Software Freedom: Sentiment or Cause

So, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about all the issues going on recently in the Open Source community. Warning: this is a rant. If you don't want to read it please skip to the next article in your rss reader, or navigate away now. Last warning.

The most recent stir is Mono based applications, but previous discussions have hovered around binary blobs in Linux distributions, proprietary drivers, and pure free vs. quasi pure free vs. free-as-in-price.

I do have some opinions about this, but no firm convictions. I mean to say that I am moderately educated on both sides of the discussion but that the discussion itself has recently turned into a "pitch fork and torch" kind of affair. I am far more hurt by the conduct from groups talking about these points than the points themselves.

I've been a computer user for many years. Part of my interest in computers as a hobby was the hacking and tweaking to get things just working. It is surprising to me that the tone of voice used by these people is borderline zealot. It feels like most people are missing the forest for the trees because they are hugging them too tight. Let's remember that we can roll with this one of two ways. We ostracize the average user completely or we do what needs to be done to let most folks into the fold if they so choose.

I can honestly say that I don't have the resources to install asterisk boxes on two continents so that my mother and I may speak using home brew voice services. We can both, with relative ease install and use skype. I know that might disappoint a few out there, but if a binary blob in my distro prevents my computer from being an overheated paperweight, then I'll use it. If I rely on an application that is available in the repos of my distro, then I really don't monitor what language the thing is written in, so long as it works when I launch it.

We all have known people in our Linux lifetimes who would be happy to try and switch and give Linux the "old college try", but when they do so much of their hardware was unsupported that they could not justify the loss in functionality for the moral choice of open source software. Why should we condemn our own for something of less importance at the end of the day. I mean really, curse words are the correct way to respond to my choice of note taking application because some programmer used a different language? I know there are issues with this licensing and that, and even further discussions could be had with other programming languages (not mono) if you really wanted to make that such a point.

I would like to make a formal request to the Linux community that if you have an opinion about programming languages or issues with certain licenses, please verbalize your opinion. You can even use words with more than two syllables. But don't make others in the community out to be a villain, or the embodyment of evil just because they don't agree with you. I like to think that we are one of the largest brain trusts on the planet, and it is more than a little disappointing when the best word you use in a debate is "sucks".

I hate to sound like everyone's mother, but grow up. You may be passionate about your cause, but be respectful of those who do not share your view. I think there are many good conversations to be had, as long as they are honorable and mature. In my heart of hearts I feel like we (as a community) come up with the best solutions when we try to solve a problem. But we are also the best at creating problems that aren't really that bad.

Now take a time out, and go sit in the corner while I cool off.

--
CafeNinja

USB Live install vs. Active Directory

Linux and OSS software is all about scratching itches with creative thinking and slightly different applications of previously created tools. Recent changes in my work space have me considering some creative technology options to separate us from closed source software tools.

Recently my office was severed from the corporate M$ domain server. With it we had some issues that the multiple users on multiple computers. As each user signed on again to another computer they had to create their local account on each machine. Each user had to find their own way to trying to synchronize their application settings and user data across all the machines and accounts. Some individuals were more creative than others, but it was a problem that the computer users should not have had to overcome by themselves.

The roamng profile was the service at the core of this that I feel I need to replace. In addition we are expanding our office to include another that is geographically diverse. As I was first looking at this I was thinking some sort of server deployment using OSS tools might be the solution that I needed. At first I looked at OpenLDAP + NFS mounted shares to create a /home/user that could be mounted on any machine they signed on and then the application settings and data would follow the user. Then I took a look at LTPS (thin client) which for what we do in my office would require high bandwidth connections from user to server.

Then I had a thought, what if the user could have a usb key and then just boot any of the machines available into a live linux distro with persistance. This would offer the user the ability for each to custom add software that they found useful, while keeping all of their application settings like email and bookmarks. Logistically, this seems to make sense also since then at any time you could do a backup image of the usb key that could be restored and with the known sizes of the space on the usb key could make the backup storage space a managable activity.

I have been on a quest for a process that would produce for me a usb key that would have a "live" version of a linux distro (to support the widest range of hardware). I also need to try and pay attention to security since if this key were to get lost, the important data needs to be in a mode/filesystem that protects it to the point that any theif would be faced only with the option to format the key to use it.

I plan on making additional posts on this as I try and try again. I have tried a few tools and how-to guides on how to produce the effects that I desire with no success. I will be back to detail how that goes and to post what is my success story when done.

--
CafeNinja

Podcast Review: The Command Line

The Command Line podcast is one of the most well rounded technology shows I've listened to. It is very well produced, arrives on time and is a very mature show. I have to say that my choice of "mature" is not by accident, let me explain.

This show concerns itself with complex issues such as copyright, tech topics including programing code while still taking some time to address the human side. With reflective episodes that take a step back from programming to look at the programmer himself, this is the first podcast that I have listened to that insists on remembering the humans who participate in the technology of today.

That does not mean that the tech doesn't get covered. The host Thomas Gideon a.k.a cmdln covers tech topics from code writing to the sciences. With a very grown up honest look at not just the need or desire of the tech but also the moral implications. Most impressive is that cmdln seems to be the only podcaster that I've heard who is not afraid to look at the analog version of things with respect enought to consider them relevant. He is one of the first ones who has taught me that I should measure the quality of analog vs. digital before getting into further discussion of which digital is best.

With episodes coming out normally 2 during a week with a duration of about 30 min but some special episodes a bit longer, this is a very sensible clear voice in the noise that is tech coverage.

The Command Line podcast also adds the interjection which is that of a insightful husband, father, person and programmer.

