration in the RadeonHD drivers. The RadeonHD page once said to expect 3D Acceleration in the RadeonHD driver in 2009 Q1, which is now; this has since been changed with the loss of a developer and the 3D support is in development.

Likewise, for NVidia cards there is a FLOSS driver being written, named 'nouveau'. This driver is expected to be the default NVidia-hardware driver in the next Fedora release, warts and all, while its developers try to iron out its issues. Red Hat recently hired another developer to work on this driver, which is excellent news.

This driver also has Feature Matrix of its progress, available here:
http://nouveau.freedesktop.org/wiki/FeatureMatrix

As Desktop Linux and Free Software both grow in use, open and unfettered hardware access for driver writers is essential. For years, FLOSS supporters have written and campaigned both NVidia and ATi hardware manufacturers to open their drivers, and for years we've been shot down. Now the Linux community, including Novell and Red Hat, are taking matters into their own hands by writing the Free drivers instead of getting the drivers Freed from the corporations.

Unfortunately, this lets NVidia off the hook somewhat. ATi released the documentation to assist with writing this driver, but NVidia will get great graphical performance on their cards without helping the FLOSS community in any way.

This is the reason that I bought the ATi card, even though I knew my closed drivers installation would be difficult (I've given up), I also knew the Free drivers were coming and I wanted to support the company that supports the community.

* Enlightenment DR16 and Enlightenment DR17 both do not need 3D-enabled Graphics drivers to do some of their amazing desktop work. However, using these window managers is less common than KWin, Metacity, or Compiz.

HowTo: Reset the XOrg configuration file in Debian

2009-02-12T07:52:00.003-06:00

Here is a walk-through to resetting your XOrg configuration file (located at /etc/X11/xorg.conf if you want to see what you have now) to some very basic settings. This won't take into account, as far as I know, proprietary drivers nor touch-screen drivers and geometry, all of which can be added into this file in some way or another.

What is X you might ask? Back in the day there was a graphical 'windowing' interface named W for Unix systems. This allows graphics to be on the screen, the mouse pointer to do stuff, etc...The successor to W is... X, which does the same job of allowing graphics on your computer. Maybe some day there will be a Y and a Z?

Anyways, resetting that file:

In a terminal (I use Konsole on KDE), run as root:

shell# dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

or as your normal user, if you have sudo access:

shell$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg

From here you will have a few pages to go through; for the most part you can accept the defaults, but here is a brief overview of each page and the settings that I've chose. This is NOT a graphical application, so your mouse won't work here — use the [Tab] key to move around to various fields and [Enter] to 'click' a button ([Space Bar] may work also).

Run the above command, and on Page X you'll see...

Page 1. Use kernel framebuffer device interface?
No

Page 2. Autodetect keyboard layout?
Your call, but US keybd select No; if you don't know if you have a US keybd or if it has a lot of odd buttons, select Yes. Note that selecting Yes will give MORE PAGES than what I have listed here.

3. Keybd layout:
us
Well, I've got a US keybd; if you have something else or selected Yes to the first question, this may be something else.

4. XKB rule set to use:
xorg

5. Page 5 is some info; hit [tab] to highlight and then [enter] to pick

6. Keybd model:
accept default (pc104 on my computer)

7. Users of U.S. English keyboards should generally leave this entry blank
Click OK

8. Keyboard variant:
I kept myne blank, as recommended in Page 7

9. Experienced users can use any options compatible with the selected XKB model, layout and variant.
[Tab] to get to and [Enter] to move forward

10. Keyboard options:
I prefer my [Caps Lock] key to function as another [Control] Key (although I've really modified it to be a compose key in KDE, and likely this can be done at this screen — anyone know how?) and my 'Windows' key the function as a Meta key. If you want these enter this info on this tenth screen:
ctrl:nocaps altwin:meta_win

That should be it to recreate your XOrg file, now located at /etc/X11/xorg.conf and the Terminal should also report where your previous XOrg configuration file is located (backed up), if there was one before.

To test your new XOrg configuration file, restart X from your KDE or GNOME login screen, or reboot the whole computer if you're a Windows user.

Package Management Basics on Debian GNU/Linux

2009-02-03T07:45:00.004-06:00

One of the 'hardest' parts of Linux for new users is often the installation of new software, or the understanding of how this all works. Generally a modern distribution has software 'repositories' and overall they function something like this:

You have a text file with a list of internet addresses (URLs) and some additional information about that URL; these are the Repositories and act somewhat like a 'catalog of software'. You can shop from the distribution's usual 'catalogs', or you can add new 'catalogs' from which to obtain new software.
Your system's Package Manager uses this information to contact the Repository to get the most up-to-date list of that available software
A user can search for software by name, function, or other criteria; if the software looks interesting, the user selects that software to install and the Package Manager may alert the user that some additional software will be needed. This is like ordering a kitchen knife for example, and the catalog also makes sure that you get the sharpener and the cutting board. Or something like that, basically its additional software that the first piece relies upon to work.

Seems simple enough to me. I run Debian, so my list of software repositories is located in a single file at /etc/apt/sources.list and there can be additional repositories (well, text files with repositories written in them) in the folder at /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ The file's format is simple enough once you understand it:

type / location / branch / sections
deb http://debian.uchicago.edu/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
deb-src http://debian.uchicago.edu/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

In the above two repositories, the Types are 'deb' for programs and 'deb-src' for source code

The location for each is the URL ' http://debian.uchicago.edu/debian/'

The Branch part, for Debian systems at least, is 'stable' or 'testing' or 'unstable' or 'experimental'. Note that these can also be referred to by their release names, which do not change — currently 'stable' is Etch but in a few weeks it is expected to be 'Lenny'. Software starts in Experimental and works its way to Unstable and then as more bugs are cleaned up, it works its way to Testing, and then every couple of years the software in Testing is released as a new version of Stable.

The Sections for a repository depend on what that repo has available; the general Debian repositories usually have three: main, contrib, and non-free. Depending on the licensing and distribution terms, an official package will go into one of these three Sections. Other repositories may only have one section.

