Tech

I got a laptop from work to use. A very pretty Sony Vaio VGN-FW45GJ, I decided to dual boot. I installed Windows7 and Ubuntu 11.10.

Installing Windows7 was a HUGE mistake, but it did allow me to discover what an absolute scam the Windows ecosystem is. And to make matters worse, I decided to write this post from my Windows7 boot while installing a load of Windows updates. In writing these short sentences, I have been interrupted by FOUR popups, one to reminde me to install IE9, one to inform me that some of the updates did not install and two from the two Driver Downloaders that I tried to get Windows working on this machine.

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Custom Bash Prompt

As a sysadmin I spend a lot of time logged into other servers via SSH session. Often I have to log into systems I am not familiar with, and it is very easy to forget which one of the seven terminals that you are working in is actually logged into a remote machine.

I am certain I am not the only one that have accidentally shutdown a server while logged into it. Newby mistake, and never repeated due to this trick I learned.

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(I just re read this and my writing is horrible in this article. I will edit it later – it was bedtime when I finished it, but real work calls now and editing will have to wait.)

A (long) while ago I opined that Ubuntu needs some serious Android integration into the OS in order to forge a market niche for itself as a complete computing package.

Well, after some digging and troubleshooting I discovered that a lot of what I mentioned in that post is already available and possible if you are an Ubuntu (and in most cases Any Linux) user.

Below I have listed seven Apps that will make your computing experience so much better if you have an Android Phone. They are divided into Five Categories. And they are all FREE.

So without further delay, 7 Killer Android Apps Every Ubuntu User Should Have:

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Ubuntu Natty Narwhal is here, yep, 11.04 has landed. (Is it just me or is there less Internet fanfare than before?) Along with Natty came the much discussed, loved-hated, maligned-adored, yet universally greatly expected Unity Interface.

Love it or hate it, I believe that most on-line opninionistas that has followed the roll-out of Unity to date has missed something that Unity might make possible in the near future – an application-rich environment.

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The mobile device revolution is in full swing. From Smartphones and Superphones that changed the mobile device game to Tablets that are threatening to effectively put Netbooks out of business save for a few niche applications, our mobile world is changing. This is having an impact on less than mobile computing – your large Laptops and also your venerable Desktop Computer.

Are we moving toward the death of the computer and laptop as we know it today?
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Android is taking the world by storm. 300000 devices are being activated daily since December 2010, yet a tightly integrated ecosystem is sorely lacking in the Android arena. I believe strongly that Desktop Linux in general, and Canonical and Ubuntu in particular, are well placed to become key players in this ecosystem, and to become the Operating System partners of choice for the Android environment.

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In South Africa we have a saying: “Feel it, it is here.” Mostly a hyped up superslogan left over from Soccer World Cup marketing schpiel. Well, Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat is here, and the online Community has been “Feeling It” since 10:10 yesterday, 10/10/10.

Now that I have had a chance to spend some real quality time with the real Ubuntu Maverick Meerkat (more on that later) I can bring you a review of Canonicals latest offering… continue reading…

Maverick Meerkat is around the corner. Ubuntu 10.10 – the ten out of then release – of which rumors circulate that it will be released on the 10th of October (to complete a 10/10/10 release date) is almost here.

Today we take a look at it, and note some interesting things, among them a new installer…

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And that of course includes me.

Recently my blog attracted a lot of attention from readers who are more critical of FLOSS, and Linux in particular, than my regular readership. Naturally a long discussion erupted where critiques and defenses of various positions and opinions and how stuff works where flung to and fro.

Then today I realized something, and it was an uncomfortable realization… continue reading…

A commenter (Kerberos) gave me a link regarding a FLOSS evangelist having trouble to connect to a CUPS printer in Linux. That link was from 2004, and he claimed that it was still relevant.

Naturally I wanted to see what he was on about, and decided to connect to a CUPS printer already set up here at the office.

Here is what happened… continue reading…