Back to Linux for Good?

I probably spend more time tinkering with the operating systems on my old computers than I spend tinkering with my typewriters (and lord forgive me but there isn't a heck of a lot of time left for actually writing anything after all this tinkering).

For the last seven or eight years I've been going back and forth between Windows and Linux. Sometimes I use dual-boot configurations. More often I just wipe one OS and switch to the other whenever I got particularly frustrated by some failing.

For a while Windows will draw me in with its officially sanctioned, up-to-date video drivers and the vast collections of software (including games) available for purchase. But then some malware or virus brings the system to a halt, or the anti-virus software starts slowing it down. One time I got an obnoxious notification across my monitors that my copy of Windows was not Genuine. Turns out this happened to millions of customers whether their copies were genuine or not.

So, with that bad taste in my mouth I'll download some recent Linux ISO and burn it to a disc. I've given all the Ubuntu flavors a spin (Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu) plus Linux Mint, Bodhi Linux, and of course the adorable Puppy (for my ancient Sony Viao, circa 2000, maxed out with 256 MB of RAM). I'll spend a few months marvel at the array of free software available, and the ease with which I can install software and configure my system. There's a software center built right in, which is kind of like an app-store, except that everything is free. But if you know the name of the software packages you're looking for, you only have to open a terminal and type sudo apt-get install xyz... and you'll have a new office suite, photo editing program, 3D rendering package, or game in minutes.

But then a friend will want me to play some Windows only networked game with them. Or I'll miss the facility of organizing my thoughts with the Windows-only Evernote, or I'll have a day where tinkering on the command line to try to get a printer working just isn't what I'm in the mood for, and it'll be be back to Windows for six months or so.

(This is why I store all my documents and media on a separate hard drive from my operating system. It makes wiping the OS and switching the system to a new one ever so much easier. Plus, if I ever do get a new PC, I can just pop the spare drive into an empty bay, rather than copying files over a chunk at a time.)

One fun side-effect of all this switching is that it feels like I get a new computer every six months, when in truth I haven't bought one in four years (and that one was used). Anyway, every time I make the switch back to Linux, I find myself spending more time there. I opted for Linux Mint on the latest install,  because I'd used it before with good results, and because its developers don't try to re-invent the wheel by getting fancy with the desktop. While Windows 8 has gone all sketchy with their "Metro" interface, forgetting that the whole point of Windows was to have, you know, multiple windows open on your desktop, and Ubuntu has decided to confuse their desktop with some equally confusing, tablet-driven sidebar business, Mint seems content to provide your classic panel-on-the-bottom-with-a-menu-when-you-need-it which has been serving us perfectly well since 1995.

There weren't any obvious changes since the last time I'd been in Linux Mint, but as soon as I started installing and configuring stuff I was struck by how much easier this was now than in the past. Wireless networking, sound, printing, and the first monitor came right up from the get-go. There was a little hiccough getting my second monitor to work, but before I could really get frustrated about it, a notification popped up suggesting I update my proprietary video drivers. A quick reboot later and I had both screens glowing politely at me.

And the selection of applications is getting better. In the past, I'd used an interface program called WINE to run the two Windows programs I couldn't live without: Scrivener, for writing fiction, and the aforementioned Evernote. It worked, but loading up all those Windows DLLs always put a strain on the system, and for some reason Windows programs inside Linux just looked bloody awful, with jagged blocky fonts and impossible to manage text-sizes. Given that these were my two go-to programs for getting things done, it was just frustrating that I had to spend so much time working with software that just looked so terrible, because their developers couldn't be bothered to port a native Linux version of their code.

So I was thrilled to discover that Scrivener had a Linux version available now. There was a warning attached that it was in beta, but I've used it for a couple of weeks now without any trouble (while making regular backups) and it doesn't seem to be lacking any of the features that I'm used to. There really is nothing like it for organizing and planning fiction, or even longer nonfiction projects. More in praise of Scrivener in some future post, no doubt, but suffice it to say that my eyes have been rejoicing to have an integrated and well-rendered version of my favorite software to use within Linux.