HowTo: Adding fonts to OpenOffice.org 2 on Linux with 'spadmin.bin'

2009-01-07T21:23:00.010-06:00

OpenOffice.org* is an office suite for Linux, Windows, and now the Mac desktops. Its similarity in appearance to Microsoft Office (pre-Office 2007) is both a blessing and a curse, as it allows people familiar with MSOffice to get to work quickly but frustrates them to no end when an expected function isn't in the same place or doesn't work the same way as it does on MSOffice.

One problem that I've always had with OpenOffice.org is getting my Linux system's fonts to show up in OpenOffice.org (OOo). Then I found out about the executable 'spadmin.bin' and everything is easier now. Not yet easy, unfortunately, but easier. Play along to get your fonts working in OOo as well!

Installing your fonts
First, let's make sure that we have the Microsoft TrueType fonts installed, since everyone seems hung up on these (I use the Liberation fonts for Free Software licensing altruism, so we'll do those as well).

There are two ways to do this, either from the command line (my preference) or from Synaptic Package Manager (or another package manager). Here is the first, on the Debian command line; first we search for the terms, and then install the pacgage names it returns (as always, click the image to make it larger) :

Here is the second method, installing the same packages but using Synaptic; after (1) searching for "Microsoft TrueType" you'll want to right-click the box and (2) Mark it for install, then click (3) Apply at the top:

Now, of course you must also have OpenOffice.org installed; if you don't have OOo, use either of the above two methods to install it along with your fonts.

Locating and Running 'spadmin'
Once we have the fonts installed, we'll want to run the 'spadmin.bin' program. This program isn't in a normal place, so we'll have to find it. It may be in the same path on my computer as it is on your computer, but lets check anyway. In a Konsole, Terminal, or other command prompt, run this:

locate -i spadmin.bin

And hopefully you'll get a return like this:

/usr/lib/openoffice/program/spadmin.bin

That is the computer's path for the application. For you Windows users, it's kind of like C:\User Programs\Libraries\OpenOffice\programs\spadmin.bin (except for the fact that a Windows machine doesn't have its files laid out like that, but that is a DOS path example anyway).

The path that your locate command returns is the path of the application that we want to run, so our next command is exactly that:

/usr/lib/openoffice/program/spadmin.bin

See this screenshot to make sure that your locate commands did what I hoped they would (click to enlarge) :

On one machine where I ran this, it took almost four minutes to get the OpenOffice.org spadmin.bin program to actually open. Yeah, it is very slow. Check my screen shot #3 again (just above) to see if it looks the same if you're wondering where the window is at.

When the spadmin.bin program finally opens, it looks like this:

Click on the [Fonts] button; a new window will open. Click on [Add...] and a third window will open. In the Source Directory field at the bottom, erase all of that and type in this path:

/usr/share/fonts/

Check mark the Soft Links option -- this means you don't have another copy of the fonts taking up space, just a link to the original fonts. Also make sure to have Search Subdirectories checkmarked, since there will be a lot of fonts in the subdirectories as well.

Click the [Select All] button. Phew! It should now look like this:

Click the [OK] button and it will install your fonts! There, nothing to it, right?

If the program asks if you want to overwrite previous fonts that may have the same name, I would answer 'None' as this shows, but you can answer however you feel. If you think some fonts that you have now are wrong, hit Yes for them, or All to do all of the overwrites.

As you can see from this last screenshot, OOo stores your fonts (or links to the fonts) in the path
/home/USERNAME/.openoffice.org2/user/fonts/
If you have fonts in OOo that you don't want, you can remove the links or files from this folder. Note that removing a link doesn't uninstall the font from your computer, just OOo. Also note that removing a real font from this directory removes it forever, so if its the only copy it may be best to move the real font file somewhere else. Anything that you installed with my HowTo should not be the only copy of a font.

This path '/home/USERNAME/.openoffice.org2/user/fonts/' is probably different in the newly released OpenOffice.org 3.x and maybe this whole font thing is taken care of in that release. But until then, this should do the trick.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope that you learned something!

EDIT: I realized that I missed any fonts installed to your own personal login! After importing the fonts in the last step (above), you likely will want to install the other fonts that you have at /home/USERNAME/.fonts/ So rerun the above [Fonts] > [Add] thing and for this next round, navigate to /home/USERNAME/.fonts/ and again checkmark 'Search Subdirectories' and again 'Select All' and again 'Create Soft Links Only'. This was a huge hole in our HowTo and I hope this helps!

*Yeah, OpenOffice.org. OpenOffice was already a trademarked German software offering, and so when StarOffice was OpenSourced and Freed, it was named OpenOffice.org. At least, I think that is how it goes.

Free Software is not Freeware (aka, more corporate FUD)

2009-01-07T08:55:00.003-06:00

In the 6 January 2009 online NYTimes.com (and also in "print on January 7, 2009, on page B6 of the New York edition" according to the article), there is a two-page write-up about R, the Free software statistical analysis software. I had never heard of this until a friend in a grad course used it.

The article misrepresents Free and Open Source software as being the same thing, but the intent of the author isn't to confuse the two terms -- I think the tech reporter needs to learn a bit more about the subject here, but that isn't the point.

Apparently, R is eating into the SAS Institutes userbase of its closed, proprietary statistical analysis software. I don't find this unusual with any quality Free Software project, nor do I find the SAS Institute's response atypical. It's the standard approach of FUD: spreading Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt about the quality of Free Software. I quote,

Anne H. Milley, director of technology product marketing at SAS [said], “We have customers who build engines for aircraft. I am happy they are not using freeware when I get on a jet.”

Free software is not freeware. Freeware is a limited-functionality, closed-source, non-Free piece of software that may or may not be quality, and may or may not be trustworthy. Free Software has open code, can be improved or modified, and its quality and functions are open for review by anyone that wants to do so.

This doesn't mean that all Free Software is trustworthy or quality, but it is within the users rights to study the code (or pay someone else to do that, if they desire) to make sure it does what its meant to do. Major projects like the Linux kernel, the Mozilla products like Firefox or Thunderbird, desktop environments like KDE, web servers like Apache -- these all are regularily reviewed by large numbers of contributors, coders, enthusiasts, and corporations that depend on these programs; they are of a very high quality. Bugs are found, filed, and squashed. Can SAS Institute say the same about their software? Certainly not, but that is why they spread their FUD.

