Ubuntu

Just in case you haven't heard, Ubuntu 9.10 was released today! I'm really excited to be upgrading sometime next week (I would have done it today, but duty calls) as I've been hearing nothing but positive reviews about this latest version of my favorite operating system.

If you've never heard of Ubuntu before, definitely give it a look. It is an entirely free (as in no $$!), open-source operating system built on Linux. I've been using it exclusively on all of my computers for about 6 years now.

You can download the CD from here. Just download the file and then use a CD-burning program to burn the disk image onto a CD. (NOTE: Don't just burn the file onto the CD. The file is an image of the entire CD. If you're not quite sure what to do, just leave a comment, and I'll be happy to help you out.)

I know I promised to write more regularly. And I shall. July is almost over, and with it Kids Camp will be finished up. That means a little breathing room in terms of free time. Nonetheless, I know that I need to devote more time to writing. Not just here on this blog, but in general. Even my sermon writing has suffered recently.

A while back, I asked what people would like to see appearing on the blog, and one of the suggestions was linux stuff. Now, honestly, as much as I like playing around on linux, that hobby has also suffered recently. Nonetheless, I still use Ubuntu as my only operating system. And so, I thought that I might share a few things about my experience as an everyday linux user. Interestingly, my first foray into this series won't have a lot to do with linux. Instead, we're going to talk about MP3 players.

Last year, while I was out working on the farm, I finally decided that I was tired with putting up with the closed nature of my iPod. I hated how difficult it was to get music onto the thing if you didn't want to use iTunes. And I hated how limited it was in terms of file format. And, though I doubt this would be an issue for many people reading this blog, the iPod is just not very well designed when you're primarily going to be using it while out on a tractor, or while tossing hay bales from a pickup truck. I don't think Steve Jobs really had that demographic in mind when he designed his player.

So, after looking around for a while, I finally settled on a Cowon iAudio 7 to replace my iPod Video 30Gb. And I was super happy with it when it first arrived. It fit all the criteria I was looking for. First of all, it was fully linux compatible. It looks like just a normal usb drive when you plug it in, and you can drag and drop your music onto it without having to resort to any proprietary programs. Also, it played just about every file format under the sun--most importantly for me, ogg vorbis and flac. It had physical buttons (albeit a little finicky) so that I could use the player in my pocket. And (as an added bonus) the battery life was ridiculous. It could easily go for 50-60 hours before it would quit on me.

Unfortunately, I broke the wonderful little player a few weeks ago. I broke the screen. It will still play music, but it is impossible to navigate, now. So, basically, I have a slightly obese iPod Shuffle.

So, about a week ago, I began researching linux-friendly MP3 players once again. I thought about just buying another iAudio 7, but after using it for about a year, I had enough niggles that I thought I could do better. Mainly, I wanted a player that truly had physical, tactile buttons. The iAudio 7 had a touch surface that was just annoying to use, and then 3 programmable buttons on the top edge. I basically used the top buttons for everything. This time around, I wanted to find a player that was designed for those of us that like the feeling of clicking in a button rather than swishing our fingers over a surface. What can I say? I'm old fashioned that way.

In addition to the Real Button requirement, I still wanted a player that could play my ogg vorbis and flac files (which was, by far, the most difficult requirement).

I ended up with the following players on my short list:
Cowon S9
Cowon D2 or D2+
Cowon iAudio U3
Samsung YP-U4
Samsung YP-P2
iRiver T7 Volcano

Now, these players all vary in price considerably. And not all of them met all of my criteria. What I ended up doing, though, was rather strange. I decided I would try out two players. One from my short list. And another one that was completely out of left field. These are the two players I bought:

Cowon D2+

SanDisk Sansa Clip

Thursday, I'll go into more detail about my experience with the Cowon D2+.

Well, mid-term reading week is here at PTS. And, naturally, that means that all good procrastinators will once again turn their eyes to their neglected blogs as a way to escape from the mounting pressures of papers that need to be written and books that need to be read.

