So after much wrestling with the idea I've come to the decision that I need to switch to Fedora in order to get full support for my IBM ThnkCenter. I don't know why, but ubuntu has never really taken to it and looking at what the hardware has been approved for it seems all Big Blue knows is Red Hat. They don't even list a Debian compatibility for my pc. I really don't get this, I thought IBM loved us?
In any case I'll hold off on the big move until the new version drops next week. Fedora 9 hits the 13th which is Tuesday of next week. So after that it seems I'll have to figure something else to call this blog, since my advice won't be *-buntu based anymore. Darg's Fedora fartknockers? Hmm...
So my coverage will change but the general idea won't: getting Free Software to work.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Abandoned dreams
I find myself more and more drawn into the retro movement in my search for quality games. Playing games I haven't played since I was a kid is great fun. It also brings back great memories of a better time in gaming. When games were hard and before it was socially acceptable. Now it seems everyone and their grandmother (literally) is playing games, and the games reflect this mob mentality. But at a time when patent and property rights issues abound, some have simply given up.
It's called Abandonware.
It's a sad example of the times we live in. When companies are so afraid to relent something so simple as the code the games are made with for fear they might actually - gasp - be useful to someone else. I've been pleasantly surprised to play games like Stunts and Warcraft that I used to play back in the day.
How odd that companies like Blizzard and EA can demand so much for their products when they are produced, then simply condone their piracy once it becomes profitable to do so. All the while not having to show what exactly that program is doing, game or not. I suppose they are cautious of someone reworking them and actually making them better. Stunts is a game I could see being great if it were brought up to today's standards. Warcraft (that would be the ORIGINAL) is still a fun game today if simple.
Even more surprising was what led to me finding these two games in particular - the PCLinuxOS Gnome repository. I recently installed the newer distro and found many dosbox games already in the repos.
This was a pleasant surprise but it made me look at game companies in much broader terms. When a company like Blizzard treats something that in reality is a game that few play like a sacred scroll that needs to be buried, I begin to worry about games as a whole. What about the huge libraries of NES and SNES games that Nintendo has most of the rights to? What happens when these companies stop giving a hoot, what then? It's great that they might today, but ask yourself, will they tomorrow? What is their incentive to do so?
In any case, is it really asking too much to release the source for these old games and programs? If they're not being used anyway, they can be given away to others who might. It seems foolish at this point to clutch source code of a 10 year old program. Any project that goes more than a year without work anymore is declared dead by the community. People show up and see no others currently active, and leave. No big deal. (Though it would be nice to have a compiled Nestopia binary - hint hint). Yet companies can keep a project afloat as long as they need to - then, simply abandon it.
It's called Abandonware.
It's a sad example of the times we live in. When companies are so afraid to relent something so simple as the code the games are made with for fear they might actually - gasp - be useful to someone else. I've been pleasantly surprised to play games like Stunts and Warcraft that I used to play back in the day.
How odd that companies like Blizzard and EA can demand so much for their products when they are produced, then simply condone their piracy once it becomes profitable to do so. All the while not having to show what exactly that program is doing, game or not. I suppose they are cautious of someone reworking them and actually making them better. Stunts is a game I could see being great if it were brought up to today's standards. Warcraft (that would be the ORIGINAL) is still a fun game today if simple.
Even more surprising was what led to me finding these two games in particular - the PCLinuxOS Gnome repository. I recently installed the newer distro and found many dosbox games already in the repos.
This was a pleasant surprise but it made me look at game companies in much broader terms. When a company like Blizzard treats something that in reality is a game that few play like a sacred scroll that needs to be buried, I begin to worry about games as a whole. What about the huge libraries of NES and SNES games that Nintendo has most of the rights to? What happens when these companies stop giving a hoot, what then? It's great that they might today, but ask yourself, will they tomorrow? What is their incentive to do so?
