New Desktop Enviroment Group Posted at OpenDesktop.org

Base Specifications for the Free Desktop Environment

1. Any Desktop Environment needs a set of standards to determine the development path it will take. This specification is currently a rough draft of ideas and concepts. This is a beginning phase draft designed for interested parties to begin conception of a new Desktop Environment.

2. The following however, are base requirements for this DE:

Must follow and use all Open Desktop Specifications
Must use Compiz-Fusion for 3D, desktop effects and animations
Must use Emerald for theme Decorations
Must be OpenGL compliant
Must be user configurable to create the look, style and layout they desire
Must be user friendly but allow for advanced options for power users
Must not use any other Desktop Environment's tools and confguration applications
Development of tools to ease the creation of themes, including cursors and icons
Include integration with WINE using links to library files that handle the functions required to run the desired programs
Must fully Comply with Fitts' Law
Must be portable to work with any windowing system such as Xorg, Wayland, Xfree2k and others.

3. This DE needs to incorporate ideas and features found in Gnome, KDE, Xfce, LDE and all other DE environments used by *NIX systems. These features need to be properly evaluated for their usefulness and ability to enhance the Free Desktop Environment not just add features. If the feature does not add quality and desired ability then another solution or method needs to be utilized instead.

4. The DE must look at several sources for inspiration, ideas and concepts. Not only from DEs but from distribution specific implications of tools, layouts and designs as well.

Switching From Gnome 2 To Xfce

Switching to another Desktop Environment can create some havoc. Especially finding replacement programs, applets and utilities one had previously but in some cases those options are no longer viable for any number of reasons.

Switching to Xubuntu I incorporated the following changes to my software line up;

EMAIL



When I switched from Gnome to Xfce I initially spent some time getting things set back up. I originally installed Evolution but that became a problem when I tried to fix a minor issue. I was going to do a reinstall of Evolution as part of the fix but dependencies somehow got broken. I decided to install Thunderbird to handle my email while I looked into the issue. Instead I discovered that Thunderbird had matured considerably and now had available the features I needed, plus others I didn't have with either Kontact or Evolution previously. Since Xubuntu used Thunderbird as its default email client I decided to go ahead and make it my default as well. With available add-ons I was not only able to get the features I needed and wanted but others that produced a better experience for me overall. The following is a list of the add-ons I have installed:

Adblock Plus
Contacts Sidebar (Not available at Mozilla site. Must be obtained at developers website.)
Element Hiding Helper for Adblock Plus
Enigmail
Firetray (I used AllTray in Gnome for Evolution and it didn't work so well in Xfce. This add-on works better and has user configurable options you will never see in AllTray.)
FlashGot
HabuL
Image Zoom
Lightning (I removed the Xubuntu version of this add-on and installed the one from Mozilla. I highly suggest you do this as well since this add-on is under heavy development you will want to get and use the latest stable copy available.)
Mail Merge
Mail Tweak
Message Faces for Thunderbird
Provider for Microsoft Exchange
ReminderFox
ThunderBirthday
ThunderBrowse
Timezone Definitions for Mozilla Calendar (This is a required add-on. DO NOT REMOVE)
.vcs Support
Zindus

SLEEP INHIBIT APPLET



Sadly this was an applet I found extremely useful but in order to get it into Xcfe required an install of most of the Gnome Core system which I was not willing to do. The good news is I found this neat little utility that is actually better and does not require dbus access to function. You can configure it to automatically run when certain programs start as well.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install caffeine







DROPBOX

There is a plugin for Thunar to access Dropbox available here:

http://www.softwarebakery.com/maato/Thunar-dropbox.html

Get the latest tarball version and follow the instructions on the website to build and install it.

TWITTER



I just can't get Gwibber to work and this is due in part to new Twitter sign in security requirements. Thankfully a new Linux Native Twitter Client just came on the scene. It has some very nice features while being surprisingly lightweight. Its called Hotot and is available via Launchpad:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hotot-team
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install hotot











EMERALD



I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here. The following Blog Post has the correct information on how to get Emerald working on Natty. (Any version of Natty)

http://abz89.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/how-to-fix-emerald-in-ubuntu-11-04/


CONCLUSION



Its not Gnome but then with Gnome 3 changing to Gnome Shell and Ubunty defaulting to Unity I wanted a Desktop Environment that allowed me to have the workflow, look and feel I wanted. Xfce has provided that for me and using the above applications, utilities and blog posts have allowed me to keep those functions I had grown accustomed to having.

Many others have expressed the same opinion concerning Unity and Gnome 3. So this post is to help anyone who wants to keep a similar layout like the one they currently have under Gnome 2. Xfce just may be the answer for you.

Its certainly worth looking into.

XFCE - The Mouse That Works

Like just like three years ago when KDE 4 came on the scene I am finding myself being forced to move onto another Desktop Environment. However, unlike last time many of the alternative environments have matured significantly and this allowed me look them over with a happier feeling that I wouldn't be left to far out where my productivity would suffer.

Three years ago Xfce was decent but lacked in features I needed. Today that's changed with Xfce 4.8. The only real issues I faced was finding solutions to my personal needs and taste that replaced Gnome based functions that required me to basically load Gnome itself. Don't get me wrong here I have several Gtk apps installed, many of which were created with Gnome in mind. What I'm saying is that getting certain functions implemented were not easy unless I was willing to also install Gnome. Being that the idea here is to replace my Desktop Environment I really wasn't willing to do that. Since Xfce is Gtk based I really had no issue with using Gtk based apps but installing Gnome wasn't going to happen.

Thank God for Google as I have been able to find plug ins, and applications that fulfilled the needs and saved me from having to install Gnome alongside Xfce. (I will write about this on another post.)

While there are some things about Xfce that are still in my learning curve I am actually happy with it overall. Though there are a couple of things that I feel need to be addressed.