I don't really code, so I cannot attest to the quality of R, but I would expect that it is very high indeed, with Google and others relying on it. An apt comparison here may be, "I am happy that my bank uses Windows to secure my data; I wouldn't want to bank with a company that uses [Free Software] to keep my data secure." We all know how secure Windows is, and that is why no one has ever said this. Ever.

Scalix email and calendar server with KDE's Kontact/Kalendar - Fixing Kalendar's Free/Busy

2009-01-05T08:59:00.003-06:00

We have a Scalix server for mail and shared calendars; when we set up Kontact with Debian's 'scalixwizard' tool, scalixwizard puts this into the "Configure Kontact > Calendar > Free/Busy > Server URL" fields (for both Publish and Recieve) area, which leads to failures:

scalix://User%20Name@xxxx.myscalixdomain.net/freebusy/Calendar/User.Name@emaildomain.com

Note what it is doing, scalixwizard replaced the . (dot) in my User.Name's email address with %20 (and, later, the other punctuation is replaced as well, but Kalendar gets its error before that data is sent) and fixing this alone doesn't resolve the issue. When one then tries to publish or retrieve information, this leads to the error:

The software could not upload your free/busy list to the URL 'scalix://UserAuthorization failed, Unable to login. Probably the password is wrong. The server xxxx.myscalixdomain.net replied: LOGIN failure, user name or password rejected authentication not supported0Name@xxxx.myscalixdomain.net/freebusy/Calendar/User.Name%40emaildomain.com'. There might be a problem with the access rights, or you specified an incorrect URL.
The system said: %2.
Please check the URL or contact your system administrator.

The work around for this is to single-quote the Server URL after correcting it, so that it reads:

'scalix://User.Name@xxxx.myscalixdomain.net/freebusy/Calendar/User.Name@emaildomain.com'

Note that double-quoting the Server URL doesn't work, nor does trying to escape (\) the punctuation issues.

This error may not exist for everyone, as it likely depends somewhat on how one is required to log into the server, etc., but it has been a long time annoyance with only recently the work-around figured out.

I hope it helps some of you out there!

JkDefrag HowTo -- the Free Software, amazing MSWindows rejuvenater!

2008-12-23T11:53:00.009-06:00

I have come across enough MSWindows machines that run dog-slow that this simple fix will often highly impress the person who was complaining about their Windows system being slow.

Briefly here are the top reasons (IMHO) for a MSWindows slowdown to begin with -- note that NONE of these affect a GNU/Linux system.

Fragmented hard drive -- even if Windows' built-in defragger says the drive is OK, it probably isn't.
Malware -- viruses and the like all use up system resources, slowing you down, changing your browser pages, capturing your keystrokes at the bank websites, and a lot more.
Autostart programs -- do you really need Office Quickstarter? Quicktime to start at login? There are dozens of these auto-starting apps, all using resources unneccessarily. See "Dominant Monkey Theory"
Security Apps -- yep all those firewalls and antivirus programs, which a Windows machine truly should be running, use up resources as well and slow you down.

These are the most common reasons for a Windows slowdown and other issues, but it doesn't cover problems with Bit Rot, with the Windows Registry, and with the many many other issues that Windows can have.

So other than removing the junk with ClamWin, Spybot, AdAware, and HiJackThis, and after stopping a lot of stuff from starting with the Microsoft built-in app 'msconfig', I love giving a good defrag to the system. Here is how.

Download JkDefrag.zip from here. This GPL Free Software application uses the Windows defragment libraries but in a smarter way than the built-in Defrag program does. Unpack (aka 'unzip', if you must) the downloaded JkDefrag.zip on, say, your desktop.
Open a Command Prompt ([Start menu] > Run ... > cmd [enter]).
Use 'cd' to 'change directory' to the place where you unpacked JkDefrag. For example (depending on the folder name),
cd Desktop\JkDefrag-3.36
At the command prompt, (looks like > symbol on MSWindows), first run
jkdefrag.exe -a7 c:
and let JkDefrag run fully until it finished -- note this may take an hour or more. Or less. The '-a7' flag tells JkDefrag to optimize for apps to start faster, by putting all of a programs' files together on the hard drive for faster access. Once that is done, run
jkdefrag.exe c:
to just run a regular defragment on your C:\ drive.

See the screenshot for some more information on this, including the steps 1-4, visually. Click it to make it much larger and more readable.

Apache2 SSL errors and a fix

2008-12-23T09:40:00.003-06:00

I was getting the following error for a website that I was setting up
Error code: ssl_error_rx_record_too_long

Initially I thought the error was due to having two IP Addresses answering for a single SSL Certificate, but that wasn't it. The fix was to edit the the Apache2 config file and make sure that it has the following info before the Virtual Host directives (substitute your own IP Address(es) but you need the :80 for regular web serving and the :443 for SSL) :

NameVirtualHost 192.168.170.8:80
NameVirtualHost 10.0.0.2:80

NameVirtualHost 192.168.170.8:443
NameVirtualHost 10.0.0.2:443

meaning that both IP Addresses are answering for both ports. Previously I only had this:

NameVirtualHost 192.168.170.8
NameVirtualHost 10.0.0.2

It's also necessary to have the following in the /etc/apache2/ports.conf file (on a Debian system):

Listen 80
Listen 443

I was previously getting these errors when I was checking the apache configuration and this also fixed those errors:

shell~# apache2ctl -t

[error] VirtualHost 10.0.0.2:443 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results

[error] VirtualHost 10.0.0.2:80 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results

[error] VirtualHost 192.168.170.8:443 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results

[error] VirtualHost 192.168.170.8:80 -- mixing * ports and non-* ports with a NameVirtualHost address is not supported, proceeding with undefined results

Syntax OK

shell~#

All is good now :)

CUPS failing at startup on Debian Lenny (cupsdmodprobe ??)

2008-12-08T14:27:00.004-06:00

A client has a Debian box, running mostly Debian Etch but there is CUPS from Lenny and perhaps some other things as well (the newer CUPS was needed due to a newer printer that needed a newer HPLIP, which itself was a major issue because it wanted to upgrade CUPS and HPLIP's script was hiding the "dpkg --reconfigure" dialog, and and and and it was all a headache, but that was months ago).

