These Things Matter to Me
Monday, September 08, 2008
How to install the Python prerequisites for the Memetracker Drupal module
1. Make sure you have all "normal" LAMP and Linux utilities installed for your typical Drupal install.
How to install the Python prerequisites for the Memetracker Drupal module.
Usually the installation of Drupal modules is pretty straightforward:
- Download module to modules/
- Uncompress
- Enable
- Configure
- Profit
But the Memetracker module is a bit different, requiring a bunch of Python stuff, and ideally, "root" on your server. It's not that hard to set up, but if you're not used to installing stuff outside of the Druapl-verse, these notes might help you.
(These instructions are for Ubuntu Hardy Heron. The steps are likely very similar on other Debian-based distributions, including earlier versions of Ubuntu.
I've also successfully installed Memetracker on Centos 5.x/Redhat Enterprise Linux 5.x. I have a document for that coming soon, though the packages and steps are very similar, and you could extrapolate these notes and apply to other Linux versions.)
Most of you should skip to step 2, as you probably already have Drupal running..
1a. Install the LAMP stuff, mail server stuff that Drupal requires.
# apt-get install apache2 php5 libapache2-mod-php5 php5-mysql mysql-server php5-gd postfix
(Note: Though Drupal core can run on PHP4, the Memetracker module *requires* PHP5, so that's what we're using here. You don't have to go out of your way to get this on Hardy Heron, but there is a small possibility some of you went out of your way to get PHP4, so I'm steering you towards PHP5 here.)
1b. Though not required to run Drupal, these additional packages make life much easier, and it's just a matter of time before you miss them:
# apt-get install openssh-server wget build-essential groff-base man-db unzip
2. Unlike most Drupal setups, you also need to have some Python resources handy to run Memetracker.
2a. The first bunch of Python tools already have nice Ubuntu packages already made up for you.
# apt-get install python-numpy python-numeric python-dev python
2b. Pyclust doesn't have an Ubuntu package made for it. We need to compile it from source (There will be a python-cluster package in the next Ubuntu version, Intrepid Ibex.)
Get the source:
# wget http://bonsai.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mdehoon/software/cluster/cluster-1.41.tar.gz
(Note, this is the newest version as of 20080908. Please check http://bonsai.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~mdehoon/software/cluster/software.htm for newest version.)
Uncompress the source:
# tar -xvzf cluster-1.41.tar.gz
Now install it:
# cd cluster-1.41
# python setup.py install
You now have all your Python stuff installed.
Let's verify it works:
# python
>> from Pycluster import *
(You will get your Python prompt back if you have your Python stuff installed correctly.)
That's it. You now have your environment ready for Memetracker. There's lots of other stuff you can do to optimize your system for Memetracker, and I have some additional Memetracker documentation coming up. However I noticed an immediate need for this Python stuff to be written down in a step-by-step manner, as many Drupal folks don't usually have to do so much Python/Linux stuff.
Labels: drupal, linux, memetracker, python, sysadmin, ubuntu
Monday, March 17, 2008
VMWare Linux anti-patterns. How VMware is kind of neglecting the Linux experience
I like VMware stuff a lot, and write about them regularly, usually in a positive way, so I write this list of VMware Linux anti-patterns with only good intentions.
Lately I've been feeling a bit bummed by VMware's deprecated Linux experience, and Windows-centric mentality. If VMware gets too Windows-centric, it'll only be competing with Microsoft. I want VMware to do well against Microsoft! And I believe that to do so, it needs to deliver an experience that doesn't marginalaize Linux users.
Here's how VMWare can improve the Linux experience:
Lately I've been feeling a bit bummed by VMware's deprecated Linux experience, and Windows-centric mentality. If VMware gets too Windows-centric, it'll only be competing with Microsoft. I want VMware to do well against Microsoft! And I believe that to do so, it needs to deliver an experience that doesn't marginalaize Linux users.
Here's how VMWare can improve the Linux experience:
- Improve the vmware-tools install on Linux guests. (All VMware products, all host OS's)
On a Windows guest, you run a binary (by clicking it!), and you're done. On the Linux side, you run a binary (most likely via command-line), and then visually, you'd think you were done. but you're not. You installed it, now you configure it. Seriously, whenever I train or help users with this part, I feel guilty/embarrassed about how idiosyncratic it feels. The output of the rpm/install script never tells you "now you configure it." Sure the docs do. But on Windows you don't have to do all that. VMware, I won't hold you responsible for the command-line parts, that's (mostly) in Linux's hands. But you could longterm do away with the configure, and short-term, announce at the end of the install that, "Now it's time to configure." - Make a Virtual Infrastructure client for Linux.