1. To dependent on Gnome for system settings and functions. Xfce developers may not see a need to reinvent the wheel but use of another Desktop Environment to gain access to system settings, functions and configuration is just not a good idea in the grand scheme of things. Requiring the libraries and tools that force a parallel install of another Windows Manager is just asking for trouble, especially in the event that things become incompatible. Which is very likely to happen with Gnome 3 when it becomes the default Gnome system. (Which is starting to happen now. Main stream distros will soon be replacing Gnome 2, before the end of this year.)

2. I don't mind simplicity but I would like to see more options in the few settings apps that are Native to Xfce. It would also be nice to have a way to install themes, icons and cursors without having to do it manually, or using the Gnome tools.

3. Better integration and by this Xfce developers need to develop the tools for various program hooks like LibreOffice/OpenOffice, Firefox and other programs so that they function correctly within the Windows Manager. This also includes having the system tell applications where the panel(s) are located. For some reason all my tray apps assume the panel is on top where my panel is at the bottom. When I open them again they drop down slightly and it gets annoying. LibreOffice had a whole different issue, the title bar was off the top of the screen. I did get this fixed but its obvious that Xfce is not reporting coordinates to applications correctly. On this note it would be nice to see a Compiz plugin for Xfce. Xfce developers themselves need to take the lead on these or work with others to implement this.

My final gripe was something I saw from an Xfce developer to a user. A user was asking if there was a replacement for Gnome-Applet-Sleep-Inhibitor (By the way I did find a solution to this. Its called Caffeine https://launchpad.net/caffeine) The user was told to use the Gnome-Applet because there was no need to create a separate applet for Xfce. What the developer is not understanding is to use that applet you have to install the Gnome-Power-Manager, which requires that you install most of the Gnome Core features. Since the idea is to replace Gnome and not install it I was more than a bit upset by this statement. If that is the kind of support the Xfce community is giving then Xfce will always be nothing more than an alternative low end Desktop Environment.

Despite the above I find there are a great many things I like about Xfce. Its easy to configure and modify when you finally figure out how. You can make it look the way you want without to many issues. Honestly the only way I can tell the difference between my current Xfce desktop and my old Gnome desktop is the Icons in my Notification Tray and how they act.

One major kudo is the Xfce Weather Applet. I love how it gives more complete data without having to actually open the interface. With the animations turned on it has a nice affect down in the panel. Though I would like to see a radar map added to the interface I do like the forecast window a lot more than Gweather.

If you, like me, aren't happy with where Gnome is going with Gnome 3 and prefer to have the options to make your desktop layout like you want, then Xfce is a good option to look at. Its not a perfect replacement but I do have my system setup and ready for work. Xfce three years ago wasn't mature enough for that but with the recent 4.8 release it is now.

Linux Mint Debian Review and How To

1 Overview:

After thinking long and hard about the changes that Canonical plans with their 11.04 release I finally decided it was time to move on to another distribution. The problem, finding one that suited my needs and at the same time kept a level of familiarity I was used to with Ubuntu. However, I also wanted more control over my system and its configuration.

I knew I wanted to stay with a Debian base and specifically wanted it to be based on Sid. I looked at Aptosid (formally Sidux) and a few others but many of the tools I wanted weren't available. Then I discovered Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE).

I will be straight forward, this distribution is not for beginners and should never be considered for general use in an office setting. It is usable but considered unstable so things will break here and there with the updates since its based on Debian's testing repositories. Its for those of us who look to get as close to bleeding edge as possible and enjoy challenges in solving issues in our computing environment. This distribution is definitely for tech savvy users. Once installed and setup just about anybody can use it easily, but keeping things running takes some real knowledge, and a willingness to look for and implement some pretty radical solutions. This includes compiling source code to keep things working correctly.

Now let me say this, Linux Mint has always been a solid Ubuntu based distribution, and the Debian edition is pretty solid as well. Though there are some pretty big issues to deal with once its installed.

One thing about LMDE I find highly appealing is that its a rolling release. This means, unless you have a major issue occur, that you no longer need to reinstall the OS as the updates keep it up to date with the latest version (which are snapshots taken of the current files which you should have. Providing you keep it updated.)

2 Getting And Installing Linux Mint Debian Edition:

LMDE is released as a DVD iso and can be downloaded from here - http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=66

Once you download and burn the DVD (you can also put it on a USB thumb drive if you desire) then boot from the media to the Live Desktop and double click the installer.

I discovered a minor glitch while installing, even though I used the advanced option to setup my hard drive with gparted, the installer still forced me to format the drive again and set my mount points (i.e. / /home and swap partitions.) So if you do need to use gparted to set the partitions don't bother to set the mount points or format them. Instead to just set your partitions with gparted and then do the rest with the installer.

Installation itself is smooth and very quick. The real issues occur once its installed.

3 After Initial Install (Setting Up The System):

Because of differences in Debian's system and Installer compared to Ubuntu the first thing you will have issues with is that not everything the system needs to be fully functional gets installed. Also you may find that wireless isn't working because of this as well, laptop users will have to hard plug into a network. So your first step is to install all the missing recommended files. Synaptic is installed so you can use it to select them and install. Once the recommended files gets installed and things start working right then you can go back and remove any cruft (unwanted and unneccessary files) to clean things up.

If you use a laptop and require proprietary drivers for wireless (like I do) you can then get those installed. Once you do a restart it should bring up the wireless. Be aware the drivers I used for Ubuntu are not the drivers I needed with LMDE as LMDE now follows Debian for the system and therefore driver packages aren't put together to handle several different WiFi cards and are instead packaged as they were originally developed. You will need to find out which package is appropriate for your wireless under Debian, not Ubuntu. I would like to also note my wireless actually works much better under LMDE than it did in Ubuntu.

You probably noticed by this point that LMDE has no startup splash screen by default. Plymouth is not installed but is available in the repositories.

"sudo apt-get install plymouth plymouth-themes-all v86d"

Next to get plymouth working correctly you need to setup and configure the system.

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Then copy and past the following over the current entries;

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=15
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
#GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="splash vga=788"

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

Now run the following commands;

sudo echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash
sudo update-grub2
sudo update-initramfs -u

Restart to make sure Plymouth is running correctly.