So today out of the blue (says the client), CUPS just stopped printing. When trying to manually start the service we got these errors and then CUPSD would just hang:

shell# /etc/init.d/cups start
Starting Common Unix Printing System: cupsdmodprobe: module lp not found.
modprobe: failed to load module lp
modprobe: module ppdev not found.
modprobe: failed to load module ppdev

Looking at dmesg, we see these drivers load with the kernel and shouldn't need to be modprobed:

shell# dmesg |grep lp
lp: driver loaded but no devices found
dmesg |grep ppdev
ppdev: user-space parallel port driver

We commented out the modprobe lines in the startup script /etc/init.d/cups but the hang would still happen. We eventually pinned it down to the file /etc/default/cups which has these lines:

# Cups configure options

# LOAD_LP_MODULE: enable/disable to load "lp" parallel printer driver module
LOAD_LP_MODULE=yes

By changing that last line to "=no" we were able to get CUPS started properly. This only took about two hours to pin down; why doesn't CUPS have a --verbose switch??

Red Hat - Free Software done horribly wrong

2008-09-09T17:40:00.002-05:00

In my corporate job we try to employ Debian whenever possible. We use it on our servers. I push for it as the default on the desktops. We sell services and software based around Debian servers.

But some of our clients and projects require various IBM applications that run, according to IBM, only on Red Hat (RHEL). I know that we could use the structurally-identical CentOS software rather than RHEL, but for those clients who want "Enterprise Support" from IBM, we need to use RHEL or IBM refuses to assist.

I cannot tell you how many problems I've had with Red Het software and their online Red Hat Network (RHN). I agree that Red Hat has done a lot for our community of Free, Open Source Software (FOSS) users and developers, and that they contribute back.

But their implementation of this software is horrible. A few cases in point that I feel I must blog about and then be done with, for now.... until tomorrow when I have to continue this fight.

Installation
Installing RHEL presents you with a screen asking for your Installation Number. This is, for comparisons sake, basically the same as a Windows License key. Without it you cannot install additional RHEL software, cannot get updates, and the like. Now I understand that I downloaded the installation CDs for free and they are within their rights to ask for this Installation Number to verify that these updates are going to paying customers. But where is this installation number?

I think, giving the Installation Number is the same as Registering the software, but since its called by different names, I cannot say for sure.

After a recent purchase of a Dell server with RHEL pre-installed on it, there was no installation number in the packaging. Dell assured us it was already put in during the install -- except that (1) it wasn't, (2) the install setup didn't match our required partitioning scheme, requiring a reinstall, and (3) this means that the system was registered to Dell and not to our company. It took a lot of effort to get this transferred to our own company and away from Dell, and it wasn't Dell making this difficult -- it was Red Hat saying they didn't have that system anywhere.

If you choose to skip entering this Installation Number during the install (which you can, giving you a base system, without new software nor updates), I have no idea how to get back to a screen where you can provide that number. It seems like an arbitrary number that is only asked at that point.

From this point at a command line you can run 'rhn_register' (I am sure there is a graphical app to do this also), which asks for your Red Hat Network (RHN) login information, to register the software I presume. Why not ask for the installation number?

Registration and Entitlements
Once you purchase a Red Hat license, you get an 'entitlement' to allow that system to get updates. There are various levels of entitlements, from the standard base system and software to others that allow for various network features or different software. I imagine its something like a different repository, except that RH handles it all, not a file on your machine.

These new entitlements, however, automatically get applied to any system that you have that is in need of updates and is listed on your RHN account.

This means that, if I have a few out-of-date systems on my RHN account and a dozen properly-updated systems, and I buy yet another system, I will likely lose my new entitlement to some random, unentitled system which I've not paid attention to in a while. This also means that my new system, even if registered, cannot get its new software nor updates since its not 'entitled' to do so, until I either dig around and guess at which took my new entitlement, or I just remove another.

I cannot express the headache that this is when my company buys and sets up systems for a number of other companies, all which rightfully want their updates applied. If I seem to be short an entitlement, which company doesn't get its updates? Which server wrongfully took my new entitlement? Which server will I have to pull an entitlement away from?

Why can't RHN just leave my entitlement management to me?

Desktop
Red Hat isn't a desktop system, but it is extremely frustrating that when I choose KDE over Gnome, they still install a ton of Gnome packages and the Gnome Login Screen (GDM I believe).

Software Builds
It is also very frustrating when one of my employees or clients needs package Y to be compiled with Z, which never seems to be the case with Red Hat's software. On every RHEL server that I build now, I end up installing Apt4RPM and add repositories for Dag Wieers, RPMForge, and Utter Ramblings. Yes, three additional repositories to get, what we consider, standard webserver functionality -- PHP, Python, Apache2, MySQL, and some other packages, to work together properly with compiled-in options that actually make the system usable. Unfortunately, these don't always work so well together either, so its a constant struggle to get the right software. Add to that the fact that there seems to be numerous Apt4RPM versions available, and its enough to make you cry 'Microsoft!'

More Downloads in Firefox (well, Firefox 2)

2008-08-09T10:20:00.004-05:00

(Actually, Iceweasel, since Mozilla's license doesn't allow for Debian GNU/Linux to use its trademarks....)

Firefox 2 has a built-in limit of the number of concurrent downloads it allows for, meaning that when presented with a lot of items that you want to download you can only download two items at a time. The dialog to save or use the next file that you click on won't even appear until the concurrent downloads have an available 'space' in this limit of two.

I wanted to download all of the speeches at this years 2008 Last HOPE conference in NYC. The speeches about security and technology and hacking of hardware and software of all types are located here: http://www.thelasthope.org/talks.html

After some websearches I came across an older post about upping this download limit in Firefox 0.9.3 but the fix is the same in 2.0.0.14:
> In your Address Bar, enter 'about:config'
> Search for 'network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server'
> Change that from 2 to whatever you'd like -- I went with 10 concurrent downloads

But then I had to manually click on each link still -- not fun for the 100 or so MP3 files.

So instead I installed KGet for KDE:
> linuxshell$ sudo aptitude install kget
> Opened Konqueror web browser to the Last HOPE talks page
> Clicked on the new KGet icon in Konqueror, selected List All Links
> Sorted by Filetype to get the higher-quality MP3 files grouped together
> Selected those with the trusty [Shift][click] to select a range of files, and Downloaded them all in one quick swoop.