You made one for Windows. I think you love Windows more than you love Linux. (And yes, I am aware of the web client. I'll pretend you didn't suggest that.) - VMware Converter is way more difficult with Linux than Windows.
- The VMware Converter program itself only runs on Windows
- Converting Linux physical-to-virtual VM's is a more burdensome process for Linux guests, with more rules and hoops than Windows guests have.
- I feel like you're slowly taking away ssh/ "service console"/ file system access to your ESX-based products. You've only done this to 3i so far. And there is a workaround. But the vibe I get (I hope I'm wrong) is that you're trying to wean us off of standards communications and file-system access to this stuff.
- Give VMWare Server 2.0 a Linux client.
I know you took away the non-web client from both Windows and Linux, but since Windows people can use the new VI client to access VMWare Server, I'm still counting this as a ding against Linux users.
Labels: linux, virtual infrastructure, virtualization, vmware, vmware converter, wishlist
Monday, October 01, 2007
The Gutsy Gibbon and I: Almost together.
Gutsy's so close I can feel it.
This weekend I installed the beta of Ubuntu Linux 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon.
A few notes to myself, and just one bug:
Gutsy's so close I can feel it.
This weekend I installed the beta of Ubuntu Linux 7.10, Gutsy Gibbon.
A few notes to myself, and just one bug:
- Bug: no matter how many Firefox windows I have open, they never begin to "stack up," instead spreading infinitely across the bottom GNOME panel. I never realized this before, but the act of stacking Windows up after a certain point keeps the the title of each window legible. I'm sorry I never appreciated you before, mister/miss Firefox-stacking-window situation.
You don't know what you got, 'till it's gone. - after install via upgrade, sound comes back muted. Not a big deal, but after you install Linux, you're paranoid about hardware not working, so for a minute I thought sound support got worse with Gutsy. You really had me going there, Gutsy Gibbon! But you merely muted me. Not funny, Gutsy. This isn't Punk'd.
- gnome-setup has crashed a couple of times. I don't know. I can't reproduce it at will, but it happens.
- (not a bug) but I still have to install a special driver to get graphics to work right on a Dell 700m.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
UbuntuLive presentation slides: Ubuntu Virtual Appliances. Best Practices (ever).
UbuntuLive is live!
My talk isn't until this afternoon, but I want attendees to be able to have access to my slides to take notes on, without having to wait until after the talk.
UbuntuLive is live!
My talk isn't until this afternoon, but I want attendees to be able to have access to my slides to take notes on, without having to wait until after the talk.
- .odp slides (Open Office format, edit inside of.)
- .pdf slides (pdf format. Less editing options, but simpler for some.)
Labels: conference, event, linux, live, open.source, oreilly, oss, slides, ubuntu, ubuntulive, ubuntulive07, ubuntulive2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The new Fortune Magazine story on Microsoft, Linux, and Patents. Steve Ballmer, you so crazy! But not in a new way.
Yes, Steve Ballmer has said cruise-azy things about Linux and Microsoft patents. Yes it'd be very disruptive if every corporate, private, and government user of Linux had to answer to Microsof. But this story has nothin' new.
Microsoft talks about patents and Microsoft intellectual property in Linux all the time. It most recently came up in relation to the Microsoft/ Novell deal, when in the aftermath of the Linux community's hostile reaction, and the business community's confused reaction, Steve Ballmer claimed that every user of Linux uses Microsoft intellectual property. And people freaked out. Not because they were surprised that Steve Ballmer would say that, or that they were concerned it was true. Most of the drama was because the person who said that was now an ally of a major Linux distribution (the Novell-managed SUSE Linux), and while people were used to Steve Ballmer saying ridiculous things about Linux, they were not-so-used to Linux companies having scary deals with companies run by people who said such ridiculous things.