I count myself as one with those brave procrastinators. And you, gentle readers, will be the benefactors of our stressed disobedience.

So, what have we in store for today? Well, nothing all that exciting, probably. A review of something that has been reviewed many times over. But, I felt it my duty (er...procrastinatorial duty?) to offer my own thoughts on the ASUS Eee PC 901 and the Ubuntu-eee operating system. That's right! You're actually getting two reviews in one...so we'd better get started! Read more »

Since using the newly released Ubuntu 8.04, I highlighted a few bugs that I've run into.

Well, I'm happy to say that the first updates since the release are now being pushed out by Ubuntu. This morning, I was welcomed with the nice, little update notification icon in my taskbar.

And, I'm even happier to say that after installing the updates, Bug #2 on my list (the clock locking up) has been fixed, at least for me.

Good job, guys! Keep it up!

Trying to be the responsible "journalist", I thought I should share a few more Ubuntu bugs I've discovered while using the new version exclusively for the past few days.

Thankfully, both of the bugs have already been reported, and one has already been triaged, and should be fixed when the first round of updates is pushed in a week or so.

So, bug #1: gdm-setup fails to open for several minutes.

Basically, I found this bug because I wanted to change the default settings for logging in to my computer. The Ubuntu default is that when you boot your computer, you are greeted with a user-login screen (the technical name is "gdm"), where you have to enter your username and password to get to your desktop. This is nice to have enabled by default, as it is more secure. But, for my home computer, I really just want it to skip the whole login routine when I turn on my computer. This is easily accomplished by going to System-Administration-Login Window-Security. Unfortunately, when I tried to do this on my new Hardy Heron install, the login settings dialog-box failed to appear immediately. After this, I got on the ubuntu forums and found that this problem had already been found and reported. Apparently, it's actually an issue with Tracker, Ubuntu's spiffy search and file indexer. They know where the problem is, so hopefully it will get fixed soon.

Bug #2: Clicking on the Clock causes the panel to lock-up.

This was a pretty major bug, especially as I highlighted the new International Clock in my write-up. I think this bug only occurs if you are using Evolution's calendar, because only after entering a few appointments into the calendar did the problem pop up for me. (You see, one of the cool features of the clock is that it will show your day's appointments to you so that you don't have to open Evolution to check your calendar for the day.) This bug was also already reported, and supposedly it is already triaged. So, once the new updates start coming, this should no longer be a problem.

I hope these bugs don't put any of you off from trying Ubuntu. The new OS has only been out in the wild for a few days now. Even though Ubuntu goes to great lengths to take care of bugs like this before the final release, a few will always slip through. Thankfully, there is a good automatic-update system in place.

My suggestion would be to wait a week or two before trying the new Ubuntu out if you are a little worried. By then, these major bugs will be good and squashed.

Ubuntu 8.04 Review

Most of my readers are Windows or Mac OSX users. In fact, I think all of my readers fall into that category, with the single exception of my mother. And the only reason my mother uses Ubuntu Linux is because she uses my computer to check her email and write papers and such. I accept this.

But, as anyone who frequents this blog will know, I love Linux. I love the philosophy behind it, I love how flexible it is, I love how well it works, and I love not being tied down to a particular system. Linux means freedom for me in the world of computers. This is why I feel it is important for me to encourage the use of Linux and other open source software to my friends, family,...and even you, dear reader of this blog. :)

Today, I'm going to take a look at the newest Ubuntu Linux, version 8.04.

Now, let me first explain the difference between Ubuntu Linux and just plain, old Linux. You can think about Linux as the software equivalent of your car's engine. It's the thing that makes your computer run--the underlying nuts and bolts. But, just as with a car, you need more than just the engine. You have to have things attached to the engine. In the case of the car, you're going to need some wheels, some seats, a steering wheel, etc... In the case of your computer, you're going to need a Desktop and some programs like an internet browser and an email client.