Aaah, Free Software and its range of uses at its finest -- integration of code from one project into another. KDE is great at this sort of thing.

Shuttle's $199 Linux PC uses GNOME

2008-03-05T12:50:00.002-06:00

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/14278
http://us.shuttle.com/news.aspx
http://www.foresightlinux.com/

Shuttle's $199 Linux PC is due out soon, with some decent (albeit low-end) specs. However, rather than using Ubuntu, it looks like they'll be using Foresight Linux and its Conary package manager.

Does a package manager *really* make that much difference, however? I argue that yes it does -- Conary was created by former RPM developers, who obviously also think that RPM leaves much to be desired. I've never had issues with Debian's DPKG; Conary, however, seems to transfer less data per update. Woopty do; at least its not RPM.

But, to really stand out in this suddenly-crowded field of low-cost Linux desktops, another system with a GNOME front end isn't going to do it. Different wallpaper and theme it may have, but its still the limiting GNOME desktop and GTK/GNOME apps.

This does go to show that other, smaller Distributions can get a great connection with a hardware manufacturer, not just Ubuntu. Maybe someone will wise up and see the power and functionality of KDE. Maybe it'll take KDE4 to really get there, unfortunately.

If a desktop came preloaded with KDE3 and then, in 1 or 2 years, a KDE4 version was available, I could see (less saavy) users paying to upgrade to the then-current release of KDE4. Foresight, huh -- it sure doesn't seem like it.

KDE-based Super-Distro, where are you!? Somebody save me!

2008-03-02T23:10:00.002-06:00

I love KDE, the Kool Desktop Environment. It is slick and quick and has an application for just about every need that I have; it has options and ease-of-understanding that no other Desktop Environment has. Unlike GNOME (which seems to take more and more cues from MSWindows), KDE doesn't hide the system from the user. KDE doesn't dumb-down for me, but nor does it demand that I set everything up manually a la Fluxbox or another minimal window manager (which are fine but not for me, at least not today nor the last 5 years). KDE is grand, and the next generation KDE4 releases will be fantastic.

At home I have been using Kubuntu for the last three releases; before that I used Mepis, and before that was SuSE Linux. At work I have been all Debian Testing for my desktop, running of course KDE. My Asus EeePC is now running Debian Testing as well, with KDE.

But none of these Linux distributions seem to really *get* KDE. Here are my gripes about these, and a few other, distros:

SuSE: I started with you back in the SuSE 8.1 days, and although you gave me Linux and helped me into this world, your RPM hell was too hellish for me. The moment I tried to add third-party multimedia apps, my system fell apart. Every time. No more of you.

Mepis: I thought Mepis (aka SimplyMepis) was a toy -- it was too easy to use in comparison to the hell I was experiencing with SuSE on my other machine. I soon learned that Debian-based distros are really just that good! But over time, Mepis grew boring as I learned how customizable KDE and Linux are, and how Linux works, and I found Mepis wanting to be a refuge for Windows users. I was over that already, and I disliked the closed-source code that made up its tools. Then, after the great 3.1 release, future releases had a Kicker featuring a fishtank, and I was done with Mepis (yes, the fishtank can be removed, but really??).

Arch: I installed this on my laptop and it was fine, but I found its package list lacking. Based on Slackware GNU/Linux, it was fast, but its wifi tools were difficult and I spent too much time trying to connect to the same hotspot every Thursday. Done with you (for now, I suppose).

Kubuntu: My current home setup is Kubuntu. Pretty good selection of applications (ok, GREAT) and also based on Debian (but with painful deviations), but the interface is kinda dumbed down, I am tired of blue themes every time I install a new distro. Not your fault, I suppose, and I know that the Kubuntu development team is creating a distro via volunteers (as are most every other GNU/Linux distribution, of course). But you're the beat-down little sibling of the corporate-driven Ubuntu, and I am tired of living in the Ubuntu shadow. Kubuntu is still the distro I recommend for Linux newbies, but its a pain trying to explain to them the difference between Kubuntu and Ubuntu, KDE and Gnome, and why some of the instructions on the forum will work, when others won't, and how the hell are they to know the difference? As an experienced and interested geek of the Desktop Linux scene, I get it -- but do new users? I fear not. Kubuntu needs to really shine, and I fear it cannot do this in its current situation. Plus, software with the *buntus is only updated every six months (bug fixes come much quicker, obviously, but generally not new major versions of software), and the updates in these six months generally require a reinstall of the whole OS and apps. Not a bad move perhaps, but not always fun either (ok, usually it is, i know...)

Debian: The great godfather of Linux, in my opinion -- Debian begets all of the usable distros, but its KDE is just so vanilla. Yes, I know that the point of Free Software is to make it your own, which I invariably do, and I suppose being the largest software project in the world somewhat demands a basic setup to satisfy the most users, but I wish I could run Debian and be impressed with the out-of-the-box look. Debian Testing does, however, supply me with a steady stream of updated software, which I appreciate, but very little innovation in how the desktop looks and acts (please, tell me if i am wrong!)

Linux Mint: OK, I've not used this, but it is based on Ubuntu and therefor uses GNOME. So does Ubuntu Multimedia. Yeck. However, both manage to make a distro that looks stunning -- this is what I want for my KDE use! I imagine soon someone will say, "well then of course, use PCLinuxOS!"

PCLinuxOS: Yes, I could use this distro, and I am eagerly awaiting the 2008 release (there is absolutly no news on its home page/news about its release though). But, even with its Synaptic package management, this is still an RPM-based distro, which I will not return to with a smile. I use Debian and Redhat on our servers at work, and guess which always is the easier to use and administer -- yep, Debian with its DEB packages, and never Redhat with its RPM packages. I fear that PCLinuxOS is going to cause me pains with the RPMs, and I know that its forums are less busy, meaning I have less chance to solve issues that pop up. Also, the package list here is about 7,000 applications, far short of the *buntus, which themselves are short of the official Debian available programs (not to mention the fantastic debian-multimedia repositories). Will PCLinuxOS have all of the apps I want? Will support be as easy to find? Will third-party apps have available RPMs to install if PCLinuxOS doesn't supply the package themselves?