(deep breath)
And today Fortune magazine has a relatively in-depth summary of Microsoft's Linux patent claims. It's really not that great of a story, and has some misleading references in it, but it has a dramatic title, "Microsoft takes on the free world," and yet another mention of Microsoft wanting compensation for the intellectual property it claims exists in Linux, "...It wants royalties from distributors and users." But Microsoft has said this before. And Steve still won't say he'd actually sue Linux-using customers:
Here's what the interview should have been:
A commenter on Patent Law Blog, Patently-O:
Microsoft talks about patents and Microsoft intellectual property in Linux all the time. It most recently came up in relation to the Microsoft/ Novell deal, when in the aftermath of the Linux community's hostile reaction, and the business community's confused reaction, Steve Ballmer claimed that every user of Linux uses Microsoft intellectual property. And people freaked out. Not because they were surprised that Steve Ballmer would say that, or that they were concerned it was true. Most of the drama was because the person who said that was now an ally of a major Linux distribution (the Novell-managed SUSE Linux), and while people were used to Steve Ballmer saying ridiculous things about Linux, they were not-so-used to Linux companies having scary deals with companies run by people who said such ridiculous things.
(deep breath)
And today Fortune magazine has a relatively in-depth summary of Microsoft's Linux patent claims. It's really not that great of a story, and has some misleading references in it, but it has a dramatic title, "Microsoft takes on the free world," and yet another mention of Microsoft wanting compensation for the intellectual property it claims exists in Linux, "...It wants royalties from distributors and users." But Microsoft has said this before. And Steve still won't say he'd actually sue Linux-using customers:
If push comes to shove, would Microsoft sue its customers for royalties, the way the record industry has?So there is no new story here. Microsoft has claimed IP in Linux before, and has stopped short of saying what they'd actually do about it before. As a Slashdot commenter said, "
"That's not a bridge we've crossed," says CEO Ballmer, "and not a bridge I want to cross today on the phone with you."
Here's what the interview should have been:
Microsoft: It's a fact that Linux and free software infringe hundreds of our patents.Microsoft still won't say exactly what Microsoft patents exist in Linux, so as outrageous as some of the ideas in the Fortune feature are, they're not new. If there's any info here, maybe it's that Microsoft has now specified the amount of patents, (235), but still not what those patents are.
Journalist: Which ones?
Microsoft: Well, the kernel violates 60, the GUI violates...
Journalist (interrupting): which 60? Where is the list?
Microsoft: I'm not prepared to disclose that at this time.
Journalist: Well this is a big [effing] waste of my time, isn't it?
Journalist: I went through this same dance with Darl McBride. Call me when you have something to say, bye
A commenter on Patent Law Blog, Patently-O:
That's like a poker player saying "I win" without showing their cards (code).Recommended or related:
- Tara Hunt's Okay, we won. But what’s the prize? (especially the part about Non-zero Sum Economics)
- Matt Asay's Making sense of Microsoft's open source fetish
- Robert Scoble's Microsoft about to enter into patent war
- James Turner at O'Reilly's ONLamp Looks like Microsoft is ramping up for Son of SCO (I disagree with the "do or die" part, but he's got some great comparisons to SCO here.)
Labels: business model, fortune magazine, intellectual property, ip, IT, law, legal, license, linux, microsoft, patents, steve ballmer, suit, technology, windows
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Enterprise Linux's exaggerated value #2: the support you're forced to buy
Yesterday I began what will probably end up becoming a series of posts about how y'all need to rethink the meaning of the word "enterprise," and related, the value of support. In specific, I called out how "Enterprise Linux," (usually meaning Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Novell's Suse/SLES/SLED) is overvalued because the packages you pay for often need to be replaced with packages you don't pay for.
Another problem with Enterprise Linux is the way it's sold. You buy the bits and support together. People might think it's hard for an open source software vendor to just sell the bits, when technically, so much of it is "free," and its easier to just imagine all those software dollars are actually paying for "support" (representing commercial man-hours, not free) but the simple fact is many organizations would love to pay for the bits they could technically get for free, and just do without the facade of expensive support, when the support they get from other resources is more responsive.
Photohosting site smugmug was in that boat, and blogged about their issues with Novell and Redhat.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Many of us who use Linux in commercial situations are more than happy to pay for it. Let's feel comfortable paying for it in different ways. We need to get over the traditional model of a single, central body of developers and supporters being embodied by a single company. There are different currencies and parties involved. Give back to your providers creatively with money, bug fixes, documentation, and sharing your best practicies. Take the time to identify the upstream developers and projects and consider funding them directly. Publicly share your challenges and success stories on the internet, the attention will help future users and the developers by making their project less of an unknown quantity for future users.