Evernote still seems to be holding out on a Native Linux version, but some volunteers have provided a third party client, called Nixnote. It doesn't have the full functionality of Evernote running in Windows. Notably, the handy screen capture utility is missing. But it syncs to the same Evernote account, and it imported all of my notes without a hitch. Again, it looks smooth and elegant--no more of those jagged microscopic fonts. And the interface matches the rest of the Operating System.

WINE is a handy way of getting things done with Windows software in Linux when you have to. It's just not polite about it, and it seems better to do without it whenever possible.

Surprisingly, gaming on Linux seems to be coming along, too. I'm guilty of indulging in the occasional Minecraft marathon (it's a surprisingly social experience when you play a networked game) but performance in Linux was always abysmal compared to the same game running in Windows. Not this time. It must be the update to the video drivers that is making 3D rendering much better all of a sudden.

Pressure for this change might be coming from Valve software and their Steam content delivery platform--which recently became available on Linux for the first time. My amazement at this development was a little diminished by the limited number of titles that were available through the platform (you can buy Half Life 1 for Linux now, but not Half Life 2 or Portal), but still, it's a huge step in the right direction. It felt surreal, and strangely wonderful, to install the Steam platform with a sudo apt-get install steam command.

And better yet, my seven year old computer with its budget video card can actually play a bunch of the games.

So this time, I think I may be hanging around in Linux for good. I know I've said that before, but... Well, most of the reasons that sent me scampering back to Windows in the past just don't exist any more. And there's enough new and exciting stuff happening in Linux now to make up for the few frustrations that remain with running what used to feel like a hobbyist OS.

Now the big question is whether the next laptop I buy will be able to run Linux at all. It looks like Microsoft might be set on locking up the machines that carry their latest travesty of an OS. And I've even read a report of a Linux install bricking (ruining) new Samsung laptops. I've been saving nickels for a new laptop for about a year, but now that I'm close to a purchase it looks like I may be waiting a good deal longer--and doing a lot more research.

Because what's the point of buying a new machine if it doesn't run the software that I love?

High Resolution Typecast

I set my scanner on its highest resolution to see how a typecast from the new Underwood would come out. Then I decided to churn it through some filters in the open-source image editing software The Gimp.

The original scan. Digital noise from the scanner was quite apparent at 1200 dpi.

Adjusted to a more Internet friendly resolution.

Contrast heightened.

Blurred to reduce the noise.

Introducing a little of my own noise.

A bit of cubism.

Bent in post-production.

A nice edge effect glow.

A little edgier.

Too much WD-40 on the ribbon.

What the Predator enjoys reading.

Almost got flowers growing in the text.

I always enjoy the interplay of analog and digital technologies.

It's a lovely typeface, I think. Maybe I'll get this printed on a couple of tee-shirts. Or a bumper sticker.

Linux Mint 13 Saves the Day

I'm back running Linux on my PC again, after 18 months with Windows 7.

This time I decided to go with Linux Mint, since I don't really like the look and feel of the new Ubuntu, and reports indicated Mint would work well on my older hardware.

Why the switch back? Well, last night I got a nasty notice informing me that "This copy of Windows is not Genuine" It popped up when I started the computer and stayed in the corner of my screen like a piece of digital graffiti. And there was a link I could click that would make this go away so long as I forked over a credit card number.

I really have no idea whether the copy is genuine or not, since I bought the PC third hand. But I wondered, if it's not, why did it take them so long to catch on? And what is Microsoft doing, reaching into my home and under the hood of my computer, monkeying around without my permission?

I really didn't feel like calling them up and arguing the point, so I did a bit of googling and ran some awkward utility that did who knows what-all and locked up my system, but when I restarted it, the message was gone.

Still, I was shaken. The proprietary beast had reared its ugly head in again, reminding me that my computer wasn't really mine. All the tools I've started to rely on could be snatched away if I didn't provide a flow of bullshit and revenue on a predictable schedule. And I shouldn't have to turn to buggy, untrusted utilities just to keep using my computer, wondering if they've installed some back-door or trojan in the process.

