tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-237356152009-12-03T05:19:29.084ZJust chewin' the fat...Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-85940678636823583182009-09-23T20:49:00.006Z2009-09-24T19:45:29.854Z

SMALL but perfectly formed... no, not me, this new Linux distribution I've been playing around with (though I am, by modern standards, fairly short at 5ft 9ins!).Salix OS 13.0 made its debut on the Distrowatch Weekly 'New Distros' list recently and immediately caught my attention because of its natty desktop featuring a silhouetted bonsai tree.Anyone who read my last post about Zenwalk 6.2 will

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-14403627824706553402009-09-18T14:35:00.005Z2009-09-18T14:46:37.480Z

IT is always distressing to learn of discord among people you regard highly.So, I was concerned when I learned of a split in the ranks of the team of developers responsible for one of my favourite Linux distributions, Zenwalk.That distribution's latest release, version 6.2, is freshly installed on my old test machine, and I recently was working my way through my regular review routine when I read

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-10206737800417817102009-08-16T15:32:00.008Z2009-08-16T15:48:25.053Z

EVER wondered what it would be like to create your own Linux distribution?I certainly have, but a lack of programming skill and technical cowardice have prevented me from doing little more than dreaming about the day Red Devil Linux boots up on my PC.. until now.Thanks to an exciting - and free - new service from SUSE, called SUSE Studio, someone like me, with just a hobbyist's knowledge of the

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-15493389611417116812009-07-31T09:11:00.008Z2009-07-31T10:19:04.205Z

I HAVE seen the future - and I almost pinched its nose.It wasn't just me reaching out a hand to touch the characters looming out of the screen in Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs in 3D - everyone was doing it, and I'm really not surprised.You see that, for me, is part of the magic of going to the movies, that readiness with which we abandon our common sense and become enveloped in the

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-21274179856671697192009-07-28T16:01:00.011Z2009-08-01T10:02:55.475Z

THASUNKE What-ko?I know, I know - every time there is a new release of the antiX Linux distribution, I have to scurry off to Wikipedia to find out a bit about who, or what, it is named after.The fact that the prime mover behind this Mepis Linux/Debian Testing off-shoot goes by the internet name of 'anticapitalista' (he is a Brit, earning a living as a teacher in Thessaloniki, Greece) explains a

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-5152463110034706432009-07-21T19:10:00.006Z2009-07-21T19:26:55.144Z

SO, there I was, having installed Fedora 11 on a dusty old Compaq Presario - 700MHz AMD Duron processor, 10GB HDD! - and things had gone relatively smoothly, if glacially slowly.Even the Sitecom WL113 USB wi-fi adaptor I use on the old Compaq (it has no NIC) had been automagically detected and my network was picked up without any fuss, but then it usually is on most distros with a modern kernel

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-63389042746230513592009-07-20T11:26:00.011Z2009-07-21T16:10:43.448Z

KIDS these days have amazing play facilities filled with intricate log-and-cable structures designed to test their nerve and athleticism.Our local park has one such structure, a succession of thick ropes strung like a spider's web over a metal pyramid which attracts kids like, well, flies.In my 1960s childhood we had a wood full of climbable trees, a shallow stream, lots of rhododendron bushes

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-27694318877254932892009-07-18T11:42:00.004Z2009-07-18T12:09:35.830Z

I SHOULD have hated Ross Raisin's debut novel, because I'm a Lancastrian.It's not that Lancastrians have any kind of problem with books - there are libraries in most of the towns now, don't you know, even those with dark, satanic mills - and we even know some quite big words.It's just that Raisin's story is set in that other northern English county tha knows, where they talk reet funny; it's the

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-41032840319225310432009-07-12T10:30:00.013Z2009-07-23T21:42:32.971Z

WHAT happened to the "p-y-e-o-w-w-w"?I've lost count of the number of times the sci-fi blaster sound that CrunchBang Linux makes when it starts up has made me - or someone in the room with me - jump.Now, it makes an equally sci-fi "boop-bleep-bup" sound which is nice, but doesn't have the same dramatic effect of making people duck if your speaker volume is maxed-out.The laser bomb start-up sound

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-51814550933310944332009-03-29T17:15:00.003Z2009-07-05T22:50:00.300Z

I've been writing this blog in my spare time for quite a while now and, of late, I've become a bit jaded by the constant process of installing/testing/fixing/re-installing of Linux distributions.In a couple of weeks I'm due to take my family on a well-earned holiday to Florida - our first in a couple of years - so as of today I'm taking a break from updating the blog.Hopefully, when I get back

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-88598270448909411922009-03-26T15:02:00.008Z2009-03-26T17:07:36.871Z

AFTER more than a decade of using Linux, it's not often that a Linux distribution appears on Distrowatch and I go: Who? What?But that's exactly what happened when Igelle PC/Desktop 0.6.0 appeared on the new releases list recently, so my curiosity was piqued. Here's what I managed to find out about the project.Igelle is an open source project based in The Philippines, with the aim of developing a

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-9139608646106251052009-03-23T11:30:00.004Z2009-03-23T11:36:55.998Z

ALWAYS a bit slow on the uptake, I've recently discovered the joys of using the Amazon MP3 Downloads store in Linux.I guess the announcement last year that the Amazon MP3 Downloader is available for a variety of Linux platforms passed me by, and I owe my belated arrival at the store to a passing mention in the Linux Outlaws #82 podcast, where presenter Dan mentioned he uses the store.Better late