In any case, is it really asking too much to release the source for these old games and programs? If they're not being used anyway, they can be given away to others who might. It seems foolish at this point to clutch source code of a 10 year old program. Any project that goes more than a year without work anymore is declared dead by the community. People show up and see no others currently active, and leave. No big deal. (Though it would be nice to have a compiled Nestopia binary - hint hint). Yet companies can keep a project afloat as long as they need to - then, simply abandon it.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A year and a half later
So here I am trying to breathe new life into my dormant blogger account. It's been a while since I've posted, and while I'm in a much better position to give advice now, not much has changed in the Ubuntu community.
For example, the same ati woes I last blogged about still exist. While ati now offers linux drivers through their site, the binary installers still do not set up the drivers properly. There are a few guides around, like here and here. It can still be quite tricky to uncompress the ati driver into usable binaries and then get the driver properly set up so that the mesa driver is no longer being used.
On the up side, the next ubuntu distro, Hardy Heron, should be coming out (or I like to say "dropping") on this Saturday, the 19th of April. You can always check distrowatch to see when new distros hit. I must admit it's one of my favorite sites to swing by every fews days just to see what's new. I've also found it very helpful in finding the differences between each distrobution and what's new in each release. They keep track of what packages are included in each distro, so you can see what window managers or media players that distro uses or if they have the latest drivers included. Quite a nifty little site.
I hope to actually try and keep up this time around. I've got the crazy idea I might be able to help others and maybe even myself with this. I'm not out to make money, just provide for my family.
Thank you for reading.
For example, the same ati woes I last blogged about still exist. While ati now offers linux drivers through their site, the binary installers still do not set up the drivers properly. There are a few guides around, like here and here. It can still be quite tricky to uncompress the ati driver into usable binaries and then get the driver properly set up so that the mesa driver is no longer being used.
On the up side, the next ubuntu distro, Hardy Heron, should be coming out (or I like to say "dropping") on this Saturday, the 19th of April. You can always check distrowatch to see when new distros hit. I must admit it's one of my favorite sites to swing by every fews days just to see what's new. I've also found it very helpful in finding the differences between each distrobution and what's new in each release. They keep track of what packages are included in each distro, so you can see what window managers or media players that distro uses or if they have the latest drivers included. Quite a nifty little site.
I hope to actually try and keep up this time around. I've got the crazy idea I might be able to help others and maybe even myself with this. I'm not out to make money, just provide for my family.
Thank you for reading.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Installing the right ATi drivers
I was having problems with Ubuntu on the new box. I used the live-cd to shrink my windows NTFS partition the other day using the partition editor (gparted). I had made sure to defrag windows before I did this. After cutting the Hard Drive almost in half (19 and 18 gigs respectively) I was left with a NTFS and a blank partition. I created an ext3 partition (primary partition) and then a SWAP partition (of about 1200 megabytes). I then ran the installer and installed ubuntu rather flawlessly. I had to setup the network card, but everything ran, installed, and booted fine. I booted windows (XP professional) and chkdisk ran. After spending quite some time checking the disk, the system restarted again. Selecting windows through GRUB xp loaded and everything seems to be fine. Wahoo! A dual booter!
So now that I had my main box running both, I had to configure the ATi Radeon 9200 graphics card I had installed. I used easyubuntu to install the only driver I could find, but X kept crashing. The screen would just go black, and I would have to reboot. I even tried switching monitors to no avail. After some searching I found an exellent wiki that is just for setting up an ait card in ubuntu:
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Dapper_Installation_Guide
I had found a post on the ubuntu forums and had to do more searching. It did lead me to sign up for those, so here's the thread for my first post:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=75378
Hope that info helps.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Connection speed test
Yes I posted a bulletin with the same thing but this is for those who missed it. Just click on the pic there to go to the site and run the test. I want everyone who reads this to post their speed from the same mirror I did, in Los Angeles. Not only is that where Myspace's server is that location is also accross the country from me. Most big name sites' servers are in CA. You also get a more accurate reading of your ping doing it from as far as physically possible from you.
Blogged with Flock
Flock, a FireFox-esque web browser
This browser runs on Ubuntu and is compatable with photobucket and blogger accounts. It's really nifty so far, with similar extensions to firefox, but no Yahoo toolbar. Alas, perhaps i will do without for now.
