2 May 2008

Operating system compatibility

This isn’t meant to be a geek blog, but I want to vent a little here. I contacted the manager of a commercial website yesterday to point out the site didn’t render properly in Linux.

It’s the first site I have ever come across which does not view sensibly in Linux. The response:

“Thanks for letting us know. Based on the fact that only .36% of our traffic originates from Linux users, we cannot currently justify the time, money and manpower to amend this issue. We can look into adding this to future tasks.” Read more »

Tags: browsers, computers, internet, linux, Technology
3 comments


1 May 2008

Ubuntu Hardy Heron

I’m using Linux again for the first time in about nine months. The release of Ubuntu Hardy Heron caught my attention and I decided to give it a go.

I recently revisited Puppy and Sidux without satisfaction. The main problem with Sidux was I just couldn’t get the fonts to look good. Read more »

Tags: computers, linux, software, Technology, ubuntu
1 comment


22 June 2007

Sidux Linux

I was always a fan of Kanotix. It’s a Debian-based Linux distribution which forked from the popular live distro Knoppix to offer a solid desktop system.

Somewhere along the line, I messed up an upgrade and moved away. By the time I revisited Kanotix it seemed to have lost impetus. Indeed, the last news items on the site today are from 2006.

I believe there was a split between the lead developers and one of them branched out to help create Sidux. I’ve now got Sidux installed in parallel with Windows Vista and I’m very impressed.

I had some initial glitches with screen resolution and fonts, but once they were sorted I’ve had no problems. It is a fast, attractive desktop which is easy to keep up to date.

Tags: computers, linux, Technology
0 comments


3 June 2007

Cross-platform applications

I was just looking at the 15 program icons on my Linux desktop and noticed that 12 of them are cross-platform applications which also operate in Windows.

The three Linux-only programs are Digikam (photo organiser), Bluefish (web editor) and Kontact (organiser/email). The 12 cross-platform applications are:

• Firefox (web browser)
• OpenOffice (office suite)
• The Gimp (image editor)
• Pidgin (instant messenger)
• Acrobat Reader (PDF reader)
• VLC (movie player)
• Songbird (desktop web player)
• RealPlayer (audio and movie player)
• PeaZip (archive utility)
• Skype (phone/messenger)
• JFTP (file transfer)
• Frostwire (file sharing).

The last two are interesting in that they are java programs.

The common use of these programs across operating systems shows that Linux is a valid option for desktop users who don’t want to pay a lot of money for Windows or software. It makes the transition less difficult.

Tags: computers, linux, software, Technology
0 comments


30 May 2007

PCLinuxOS

I went for a couple of months where I hardly used Linux at all. I had Suse on my laptop and Puppy, but for various reasons I stuck mainly with Windows XP for that period.

I think I had less time and no inclination to experiment. By the time I did want to revisit Linux there were problems with my Suse upgrades, so I checked out Distrowatch and the visit there coincided with a new release of PCLinuxOS.

I’ve used this Mandriva-based distro before and liked it. The CD is packed with useful software and more can be added easily through Synaptic.

My only issue at the moment is that fonts look a little furry. I’m trying various things to fix this, otherwise I’m a happy user. A full-size screenshot is here.

Tags: computers, linux, Technology
0 comments


17 December 2006

Feed aggregators

I've tried quite a few RSS feed aggregators – software versions and web sites – but I've never stuck with any of them for more than a few days.

That's partly because I switch between Linux and Windows, home and work too regularly to build content and maintain loyalty.

I have found one though, called Gregarius, that I might persist with for a while. It's a free PHP/SQL program that you upload to your own web site. It has an admin control panel where you can create categories and add feeds.

I've got an example running here.

Tags: aggregator, linux, news, PR, software, war, Windows, work
3 comments


25 September 2006

GoPC virtual operating system

I discovered an intriguing new technology gadget tonight thanks to the Google ads on my own site. It’s called GoPC and it’s a virtual operating system that provides a free service for accessing programs and data storage online.

It uses Suse Linux and provides a limited number of programs with the free service. These include Firefox, Gaim, Evolution, Open Office Writer and Digikam.

There are options to install the virtual computer on a PC or USB memory stick. I’m currently testing it with an installation on my laptop’s hard drive. I’m effectively running a Linux system in parallel with Windows XP and I’m able to switch easily between the two. Read more »

Tags: Australia, business, email, fire, firefox, google, linux, mobile, office, PR, Technology, Windows, youth
0 comments


11 September 2006

Distro tart

Okay, I’ve always been a distro tart, hopping from one Linux system to the other. I’ve abandoned Gentoo after a short relationship; it was just too hard to keep everything together.

Kanotix was previously my preference, but an upgrade disaster forced us apart.

That’s when I discovered PCLinuxOS. It’s based on the commercial Mandriva, but it’s better and comes free on a single CD.

It comes with useful software and an easy-to-upgrade system. It looks good and should be simple to adapt for Windows users.

There are no negative vibes from this user after a week in action.

Tags: linux, PR, software, war, Windows
0 comments


3 September 2006

Gentoo Linux

My Kanotix installation died on me last week. It was a self-inflicted fatality; suicide in other words. I went for over a month without upgrading the distro, just updating software instead.

I finally went ahead and the system shock was all too much. I had the black screen of death, but it locked on me and I couldn’t even get a command prompt. I know I could have repaired things using a live CD, but I took the opportunity instead of a new experiment.

I have read plenty of times that Gentoo is a serious Linux diehard distro with nothing user friendly for newbies and novices. Although not very computer literate in the developer sense, I’ve been using Linux now for two years and thought it was time to take the plunge. Read more »

Tags: environment, feature, features, fire, firefox, linux, management, media, office, PR, software, war, wiki, Windows, work
0 comments


17 March 2006

New image editor

There’s a buzz happening in the Linux world about a new image editor called Pixel.

It’s a cross-platform program that also works in Windows and Mac. I’ve got it running successfully in Windows XP and Suse 10.

It’s more intuitive and user friendly for Windows converts than the Gimp and has the added advantage for a print professional of working with CMYK color separations. Last I checked, the Gimp needed an unreliable plugin to do this.

It cost me $45 for a licence, which will turn off the open source brigade, but in my view it’s great value compared with Photoshop and others.

I haven’t fully tested it yet, but like what I’ve seen so far. The registration process isn’t all that simple and I’m still getting glitches. Apart from that it looks a treat.

Tags: linux, PR, Windows, work, world
0 comments