Linux Cauldron

If you are looking for a hosting provider for your new website, or want to upgrade your hosting services your going to get confronted with a lot of options. It may not be completely clear what the differences are.
No doubt you probably want some kind of Linux hosting as there are only very specific circumstances where windows web hosting has benefits. In my humble opinion you would only want windows hosting if you have a web service or application which can only be run on windows(which would be a design flaw).

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Via Handle With Linux

After Christian Ehrlicher announced that he would step down from packaging and bug fixing for KDE on Windows, some articles were written which suggest that KDE on Windows is on hold now that the main developer has moved on. Even though KDE on Windows is only a small project and the loss of one developer will be felt, we are far from dead. The Windows port has not been a one-man-project and many other people are still involved. KDE on Windows will continue to be developed and packages will continue to be made.

[Via KDE News]

I have to say, I didn’t see this one coming. Intel is readying its newest surprise, a stripped down Linux distribution dubbed, Moblin 2.0. Target for the netbook crowd and mobile internet devices, the distribution aims to cater to the limited capability of such machines, especially with Intel branded Atom processors. If the distro is fine tuned for small screen netbooks and MIDs using Atom processors, I wonder how this will fair on MIDs not running an Atom processor, such as some with ARM chips. But yes, I do realize pretty much all of the targeted audience will be using Atom procesors.

Intel states the UI of Moblin itself is going to be very optimized for smaller screens, making very good use the real-estate available to the user. Good battery life is another promise Intel claims it will deliver, but we all have heard that one before, and hopefully this will be done well under Moblin, as Linux distributions tend to lack very definitive and effective power management out of the box. I wonder just how slim Moblin will be, as distributions like Slackware, Gentoo, and Arch Linux already offer amazing lightweight Operating Systems. Intel does recognize users want to run many windows applications, and know the dominance of Windows, so Windows 7 is projected to be a popular choice to run on devices as well.

I will definitely be watching this one for quite some time. Who knows, maybe Intel will put out a good grand slam, but then again, without years of Linux experience in the industry as a developer of distributions, Intel’s offering may not be as popular as their brand name. Brand is not everything, especially in a market of hundreds of Linux distributions. I am not so keen about Windows 7 on netbooks, but the performance is pretty good in contrast to its older brother, Vista. Moblin should be an exciting distribution to keep an eye on. Intel: deliver us the goods.

Gear up folks, another surprise is coming straight out of Canonical, most famous for Ubuntu and its many flavors. As I have mentioned before, Ubuntu didn’t become the “one” distribution for me. Ubuntu is doing alot of good things, such as becoming the best distribution for new Linux users, and it just keeps getting better for Ubuntu users, with Ubuntu One.

Ubuntu One, slated to debut in the not-to-distant future, will take cloud computing to another level. This new product is expected to land when Karmic Koala, or Ubuntu 9.10, is released in October, 2009. The Beta of Ubuntu One is to be released this Monday, but is a closed Beta Test unfortunately. You can check out more about the project, at the Ubuntu One homepage here.

The project touts features such as syncing your files, sharing your work with others or work remotely, all with your Ubuntu computer. This means you will be able to sync data between all Ubuntu computers you have and all your friends. Quite impressive if I don’t say. Keep an eye on this one folks, this looks to bring some more excitement to the Ubuntu dream.

Cheers,

Nano

With Linux having gained traction in business, certifications of Linux expertise are becoming more popular, similar to how Novell or Microsoft systems certifications became important for those platforms. But some in the Linux community say the emergence of certifications is by no means a golden ticket for admins, and perhaps just a waste of time and money.

Major Linux distributors, including Novell and Red Hat, have their own certification programs, notes Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation. Employers come to the foundation seeking Linux talent and want to know if a candidate is qualified, he says: “They want to see a Good Housekeeping seal of approval, for lack of a better term, that’s neutral and third-party.” So the foundation offers the Linux Foundation Certified Developer certification and accompanying courses.