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-46347699699434480732009-03-14T19:19:00.007Z2009-03-14T19:31:40.778Z

I THINK I'm living proof that Charles Darwin might not have been as smart as he thought he was.You see, I just don't learn; I haven't evolved beyond the stage of sitting on the floor, drooling happily to myself and wondering what will happen if I stick my wet pinkie into that little hole in the wall.If you were being kind, you'd call it stupidly incurable curiosity; otherwise, you'd call me an

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-86376010297767805372009-03-12T09:58:00.001Z2009-03-12T09:59:57.315Z

I couldn't have put this any better myself.. no, really, I couldn't

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-47235379976371153202009-03-11T10:50:00.010Z2009-03-12T09:19:32.577Z

THE first real connection I made at an emotional level with a Linux distribution was with Zenwalk, back in its version 2.0 days, and it was that connection which persuaded me to make my first (modest) cash donation to an Open Source project.Why did Zenwalk strike such a chord? Hard to say, but it was something about the spirit of the project and its determination to forge its own path which

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-87950960727165533412009-03-08T13:21:00.008Z2009-03-08T16:51:01.729Z

WHAT is a good age to introduce children to Linux/Free Open Source Software?My children are nine, and they regularly use FOSS without actually realising it or, I suspect, caring.All they care about is being to replicate the presentations they did on their school computers at home; the school uses Microsoft software, at home we use OpenOffice.org and they are able to save their presentations in a

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-88384984754838991772009-03-07T18:08:00.006Z2009-03-07T18:16:58.887Z

A few posts back I mentioned that I was spending some time getting to know how best to use Inkscape, the Open Source vector graphics application.Well, just to prove it, I decided to post a few of the wallpapers I've produced using Inkscape and, to a lesser extent, the GIMP (image editing software).All of the artwork was designed for CrunchBang Linux, which I have installed on my main machine at

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-45832243860429547482009-03-02T10:29:00.005Z2009-03-02T10:35:06.261Z

WHAT are the chances that my love of Manchester United and my love of technology might coincide in such unusual - and joyful - circumstances?I was watching Manchester United play Tottenham Hotspur in the Carling Cup Final at Wembley on Sunday. The game was 0-0 after extra time which meant we were heading for the dreaded penalty shootout to decide the winners of the first silverware of the English

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-37353233734632041572009-02-25T14:56:00.004Z2009-02-25T15:02:38.837Z

AS a regular user and supporter of Open Source software in its many guises, from Linux distributions to cross-platform applications and beyond, I'm heartened by the news that the UK government is keen to allow Open Source to compete on a level playing field with proprietary software in its many departments.The move is long overdue and the Labour administration is to be applauded for seeing the

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-3532422156569895402009-02-25T12:43:00.007Z2009-02-25T12:52:15.925Z

I AM a little conflicted about Mepis.It is part of the family of Debian-based Linux distributions which I tend to favour, and it is a distribution I used for quite a lengthy period in the past.Plus, there is much to like about version 8.0, released recently to coincide with the launch of its parent distribution, Debian 5.0 'Lenny'.Mepis (http://www.mepis.org/) uses the stable and vast Debian

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-76012877389937492402009-02-19T14:22:00.005Z2009-02-19T14:27:28.187Z

BEAR with me on this one, OK?There's your grandad. He's reliable, lovable, gently eccentric and not quite as quick on his feet as he used to be.He always turns up with his pockets full of interesting things - penknives, sticky caramel toffees, conkers - and a lifetime's worth of interesting stories and lame jokes.You love him to death and can't imagine a world without him, even though that world

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-16118896751622134072009-02-19T11:35:00.007Z2009-02-19T11:56:53.382Z

MY nine-year-old son bellowed: "This is awesome.. world class!"I was hooting with laughter. The source of this merriment? A game.There's nothing unusual in finding the Lawson males playing computer games, but what is unusual is for the boy child to be playing a Windows version and me to be playing a Linux version.. of the same game.The game in question is World of Goo, and it's brilliant.It's a

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-70897326246942145672009-02-16T16:37:00.006Z2009-02-16T17:11:57.244Z

I've spent many a long hour scouring the internet, forums and man files for help in getting two Linux distributions to dual boot through the one GRUB menu.lst (the configuration file that tells GRUB what to do).It seems like there are almost as many suggestions on how to do it as there are Linux distributions, so I thought I'd add to the knowledge base with my own.Please bear in mind that I'm not

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-41853069593028175082009-02-12T10:13:00.003Z2009-02-12T10:24:44.331Z

This news item appeared on the Reuters website earlier today.All I will say is that I am surprised it has taken the Cubans so long to realise the many benefits of Linux and Free/Open Source Software, especially given their historical ties with the old Soviet Union/Russia, where the move toward Open Source has been under way for quite some time.From what I can gather, Cuban Nova Linux is based on

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23735615.post-24531067130945113332009-02-12T09:38:00.004Z2009-02-12T09:48:21.239Z

One of the reasons I haven't been posting as many Linux reviews as usual so far in 2009 is because I have been spending a lot of what little free time I get learning how to use Inkscape.For those of you who have not heard about Inkscape, it's an Open Source vector graphics editor - and it's quite superb.I think I said on a forum somewhere that the only thing I can draw is breath, but with

Steven Lawsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01020549385661823156noreply@blogger.com1