But most importantly, be willing to break free of this totally broken tradition of thinking paying a bunch of money to a central body in some way solves your technical problems and protects you. It may make certain people in your organization feel safe, but take the time to run some numbers. What value have you really gotten out of support in the past? Put the burden of determining value on those who sell it.
Another problem with Enterprise Linux is the way it's sold. You buy the bits and support together. People might think it's hard for an open source software vendor to just sell the bits, when technically, so much of it is "free," and its easier to just imagine all those software dollars are actually paying for "support" (representing commercial man-hours, not free) but the simple fact is many organizations would love to pay for the bits they could technically get for free, and just do without the facade of expensive support, when the support they get from other resources is more responsive.
Photohosting site smugmug was in that boat, and blogged about their issues with Novell and Redhat.
...we loved Red Hat Linux, we loved how good they were at building & testing their software, we loved their mechanism for delivering software updates. We just didn’t need support.The company ended up going with CentOS, a clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux I'll write about another time. Again, you'll notice the author isn't trying to avoid paying for the software, he just doesn't want to pay for a service ("support") he doesn't need.
We got on our knees, begging and pleading with Red Hat to let us pay for a “software updates only” license. They wouldn’t have it. “Support comes bundled with updates”, I was told, “no ifs, ands, or buts”. I *want* to pay Red Hat for the valuable service they do for us and the community. I just don’t want to pay for the part we don’t need - human support.
I would really like to pay Red Hat for all their hard work building and testing the software. .. It’d be the right thing to do. But Red Hat won’t let me.
WHAT WE CAN DO
Many of us who use Linux in commercial situations are more than happy to pay for it. Let's feel comfortable paying for it in different ways. We need to get over the traditional model of a single, central body of developers and supporters being embodied by a single company. There are different currencies and parties involved. Give back to your providers creatively with money, bug fixes, documentation, and sharing your best practicies. Take the time to identify the upstream developers and projects and consider funding them directly. Publicly share your challenges and success stories on the internet, the attention will help future users and the developers by making their project less of an unknown quantity for future users.
But most importantly, be willing to break free of this totally broken tradition of thinking paying a bunch of money to a central body in some way solves your technical problems and protects you. It may make certain people in your organization feel safe, but take the time to run some numbers. What value have you really gotten out of support in the past? Put the burden of determining value on those who sell it.
Labels: business, cent os, centos, enterprise, linux, novell, open source, red hatredhat, sled, sles, supports, suse
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
These Links Matter to You. Wednesday May 2 2007
- even old-school business analyst Forrester says organizations are using open source for "mission critical applications." A less breathless, more helpful informative summary here, courtesy the very articulate Matt Asay.
- ya habla Español Dell. puro en directo. Dell's new Spanish blog, Dell en Directo. You already know about the English juan.
- Arizona State uses Drupal, and documents their set-up
- Dell's improved Linux forums (I haven't figured out how they're improved yet. Taking their word for it. It's possible they're manipulating me in a state of post-Ubuntu-announcement bliss.
- some belated notes on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Labels: community, dell, dellendirecto, forrester, forums, linux, matt asay, research, ubuntu
Enterprise Linux's exaggerated value #1: its "tested" packages are too old to use
One of the supposed benefits of enterprise (what that word really means reserved for another post, but a good place to start is here) Linux is that the included packages are "tested" and "hardened" (what does that even mean??!?) for the enterprise. The problem is, in the time it takes to test, these packages have grown quite old, increasing the chances that a sysadmin will need to replace them with software from elsewhere. For security reasons, and technical compatibility reasons, you're often forced to upgrade packages.
And you can't just grab updates from the vendor, because even the updates are really old, only marginally newer than the package that you're trying to replace. So you uninstall the vendor package, and either grab a package from elsewhere, or compile the source. And try to remind yourself what exactly you're paying for again...
An example? The just-release Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 comes with an RPM for Firefox 1.5.x. What?
A common dismissal of Ubuntu (not typically described as "enterprise linux") is that "it's fine for the casual user, but not for the enterprise."