So I downloaded the new Linux Mint ISO, burned the DVD, and ran it in trial mode for just long enough to discover it's bloody fantastic.

Some of the more pleasant surprises from this release:

• The MATE desktop saved the best and simplest aspects of the Gnome desktop, which has been discontinued in pursuit of Unity's flashy tablet-style interface.
• The selection of pre-installed utilities is perfect. Every time I went to install something I thought I needed, I discovered it was already there. At the same time, it didn't come with much that I won't use. Other than instant messaging and IRC chatting, I'll probably use just about every application on here.
• The default music management program, Banshee, can manage my iPod! It does a much better job of it than the third party application I was using in Windows. Not to mention it's much simpler than iTunes, and doesn't advertise to me every time I just want to play some music.
• The disc-burning tool, Brasero, provides the most intuitive method for burning CDs and DVDs that I've ever encountered.
• It installed in just 15 minutes and runs great on my old Pentium-4 computer. So I decided to put it on my antique netbook, which is the original Eee701. That little netbook has no optical drive, so I had to put the ISO installation file on a USB stick. This took all of ten minutes with Imagewriter, another utility that was installed by default.

What am I going to miss about Windows? (And why had I been using it for 18 months?) Evernote, I guess. That had been the Killer App for me, even though it nagged me about updates and begged for money. (Sorry, but I'm not about to subscribe to software.) Solution: Tomboy Notes seems to handle the Evernote workload pretty well, minus images, and I still have access to my old work through the web-interface. (Which in itself is rather creepy.)

My guilty pleasures of Minecraft and Second Life will take some fiddling, but I think I can make them work in Linux eventually.

My old student copy of Photoshop from 1998 fit me like a well-worn glove. Figuring out the Gimp for image manipulation is going to be a pain in the ass. I understand it's a powerful program, but I just can't wrap my head around that interface.  Can anyone suggest a decent online tutorial for it?

Then there's the scanning for viruses and malware and all the rest...

Oh wait, I'm not going to miss that at all.

Kubuntu Installation

The Wife laughs at my obsession with Linux Distributions. As I'm changing out my desktop wallpaper or re-arranging my applets for the hundredth time, she'll say, "Linux is like home decorating for boys." Why not get some real work done instead of making the screen look pretty? But then again I could ask her the same thing about the furniture in the living room.

Came home for my middle of the day break from work (They call it a "split shift" but I call it "Two days for the wages of one.") and ended up spending hours--hours!--in putting Kubuntu on the desktop, configuring applications, getting the layout just the way I like it. I should have taken a nap, and now I'm facing the ordeal of a six-hour closing shift with very little sleep. Not entirely sure how I'll be getting through it, but I suppose we'll find a way. Adrenaline and coffee, most likely.

Oh, but the Kubuntu. It looks amazing, like it just brought the old computer into the "latest generation" of computer technology. Transparent, window effects, shiny, glowing, fresh, and surprisingly intuitive. Like Windows Vista could have been, if it didn't bog much newer machines down into a tub of molasses.

For such a flashy and attractive Desktop Environment, Kubuntu actually runs rather well on an old P4 with no dedicated graphics card. There's a little hesitation on opening applications, but once they're up, they're up. And I much prefer the overall feel of this desktop environment to the Gnome I was running before. Text displays crisper and smaller, which satisfies me on some strange control-freak level, and I can actually make use of this vast monitor's screen space with various windows, etc.

Strangely enough, the whole package downloaded and installed right from the standard Gnome desktop in about ten minutes. One quick re-boot and I was there. The joy of messing about with all these operating systems and desktop environments is it feels like getting to use a new computer every few days, without spending a penny. (The rest of those lost hours went to the "home decorating" phase.)

