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Summary: A weekly roundup with special focus on hands-on experience and impressions of the latest major release of GNU/Linux, namely Fedora 14

HIS is the sixth episode, which has just been recorded by Tim and Roy. This was done right after today’s testing of Fedora and Fusion 14. I installed it permanently on 2 boxes, whereas Tim tried Fusion on his side and, as usual, his site OpenBytes has some show notes. As we’ve both had a chance to test it on some machines, we may also post detailed reviews soon (c.f. [cref 41364 our first show], which was a Fedora 14 special that covered Fusion too).

To summarise my experience in textual form, it was a KDE-only experience and an especially wonderful one. Having just installed Fedora 14 on another box and encountered very few difficulties (ClaudioM and other people who spoke back to me were generally happy with it as well, only with minor pet peeves). I spent many hours on it, getting a feel for what’s installed, what works, and what is harder to use. Among the installations, the first, on a desktop, went smoothly, but the second, a notebook, had the same issue as Mandriva had with it (built-in microphone not detected, so external one needed). There is a lot to be said about the startup speed and about Plasma, which has nonetheless given me a hard time today. Plasma-desktop in KDE (4.5) is very pleasant and it provides a good-looking desktop and brilliant experience. Unfortunately it decided to repeatedly crash on the laptop and it’s possibly simple to resolve (will retry tomorrow).

As time goes on, TechBytes manages to become more focused, concise, and also incorporate a logical structure which makes it easier to follow. We also intend to end every show with a song from now on. This show closes with “On My Kees” from Aqualung (freely obtainable via SXSW 2009 Showcasing Artists).

If you wish to be on the show or know someone who ought to be on the show, please let us know. Marti spoke with us for a long time today, but we are trying to sort out recording difficulties which will hopefully be overcome soon. We are eager to have him on a future show.

As always, if you enjoy this show, please consider recommending it to others and consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date.

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Summary: This is the longest show so far and it covers a wide range of topics with no specific item of focus

HIS is the fifth episode, which was recorded last night. OpenBytes has some show notes and the structure of this show has improved somewhat (the show is still not scripted in any way, as a matter of preference).

This show closes with “Axxo” from “Binaerpilot” (binaerpilot.no) (album name is “Nordland”).

If you wish to be on the show or know someone who ought to be on the show, please let us know. As always, if you enjoy this show, please consider recommending it to others and consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date.

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Direct download as Ogg (1:18:09, 31.9 MB) | Direct download as MP3 (34.9 MB)

Summary: Tim and Roy discuss Fedora 14 (which Roy installed today), file sharing, DDOS attacks, and they also cover a variety of GNU/Linux distributions

HIS is the fourth episode, which is also the third episode released in 3 days. OpenBytes has some show notes and in the future the structure of the show will be as follows (as per Tim’s suggestion):

1. News headlines summary
2. One discussion point (or guest interview)
3. Feedback
4. Close on highlighted artist

This show closes with a lovely song from the lovely Emma Lee (maybe not the same Emma Lee as the famous one). The song is called “That Sinking Feeling” and it was a free download in SXSW 2009 (Showcasing Artists).

If you wish to be on the show or know someone who ought to be on the show, please let us know. As always, if you enjoy this show, please consider recommending it to others and consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date.

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Direct download as Ogg (1:14:09, 23.8 MB) | Direct download as MP3 (33.9 MB)

Summary: Tim and Roy discuss today’s news about games, graphics cards, and 3-D effects in GNU/Linux; towards the end of the show the discussion is focused on the competition

HIS is the third episode of our show, which now increases in terms of release pace and audience size. The show is neither scripted nor edited, but it strives to cover all the news that matters and delve into discussions which other Web sites seem to avoid. Show notes can usually be found at OpenBytes, which also posts links of relevance.

In a future show we may speak to “wallclimber”, who contributed a lot to Techrights and will hopefully be on TechBytes some time in January. She requires some preparation, which we too will be doing as the show matures. The interference of background noise has been reduced and the flow of the show will hopefully improve over time, even without any rehearsals.

As always, if you enjoy this show, please consider recommending it to others and consider subscribing to the show via the RSS feed. If you have an Identi.ca account, consider subscribing to TechBytes in order to keep up to date.

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Summary: Tim and Roy discuss Apple, Microsoft, UK innovation, and of course a lot of GNU/Linux in this second episode of TechBytes, which is hopefully entertaining

IM opens this show with an introduction which soon becomes a discussion about Ubuntu. Later on we speak about Silverlight, Moonlight, and WPF, which are seemingly a dead-end endeavour.

Roy corrects some remarks he made last week about Octave, a project he has not tried for years. He now testifies and talks about how impressed he is by Octave, which has made a lot of progress. Other issues that are covered towards the end are licence compliance matters and women in Ubuntu (now exceeding 5%).

In future shows we may speak about Steve Ballmer getting rid of a lot of Microsoft shares, possibly with Marti, Wayne, and several other guests who are sceptical about Microsoft’s claims. As a reminder, TechBytes does have a room for discussion about the competition, unlike some other shows.

If you enjoy this show, please consider recommending it to others and consider subscribing to the show via RSS feeds or subscribing to TechBytes at Identi.ca.

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Direct download as Ogg (1:31:18, 30 MB) | Direct download as MP3 (41 MB)

Summary: Brandon Lozza joins Tim and Roy for the first episode of TechBytes, which covers Fedora and many other subjects

IM and I open the first show with a few words about Apple’s lawsuit against Motorola (over Android) because reports suggest that Apple — not Motorola — started it with provocation, just like in Nokia’s case. We then speak about what those cases of patent aggression (also from Microsoft) mean to ordinary gadget buyers who are hardly aware of such issues. Tim and I also discuss the choices which are made available to people and what limits the range of one’s choice.

A second segment of our show is dedicated to the Fedora project. Brandon Lozza, a Fedora Ambassador, spoke to us about the Tuesday release of Fedora 14 and we also chatted about Canonical’s Unity, which offers interface substitution for GNOME Shell (developed largely with support from Red Hat). Brandon has a Web site and an Identi.ca account where you can follow him.

A future show with Wayne Borean is expected but not yet scheduled. Wayne is quite an expert in copyrights (as a recording professional) and active participant in the debate about copyright law in Canada. He can also speak to us about Microsoft and Windows, which he has been tracking for decades and regularly writes about in his Web site.

You can follow TechBytes through Identi.ca and subscribe to the show via RSS feeds.

Thanks to all those who gave feedback on [cref 41234 the pilot], which got over a thousand downloads (so far). If you enjoy the show, please consider recommending it to others.

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