I created a Plymouth Splash for LMDE which can be found at
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Linux+Mint+Debian+Edition+Plymouth?content=140429

To install and use this theme after downloading and unpacking it use the following commands;

sudo cp -R LMDE/ /usr/share/plymouth/themes/
sudo /usr/sbin/plymouth-set-default-theme LMDE
sudo update-initramfs -u

You will now have a complete base system with an appropriate boot splash.

Now comes the issue of repositories for software. Since its easier to just show you what repositories I use by posting my sources.list file I am going to do so;

deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import backport romeo
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian testing main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org testing main non-free

#############################################################
################### OFFICIAL DEBIAN REPOS ###################
#############################################################

###### Debian Main Repos
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ main contrib non-free

###### Debian Update Repos
deb http://security.debian.org/ /updates main contrib non-free
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ -proposed-updates main contrib non-free

##############################################################
##################### UNOFFICIAL REPOS ######################
##############################################################

###### 3rd Party Binary Repos

#### Bimoid - http://bimoid.com/
## Run this command: wget -O - http://www.bimoid.com/debian/apt.key | apt-key add -
deb http://www.bimoid.com/debian/ stable non-free

#### Debian Multimedia - http://www.debian-multimedia.org/
## Run this command: apt-get update && apt-get install debian-multimedia-keyring && apt-get update
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org sid main non-free

#### Google Linux Software Repositories - http://www.google.com
## Run this command: wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ stable non-free main

#### Google Linux Software Repositories (Testing) - http://www.google.com
## Run this command: wget -q -O - https://dl-ssl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub | apt-key add -
deb http://dl.google.com/linux/deb/ testing non-free

#### Unofficial Maintainer - http://unofficial.debian-maintainers.org/
## Run this command: wget -q -O - http://unofficial.debian-maintainers.org/project/openpgp/archive-key.asc | apt-key add -
deb http://unofficial.debian-maintainers.org/ sid main contrib non-free restricted

#### Wine - http://www.winehq.org/
## Run this command: wget -O - http://www.lamaresh.net/apt/key.gpg | apt-key add -
deb http://www.lamaresh.net/apt sid main

# deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/shames/debian-sid/desktopfx/unstable/ ./

deb http://packages.kirya.net/debian/ sid main contrib non-free


deb http://apt.progchild.de stable main

4 Final Review:

I am extremely happy with LMDE and even though I have a lot more to do to get things working the way I want overall I'm impressed. One thing I did was replace gdm3 with gdm. This allowed me to make use of GDM themes and I am using this one,
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Mint+Glass+GDM+Theme?content=75858

For my icons I am using the following,
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Oxygen-Refit+2+-+Green+Version?content=84683

Finally for gtk2 I went with this theme,
http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/GreenTea+Theme+for+GNOME+2.x+%26+Metacity?content=119786

The total combined affect is impressive and very pleasent to the eyes.

The above information simply gets LMDE to a complete base system that is both functional and enjoyable. I have been able to get all the programs I use installed, including LibreOffice (instead of OpenOffice) and I am back up and running. Currently my only issue is getting Compiz and Emerald up and running. The version in the repository is older and buggy. I am going to have to compile and install the latest version myself, but that's another how to.

For experienced Linux users and those looking to step up LMDE is an excellent choice for a personal system.

Fix the cursor issue in GTK and Compiz

NOTE: Canonical has fixed this issue with the release of 10.10

By now most Lucid users know of the issue when using compiz in Gnome in Lucid Lynx that the selected Cursor Theme does not show properly. Well I researched the issue and found the way to fix it. Though the total process is extensive it does work.

Before anything else make sure the theme you wish to use is located in "/usr/share/icons/" this may not be absolutely necessary but I since you're setting a system default its best to do so.

Step One - Set the System Default Cursor Theme:

To change the cursors edit as root the index.theme file using the following command "gksu gedit usr/share/icons/default/index.theme"

Change the line "Inherits=themename" by changing the current theme name to the name of your desired icon theme. Logout and login again and your new cursor is in use.

Step Two - Set gconf to use the desired theme:

Use the command "gconf-editor" then navigate to desktop >> gnome >> peripherals >> mouse and then edit the line cursor_theme and using the actual folder name of your cursor theme.

Step Three - Set Compiz to use the desired cursor theme:

Open up the CompizConfig Settings Manager in the control center and under General Options set Default Icon to the desired Icon Theme.

That's it, a bit of a PIA but it works and if you change your Cursor settings you will have to adjust all this as well, unfortunately.

Using The Cricket A600 Wireless Broadband Internet Device In Ubuntu

NOTE: This entry is deprecated with the release of Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. It now autodetects the device and all you have to do in the Network Manager is tell it that its a Cricket Device. None of the steps below are needed if you use Ubuntu 10.10

None of the material here is mine except a few comments here and there. What I did do was glean the various posts and comments to bring it all together into a comprehensive and complete tutorial for the Cricket A600

The Cricket A600 is an extremely powerful mobile CDMA modem device that provides affordable, high-speed mobile broadband Internet service. This USB modem is a versatile device to take advantage of Cricket's unlimited broadband access plan whether online at home or around town. The problem, Cricket doesn't support Linux and in general will try and dissuade Linux users from purchasing any of their broadband access devices. The other issue, getting it to work. You must provision the device on a Windows or Macintosh computer before it will work in Linux. Believe it or not, one of the Local Cricket stores here in Houston did that for me since I did not have access to a Windows system that I could provision it on.

The usual disclaimer and notices:

This Tutorial is based on how others and myself got this device working and accessible in Ubuntu. I am running this in Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) with no issues and am very happy with the results. I can even watch streaming video. With that said I make no guarantee on your results. All things NOT being equal in Wireless Broadband access there is no way to determine the results you will get but I have the following as tested by speedtest.net

Download: 1.74 Mb/s
Upload: 0.42 Mb/s
Ping: 120 ms

A 5 MB MP3 takes 24 sec Average
A 35 MB Video Clip 3 Min Average
A 800 MB Movie 61 Min Average

Before you purchase this device make sure you are in Cricket's coverage area. They have recently expanded their service and cover a great deal more than before but they still don't cover everywhere. So before you attempt to follow this document make sure you can actually make use of the device

This tutorial will explain how to setup the Cricket Wireless A600 3g Modem for Ubuntu

Credits for this article go here; and here;

You will need to get the drivers and software required for the A600 device.