I have now spent some time with all the major Ubuntu flavors (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, and the small and strikingly efficient newcomer Lubuntu) as well as a lot of lesser-known alternatives (Slitaz, Puppy, Damn Small Linux, the craptacular Xandros that came with the Asus Eee). Ubuntu, in it's incarnations, seems to have most of the bases covered, at this point. Every one I try, I like better than the last. Except for esoteric applications (extremely old hardware, custom built solutions to uncommon problems, etc.) it's various flavors seem to do what your "average" hobbyist/user with a little patience and a willingness to experiment would expect it to do, usually with delightful style.

All this distro-hopping has made me start to wonder a bit just what Ubuntu is. Before I started sailing Linux waters, I always assumed an operating system was a whole shiny package. It was, you know, the part of the computer that wasn't made of plastic and microchips but wasn't consumer software from a shrink-wrapped box, either. I assumed that the desktop environment was an integral part of an operating system, since it gave you handles to drag your windows around and icons to click to launch your video games.

But here comes Ubuntu, which is an operating system, I think, but it's not really, it's just a "distribution" of Linux. And you can have a text-only install of Ubuntu (just like DOS before the Windows came along) or you can load it up with your choice of window manager (Gnome, KDE, XFCE, LCXD) to turn it into one of it's derivatives (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu). Or you can go a whole 'nother route, skip the Ubuntu piece, and build Linux into something completely different like Red Hat, Slitaz or Slackware.

Oh yeah, and the Ubuntu code was all built up by some company called Canonical which is controlled by a man named Mark Shuttleworth, who was one of the first people to pay Russians to go to space as a tourist. (I thought his name was a joke but was apparently, mistaken.) His team built the Ubuntu distribution on top of another distribution called Debian. I'm not sure if Debian's still another layer in the cake or just something that's to the side, at this point. It becomes rather confusing. And just what this Canonical company gets from developing all this software is also unclear to me.

But I am inclined to like them, since it all seems to work despite my not-understanding. It's a tribute to the engineers at every level, that they make it simple enough for a dilettante like me to have so much fun and get so much done with their efforts.

What does become clear from all this messing around is how modular all these operating system pieces are. The different window managers all look remarkably different, but all it takes to change them up is switching out a few packages from the Ubuntu Software Center. If you're clever, or you read the right on-line tutorial, you can do this with a few keystrokes at the command line. There are even tools out there for grabbing all the bits you like from the various distributions, pre-loading it with the open-source applications you prefer, stamping your own name on it, burning it to a CD and calling it your own. The Creative Commons license will even let you charge money for it, which is a nice touch, since it gives you the incentive to add a bit of value in the form of installation and training. (Maybe this is what Canonical is after?) The only thing you can't do is tell the person who buys it from you that they can't turn around and do the same thing.

# # #

Hmm... If I spend more time procrastinating than I do writing, perhaps I should reconsider where my priorities lie. Then again, these are all just hobbies, so it's not like I have to worry about making a living from either of them. That's the freedom that comes from working a full-time job. Then again, if somebody did want to offer me some money...

Which would you rather pay me for? Turning your old computer into a fantastic new Linux machine, or telling you a story?

First Impressions of New Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx

The new version of Ubuntu Linux, 10.04 Lucid Lynx, is now available.  I've been running the previous version on my old MacBook and loving it, so upgrading and seeing what's new seemed like a no-brainer.  I upgraded through the update manager, which handled everything automatically and took about three hours to do it.  Lots of folks like doing a clean install when they upgrade the system, but I spent so much time getting the last version of Ubuntu to play nice with the Macbook that I was hoping to avoid going through all that again.  Happy to report that all went well.

The changes seem mostly cosmetic.

They moved the maximise/minimise buttons over to the left side, Macintosh-style.  Not sure why, but this bugged me enough that I quickly found a way to put them back. 

Now there's a little word balloon next to my name that connects me to all of the social networking services.  Since I don't chat, tweet or flickr or digg, it'll go under-utilised.  This should satisfy a lot of folks who are used to being in constant "social networking" contact with their, um, social networks, though. 