Frankly, its packages are more appropriate for the enterprise than any enterprise linux i've seen. For this reason alone I'm very excited about its increasing acceptance in the business community. Even if it starts at the periphery...
And you can't just grab updates from the vendor, because even the updates are really old, only marginally newer than the package that you're trying to replace. So you uninstall the vendor package, and either grab a package from elsewhere, or compile the source. And try to remind yourself what exactly you're paying for again...
An example? The just-release Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 comes with an RPM for Firefox 1.5.x. What?
A common dismissal of Ubuntu (not typically described as "enterprise linux") is that "it's fine for the casual user, but not for the enterprise."
Frankly, its packages are more appropriate for the enterprise than any enterprise linux i've seen. For this reason alone I'm very excited about its increasing acceptance in the business community. Even if it starts at the periphery...
Labels: business, enterprise, linux, novell, red hat, redhat, ubuntu
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Dell's new Ubuntu deal, and vendor support. Do we still need vendor support?
Some interesting thoughts over on Slashdot's coverage of the Dell/ Ubuntu announcement.
For one user, the announcement is actually a deciding factor in a purchasing decision:
I'm very excited that Dell and Ubuntu have a relationship with each other now, and there's no way it can hurt the quality of Linux on Dell hardware. But let's not wait for announcements like this before we feel comfortable pursuing technologies that otherwise trump their commercially supported peers.
related:
Dell interview with Mark Shuttleworth about the announcement, how Linux gets adopted differently in different parts of the world.
more analysis:
For one user, the announcement is actually a deciding factor in a purchasing decision:
Personally, I have resisted the siren call of Dell for a long time. This changes my mind. I need a new machine and this could be just the ticket -- it was either that or refurb an old HP with a new HD and a copy of Feisty Fawn. I like the idea of it pre-loaded.And yeah, that's the kind of response Dell and Ubuntu want to hear. But I think it's time we really question the value and definition of support in the way it's been thought of in the past. Support is extremely overvalued, and lack of support is too often used as a reason to squash a great tool or piece of software. Let's examine our commercial support relationships and think of what we really get out of them. Are our bugs fixed faster? Features added more quickly? Do we find out about upcoming products from our vendros before the blogosphere does? When we have a configuration question, whose documentation is more helpful? Community sites and mailing lists, or the official documentation?
I'm very excited that Dell and Ubuntu have a relationship with each other now, and there's no way it can hurt the quality of Linux on Dell hardware. But let's not wait for announcements like this before we feel comfortable pursuing technologies that otherwise trump their commercially supported peers.
related:
Dell interview with Mark Shuttleworth about the announcement, how Linux gets adopted differently in different parts of the world.
more analysis:
- transcript of the video interview with Mark Shuttleworth above (zdnet)
- BBC news coverage of Dell + Ubuntu announcement
- open source advocate Dawn Foster's FastWonder post
Labels: business, business model, canonical, community, dell, disruptive, information technology, linux, support, ubuntu
Monday, April 30, 2007
Dell + Ubuntu: Let's contain ourselves, people!
I'm as giddy as the rest of y'all. Yes, Dell will pre-install Ubuntu on Dell hardware.
Some of us have been waiting for this news for a while, either in the affirmative or the negative. After all, it was over a month ago when Dell closed its Linux survey. A bunch of different commercial and community-based distros rallied to get their Linux represented. And then silence. Dell didn't let us know how, when, or what they'd do with the data. They thanked us, but dat about it.
So it was very exciting to hear this evening first a rumor via Dell, and a confirmation via Canonical that yes, Dell will support Ubuntu.
But let's be gracious here :D. DesktopLinux.com wrote "Dell to choose Ubuntu," in a tone suggesting only one Linux could be chosen. Mos def some of this language is left over from the Dell's own Linux survey, where one could vote for only one flavor of Linux for Dell to install. But remember bug #1 people. It isn't that Fedora has majority market share :D. Let's hope Dell's experience of offering Ubuntu is so delightful, they get involved with other flavors of Linux, and get on the right side of bug #1 ;D
I'm as giddy as the rest of y'all. Yes, Dell will pre-install Ubuntu on Dell hardware.