Download the source file.

Download the data file.

Extract the contents to your preferred directory using the following command:

tar xzvf usb-modeswitch-1.1.2.tar.bz2 and then cd into the directory of the extracted files.

32 bit Users – Install usb_modeswitch with the following command:

sudo make install

64 bit Users need to recompile modeswitch to work on the 64bit platform. Run the following commands in a terminal to do so:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

sudo apt-get install libusb-dev

rm usb_modeswitch

make

sudo make install

Now add the data files by going back to the directory ou downloaded them to and run:

tar xzvf usb-modeswitch-data-20100707.tar.bz2

Then cd into that directory and run:

sudo make install

Lucid Lynx users can also get the usb-modeswitch and usb-modeswitch-data files from the repository and I suggest you do, so that when updates become available you will get them. However, you will still need flip-flop.sh, so here is the complete text of that file.

/usr/sbin/usb_modeswitch
sleep 10
usb_modeswitch -v 0x1f28 -p 0x0020 -R 1

You may need to make flipflop.sh executable by running the following command:

chmod +x flipflop.sh

Now plug in the A600 to an open USB port, wait a moment for it to be detected and for usb-modeswitch to do it's magic. Your device should now show up in network-manager. You may need to restart your computer for it to work.

You will now be able to select "Cricket Communications connection" in the Network Manager. It takes about 30 seconds to connect when you select it. Also bear in mind a strong signal doesn't necessarily relate to a strong connection. Like any cell phone device there are a great number of factors that can cause issues with your signal.

If you experience issues getting connected open flipflop.sh in your favorite text editor and adjust the sleep time from 10 to 20, or even 30 some systems need a longer time.

This tutorial was updated to coincide with a newer version of USB mode-switch.

Living up to the Lucid Lynx Hype

Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx has a lot of hype. Usually I find the hype in anything, less than true.

However, not in this case. For once Canonical got it right and made good on making a better Ubuntu.

First Ubuntu 10.04 is a LTS (Long Term Support) release and they usually make the extra effort because of that. It shows with Lucid. Keeping in mind the next LTS isn't until the 12.04 release which is in two years. Previously canonical didn't get to radical with an LTS release. This time, well radical is putting it mildy.

Big pluses: More hardware support, astounding graphics and sound has improved. Updated software with new featues (including my favorite system monitor gkrellm)

Major problem: Firefox is flakey (I had to make Google Chrome ny default browser.) I should state this is not Canonical's fault entirely, as Mozilla made some severe changes with 3.6 and I had same issue with 3.6 in Karmic and had to revert back to 3.5 to have a stable copy of Firefox.

For the record I want it to be said despite the Firefox issue I am very impressed with the Lynx. It definitely boots faster and is a lot more responsive and smoother than the Koala was.

This was the first time I have ever done an online upgrade where something didn't blow up almost immediately. Canonical went to a lot of trouble to make this proccess a lot better. In the past a lot of software was removed. This time however only a couple of programs were removed and it was not an issue getting them reinstalled. However, I still had to go in and remove unwanted packages. Even so it wasn't all that bad. For once I will recommend the online update for those who don't want the hassle of retweaking their setup.

Yes its definitely worth the upgrade. Yes I highly recommend doing so, even using the online update though a fresh install is probably faster as it took me nearly 4 hours to get through the complete proccess.

The thing I like the most: usplash is finally deprecated. I have never been a fan of usplash and with plymouth now taking over the boot splash procedure I think were finally going to see some really neat boot splash screens.

I have been playing with Lucid now working with it and its really very pleasent. None of the little glitches from Karmic seem to be present and so far only Firefox has given me any real problems, but I wasn't surprised by them. Since I am finding Google Chrome to run a bit better than Firefox ever did I am not to upset.

The only other thing I had a problem with was getting the GDM greeter to look like I wanted, the run gnome-control-center at the login screen trick like we did in Karmic, well doesn't work. So I found a neat little program called python-gdm2setup. To get it, do the following:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gdm2setup/gdm2setup

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get-install python-gdm2setup

to use: gksu gdm2setup

The only thing it doesn't do is change the cursor, gonna ask them to add that ability though.

Ubuntu users are going to find themselves using a vastly improved and more friendly (to both the casual and power user) desktop that stands out beyond just your typical Linux system. Thoughs new to Linux will gain access to many new features they never had before.

10.04 is not the MS killer Linux system but 10.10 just very well maybe.

Karmic Review

Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala beta is available for download and I am very impressed with many things about it. Especially the improvements in video responsiveness.

The new startup splash and login screens are mind blowing (the effect is amazing.) So even though we aren't seeing the use of plymouth with Karmic the updated usplash package is very nice. They definitely added more under the hood with it. I pretty sure making a usplash screen is going to be harder now.

However I have to note that I did not like the default layout. Between netbook-launcher and maximus I did not like the initial look and or feel. Netbook Launcher is nice but annoying and unless you have a touch screen I can't see much use for it. I could not find a settings option panel for it (I really did try to find it) to make it not startup figuring I can mess around with it later. However, there just didn't seem to be such a method so I was forced to remove it sudo apt-get uninstall --purge netbook-launcher. Maximus was purely annoying and I did find a way to supposedly shut it off through gconf-editor but that failed and I was more than happy to use apt-get to purge it. Maximus takes selected apps, removes the windows border and then sets it to full screen mode. I was not happy with it one iota. I can understand doing that to Firefox but not Nautilus and I am not sure what the developers were attempting to accomplish with it. Once those two apps got removed I got the more familiar Gnome Desktop look I prefer.