Blogged with Flock
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Finding a torrent client
I have had to do yet another re-install. I tried to use Easy Ubuntu to get everything I needed, but I wouldn't initialize right when I selected everything I wanted. So I used Automatix to get the essential stuff and went back to Easy Ubuntu to get some codecs and a rar packager. It works great for ".rar" files (i.e. Winrar). So after getting that I set up my static IP. I put my custom firewall my buddy wrote for me on and opened the ports I wanted to. Once all was said and done I could only get BitTornado and Azeurus to transfer at any kind of respectable speed. I was hoping to use ktorrent, as it looked a lot like utorrent I love so much for windows. I couldn't seem to get that or utorrent through wine working right so I have gone with Azeurus. I wish it were just a little easier, like utorrent, but it works fine. Reading online Azeurus also seems to be the favorite of most other linux users, so I would say that is the way to go. You should get java anyway.
Friday, August 25, 2006
TALUG
Toledo Area Linux User's Group
It's a local group for people to meet and exhange linux know - how.
It's a local group for people to meet and exhange linux know - how.
Easy ubuntu
Click on the title to this post for instructions on installing easy ubuntu, and what it's used for. Very handy, especially for n00bs.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Picking the right kernel for you
I found this looking through the ubuntu forums trying to look for tips to get firefox just a tad faster. I subled upon this guide, and I promptly followed the instructions. I installed the "k7" kernel seeing as I have an AMD Athelon 750 mhz. After an upgrade and restart it seems to be running fine. I was running the base i386 kernel, so pick whichever one best suits your processor and just follow the right "apt-get" line.
Crash!
A few days ago, the old monitor I had that had been getting less and less sharp finally took a crap. A friend of mine happened to have a dell monitor, and I hooked it up and was working great. The other day I went to restart the computer. It had been working fine, but at boot I got an error message. The X-server settings had somehow been changed. My hardware was not being recognized, and the graphical interface would not start. I had a linux buddy of mine look at the settings, and he said pretty much the best thing would be do do a complete reinstall. So here we are, a clean install and all my plugins and programs installed. I have truly realized just how good this wiki I posted a link to in a previous post is. It gives exact syntax for installing automatix, which is ESSENTIAL! It uses it's own sources.list file so there are programs I haven't seen under "apt-get". I won't mention them here, you'll have to see for yourself.
There is also walkthroughs for other programs you may want. The most useful other part I have found is adding extra libraries to your sources.list file. This will allow you to download and install even more programs with either "apt-get" or synaptic package manager.
If you haven't checked out the list of firefox extensions yet, you need to. There are many useful ones on there, no doubt you will be able to use one or certainly more. I have the "Forecastfox Enhanced", "Show IP", "Fasterfox", "Shazou", and a few others for email, etc. I use forcastfox for the radar to see if there is a storm coming so I know when to shut down my computers. Shazou is a nifty little icon I picked up just yesterday. Click on it and you will see the geographic location on a map of where the serever is of the page you are currently looking at. Show IP also shows the actual ip address in the statusbar of the page you are on. Pretty cool stuff, I suggest you check it out.
There is also walkthroughs for other programs you may want. The most useful other part I have found is adding extra libraries to your sources.list file. This will allow you to download and install even more programs with either "apt-get" or synaptic package manager.
If you haven't checked out the list of firefox extensions yet, you need to. There are many useful ones on there, no doubt you will be able to use one or certainly more. I have the "Forecastfox Enhanced", "Show IP", "Fasterfox", "Shazou", and a few others for email, etc. I use forcastfox for the radar to see if there is a storm coming so I know when to shut down my computers. Shazou is a nifty little icon I picked up just yesterday. Click on it and you will see the geographic location on a map of where the serever is of the page you are currently looking at. Show IP also shows the actual ip address in the statusbar of the page you are on. Pretty cool stuff, I suggest you check it out.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Smooth operation
I am so far really liking this OS. I have had very few problems with it, mostly only with firefox crashing. For that, I have installed an extension that will save a session when it crashes, so it will simply call up the pages you were at next time. There are many different extensions you can get, just click on "extensions" under the "tools" menu. Some are quite handy.