Fedora: Yes, a KDE distro, but based on the pain that is Red Hat, and also RPM-based. I'll pass for now.

In short, I want the high-quality and high-profile distribution that Ubuntu provides, without being two releases behind in the system management tools that Kubuntu seems to run. I want a great Debian-based distro that runs KDE and takes over the world -- NOT a GNOME based distro that happens to supply KDE packages (*buntu); NOT a KDE-based distro that requires RPMs (PCLinuxOS); and NOT a fantastic overall distro that just happens to be kinda boring (Debian). I want a large, active community that focuses on fixing the same issues that I may be having in KDE, not in GNOME.

After checking out Kubuntu 8.04, I might move my home system to Debian, since it always is so nice at work, and probably has the largest community and the most vanilla KDE (meaning, other KDE people can help, even if they're not Debian users). Or, I'll find the best KDE4 community and move there, perhaps.

Basically, I want a Kanonikal.

Autostarting Windows apps in KDE on Linux

2008-02-26T09:09:00.003-06:00

If you have an application that runs under Wine in your Linux setup, and want it to start when you log in, then this post is for you!

At work we use Nagios system monitoring software, and I've only found a single, outdated Linux application, but I cannot find binaries for it on a modern system, and I couldn't get it to build (with my limited knowledge). A small Windows system tray application named 'NTrayC.exe' works fine to monitor the Nagios monitoring software, and it works just fine under Linux using Wine.

When I log into my work desktop in the morning, I want to know if our network is up, if a server is failing, or whatever may be the issue du jour. I could start that NTrayC.exe program manually every day, but I figured out a better way :)

In your /home/user/.kde/Autostart/ folder (it's a hidden folder -- see that . in front of kde?) you can just copy a standard Linux launcher there and it will start when KDE starts. This application, requiring Wine to run, needs a bit more massaging -- we need to start Wine, with this application as its option (note the full path to both Wine and to the application that Wine runs).

Create a file in that Autostart/ directory named 'windowsapp.desktop' and put this information in that file:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=NTrayC.exe
Exec=/usr/bin/wine /home/lefty/NTrayC/NTrayC.exe
Icon=
Type=Application
StartupNotify=false

Now save the file, log out of KDE and back in, and it should start up on its own just fine!

QuickSynergy quick HowTo

2008-02-25T18:59:00.005-06:00

QuickSynergy is a GUI frontend to the command-line program, Synergy. This little app combo is fantastic -- it allows a user to control multiple computers with a single mouse and keyboard, allowing copy/paste from one computer to the other, and it functions with many different operating systems, including Linux, Mac/BSD, and Windows systems.

Today I was frustrated with not being able to make this work, but (like is often the case) a few minutes away from the problem brought on that Eureka! moment.

First, install QuickSynergy onto your Linux desktops:

apt-get install quicksynergy

Install on Mac or Windows is probably simple enough, but I am not really sure. Who cares?

Start the program on each machine. The machine you want to use for the mouse and keyboard is known as the 'server', or the "Share" machine in the GUI. On that machine, enter the hostnames for each machine that you want to connect with:
In this case, I have my 'debianano' system (Debian Etch installed on a 4GB SD-card, booting on my EeePC) to the right of my main computer, so that is where I put its hostname. This is where I was hung up before -- I kept using the client's IP Address (192.168.1.148 or whatever it was), which was failing. You need to use the hostname, which acts as a sort of guard to prevent connection to another machine on the network which may be using the IP address which you thought you were supposed to use. Click the [Start] button, and minimize the app or ignore it.

Then start the QuickSynergy application on the client machine (that which you want to use, but with a different mouse/keyboard -- laptops are the ideal candidate here). This would be my EeePC -- start the application and select the "Use" tab. Here, enter your server's IP address or hostname -- without a nameserver, though, your client may not be able to find the server, so I suggest using the IP address of your server (Shared) machine:
Click [Start] on the client machine(s), and go back to your main system (the Server, or Shared machine). Move your mouse to the edge (right edge in my setup) and the mouse should 'jump' off of the main screen and onto the client computer's screen. How cool, eh?

To get a hostname on your Linux machine, at a command prompt run 'hostname' all by itself. To get an IP Address, run 'ifconfig' (you may need root privileges, depending on the distribution which you're using). In the example below, I ran these two commands and have boldfaced the appropriate information which we need:

lefty@desktop:~$ hostname

desktop

lefty@desktop:~$ ifconfig

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:50:70:D6:2D:71
inet addr:192.168.1.102 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
inet6 addr: fe80::250:70ff:fed6:2d71/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:2297486 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:1786329 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:2437460921 (2.2 GB) TX bytes:421445533 (401.9 MB)
Interrupt:20 Base address:0xe000

KDE4 - New look, new concepts, less functionality -- for now!

2008-01-13T13:01:00.000-06:00

The KDE project, on 11 January 2008, released the first official version of the KDE4 series of Desktop Environments for Linux and Unix systems -- and soon for Windows and Mac OSX apparently.
KDE 4.0.0 packages were made available for my Kubuntu 7.10 installation, which I have installed and playerd with and I am here to give some initial impressions! Please note that the KDE4 series is just being released to create a solid foundation for the future of KDE, and that it is by no means feature complete or 'finished' in any way. This is a .0.0 release (4.0.0) meaning that future bug fixes and improvements will come with the first major update -- 4.1.x -- in about six months. At that point, the new KDE 4-series desktop will be much more usable.

KDE 4.0.0 is still usable now, however, and 'release early, release often' is the Free Software way to get bugs in to the open and fixed. Upgrade to 4.0.0 at your own risk of having too much fun exploring the new desktop and finding and reporting bugs!

Desktop
The current Desktop is nice, but limited. A photo slideshow can exist in the background but images are stretched to fit the screen; this isn't (yet) configurable.
Icons and files which exist in your Desktop/ folder are also scattered across the Desktop; right-clicking to align icons cleans them up somewhat, but not much and not in a grid-like layout. Each icon also can be 'selected', the same as a Widget, to have a translucent border around it which allows for rotating and resizing; hovering over an icon gives it this border and one has to re-hover to remove it. Sometimes my whole desktop seems to have these icon borders, which don't make much sense yet without tooltips. What is the Red X for? I hope its not deleting my file -- that is too easy to lose work! And if it did... where is my Trashcan?Luckily it all looks better when one removes the Icons from the desktop; this means to get to these files you have to use a file manager, and to make that easier you may want to change where your web browser default-downloads files (Firefox defaults to the ~/Desktop/ folder for example).