I should note as well there seems to be something wrong with the sound server in Karmic and even though my sound card is correctly identified it did not get setup. Despite having no issues with Jaunty, in Karmic I have no sound at the moment. I am hoping by the time the RC is released this gets fixed. For sure by the final release.

Being that Karmic is in Beta I am duly impressed and beyond the server issue and the annoyances of those 2 programs Karmic Koala is faster, sleeker, much more responsive and well worth looking into when it is released to the general public.

Prowler Menu

I am just having to much fun making themes. These days I am working with jameshardy88 who resides in Great Britain. he does Themes and I do the GnoMenu designs to go with them. The Prowler theme for Gtk is in the works but then I found the Theme and sent it to James to go over. In the meantime I created the GnoMenu Theme and I really like how the layout happened to come together on this one.

I am also realizing i spend way to much time on my computer (j/k)

Okay I'm addicted to making GnoMenu themes. Its fun and productive. And now I can make a better user's guide because I have just about made every type of menu there is. I haven't done tabs yet but I will on my next theme so I can have knowledge of how they work under GnoMenu.

So I made a Vista like menu to understand how to do it. This was the hardest menu to do so far. The way text is lined out in this style of menu is very different than others. Add that the particular visual elements didn't fit as well as expected at first. Plus somehow hidden characters got into my XML code. The code looked absolutely correct but wasn't working and once I redid the affected sections by hand, over writing the code, it magically started working as it should. Have no idea how or why the erroneous hidden characters got there, but they did and in coding that's all that matters to the interpreter.

Anyway I did do some change ups and added a couple of things so the menu fit more with GnoMenu's abilities and appeal. Vistaish, yes but Vista, Hell No!!

Azenis Look

When I set out to make a Menu Theme for GnoMenu I had no idea what i was getting myself into. First off this is, as far as I know, the first GnoMenu theme made to fit a particular GTK2 theme.

The Azenis Theme was originally created by JJ Ying for Windows Blinds, a Windows Theming Engine. Azenis has won awards for its design and has been ported to KDE and Gnome where it has proven just as popular.

The decision to do this was pretty basic. It was one of those themes that had such a unique look to it that there was no other way for me to complete the look without building the theme for GnoMenu.

Using images I got from the KBFX Azenis Menu I redid the image to fit the GnoMenu scheme better. I did not want to make it look like its Windows XP counterpart, at least not completely. However, I couldn't make it look like the other themes I have created. My designs mostly follow the basic design originally conceived by ZWS from his Black and White Menu. The Azenis menu art work forbade that so I got a bit creative with the design myself. As you can see my Icon columns are both to the right of the listings menu.

It wasn't all that hard to move the elements around to fit the artwork of the Azenis Menu and once I found extra Azenis Icons that weren't in the Icon set from gnome-look and replaced some of the filler Icons with them. Additional Icons were made by jameshardy88 and myself to complete the look.


I also made a button for it as well and of course a simple Icon theme to complete the look.

So what makes this theme special? Well beyond being made to work with a specific GTK theme it created a surge in GnoMenu downloads. We already had a good following but there are those who love the Azenis theme so much they wanted this menu to use with it. Which means they downloaded and installed GnoMenu.

That wasn't my intention, and to be honest I just wanted a Menu that fit the theme I had decided to use. However, its a nice bonus for Gnomenu and brings even more interest to our project. Theme designers are going to give GnoMenu serious consideration when creating themes now to help complete the theme's look. I would say that's a good added bonus.

Why Cookie Cutter Web Sites Are Bad Deals

Never believe marketing hype. This is my mantra when it comes to dealing with sales people. I research before I buy. I look at the brand name, quality and though I look for bargains I certainly don't jump onto something that is easily to good to be true.

That is why I hate cookie cutter web sites. E-bay even tells you because of the number of web sites sold on their auction site. Ezine @rticles also warns you of the same. Finally Search Engine Journal rounds up the disaster one gets in using the cookie cutter web site approach.

I like anyone else looked at ways to make money and I got caught in a similar scam for classified ad placements in newspapers. Let me tell you right here, right now, the only people who are really making money in this type of deal are the ones selling you the material in the first place.

The so called 10 free web sites deal has several restrictions. You have to use their designs, You have to follow their program etcetera and so on, blah blah blah. Oh and yeah they host the site on their servers, which means they control your content and traffic. Add to that even if people buy the products on your particular site they are actually paying you a small commission. The final point, the price of the product is set by them. You are NOT ALLOWED to run your own promotion pricing. Which leads to a final question, are you really running a business?

Then there are other factors to consider. Here in Texas in order to open a merchant account that allows you to take credit cards you must have a business license. This law, which was recently passed, was designed to stop on-line credit card scams and theft. To make this perfectly clear if you have a web site that takes credit cards you as the individual must obtain a Texas Tax Identification Number and separate business license. You can no longer use a corporate sponsor to simply take a credit card on-line on your behalf. The sponsor can still handle all aspects of the transaction but your business must be registered with the state of Texas. You as the individual business owner are responsible to make sure that all Sales Taxes collected get paid to the the State. That's a big obligation if the parent company suddenly goes belly up. (cutting off your income if you are somehow making any) leaving you holding the bag to pay for uncollected Sales Taxes.

Me personally, I would rather collect the sales taxes myself and make sure that Texas gets paid. Trust me I worked for one company that got in trouble for that. I have no desire to be on the receiving end of Susan Comb's wrath for failure to collect and pay my taxes. (I do not mean her personally but trust me her staff can make hornets look tame.)

Many states have a whole slew of laws concerning e-commerce alone. Bet your A** they enforce them. You need to know what laws you have to abide by in your state. Many a MLM company and individuals involved in said MLM are finding this out the hard way. Oh and guess what, you may have to follow more than one state's laws as well. You have to know any and all that can affect you.

Finally I will leave you with this from PEK INTERACTIVE

Open Letter To Open Source Developers And Distributors

Dear Developers and Distributors,

I am an advocate and user of Open Source Software, Specifically Ubuntu, in latest incarnation of Jaunty Jackalope 9.04.