Alas, there's not quick-launch application for any blogging services.  My longing for a dedicated blogging application for Linux continues.

Booting seems to take a bit longer - a full two minutes.  This is disappointing, but I suspect it's an effect of running on a Macbook with its proprietary hardware.  I might be able to fiddle around and speed this up.  Or I could just embrace a couple of minutes every day to stroke my beard and meditate.  (What's the rush anyhow?) 

Once up, though, the system seems to have sped up considerably.   Programs seem to load a lot faster, too, and the latest version of OpenOffice seems to have lost its sluggish edge, that icky sense that I was always typing with a time-delay.  Even editing this blog in Blogger seems smoother, so maybe that lack of blogging software won't really matter.

Lots of new fonts seemed to appear, and there's new icons, a new splash screen for logging in, and a better organised "software center" where I spend way too much time playing with all the available free applications. 

Given that I only use computers for writing and a little light image editing, I'm not really sure how I spend so much time messing around with applications, but we all have to have our hobbies, don't we?

So, yeah, if you're using Ubuntu already, set your PC to update overnight.  You won't be amazed but you might find it works a little better than it did before. 

If you haven't tried free software out yet, download the latest release of Ubuntu and give it a try.  You'll be surprised how much functionality you can get out of your computer without being tied into a monopolistic operating system.

Another Old Computer; Hanging On To Old Things

Where does this connection with old machines come from?  If something still works, I cannot let it go.  It's a neurosis.  Anything I buy, I'm wedded to for life.  If it breaks down to the point that I have to throw it out, the procedure involves full funerary rites and a day or more of mourning.

So we go to the dump, where there's inevitably some machine with some life left, a scrap of utility just begging for use and attention. 

I'm an animist: I infuse unfeeling things with human motives and assume they desire for my attention.  In a world full of people, this isn't a healthy inclination. 

But PEOPLE made the THINGS, though, and it's in their honor that I want to preserve them.

* * *

I'm determined to keep this old Sony laptop going, despite the fact that I have two newer machines, one much faster, one much smaller, all already configured the way I like them.  You'd think I was using the opportunity to diddle around with an old computer as an excuse to avoid getting real work done. 

I'd agree with you, if I wasn't already working a full-time job. 

I bought this Sony back in 2001 (according to the diary entry I wrote the day I got it home) and on it have written hundreds of emails and blog entries and the greater half of two different novels (both of which are waiting to be finished).  The machine's a bit bulky by today's standards, and there's a drone and a chirp to the fan I'd forgotten about.  But the noise is reassuring rather than distracting, and the bulk actually makes it fairly comfortable to work on.  It has feet that fold down to elevate the back.  Why doesn't my Mac have those? I'd trade one core of its CPU for a more comfortable typing angle.  And the screen, though a little low-resolution, is almost as tall as it is wide.  I'd forgotten how much more comfortable that is than widescreen.  I'm convinced widescreen is just a conspiracy by manufacturers to make us all purchase new TVs, so that in a few years they can remind us how much we really preferred the older square displays, and then sell us another one.

Back to the Sony: A couple of years ago the hard drive went on it.
It was cradled way in the heart of this beast, and I took out over a dozen screws before I found the two that let me in, but there's nothing you can't get to without a jeweler's screwdriver and some patience.  A replacement hard drive cost me less than $20 (including shipping) and doubled my capacity.

Doubling the system memory cost me about the same.  This is where the machine is maxxed out, at 256 MB.  But it now runs Xubuntu (Ubuntu's lightweight cousin) without complaint.  It can handle Youtube, DVDs, mp3s, and mpegs.  The addition of a nine dollar wireless card made it convenient to use around the house.  So now it does just about everything that I need a computer to do. 

If I could just clone myself, I could actually use all these old computers.

What it won't do is play a video in one window while performing web searches in another and scanning rss feeds to blogs in a third.  It will do all those things, just not simultaneously and well.  I still need to think for half a second about the next thing I want to do before I click on something.  So it's effective as an attention-focusing machine.  It's a nice, intermediate step between the typewriters and the MacBook.  And now I want to spend all of my time with it.