I have gotten a better monitor, so I can really see the detail of some of the programs on here. You can get many more types of applications on linux, from molecule contructors to a desktop planetarium, all free and open source. "Open source" refers to the availablility of the code for the application. Open source means that the source code (the code that makes up the program) is freely available for anyone to debug and edit, or do whatever you want with. It also (usually) means the program iteself is freely available (like freeware / shareware). There is a HUGE number of programs for download through Synaptic Package Manager (under system/administration menu), but if you know how to use the "apt-get" command you can download and install whatever you want, so long as you know the name of it. You can even use it to search. More on this as I learn it.
I have gotten a better monitor, so I can really see the detail of some of the programs on here. You can get many more types of applications on linux, from molecule contructors to a desktop planetarium, all free and open source. "Open source" refers to the availablility of the code for the application. Open source means that the source code (the code that makes up the program) is freely available for anyone to debug and edit, or do whatever you want with. It also (usually) means the program iteself is freely available (like freeware / shareware). There is a HUGE number of programs for download through Synaptic Package Manager (under system/administration menu), but if you know how to use the "apt-get" command you can download and install whatever you want, so long as you know the name of it. You can even use it to search. More on this as I learn it.
Monday, August 14, 2006
I am root!
As most basement linux kids know, to execute commands in terminal that change harware or file settings you must be logged in as the "root" user. Linux has users similar to the way windows 95 and 98 did, where you are prompted each time on log in for username and password. Root is a seperate name and password, very much like the "administrator" user in windows. You are required to make at least one username and password on setup of linux, but with Ubuntu I have been able to set it up to auto login so I don't have to enter my username and password each time and my wife doesn't have to remember it. It's pretty hard to forget your username, as it becomes your home directory, but DO NOT forget your password. You will still need it.
Ubuntu tries to make using root easier by eliminating the name altogether and using a command instead. In this way, you can be logged in as any user and do things requiring root access. Simply add the command "sudo" in front of any commands that need to be done as the root user. e.g.:
A command line to mount my second hard drive (to "/mnt"). In linux, extra drives are "mounted" or simply attached to a directory on the main file system. Think about it like a tree. You are taking a new drive, or "branch" of information and attaching it to a larger tree that is your hard drive. Definately a switch for us windows users, and I still have more I need to learn about this command.
Ubuntu tries to make using root easier by eliminating the name altogether and using a command instead. In this way, you can be logged in as any user and do things requiring root access. Simply add the command "sudo" in front of any commands that need to be done as the root user. e.g.:
sudo mount -t vfat /dev/hdd /mnt/
A command line to mount my second hard drive (to "/mnt"). In linux, extra drives are "mounted" or simply attached to a directory on the main file system. Think about it like a tree. You are taking a new drive, or "branch" of information and attaching it to a larger tree that is your hard drive. Definately a switch for us windows users, and I still have more I need to learn about this command.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Get Automatix now!
After getting automatix install with the instructions on the wiki, it makes getting other programs MUCH easier. After selecting a host of programs like all the firefox plugins I will need, an Opera browser, and some games and appz, after just a few clicks I was downloading and installing the programs like I showed you. After they were finished, firefox will now display any site including You Tube and Runescape. Java and Flash are essential for web browsing anymore, and even windows users should make sure they get the latest updates of each.
With the yahoo toolbar and plugins installed I would say I pretty much have this browser good to go. Tabbed browsing makes this just as nice as IE, even if there is less encryption.
Along with the plugins and such I also instlled Google Earth, a nifty little program you may have heard of. It is used to see a ground image of ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Very cool, but when I first ran it I was getting a message that my graphics card drivers were not installed. The only driver disk I have for the GeForce 4 card I have in here is for Windows, so I installed the NIVIDA display drivers listed on Automatix. After a reset I loaded Google Earth again, and no message this time and MUCH smoother operation. Now I even have the graphics card setup :-D. The only thing left is the sound card...
Let me say Google Earth is a REALLY awesome program. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend you do. If you're good enough, you'll be able to find your own house.
With the yahoo toolbar and plugins installed I would say I pretty much have this browser good to go. Tabbed browsing makes this just as nice as IE, even if there is less encryption.