In this particular case I am trying to use a scanner. Unfortunately I cannot access this scanner as a normal user, but I do have access as root. This means that all I have to do is give the user permission to access the scanner. Easily done, however, I have no information on how to do this anymore. The way scanners are accessed in Ubuntu has changed and there is no documentation on this.

It is vital to give your users this information so that they can have access to their hardware. Using xsane, or any scanner program, as root is a unsafe practice that I would rather not do.

I understand that software and systems have to mature but removing the 'scanner' group and changing how scanners are handled without giving the information needed to allow scanner access is simply bad support. If a user cannot access the hardware what use is it to them? Please in the future document such important information and disseminate it so that supported hardware can be used.

Sincerely,
Shaun C. Marolf

Building a Business - Growth by Communication

I have officially been in business just over a week. Though I still have many hurdles to get over things are going fairly well. I have two business clients and both are and will lead to even more clients.

Why am I already growing as a business in such a short time? Simple I follow the belief that the bottom line should never be the deciding factor in giving good customer support. If I have to take a loss here and there to be build a better more profitable business, so be it. The loss hurts, especially in the growing stage I am in. I have to get a lot of stuff taken care of and I still need to get the HeliOS Project here in Houston going. However finding, and keeping, clients is vital to all of that. Communication with my clients in every stage of their projects, and service support, is not only vital, its what will make HeliOS Solutions of Houston grow, and allow the HeliOS Project to start.

I cannot stress enough that good business means good communications. Your clients, like mine, want and need to know how you are doing on their project, not someone else's. In other words you need to not only need to work on each project, but all your projects.

Your work becomes a juggling act. You have to divide your time and make the customer think that their project is the most important one you're working on. While treating all projects on your work list equally. Its the never ending cycle.

In all of this you need to get with your client and demonstrate your progress and communicate what you have done, take their feedback, change requests and incorporate those as well.

Business isn't just producing a product and saying "Here it is." its also giving good support and communicating with your client, to produce a better business relationship.

The Open Franchise Experiment

Okay, I am going to discuss something here that is a new concept only in that it is two older concepts combined together.

Open Source Ideals and Business Franchising. Something many would consider a near oxymoron, if not a complete one. Yet despite the Corporate Software Industry saying GNU/Linux and other Open Source Software would never be as good as Commercially Produced Software many Open Source Offerings ended up surpassing their commercial counterparts in quality and user base.

So in this spirit we now introduce the Open Franchise opportunity.

Open Source is about freedom. The freedom to modify, change and improve existing code, documents and other associated items, so long as you give back and share these changes, if you distribute them to others.

Franchises are about business. In a normal franchise you purchase the right to use the name, trademarks, logos and other things from a parent company. In return you get corporate support and service. However franchise contracts are extremely restrictive and do not allow the franchiser many options.

The Open Franchise is a bit different. The franchiser is allowed to use the name, trademarks and logos at no cost. The parent company instead requires that the franchisee run a charitable operation side by side with the business. The support network for this business is not a central corporation but instead a network of other franchisers working on a similar goal and business. Though each Franchiser is given the freedom to run their business as they see fit, they are all essentially running the same kind of business.

Now they can be a one person operation, a family run business or they can have employees. It really depends on the community they are in and what the individual franchiser can sustain. In other words we have flexibility here. You can run it from home or an office, again your choice as a franchiser. Unlike other franchise operations in the Open Franchise concept the franchiser makes the rules with very few stipulations. The main one being that they also work the non-profit charitable business at the same time. Which when done right isn't all that hard.

See the franchisee in this scenario isn't a corporation, rather its another person who is also running this business as well. He has already hit the pitfalls, roadblocks and idiots along the path. He knows how to handle them because he had to learn the hard way. He isn't in it to be rich. He is more interested in working the charity side while simply making an honest buck.

Its about doing it better, doing it ethically and helping others along the way. To him if you can make a successful business following his lead then he has done more than a bottom line will ever give him.

That is what real business is about. Teach you how run a business, make that business work and then return to community some of that success so that those whom aren't as fortunate as others have a chance to better themselves as well.

So what's the experiment? Me. I am his first, and for the moment, only franchiser. The reason why is because I get to be one who is alpha and beta tested. Learning from me we will be able to create the Open Franchise concept and document it. even though it utilizes the Open Source Concept this is still business. A business that relies on a name that has to be synonymous with certain concepts and a reputation, otherwise everyone associated to it gets a bad reputation.

Yes there has to be contracts and agreements but they need to be fair. Allowing the franchiser the ability to run his business his way, while protecting the name, trademarks and reputation of the parent company. Welcome to a new balancing act.

Linux and the Drummer (Part Two)

Finally after a few minor glitches got the wireless card working on the drummer's laptop. Its one of those Broadcom cards that has no functional Linux based drivers yet. This required me to setup and tweak ndiswrapper to make it function. However, he is extremely happy with the results.

Most of the glitches involved getting the system onto a working wired connection. Not the actual setup and configuration of ndiswrapper. Yet once done the card snapped to and worked and Network Manager is seeing it under its wireless interface.

He is impressed to say the least. As he puts it everything is right there in front. The menu is easier to navigate and he is enjoying the Ubuntu Linux experience.

The first thing he remarked about was on line multimedia worked a lot better. I installed all the restricted and medibuntu extras to make sure it would play all the various multimedia files on the Internet, including Flash 10. Under Windows the playback was choppy but with Linux and Firefox they play smoothly.

He still has a basic no bells and whistles install at this point. He and I agree that they're nice but he needs time to learn it better before he adds a bunch of features which may overwhelm his experience at this time.

I will continue to work with him on this but for now its a learning experience.

I am a veteran, a combat veteran from operation Praying Mantis and Desert Shield / Storm. I am not Timothy Mc Veigh whom was an extremist who hated the United States. I love my country and believe in the Constitution. Though I am not overly happy with much of the current political scenario I still support the government.