Widgets
The desktop is no longer divided between the Desktop (wallpaper and icons) and the Kicker (the old panel with the KMenu, clock, task manager, etc). Now, Widgets can be placed on the Desktop OR the Plasma Panel (not Kicker). Currently there are not a lot of widgets available, but I would expect this to increase as (1) SuperKaramba widgets are ported to Plasma, (2) current KDE applets are ported to Plasma, and (3) Mac OSX widget support is added to KDE4. Until then, here are the available Widgets:
Any of these items can be added to either the Desktop or the Panel, but not all make sens in the wrong place. Who wants a System Tray, which tells you which apps are running in the background (like a music player or chat program), to be added to the Desktop? This interchangeability is handy for some of the applets (er, widgets), but at this point it's not making a lot of sense. Additionally, the Widget description isn't very useful at this point, so there will be some confusion as which do what and why.
To get a Widget from the Add Widgets box to the Desktop, one clicks "Add Widget"; to get a Widget onto the Panel, however, its a drag-and-drop task. This seems inconsistent, as Add Widget doesn't say *where* it is being added (Desktop) and Drag-and-Drop to the Panel isn't (imho) intuitive. Both should be Drag-and-Drop, and there should also be an [Add Widget to Desktop] and [Add Widget to Panel] buttons.
I am not sure what the Gold Star does next to these Widgets, but the red Minus sign will remove, with one click, ALL of the added widgets of that type. This can be painful to learn, since I removed my integral Panel's Task Manager (open programs) and had to rebuild my Panel with drag-and-drop of one applet at a time, trial and error.

Panel
The Panel holds widgets such as the Kickoff menu (ouch), links to added Apps, a Pager, a digital or analog Clock, running programs (Task manager) and backround apps (System Tray). It also seems to flake out now and again; notice my Clock and some open apps are all hidden:

Right-Clicking, or Configurability
When I want to change a setting, I am accustomed to right-clicking on a visual aspect of the Desktop or the Windows Manager. Right-click the Desktop to change the Desktop; right-click the Kicker to change the Kicker. But this doesn't seem to work so well in the current KDE 4.0.0. Right-clicking on the Plasma Panel only gives the options for that Widget which is placed there; I have found no ways to change the overall location of Widgets to rearrange them, nor any way to Hide the Plasma Panel or add a second Panel or change the colour or transparency; basically, a lot of functionality is missing here still.
Right-clicking on the Desktop is even less useful (this is with Desktop Icons turned off, or there would be two Icon entries here for arranging the Desktop icons):

The two ways to configure the Desktop are from the Desktop's right-click option, or from the new System Settings, which replaces the wonderful KControl with the Kubuntu System Settings (the Kubuntu System Settings has becaome the KDE4 default for all KDE4, not just on Kubuntu). On the left is from System Settings; on the right is the right-click Configure Desktop option. They are totally different and have no overlap; in my eyes they should be identical. The right-click allows to setup Wallpaper only at this point, while the System Settings > Desktop is for visual effects (which I've not yet tried) and the Screen Saver setups:

The new KMenu, named Kickoff, is not very fun to use. The menu is subdivided into Favorites, Applications, Computer (cdrom drive, usb drives, etc), Recently Used, and Leave. Passing the mouse over any of these auto-switches to that tab, making navigation a hassle; drilling through the menu levels in Applications doesn't leave any visual trail as the where you are in the menu, and the Back option isn't obvious. Clicking Leave brings up options to reboot or logoff; clicking any of these brings up another menu to do the same. Too many clicks to log off or reboot, but I bet this will be clarified with new releases.

Also notice in this picture, the Leave tab is missing and the Search box near the top is missing -- this is due to the flaking-out of Plasma, I think, just like the Panel above is missing its clock etc.
Here is the best Plasma flakeout I've seen yet (above -- ouch! its supposed to be a normal photo)... but even with this, newer updates and releases of the KDE4 series of desktops shows a lot of promise. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor the awesomeness of the KDE3 series (especially in 3.5.8, the current release) -- those have had a lot of work and testing and feedback put into them, and the same will happen with KDE4 over time.

Congrats to the developers and supporters of KDE -- a lot of work has gone into this, it is obviuous, and it has been a lot of fun trying out and learning some of the new technologies behind KDE4.

KDE4 Released!

2008-01-11T10:12:00.000-06:00

Today, 11 Jan 2007, the first official release of KDE4 was made! KDE 4.0.2 is a Free Software desktop environment built upon TrollTech's QT base, and released as Free Software under the GPL.

KDE4 is a major change in how the KDE desktop works, and promises to be a very solid base to future KDE4 releases. KDE 4.1 should be released later this year as a bugfix and improved-capabilities release, at which point it will be more stable for use in production environments.

Read more about the KDE4 release here. Congrats to all of the KDE4 developers and users -- the future does indeed look very promising! This will be even more exciting as additional applications are re-coded to work with KDE4's libraries and base packages.

The KDE4 series implements a lot of exciting changes (for software), such as:
- a smaller memory footprint - runs faster on the same hardware as KDE3! Try that, Vista! ;)
- new hardware backend named Solid, which helps to tie hardware better into the software that uses it
- a new sound mixer, Phoenon, which ties ALL of the various sound outputs in Linux to a single frontend - no more "Device is busy!" errors when trying to use multiple sources for sound
- Plasma, the new Desktop shell, with Scalable Vector Graphics to keep icons and images looking crisp at any size, and an incorporation of SuperKaramba widgets into KDE natively (Apple's OSX widgets support might be added for KDE 4.1 even!)
- Oxygen icon theme, to make your new KDE even MORE gorgeous
- and a lot of other fixes, improvements, simplifications, and applications!