Yeah, it's a bit creaky, but we're all about creaky here in this 300 year old stronghold (cottage) we call home. 

* * *

There are people who drive cars and people who love cars.  The latter will obsess about them all day and spend every spare minute under the hood, checking their compression ratios, upgrading their spark plugs, and popping in shiny bits of hardware that might make a quarter-second difference in their accelleration - and not always for the good! 

These people don't even need particularly nice cars.  I'm no gearhead, but I love that I can open the hood of my Honda Civic and see just about every part in there.  That engine looks like something I could disconnect and replace, if I wanted to.  It's certainly not too big for one strong man to lift alone.  The Civic is a cheap car, and because of this, and despite this, there are legions of kids who soup them up and race them and use them for all kinds of things they were never designed to do.  Looking under that hood, I see the opportunity for hours and hours of happy, amateur fun. 

Any simple, modular system compels you to learn about it.  It feels like a moral imperative, to me: once you've paid for something, you should explore its every use, set out across the possibility space unlocked by its structure and function, and discover the marvelous little surprises that others may have missed. I don't know how I got this way.  Maybe it was all the hand-me-downs I got as a child: the 1950s Minolta camera in 1984, the 1970s Olympia typewriter in 1988, the original 1980 IBM PC in 1993.  The lesson was: something new's just going to break anyway.  Get something old, and if it's lasted this long, it'll last even longer.  Find a way to take this old thing and have some fun with it. 

So now I can't stop messing around with Linux.  This nine year old computer runs so much better than when it was new, just with the introduction of a couple of cheap parts and a different pattern of ones and zeroes written on the hard drive.  This seems miraculous.  It feels like Sony ripped me off when I bought it, and now I'm ripping them off by not buying another.

* * *

The Wife has found a similar pleasure in cooking. 

We're sold so many prepackaged goods that we suffer sensory overload walking into the grocery store.  There's so much premade stuff to choose from that folks are almost thankful for the advertising that tells us them to buy.  But by limiting her purchases to cheap, basic ingredients, she's been able to prepare meals that are surprising, delightful, and delicious.  We'll be out of time before she discovers every last thing she can do with butter, flour, sugar, and eggs.  (If Monsanto doesn't use patent law to make cooking your own food illegal before that.) 

Look at this flour.  Just look at it!  Same as it was 3000 years ago, and you can use it to bake a cake no one thought of before.

* * *

The Wife and I have opposing but complimentary approaches to computers and cooking. 

I could care less about how things work in the kitchen, so long as the end result keeps me from getting hungry.  Fortunately she has discovered great joy in the complex chemistry of meats, wheats, and beets, so I'm not required except in the capacity of taste-tester.  "What's wrong with the thing that makes the water hot?" I might ask her.

"The kettle?  It's right on the stove."

"No, the microwave."

Turns out it was unplugged.

On the computer, she doesn't give a damn what operating system or even application she's using, so long as it gets her words and pictures up in the order she chooses.  I'll look at a program like Photoshop and think, "This can do *anything* with pictures.  Let's go through a dozen tutorials and learn what they are."  She's too busy for tutorials, because she's actually building things with her tools.  She might ask, "Winston!  What's the thing I'm supposed to click on to make the thing happen? The picture thing?" 

I might tell her, "It's the red thing, got a 'P' on it."  And I'll know if I was right if they house stays quiet.  (We have a sort of intercom system in this house.  It's called: "A small house.")

Or this conversation:

"How do I set up the tables in my website so the side part doesn't move while the other side goes up and down?"

"You mean frames?  You want to build a website with frames?"

"I don't care what they're called.  I just don't want this part to go up and down!"

Her desktop gets so cluttered with shortcuts and files and links that it makes my obsessive little heart bleed.  But where I'd spend a day tidying up, running antivirus software, and defragmenting the hard drive, she'll install a forum and open an Amazon store. 

That tells you something about who has the better priorities, I guess.