That said I want to know why on April 7th the Department of Homeland Security labeled myself and fellow veterans as potential domestic terrorists?

Is it because veterans tend to be more vocal about issues? Which we have every right to be. As far as I am concerned veterans have earned this right, even if its in opposition to the current administration.

I will never carry out an attack against my country, but I will vocalize my displeasure on any subject I choose. The first amendment gives me the right and I and my fellow vets put our tails on the line for those who didn't. I will stand up for anyones right to speak freely, even if I disagree with them. It is their right to speak freely, and it is mine as well.

I feel insulted and betrayed.

Linux and the Drummer

when I advocate Linux to a new user I first make sure they know that this is NOT WINDOWS. Though I can make it look similar and react as Windows to some degree we still find ourselves with some incompatibilities.

So where do I get new users involved? Those who are just frustrated and tired of Windows problems. Computer care should involve updating and occasionally basic system maintenance. Conflicker has become a problem for a lot of Windows users and despite an individuals pronounced expertise on the subject no Linux system was reported as infected with conflicker, though it may have been passed on by some Linux based servers unknowingly. I have ClamAV on all my Linux systems for that reason, to keep them from passing on Windows based viruses. And it works.

So when a friend who is a drummer for a band called "The Long Gone Daddys" asked me to fix his computer I asked what do you use it for? Answer to check the MySpace and web site for the band mostly. He also needed better tools for the web site management as well. He knew I used Linux so I asked if he wanted to give it a try. He answered that he wanted to have a working computer that stayed working.

DING DING DING Linux is gonna be installed.

What advantages does he get from Linux?

Better Web Design utilities and programs.
Open Source music composition software. He does write music after all.
A more reliable and secure computer.
Longer usability on his laptop because newer versions of Windows will most likely be unusable on it.

Of course the proof is in whether he keeps Linux or not but I'm willing to bet he will.

Open Source For Business

 

Nothing can give better endorsement than to show where Linux succeeds. We all know businesses use Linux but sometimes we are hard pressed to name them in discussions. Most everybody knows of Ernie Ball but what about AutoZone, Wal-Mart and others and government entities. The list below comes from www.aaxnet.com

Please go to the web site for more information on each company listed.

Amerada Hess Corporation - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - Amerada Hess Corp is a $7.4 billion petroleum company, but the supercomputers traditionally used to analyze oil exploration data are rather costly even for a company of this size. No longer a problem. Amerada Hess now uses a large Linux cluster for the job.Amerada Hess Corporation

 BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) - Light Rail Metropolitan Transit System - This system tracks the flow of electricity from the high voltage DC power lines of Pacific Gas and Electric to the distribution of electricity via the third rail. If an emergency required the evacuation of a train, this system would be used to turn off the electricity to ensure the safety of passengers as they exited the system.

 Boscov's Department Stores - special invoicing, server consolidation, Web site, etc. - Boscov's, America's largest family owned department store chain, has been steadily moving it's back office operations to Linux, and will probably eventually migrate POS (Point of Sale) systems as well.

 Burlington Coat Factory - Entire Systems - Burlington Coat Factory is a "Factory Outlet" retailer with 280 stores in 42 states. Initial Linux installations at their new distribution center and a few new stores proved highly successful, so roll-out to existing stores began. An order for 1,250 Dell computers preloaded with Linux was placed to support the effort.
The Linux systems are used to run warehousing and distribution, the gift registry and back office functions such as ordering and general desktop. The chosen office productivity suite is Applixware Office, which allows a very high degree of customization.

 Conoco - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - Conoco is one of several major petroleum companies that have chosen to use inexpensive Linux clusters instead of costly supercomputers to analyze oil exploration data.

 Cisco - Worldwide Printing System - Cisco, a $21 billion maker of routers that tie the Internet together, signed a major agreement with Microsoft regarding support for Active Directory. As part of that deal, Cisco management declared Cisco an "all Microsoft" company.
Unfortunately, Cisco's IT staff couldn't get network printing services to work right through NT servers (and you can't say Cisco engineers don't understand networking, now, can you?). Cisco's worldwide printing services now run on Linux.

 Digital Domain - Visual Effects Supercomputing - Digital Domain is a major visual effects studio. In particular, they did the visual effects for Appolo 13 and Titanic. The effects for Titanic were particularly demanding, too demanding for their SGI Inigos, and would have normally required a supercomputer costing millions. Digital Domain was able to do the job on an inexpensive Linux cluster instead.

 Ernie Ball Inc. - Entire Operation - Ernie Ball was one of those unfortunate companies turned over to the BSA (Business Software Aliance) by someone with a grudge. While few "infractions" . There's hardly a small business anywhere that has all the paperwork together for their software, and while few "infractions" were found, that was enough to be very costly. Ernie Ball decided this would never happen again and made a very successful migration to Linux.

 Garden Grove California, City of - major operations - The City of Garden Grove began moving operations to Linux in 1995 with central data systems running Samba and the Pick database. The initial deployment was so successful and saved so much money the city has been gradually moving other operations to Linux, including some desktop systems.

 Google - Search Engine - The wildly popular Google search engine simply would not be possible without a customized version of Linux fit exactly to its needs.

 Just Sports USA - A fast growing chain (now 50 stores) selling sports items - All Stores, Back Office functions, Inventory and eCommerce systems run on Linux. All functions are integrated together using a PostgreSQL database. The eCommerce system runs on Linux / Apache Web servers and is also integrated with the inventory database. Postgre and Apache are also Open Source products.

 Kaiser Aluminum - Manufacturing Control - Kaiser, one of the world's largest producer of aluminum, aluminum sheet and foil, has chosen Linux for many applications on the manufacturing floor. It works side by side with Unix, Windows NT and specialty "real time" operating systems.

 Largo Florida, City of - City office desktop systems. - Largo has about 400 thin client workstations running the KDE Desktop from a Linux server. Database workloads were migrated from SCO Unix, AIX and Windows NT servers for a multi-million dollar savings. Largo figures its IT budget is about half that of other cities its size. Using thin clients provides a low cost, very low maintenance, uniform and easily administered computing environment for all city users. At peak, there are about 230 simultaneous users.

