Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

ED Hat have got some nice promoptional videos that neatly explain the process of world transformation and fast adoption of Linux. The videos are titled:

• Truth Happens;
• Inevitable and
• Choice

Highly recommended for Linux enthusiasts!

Here are the annual winners in the domain of Open Source and GNU/Linux. The results were accumulated using a poll-based facility.

Distribution of the Year – Ubuntu (19.49%)
Database of the Year – MySQL (62.98%)
Office Suite of the Year – OpenOffice.org (84.84%)
Browser of the Year – Firefox (71.90%)
Mail Client of the Year – Thunderbird (51.74%)
Text Editor of the Year – vi/vim (37.96%)
Open Source Game of the Year – Frozen Bubble (23.17%)
Window Manager of the Year – Fluxbox (27.11%)
Desktop Environment of the Year – KDE (64.86%)
Audio Multimedia Application of the Year – amaroK (41.86%)

[remainder of list omitted]

The choice of Ubuntu and KDE as top picks makes one appreciate the value of Kubuntu (KDE-based Ubuntu). It is said to be less stable and consistent than Ubuntu (GNOME), but nonetheless it combines a rich desktop environment with admirable hardware probing.

Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

ERELY anyone who follows the news will have come across this by now. A an intersting rumour, if not an announcement, gree legs and began running wildly. It came from IBM in Germany. It suggested that IBM would be moving to Linux rather than upgrade to Windows Vista. This initiated a storm in a teacup, but finally, IBM make a formal denial. Many questions still hang in the air.

Andreas Pleschek, IBM’s head of open source and Linux technical sales in Northern Europe, was widely misquoted this week as saying that IBM had cancelled its Windows contract with Microsoft as of October.

ANY Linux users are secretly pleased with the current state of Linux adoption, which is rather slow and yet steady. Others are somewhat disappointed that it remains a minority among the ‘operating systems pie’.

Many people out there wish to migrate to Linux, genuinely and wholeheartedly so. This move is often prevented by fear, as well as impulsive attempts to jump onto Linux without that initial and temporary dual-boot ‘cushion’. Sometimes, the former fact, namely the desire for eventual change, makes Linux users victims of others’ envy. Sometimes, the latter is a cause for admiration, for Linux users are falsely collectively believed to be masters of the command line, as well as code wizards of the unknown. It is a fallacy, a misinformation that must be fought. Linux has become very trivial to use and set up. It can be bought pre-installed from large vendors too, with full support.

Meanwhile, many failed migrants remain underpaid yet overworked due to viruses and related issues. The mind boggles: what is it that led wide audiences to believing a Linux user’s life revolves around computers and troubleshooting? Wishful thinking probably. For instance, when things go awry for a Windows user, there is usually a neighbour or a friends to voluntarily help. So, a Linux deficiency is prevalence of skills, not the operating system in its own right.

To borrow another key point, many would whine about hardware support in Linux. Yet, the horses must be put before to carriage. Hardware which was originally bought for Windows need not necessarily be compatible with all platforms. The move to Linux is a worthwhile investment, not an overnight change of pyjamas.

Yet another day in La-La Land®

ILLED with frustration over some recent rotten conducts, I once assembled a few streams of consciousness to compose a bitter essay. It was saturated with citations on the way Microsoft continues to exploit its desktop monopoly-like state-of-affairs. I titled the essay On Operating Systems Monoculture and it spanned 4 pages. Today I would like to elaborate on that matter, whilst venting some anger (rant alert) and pointing out facts that Microsoft prefer to hide from their users, owing to Vista’s prematurity.

In a world where a desktop monopoly prevails, there is also mental manipulation of minds. Innocent people are (mis-)led to believe they are IT-proficient when they manage to change font size in Word. Skills are not sufficiently generalised and MSCE qualifications are a glaringly-obvious example of this. Advice must be taken from people who live in a broader reality and are neither delusional nor biased.

To take an overview, as well as a look into the future, Microsoft continue to use dirty tactics to push away any type of rivalry. They also propagate some hackney myths. Microsoft cried “Wolf” whenever someone criticised Windows Vista. Yet, based on some recent screenshots, Vista Starter Edition will allow only 3 processes to run at any one time. It is one among the numerous ‘penalties’ that will force a paid-for upgrade.

Then comes the issue of desktop environment visualisation. Graphics in Vista are unimpressive, assuming Aero cannot be run. Aero is the glass-like component in Vista’s window rendering, which enables translucency (as in Linux and Mac OSX). Aero is estimated to be properly-supported by 50% of today’s hardware. So, is Microsoft taking a step backwards, both in terms of hardware support and functionality? Even when Aero is enabled, it offers nothing out of the ordinary. LiteStep can already enrich the looks of Windows, so Vista offers nothing innovative. Aero only suffocates the CPU. The 3-D effects make the system choke. Vista is the same product which is known as XP Service Pack II (or Windows Server 2003), but it was put in a new dress. It is no surprise given the recent major fallback in terms of the codebase.

Microsoft employ a famous composer to work on sounds in Vista. Judging by what the O/S has to offer and rave about, Microsoft could take the easier route and just go with Mozart’s Requiem. It may soon be “Hasta la Vista“.

Season of the playful penguins from Oyonale

INUX is spreading exponentially, or is at least nearing that pace. But how does the expansion work or what is it based upon?

One person learns Linux, thereby acquiring experience and knowledge (not necessarily expertise). It is a self-taught approach which involves a valuable learning curve. In turn, parents the friends, among other parties, get exposed and that ‘Linux knowledge’ is passed on. Colleagues form a more positive mental image — that which breaks preconceptions as to what Linux looks like (no bug-riddled applications and command-line stereotypes). That impression is then passed on, it propagates.

Knowledge is power. The ability to support the operating system of peers makes Linux adoption like an avalanche going down the hill. Knowledge and familiarity only needs that flame that lights it up and starts the domino effect. Linux will spread like fire as soon as it gains steady inertia. It is only a question of momentum and we are on the cusp of significant changes.

OMPARING computers a human:

SuSE is rather hard to get, but others say she likes everyone and is rather easy.

Interpretation: SuSE (Linux distribution, can be pronounced “Suzie”) is rather hard to get (5 ISO‘s to burn), but others say she likes everyone (hardware) and is rather easy (to use).

Related item: Linux Chauvinism