Along with the plugins and such I also instlled Google Earth, a nifty little program you may have heard of. It is used to see a ground image of ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Very cool, but when I first ran it I was getting a message that my graphics card drivers were not installed. The only driver disk I have for the GeForce 4 card I have in here is for Windows, so I installed the NIVIDA display drivers listed on Automatix. After a reset I loaded Google Earth again, and no message this time and MUCH smoother operation. Now I even have the graphics card setup :-D. The only thing left is the sound card...
Let me say Google Earth is a REALLY awesome program. If you haven't checked it out yet, I highly recommend you do. If you're good enough, you'll be able to find your own house.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Dapper Help
The version of Ubuntu I am running is known as Dapper Drake, which as of right now is the latest version. Rather then using versions numbers, like normal programs, these linux kids use names so you have to know what you're looking for. Cute huh? Not really, but here's what few commands in the terminal I've figured out so far:
sudo
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install
"sudo" is the main command for adding or removing programs, and each time should require your main password to be entered again. It wont show up, just type it in and press enter. After following the instructions for installing automatix through terminal I have selected quite a few programs and add ons to install, and automatix does it all for me easier then even the built-in Synaptic Device Manager does. Here is a screenshot of it running right now:
Once it is finished I will try out some of the apps and plugins I installed and let you all know how it goes.
sudo
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install
"sudo" is the main command for adding or removing programs, and each time should require your main password to be entered again. It wont show up, just type it in and press enter. After following the instructions for installing automatix through terminal I have selected quite a few programs and add ons to install, and automatix does it all for me easier then even the built-in Synaptic Device Manager does. Here is a screenshot of it running right now:
Once it is finished I will try out some of the apps and plugins I installed and let you all know how it goes.
I have found a "wiki" with easy instructions to install Automatix, an essential program for getting other programs. More on this later, meanwhile here is the link:
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#How_to_install_Automatix_on_Ubuntu.2C_Kubuntu.2C_and_Xubuntu
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Dapper#How_to_install_Automatix_on_Ubuntu.2C_Kubuntu.2C_and_Xubuntu
Firefox Plugin trouble
I have now gotten the plugins sitting on my desktop, ready to install. I'm pretty sure I have to run something through the terminal to install them, but every time I try I can never use it right. I follow the post in the ubuntu forums I read (here) about the basics of using the terminal but I still cannot even change directories. I'm an old DOS head and I feel so dumb. Is it the exact syntax I'm not getting right? I know I have to put the filename in right but I DO. I suppose I can do nothing but keep trying, of course I will post what I find.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
My Ubuntu Log
I have recently installed a version on linux known as Ubuntu. It is known for being the easiest to use, and it didn't take me long to set it up and use it. I am very impressed with this program so much that I decided to make a log of my activities as I set up and explore this slick app.
Ubuntu is based off of Debian, another version of linux. The purpose of Ubuntu is to give the user an easier interface and ease of use. I must say, aside from the command lines this is a very easy OS to get used to. Installing and running programs is done a little differently, but I'll go into that in future entries.
Ubuntu comes in a few different versions, Edubuntu and Kubuntu, They are both similar but kubuntu uses a slightly different interface. Edubuntu is for schools, etc.
The interface is a very nice looking GUI. Everything is done in point and click style until you need to execute a command. It comes with Firefox, a web browser, GAIM, a client through which you can sign onto any of your IM accounts, a ton of games, and many other helpful apps. I have as of yet to figure out how to install the plugins for firefox.
Ubuntu is based off of Debian, another version of linux. The purpose of Ubuntu is to give the user an easier interface and ease of use. I must say, aside from the command lines this is a very easy OS to get used to. Installing and running programs is done a little differently, but I'll go into that in future entries.
Ubuntu comes in a few different versions, Edubuntu and Kubuntu, They are both similar but kubuntu uses a slightly different interface. Edubuntu is for schools, etc.
The interface is a very nice looking GUI. Everything is done in point and click style until you need to execute a command. It comes with Firefox, a web browser, GAIM, a client through which you can sign onto any of your IM accounts, a ton of games, and many other helpful apps. I have as of yet to figure out how to install the plugins for firefox.
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