 Lawson Inc. (Japan) - In-Store Consumer Web Ordering System - Lawson, a giant convenience store chain (7,600 stores) in Japan, will be placing two Linux based computers in each store to implement it's new Web ordering system. The over 15,000 computers will be purchased from IBM pre-configured with Linux installed.

 Mexico City - government of - Everything! - The government of Mexico City have concluded they can no longer justify the ever rising cost of Microsoft Windows when the cost of Linux software is very low. Linux has already proven itself in the city's motor vehicle licensing agency and in the Mexican school system. Money saved will be used in social welfare programs.

 Mobil Travel Guide - Major Consumer Web Site - This Exxon division found Linux ideal both from a cost/performance standpoint and for scalability as the division grows.

 Omaha Steaks - On-Line Commerce - Advertisements for this mail order company can be found in the back of most up-scale home oriented magazines. They were running their internal systems on an IBM AS/400 and outsourced their Web site, but they wanted to tie the on-line ordering directly into the AS/400. A cluster of Linux servers now runs the Web site and connects to the AS/400.

 Panasonic - Major Electronics Manufacturer - Panasonic's popular DBS business telephone system included a voicemail system based on Windows NT, but it was a bit pricy. To be more competitive in smaller businesses, Panasonic developed a system incorporating 1CTI's Linux based voice mail software. The Linux based system has been so well accepted by the customers the Windows based system is being discontinued.

 Raymour & Flanigan - Furniture Chain (50 stores in Northeast) - The store chain has trnsferred most of its servers to Linux, and is replacing Windows 98 PC with Linux based "thin client" workstations in its service centers. Inventory and other databases are now being migrated from Microsoft Access running on Windows servers to Oracle running on Linux.

 Royal Dutch/Shell - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - One of the world's largest petroleum companies, Royal Dutch/Shell could certainly afford the supercomputers traditionally used to analyze oil exploration data, but why do that when your competitors are using inexpensive Linux clusters to do the job. Royal Dutch/Shell has decided to set up a bigger Linux cluster than the ones it's competitors have.

 Tommy Hilfiger - Clothing Brand - Note: website designed by idiots won't let you in at all without Flash plug-in. The company is installing three Linux based portals running on IBM xSeries servers. The first provides remote access to data on the company's IBM iSeries (AS/400) datacenter computers. The second provides access for clothing manufacturers to designs and specifications. The third provides B2B eCommerce access to retailers and a company store for employees. Company officials say the Linux systems provide the required performance at a lower cost than any other platform.

 Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. - Dealer Communications System - Toyota is installing a Linux based system connecting all its car dealers to it's factory. This is a Web based system from the ground up, and will be handling 30 different functions including parts ordering, warranties, sales transactions and repairs.

 Travelocity - Travel Agency - Travelocity is the back-end system for the travel services offered by AOL, Yahoo and US Airways. It's Web site gets 11 million page views and 170,000 email transmissions a day. The system is being migrated to Linux and Java.

 U.S. Army - major military organization - The U.S. Army's Land Warrior program, the first stage of a far reaching battlefield information and communications system, leads a general move to Linux. The Army says that "Evidence shows that Linux is more stable". Apparently the Army has issues with Microsoft's "blue screen of death".

 U.S. Federal Courts - case management, case tracking, finance and accounting, probation and pretrial services - A support contract has been awarded (Nov-03) to PEC Solutions for migration of the Federal Judiciary to a Linux based system.

 U.S. Postal Service - OCR Supercomputing - The Postal Service had declared itself an "all Windows NT" house, but you can't use NT for what it simply can't do - so they now sort all the bulk mail on over 900 Linux clusters scattered around the country (at less than half the cost of the next cheapest solution (and that wasn't NT either)).
The OCR (Optical Character Recognition) system uses scanners that were already in place. The Linux system consists of 5 rack mounted PCs, one to handle the scanners and sorting equipment, and 4 to share the computational tasks.

 WesternGeco - Oil Exploration Supercomputing - IBM has built a Linux based supercomputer for analysis of seismic data. This machine is built from 256 IBM eServer xSeries. This is the second largest Linux cluster IBM has built for oil exploration, the largest being the 1024 xSeries cluster for Shell.

This list is far from complete. It doesn't include the U.S. Navy, Air Force or Marines. There are several other companies that use Linux as well. Some use it in speciality applications and some are using it to replace Windows entirely. IBM isnt mentioned despite the infamous challenge to its employees to go from the Windows Desktop to the Linux Desktop.

Really Linux has a very comprehensive guide for small businesses to move to Linux. With so much to show and with guides to help why are we still finding it so challenging to get Linux moved into the small business community?

The main reason is we are still fighting F.U.D. (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) like this one here.

We have to create real life comparisons and show higher reliability compared to MS. Which is very simple to do. TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) proof that Linux reduces costs overall. Is more secure, reliable and just as easy to use.

If we are ever going to expand the use of Linux we must not only target home users but businesses as well.

Myth Busting: "Its Illegal To Remove Windows From A Computer."

If you ever hear this argumnet then you need to say just two simple words, "Prove it." The reality is they can't. I was going to do a bit of research on this but there is nothing to research. Matter of fact when I did a web search at Google all I found was piracy hacks and methods to remove illegal copies of MS software.

Short run, no where in the MS EULA is there such a statement. Simply because said statement itself would be illegal under Federal Law. (IANAL but any good IP lawyer can prove this.) Do an internet search using a law search engine, nope not there.

This myth is not perpetuated by MS but they don't discourage it either. Truth is the myth is usually spewed out as a defense by MSCE types and other MS advocates to keep the status quo going. They fear change, and any inclusion of Linux, replacement of Windows by Linux etcetera is a definite change. They don't know Linux, don't use Linux and feel that Linux can never be a better alternative to the current MS offering.

I was looking for a way to defeat this mythy, lie. However, in this case the simple truth slices right through it. Just two words do it, "Prove it."