I have loaded KDE 4.0.2 onto my home Kubuntu computer and I will post screenshots later today or possibly tomorrow. Until then, check out other screenshots or join the IRC channel on Freenode to celebrate KDE4: irc.freenode.net: #kde4-release-party (note: requires an IRC client like Pidgeon or Konversation)

The hidden cost of Linux? You're kidding me

2008-01-08T17:43:00.000-06:00

This article is ridiculous! Author Adrian Kingsley-Hughes claims that Linux has its hidden costs and goes on to list them, but many of his arguments are flat-out wrong or unsupported. Let's check it out:

"When you take a copy of Windows XP, Vista or Mac OS X and you install it onto a system with the appropriate system requirements, chances are that unless you have a particularly bizarre configuration or a defective component, you can be pretty certain that the OS will install and things that you have installed (WiFi adaptors, network cards, graphics cards and so on) will work just fine."

I've seen plenty of MS upgrades go wrong; for ANY operating system, a fresh install is best. Chances are, EVERYONE has a somewhat bizarre setup. With GNU/Linux distributions, you know what is generally going to work and what isn't, especially if your educated guess is based on the last Linux install. With both Mac and Windows, however, once proprietary support is dropped for one component or another, there is a chance that part will never function again. Or maybe the new Vista doesn't have drivers, or they don't load properly (like all too many new Dell's with their soundcard in Vista). Point is, if you rely on an proprietary OS and drivers, you're stuck with their level of functionality and supported lifetime, AFTER going through the hassle of finding the drivers for everything. With modern Linux, almost all drivers are just built right in. Wifi and 3D Graphics Cards are known issues and we all wish they'd work flawlessly always using FLOSS drivers, but they currently don't; the situation is always improving and my graphics and wifi work, but not everyone has my equipment. Bizarre.

Hardware is designed to work on particular platforms and if you go out and buy something, again being mindful of the system requirements, things should work out OK for you. This isn’t true 100% of the time, but given the billion or so PCs in use, the failure rate is surprisingly low.

Really, I should expect my hardware to work with my platform? Because troubleshooting hardware on Windows is hard enough with an official fix; Free Software seems to power almost everything I need it to, and easily. In fact, the Linux Drivers Project is having trouble finding hardware that doesn't yet have Linux drivers, while Vista still struggles for its full driver set. And being Free software, the Linux drivers will never really go away. Score one for me, in three years.

Lets see the next paragraph...

Things just work, and given the complexity of that device you’re sitting in front of to read this, it’s amazing that computers hum along as reliably as they do. Mostly this is down to the principals of “survival of the fittest” being at work – if a company produces a product with too many bugs too often, that company is doomed.

Sounds like Linux in the first sentence, and a Microsoft bashing in the second -- but apparently this article is in support of a closed-source, non-Free operating system, and an article against Linux.

But when it comes to Linux, things aren’t as straight forward. First off, Linux commands a tiny market share. Net Applications shows Linux web usage currently sitting at just under 0.7 per cent. That level of market share is far too small and insignificant to command much sway among software and hardware vendors. While Linux communities like to believe that this 0.7 per cent user base is bigger than it is, and some companies are now paying lip service to Linux, no matter how you look at it, 0.7 per cent is a small number

It is indeed a very small number, but one that is based on NetApplication's survey of sold desktops, not the install base. Not too many Linux machines on the market at this point. We would like to see our ranks grow, of course.

And even with the best will in the world, the amount of effort that vendors can seriously be expected to put into Linux, given the low market share, is not much. With profit margins getting ever smaller, supporting countless Linux distros just doesn’t make good business sense.

First off, Microsoft is biting into those profits as much as anything else; create a great Linux distro and the users would come -- the EeePC showed us that. So have those that install Linux on their own, without vendor 'support'. Have you ever called for help on hardware and got real help? Second, Software as a Service (SaaS) is taking off in a big way; supporting 'countless' Linux distros makes wonderful sense. Supporting one makes sense! Open some code and let us support ourselves! We've come this far without their help, to the point where we have to read rubbish articles like this one to try to scare people away from Linux. Embrace Linux and users will embrace your company.

Another hidden cost is time. While it’s true that installing Linux has become quicker and easier over the years, the process is still far from perfect. Some severe problem areas still exist (for example, WiFi adaptors, which is very hit and miss) and if you happen to run into the tar pits, you can expect to be stuck there for a long time.

Linux install: 20 minutes; Windows, over an hour, plus all of the additional applications and drivers to find and install. I've spent more time on unknown Windows-platform bugs (both OS and software) than ever on a Linux bug; live help is always a few questions away in an IRC channel (a chat room where people hang out to help and discuss Linux), and IRC programs come preinstalled on every desktop distro I have used, except Edubuntu.

Besides, everyone knows that a Google search is how most computer issues are resolved anyways. But I'm glad we could quick cover the wifi issue again; that and this next part are pretty much the only ammo left out there:

While Vista and Leopard are ready to play DVDs out of the box, Linux users have to mess about with codecs and agree to legally indemnify everyone for using legally dubious codecs. Sure, you can buy software players, some of which are rather good, but the advantage of a free OS starts to be eroded if you instantly have to put your hand in your pocket.

I am pretty sure thats a part of the "paying for Windows" is that you're also paying for a DVD program. No, I know it is. Windows doesn't play DVDs out of the box any more than Linux; Windows requires a properly licensed program to be installed; the same with OS X. Do that with Linux and you're golden.

Another element that consumes time is deciding which Linux distro to use. Many in the Linux community still refuse to accept that the number of Linux distros available acts as a barrier to adoption.

The way we see it, the freedom provided under the GPL allows for anyone to be artistic with this medium -- and that is a good thing, and it fosters innovation and competition. If you don't want something obscure, pick from one of the popular ones on Distrowatch.com and give it a spin. It isn't going to hurt anything, and maybe you'll end up like some choice in your OS. Mix it up a little. Those other two OSes will be for sale for a little longer yet, if you find Linux not to suit your tastes.

Really, the rest of the article is mindless arguments that either you can believe or not. Trying Linux is the only way to get a feel for it, and trying another will help somewhat with the understanding of the issue of 'too much choice.' It's still the same point and click and type stuff that any other OS has. Linux has friendly people (and big business!) behind it, however, that strive to make each distro the best that it can be. No bureaucracy forcing it to have certain DRM features. No sellouts to record companies in exchange for their users souls. Just plain and simple computing, the way it was meant to be -- in the Open.