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via IDG

I am writing this not to simply disagree with Ubuntu in a general sense, but to back it up with experience. I have long since loved Ubuntu for its “just works” philosophy. And its “can do” attitude with default software. Ubuntu is a great solution for those who wish to break free from the clutches of Microsoft or Apple, and put them in control of their domain. However, after using Linux for many years, I have seen Ubuntu start to annoy me in key areas.

For most, individuals often migrate from Ubuntu to another operating system, such as the recent Arch Linux, that has wowed alot of users who wish to have a minimal install, and install what they want, with things still working they way they should. Ubuntu simply does not think its users ever want to modify their system, with horribly commented and engineered configuration files, and the placement of those files and how they work is not even close to the common linux conventions of every other distribution.

Common soft links trick us into thinking there are new things in the system such as /etc/init.d/gdm start, instead of startx , to start the X window system. It seems Ubuntu just wanted to be different, without being really innovative whatsoever. What most users don’t understand, is that its basically the unstable version of Debian, with LOADS of drivers injected. The reason why I prefer Arch, is because it can be optimized for YOU, without hours of configuration. The beginners guide on the Arch wiki has all the things you need to get you a base system up and running.

Performance is one gripe I have about the new Ubuntu 9.04. My Dell 600m ran 8.04 pretty decent, but switching to 9.04 left my system slow as molasses. In all honesty, and serious here folks, Windows 7 RC1 ran faster* than Ubuntu 9.04 on my older 600m Dell laptop. Why? Because Ubuntu decided it was necessary to add default visual support to every machine, disregarded if the user wanted visuals or not. Even with this off, Firefox was so slow, I could not stand it.

Linux is always about choice, and I simply feel Ubuntu is progressing into a path of less and less self configuration, and more out-of-the-box configuration by Ubuntu. The reason Linux appeals to so many, is its choice of freedom. If Ubuntu continues this way, we would easily see its later versions, installing all sorts of software we do not need, configuration files we do not want configured, and things turned on, that we wouldn’t want turned on by default. Sure we can change these settings, but why turn all this on by default, let the USER decide what they want, that is what Linux is all about.

Since I have discovered Arch Linux, my prayers have been answered. Finally compiling from source is easy, with the ABS system, Yaourt is a GODSEND, and pacman is the most versatile package manager ever, and that’s without* a GUI to do it in, all of it being done in Terminal. I mean the install CD is 300 ish MB, how do they get away with that you say? Well, when you don’t cram a bunch of useless software and drivers into a system merely to appease everyone that uses it, then that’s how. And Arch happily tells you how to install that Nvidia or ATI driver, and configure all you need, so it runs as fast as possible, and as smooth as possible. Arch’s rolling release model is the key reason many use it, as there is no need to re-install at ALL.

I really believe Ubuntu is doing alot of great things, making a great dent in Mircosoft and friends, and bringing people to Linux. But, that is all that it is good for. Yes, underneath, it is all Linux, but its what is being forced on the user at install that makes Ubuntu no longer my favorite distribution. The philosophy is there with Ubuntu, but it simply throws too much in your face and tries too hard to be an “easy” Linux distribution. I love your efforts Ubuntu, but your going a bit toooo mainstream for my tastes.

I apologize if this article offended anyone, and I am definitly open to criticism, and a good debate. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading this.

Cheers!

_Nano

Ahhhh….the old days. Wait, no I have only used Linux since 2004, but thats enough to still know that X.org.conf was still fully functional at that time. With new releases of distributions such as Ubuntu 9.04, we now see X.org.conf as a deprecated, dying dinosaur, that is sure to make even the strongest willed Linux nerds shed a tear.

Why do you ask? We ever since this latest X.org release, we now see many individuals X.org.conf with just a few lines of text, or none even at all. This makes things horrible for individuals who relied on manual configuration of X.org.conf to fix common issues, alter placement and resolution of displays, and to also get rid of things that were unwanted. Many of the old tricks that worked in previous versions of X.org in the .conf file now do not* work. This is very dis-heartening and I hope something is done about this. Many simply cannot rely on GUI config tools, as they don’t accomplish what we need over half of the time.