This is probably a bit confusing to Windows users because when you install Windows, you never notice any difference between the Windows Kernel (the engine) and the Windows Desktop (what you see and use). But in the case of Linux, anyone is free to use the Linux "engine", and so there are actually many, many different versions of Linux because many different people have taken the Linux engine and added their own Desktops, Windowing Systems, and programs--to make their own operating system, taylor made to their needs. (A quick note: Apple's OSX actually uses an open-source Linux-like "engine" called BSD.)

Ubuntu Linux, then, is the most popular operating system that uses the Linux "engine." As I said, there are many, many others (like Fedora, Suse, Ubuntustudio, Slackware, etc...). Ubuntu is my Linux OS of choice, so now we're going to take a look at what Ubuntu has to offer in it's newest release, Ubuntu 8.04 "Hardy Heron". Read more »

Happy Day!

The new Ubuntu 8.04 LTS is out! This is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, which means that Canonical will provide security patches for free for the next 3 years. But that's mostly for those server lackies, not for us desktop jockeys, right?

So, what's new in this release that's worth looking for?

Well, the GNOME boys have been hard at work, and this latest Ubuntu integrates all of the GNOME love on the desktop. So, that means there is:

• The fun new Cheese program (a Photobooth-like program)
• Easy connection to other computers using GVFS
• You can now use Google Calendars in Evolution
• The totally awesome new International Clock applet
• CD/DVD burning and ripping is even easier with Brasero and SoundJuicer
• The Transmission Torrent Client, a very fast and simple way to download torrents (like this new Ubuntu!)

In addition to the GNOME improvements, Ubuntu offers up some features of its own for this release, including:

• The all-new Firefox 3, which is faster and even easier to use than before (one-click bookmarking, web-page zoom for those with small monitors or bad eyesight, and much more)
• The new Wubi windows installer that lets you install Ubuntu as a Windows application (which means you can try a fully-working installation without worrying about messing up your Windows)
• Boot-up time is now even faster
• Cool desktop eye-candy
• F-Spot photo manager now makes it even easier to import your photos and upload them to photo-sharing sites on the internet.

And these are only the things I'm excited about! There's a lot more to discover as well.

Unfortunately, the Ubuntu servers are going to be slammed for a while. If I can get a hold of one, I'll try to post a torrent up here for the next few days to make it easier to download. Look below for and Update regarding that.

So, especially with the new Wubi installer, I hope you all give the new Ubuntu a try. I'm really excited about this one!

UPDATE: Here's the torrent to download the i386 installation, which should work on just about any Windows/Intel Mac computer. You will need a bittorrent client to download the iso, and then you will need a CD-burning program to burn the iso into a CD. Leave a comment if you have any questions.

Thanks to everyone who has answered the call to registration! I really appreciate it.

Today was a pretty standard day, really. I didn't do much that could be classified as productive. We went into town to eat. Then, after that, I decided to go ahead and install the Ubuntu 8.04 release candidate on my lappy. Little lappy had basically been relegated to testing out crazy new software, so it was ready to have a nice, clean install on it. For the most part the install went pretty well. This is the very first operating system I have installed on little lappy that has managed to detect the proper screen resolution (including Windows). So that was pretty major. All in all, it seems like Ubuntu has done a good job with this release. I'm hoping to get a review posted sometime after the final version is released (very very soon).

Included among my computery-geeky exploits today was getting the photo gallery integrated into the Felix.Ruina Daily website. Before I had a totally separate site for the gallery, but I kind of wanted them together now that I have a separate photoblog (at Felix.Fotos). The integration is not totally set, but you can already see the major results of my labor by clicking on the Photo Gallery link at the top of the page. Pretty sweet. Also involved in this endeavor was fixing the random image block (the little guy in the sidebar with 4 random images) so that you can now click on the image and it will take you to the proper page in the gallery. It was kind of useless before, having a random image block that didn't take you to the images.

Well, hopefully I'll do a better job tomorrow at having something useful to say. Hey...not every day needs to be interesting, right?