Linux and open source, in general.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Saturday 12 July 2008, 3:17 PM
A new way to use Linux.
Gael Duval, the founder of Mandrake/Mandriva Linux distributions started a new project after his departure, from Mandriva, in 2006. It is called ULTEO, and can be found at http://www.ulteo.com Back in the early nineties, when I first started hearing about the internet, I imagined it to be a place I could connect to, use software onsite, store my data onsite, and not have to have a computer bloated with store bought software. This appears to be the goal of ULTEO. There is an excellent interview with Mr. Duval located here:
http://www.thejemreport.com/content/view/282/1/
I downloaded his project, a virtual desktop, residing on my windows XP partition, signed up as a user, and am now testing everything to see how it works. You sign on to a Linux desktop, use its programs, save the data, which resides onsite, or you can save it locally. It is still in its early stages and there is not every program that you might want, or need. There are different levels of subscriptions, so I can see a use for individuals, and even small business operators. This frees up my windows partition so I can use it for the only thing it is good for, playing games, offline. Maybe Mr. Duval is ahead of his time, but this comes as close as I imagined 15 years ago.
I can look ahead 20 years, and find myself sitting down in front of a small box, telling it to open, having a laser scan my retina, a holographic screen appearing, another retina scan and my desktop appears. Doing what I need to do, and telling it to close.
Check it out at http://www.ulteo.com/
You could be looking at part of the future of computers.
http://www.thejemreport.com/content/view/282/1/
I downloaded his project, a virtual desktop, residing on my windows XP partition, signed up as a user, and am now testing everything to see how it works. You sign on to a Linux desktop, use its programs, save the data, which resides onsite, or you can save it locally. It is still in its early stages and there is not every program that you might want, or need. There are different levels of subscriptions, so I can see a use for individuals, and even small business operators. This frees up my windows partition so I can use it for the only thing it is good for, playing games, offline. Maybe Mr. Duval is ahead of his time, but this comes as close as I imagined 15 years ago.
I can look ahead 20 years, and find myself sitting down in front of a small box, telling it to open, having a laser scan my retina, a holographic screen appearing, another retina scan and my desktop appears. Doing what I need to do, and telling it to close.
Check it out at http://www.ulteo.com/
You could be looking at part of the future of computers.
Saturday 7 June 2008, 2:43 PM
PCLinuxOS 2008 Gnome on new laptop.
I recently purchased a new Toshiba laptop. Model #A205, T2330, 1.6 GHz,
2GB system memory, 128 meg video memory, 200GB SATA HD, 15.4 screen, DVDRW, 802.11 bg PSAF3U-OW900V. It was a display model and was the only one they had in stock, so was reduced by almost $200.00. It came pre-installed with VISTA, and I inquired about buying with the OS removed. The clerk informed me that if I had to send it in for repair it had to be exactly as it stood, with VISTA . He also said they weren't allowed to remove any windows OS, because of their deal with Microsoft. I played with VISTA for 2 days and was so frustrated with trying to find items, the annoying UAC, plus it wouldn't run some of my games that I decided to remove VISTA and install Linux. I first tried the latest version of Ubuntu, but it didn't find all the hardware and I've never been a real fan. Next I installed Mandriva 2008, and it found all the hardware, but some of the programs had dependency problems. I then downloaded and installed PCLinuxOS 2008 Gnome. It found all the hardware, and everything worked, out of the box. My HP PSC 4100 was setup properly, all the programs worked correctly, and I am on a wired network with a cable internet connection. First thing I did was run Synaptic Package Manager, find a repository with a fast download speed, and check for updates. Georgia Tech had the best speed, 900 KPS +, and there were a few updates. I then added the KDE desktop environment and was all set. My startup time is around 30 seconds and shutdown even less. I have the 3D Compiz Fusion running and everyone at work was really impressed by the speed and look. Texstar and crew really outdid themselves on this one. As of now, there is no way VISTA will ever be re-installed. The only thing I regret is that I had to pay for VISTA, and it counts as a sale for Microsoft. I wonder what the actual figures are for VISTA usage, and how many people have done what I did, and upgrade to Linux?
2GB system memory, 128 meg video memory, 200GB SATA HD, 15.4 screen, DVDRW, 802.11 bg PSAF3U-OW900V. It was a display model and was the only one they had in stock, so was reduced by almost $200.00. It came pre-installed with VISTA, and I inquired about buying with the OS removed. The clerk informed me that if I had to send it in for repair it had to be exactly as it stood, with VISTA . He also said they weren't allowed to remove any windows OS, because of their deal with Microsoft. I played with VISTA for 2 days and was so frustrated with trying to find items, the annoying UAC, plus it wouldn't run some of my games that I decided to remove VISTA and install Linux. I first tried the latest version of Ubuntu, but it didn't find all the hardware and I've never been a real fan. Next I installed Mandriva 2008, and it found all the hardware, but some of the programs had dependency problems. I then downloaded and installed PCLinuxOS 2008 Gnome. It found all the hardware, and everything worked, out of the box. My HP PSC 4100 was setup properly, all the programs worked correctly, and I am on a wired network with a cable internet connection. First thing I did was run Synaptic Package Manager, find a repository with a fast download speed, and check for updates. Georgia Tech had the best speed, 900 KPS +, and there were a few updates. I then added the KDE desktop environment and was all set. My startup time is around 30 seconds and shutdown even less. I have the 3D Compiz Fusion running and everyone at work was really impressed by the speed and look. Texstar and crew really outdid themselves on this one. As of now, there is no way VISTA will ever be re-installed. The only thing I regret is that I had to pay for VISTA, and it counts as a sale for Microsoft. I wonder what the actual figures are for VISTA usage, and how many people have done what I did, and upgrade to Linux?
Previous