So I wonder, will this issue ever be resolved, or will X.org just keep releasing more updates, breaking one thing as they introduce another? It seems that this has been the trend for quite some time now. For now, all we can do is hope that our same tricks we used in X.org.conf of olden days, still work. Thoughts? Impressions? Let us know what you think.

Regards,

_Nano

Just recently we head of Browser contender, Mozilla, pitting its dukes up against Microsoft. This brings back such fond memories of the Microsoft Anti-trust days, doesn’t it? According to many top publications, Mozilla is calling Windows 7 a ” blatant use of the Windows operating system to change the market dynamics of browser usage” (Source). This comes as no new surprise, as everyone knows Microsoft packages Internet Explorer in every Windows default installation.

In the Microsoft camp, they of course did not comment. What is also interesting is Opera, who always has a beef with Microsoft, is choosing this quarrel as a perfect time to jump in and beat on its big rival. It may be a surprise to you, but I side with Microsoft with this one. Gasp! Why? I’ll tell you why. It just so happens that a user can easily, via add/remove programs, disable key Windows programs and functions in Windows 7. They give you the control. And think about it, what if a non computer savy user bought a desktop and there was NO browser on it, because no one company could decide who should be the default. Its Microsoft’s Operating System, and they can bundle what they want with it.

Does anyone complain that Safari is default on Apple OS X? Or that you get a bunch of default apps on Apple or on Microsoft? A browser is just another pre-packaged app, take it or leave it. I never thought I would ever side with Microsoft, but the other browser companies need to mellow out and keep making the amazing browsers that they do. Heck, you remember when no one even heard of Firefox, now everyone knows and loves it.

Give it time people,

Cheers,
_Nano

I have to say, I am a Gnome user at heart, I live it, breathe it, and use it everyday on all Linux distributions I run. I run other desktop enviroments such as XFCE, fluxx, and more. With the current U.S. economy as it is right now, more and more are adopting Free and Open Source alternatives, but this however does not mean there is no harm to those who develop and maintain the Linux software we know and love. Without them, the Linux movement would be lost. They don’t operate on monopoly money you know.

The GNOME foundation has survived over all these years from healthy contributions from Corporations. But now, as we face harder times in the United States economy, this once steady cash flow, has been steadily decreasing. In response to this, there has been movement to counteract these shortfalls with programs such as the “Friends of GNOME” program also known as the “Adopt a Hacker” program. Together I know all of us “nerds” and “geeks” can help out GNOME, so

I am asking for you help in this matter. Please think of the Linux community, and where it would be without all of you, the Linux users, the glue that keeps our community going strong. Help a neighbor and help GNOME survive these hard times

More information on the “Friends of GNOME” program can be found here I hope that all of us together can come together to support GNOME.

Cheers,

Nano

It’s no secret that Ubuntu users that have installed 9.04 with Intel graphics cards are having some issues. The issue, which is even admitted by Ubuntu, makes the performance of Intel graphics based systems horrible, sometimes even unusable. Some have even said the performance has severely regressed* since the last release, according to individuals on the forums.

One of the big changes has been that the GEM, or Graphics Execution Manager, has moved to the Kernel now, so some changes had to be made to the graphics drivers in this new approach. However, this should simplify things a bit, which could make this gut wrenching problem maybe disappear, given enough time. Instead of dealing with X server, the graphics hardware goes through the kernel, so the amount of effort the kernel goes though to configure graphics for Intel is a lot larger.

So, GEM is in there, KMS is out. I hope that Ubuntu is quick to respond to this set of issues, otherwise Ubuntu’s good name will be a little tarnished, as so many laptops nowadays have an Intel graphics chip in them, especially in the low end models. We only can wait and see what happens for now.

Cheers,

Nano

[Via Lxer]