I highly recommend this podcast to your podcatching program if you feel like the news you are receiving could be a comedy show, this should be a refeshing mature view of the topics of the day. I've been listening to The Command Line for about a year and a half, and I've heard cmdln appear on some of my other podcasts and I have nothing but the highest respect for his work and his candid discussions of his family life

--

CafeNinja

Podcast Review: The Dog Whisperer

For those of you who don't watch much educational tv type channels (i.e. Discovery, National Geographic, etc.) then you might not know about the show "Dog Whisperer". The host Cesar Milan is a dog trainer who specializes in dog psychology.

Cesar offers amazing samples of clips from his TV show in podcast format once a week, three to five minutes in length, these video clips give a great insight to the show, his amazing talent and the tools/tricks he uses. As a personal testimonial, I have applied some of the methods he demonstrates on the show, and it has worked and improved the relationship between me and my dog.

Not going to lie, this is most likely to appeal to dog owners (like me), and since I live abroad, and cannot get the show directly (even with satelite) this podcast is the only exposure to the show that I have. With these short weekly installments I am able to enjoy the meat of the show.

I recommend this for the dog lover who listens/watches podcasts. Even if you don't have a video enabled player, the podcast is short enough to watch on the computer where you are catching the podcasts anyway.

--
CafeNinja

Podcast Review: Real Time with Bill Maher

Real Time with Bill Maher is a new platform for the old Politically Incorrect format. While Bill himself is very "Left" I find that when his panel is too one sided even he will play devil's advocate and it is a forum in which opposing views are shared by people who normally would not be publicized in any mainstream media format.

I've enjoyed the political commentary that Bill has brought to the public view over the years and even if from time to time I may not agree with him personally, I find that those even with an opposing view are given a chance to air their opinions in an uncensored format. I admire his spirit of "tell it like it is" along with his openness to hear out people with different views.

This hour long podcast I receive in the audio form since I live outside the US and iTunes doesn't allow the video version here. I suppose if you were in the US you could subscribe to the video version also. This is the second of only two political podcasts that I listen to and find that between them both I am generally informed, if not in a comic way, about all the political news I care to hear about. Honestly, I find too much political news to be just a point of frustration and causes ulcers. I feel that like myself, Bill is on the lookout for any candidate who is in the political camp of Common Sense and that subscribes to the policies of honesty. I have to say that would be the politician that all of us could get behind but is a rare breed.

--
CafeNinja
of previous fame on .... views....podcast.

Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackelope Review

Ubuntu which has been my Linux distro of choice now for just over 3 years had it's most recent release at the end of last month. With version 9.04 codenamed Jaunty Jackelope, Ubuntu has made what I think was a more polished interface, and while notable improvements I found it not to be a revolutionary change from 8.10.

I am one of the lucky ones who did not lose any functionality with the upgrade (there have been some strong voices who did) and I would like to point out that a great many things that are the Ubuntu release are not entirely the result of Canonical directly, but rather upstream developers. As with any distribution the operating system is a collection of coding, improvements and bug fixes from many varied sources. Most times this works out just great, but others is has negative effects.

As to the positive, it won't be the first time you hear about the new system notification system which I find to be matching that of the Growl notification system you can install on a mac. My 2 points on this would be that 1.) great the way that they make the notification bubble disappear when you mouse over it (I tend to be going for something under the bubble and not the bubble itself and 2.) I do miss that there seems to be no control panel or preference pane for the notifications (I might prefer to have those remain open until acked by user or display for a longer period of time so I can actually read them).

On my systems which are now a bit "long in the tooth" have not seen the dramatic improvement in performance in boot and operation. I have not done everything possible to improve my system performance to date (reduced unused kernel modules, formatted to ext4, etc.). I have noticed that it seems to be quite stable and solid and as reliable as my 8.10 install was.

My summary would be that I'm happy with the new version, it offers some "spit and polish" to what is already a very healthy Linux distro. I would have no reservations about recommending this version over any previous versions. We have now seen 3 steadily improving version of Ubuntu released all of which were evolutionary and not so revolutionary, I hope that in the next two versions or so that Ubuntu does some of the "stand-up, pow, knock your socks off" stuff that they managed to do in some of their earlier releases that really set them apart.

--
CafeNinja

Podcast Review: Linux Basement

Chad Wollenberg is a real guy, doing a real job and making more of a difference than a lot of us combined. He lives in Virgina USA and is introducing Open Source Software in a very grass-roots way. The podcast he offers is more or less a digest of the OSS and Linux servers he plays with to propose practical working solutions in a public school system.

Chad is, I have to confess, one of my heroes. Not because he is a great coder or has created the next application to solve world hunger, but for his efforts to fight the "good fight" and pursuit what most of us linux users have known for years and that is that you can do more with less if you use OSS.

During the course of 45 min to an hour Chad talks about his most recent trials and tribulations in his efforts on the Linux Basement podcast. He tells tails of successes and frustrations in promoting OSS and deploying OSS in a fairly non-tech environment. Great stories of his use and application of OSS and linux to replace expensive closed sourced and propriotity formats in a community that doesn't have vast resources to waste on such foolishness. Lastly, for the entertainment value, Chad usually adds a self written and performed song at the end of his shows. The songs are very enjoyable and might be worth the wait through a topic that might not be of particular interest.

Chad tells his story in a very human way, even confessing when he had to redo something due to human error, passing on his mistakes which leads to his successes. I have a great deal of respect for Chad since he is humble and confesses his shortcomings when applicable. I recommend this podcast especially for the "young" linux user who is putting his toe in the water of starting to set up server solutions for home use, or to learn for work puposes. Chad is a real success story. Of particular note the recently appointed US Government CTO was the Virgina State CTO who gave Chad the green light for is Open Source initiatives in his school district. Which is very promising that the new US CTO is at least familiar with OSS.

--
CafeNinja