A number of months ago (about 8 months ago to be precise) I started writing an article on Linux and why I just couldn’t get used to it.
This is not the first time I’ve tried Linux. It’s not the second, or the third. It’s not even the fourth, fifth or sixth time I’ve tried an install of Linux in an effort to love it and join the ranks of evangelical Linux lovers. To be perfectly honest I have lost count, but I would imagine that this latest install of Linux (Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) is between the tenth and fifteenth install.
You might imagine that I’d have got pretty good at working with this alternative operating system, that somehow over the years I’d have worked out it’s nuances, found the shortcuts and the programs I like and be ready to settle down with Linux in anti Microsoft matrimony. I mean, what’s the big hold up? Why is it so difficult?
I can’t slate Linux, I just can’t. It is fantastic. For something that you don’t have to pay for (with anything other than time) it’s a marvel. What’s even better is that I’ve seen it get better with time. A LOT better, whereas in the Redmond camp I’ve seen it get… well… bigger? Microsoft has always worked in a certain way. Single user, single workspace, same forms engine etc, good HAL etc but linux has grown. I mean 10 years ago I remember wrestling with a 4 CD install of Slackware on an old 486 DX 4×100 and never even managing to get it to install (alright, in hindsight Slackware was NOT a good place to start!). My first working install was with Mandrake (now Mandriva) and then Red Hat (of which the “Open” part became Fedora Core). I’ve also tried Puppy Linux, DSL (Damn Small Linux) and some other more obscure distributions with equally as stupid names. So now I’m sitting here writing this on Ubuntu 9.04 (oddly it’s just updating itself to Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) and it’s doing a pretty good job!
There’s not a great deal I need out of an Operating System. In fact, the Operating System is rarely the problem for most users (me included). You don’t really spend al that much time interfacing directly with the Operating System, (and time that you do is not really “productive” time). Let’s be honest, we want to spend most of our time working with programs… actually doing things.
….
Well what do you know?! A few weeks later I took the plunge one last time and put 9.04 on a 40gig laptop drive and went to Linux. Eight months later and I’m sitting here typing this on Ubuntu 10.04 and absolutely in love with Linux. OK, so I’m not going to be one of those evangelical Linux to$$ers who tells you that everyone should use it, you do have to have a certain amount of techie in you, but if you’re will to undergo the small learning curve, I warrant that you wont turn back. I struggled at first because the thought kept cropping up “why am I doing this? I know exactly how to do this in Windows, and I can always VBA it if I need something new”. Most of the time though I realised that I wasn’t born with an understanding of Windows, I had to earn it and that’s just the same route I’m going to have to take with Linux.
There’ll be some more posts coming to tell you about some of the tools I’ve selected to help make the switch easier (and yes, sometimes I fire up a VirtualBox console with XP in it!) but really, I’m still having a great time!
Give it a shot. Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) is available here… completely free and a lot of fun.
It can’t have been very long ago that I started predicting the backlash against Apple but it appears to be gathering pace at an alarming rate. It seems that any company that gets big… gets hated. M$, Google, BP, McDonalds… you name it, they ended up being hated. Why? Well I’m not sure whether you could quantify whether it’s BECAUSE they are big, or because once they get big, strange things start to happen. Either way, Apple, who have become considerably more restrcitive that Microsoft, have started to enrage the people who have given them the power. The iPhone was a hit not so much because of the great stuff it offered out of the box… but because of the great stuff that developers made for it. Now Apple have been handcuffing the iPhone developers, expect to see many more of them flocking over to Android.
All that aside, this post (from an Adobeite) points out exactly why. (hint… it’s in the iPhone ADG and looks like this:)
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
This is one of those “geek only” jokes because if you get it will simultaneously snigger out loud and and be very ashamed of yourself….
… or at least you should be.
I’ve been having issues for a while with Evolution not syncing my calender appointments with my MS Exchange account. I’m currently using Karmic (9.10) but I’m fairly sure it’s been an issue since 8.04 as it’s most likely distro independent.
It looks like there’s two potential solutions for the issue:
The quick fix is to change the calender item to show as “Private”, this should make it sync correctly.
The more permenant fix is to grab the patch from here:
and a copy of the Evolution source code. Apply the patch and compile into a deb.
This should give you a much better fix but is obviously a bit more work.
Happy Syncing.
(Disclaimer… I’ve tried the first, it works in my case, the second is untested by me. As always, DYOR).
Recently I have been trying to install some plugins on the Eclipse IDE (I was installing the CDT (C++ toolchain)) and ran into some issues. If you have an issue that looks something like this:
Problem Occurred
An error occurred while installing the items
session context was:(profile=PlatformProfile, phase=org.eclipse.equinox.internal.provisional.p2.engine.phases.Install, operand=null –> [R]org.eclipse.ant.ui 3.4.1.v20090901_r351, action=org.eclipse.equinox.internal.p2.touchpoint.eclipse.actions.InstallBundleAction).
The artifact file for osgi.bundle,org.eclipse.ant.ui,3.4.1.v20090901_r351 was not found.
… then you probably want to look here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/eclipse/+bug/477944
The short story is that you will want to install pde and jdt extensions first. Thankfully you’re in Linux so you can do it in one command:
sudo apt-get install eclipse-pde eclipse-jd
…bliss 
I know there’s been a lot of “stuff” put up here in the last few days but I’m slowly going through my mail box and clearing out all the old emails that have flown back and forward between me and some of the other guys. This one was from Ollie Gee… props bud!
I always seem to come across anti Microsoft snippets (I guess there’s more of them around in the ether than there is of any other company). I’d expect the balance to change a little over coming years as Apple tightens its grip on the user experience but that’s a story for another day.
Anyhow, a little behind the curve on this one, and only worth a click if you’re a bit nerdcore.
How to make windows 7 look really good.
Happy Saturday.
This one is especially for James really. I’ve been storing up a bunch of little posts that I haven’t got around to putting up yet, but I will sooner rather than later. This is one of those ones that makes you snigger a little. One of the chaps over at reddit noticed this little blunder by Evil Corps… (hint, look at the picture, not IE/MS)
As is often sometimes the case, I miss something that happens on the old interweb and in this instance, I’ve been behind the curve on the battle between the iPhone and Droid. It started in anger when the Droid camp released the following baiting video…
Which appears to have been deftly batted back by the iPhone camp…
Which ever way you look at it, it’s given us something good…. a beautiful song from (the aptely named) Mozella called Magic (Oh Oh Oh)
Maybe it’s something in the air at the moment, or maybe it’s because the darkness is drawing in early but it appears that all that fumbling in the dark has caused a few data “blunders”. Just when you think there’s something pretty bad coming out of the Apple stable (there appears to be a bug in Snow Kitten that just deletes all your data) but Redmond comes bounding back on to the stage, re-affirming it’s position as the bumbling idiots of IT. Oh yes, Microsoft have managed to “almost certainly” loose all the data that customers paid them to look after.
… we (Microsoft) must now inform you that personal information stored on your device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost
No official line yet on Apple doing similar, but we’re holding tight for Google.