Some of us have been waiting for this news for a while, either in the affirmative or the negative. After all, it was over a month ago when Dell closed its Linux survey. A bunch of different commercial and community-based distros rallied to get their Linux represented. And then silence. Dell didn't let us know how, when, or what they'd do with the data. They thanked us, but dat about it.
So it was very exciting to hear this evening first a rumor via Dell, and a confirmation via Canonical that yes, Dell will support Ubuntu.
But let's be gracious here :D. DesktopLinux.com wrote "Dell to choose Ubuntu," in a tone suggesting only one Linux could be chosen. Mos def some of this language is left over from the Dell's own Linux survey, where one could vote for only one flavor of Linux for Dell to install. But remember bug #1 people. It isn't that Fedora has majority market share :D. Let's hope Dell's experience of offering Ubuntu is so delightful, they get involved with other flavors of Linux, and get on the right side of bug #1 ;D
Labels: business model, dell, disruptive, hardware, linux, open source, support, ubuntu
Dell to preload Ubuntu Linux on some hardware
[update 11.22PM. Confirmed via Dell KB article!]
[update #2, confirmed on Dell Direct2Dell blogpost]
Dell will preload Ubuntu Linux on some desktops and laptops.
So far, two sources for this story:
1. A Canonical employee (the company most centrally involved in Ubuntu's development and support) who has a great multilingual blog about Linux stuff, wrote:
2. Desktoplinux.com, who says they've heard the news from multiple Dell sources.
I just have to take this moment in.
[update 11.22PM. Confirmed via Dell KB article!][update #2, confirmed on Dell Direct2Dell blogpost]
Dell will preload Ubuntu Linux on some desktops and laptops.
So far, two sources for this story:
1. A Canonical employee (the company most centrally involved in Ubuntu's development and support) who has a great multilingual blog about Linux stuff, wrote:
Ubuntu will be officially supported on Dell computers. Any other details will come on www.ubuntu.com, check it for the official press releaseand
2. Desktoplinux.com, who says they've heard the news from multiple Dell sources.
...the Austin, Texas, computer giant will be preinstalling the newly released Ubuntu 7.04. These systems will be released in late May 2007.Technorati Tags: ubuntu, linux, dell, hardware, support, community, open source
According to our sources, Ubuntu will be released on a Dell e-series "Essential" Dimension desktop, an XPS desktop, and an e-series Inspiron laptop.
Labels: business, business model, canonical, community, dell, disruptive, information technology, linux, support, ubuntu
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Full Circle, the new Ubuntu magazine!
Though it took me a little while to identify what exactly was going on on the Full Circle website, I gotta once again give the Ubuntu community credit for knowing how to make it easy to learn about, enjoy, evangelize, and contribute to the Ubuntu Linux distribution and its related projects and goals.
Full Circle is a new free magazine from the Ubuntu community. Full Circle is made up of both a PDF, with a traditional magazine layout that you can download (and print), and web-based content that includes forums and articles in development.
PDF available for download in multiple languages here.
Though it took me a little while to identify what exactly was going on on the Full Circle website, I gotta once again give the Ubuntu community credit for knowing how to make it easy to learn about, enjoy, evangelize, and contribute to the Ubuntu Linux distribution and its related projects and goals.Full Circle is a new free magazine from the Ubuntu community. Full Circle is made up of both a PDF, with a traditional magazine layout that you can download (and print), and web-based content that includes forums and articles in development.
PDF available for download in multiple languages here.
Labels: community, free, full circle, global, journalism, linux, magazine, open source, ubuntu
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
These Links Matter To You. Tuesday, February 27, 2007
- Parallels Desktop out of beta! (Mac-tel users rejoice, and read pstam's review)
- You can hack your VMware .vmx file to enable experimental 3D support (very cool of VMware to talk about the semi-underground video making the rounds)
- using MySpace for a VMware/NetApp blog ? (of course!)
- Did you know there is a "major" virtualization conference? It's called "Virtualization Conference." really.
- As of February 27th, 2007, 8 of the top 8 vote-getting initiatives on Dell's IdeaStorm website are about getting Linux pre-installed, other open source software pre-installed, Windows software not-installed, and improving Linux support (sheesh, can the drum beat any louder?)
Labels: dell, linux, open source, parallels, virtualization, vmware
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Flashtastic! Adobe finally has Flash 9 for Linux. Also: Flash is good at some stuff.
We now have a decent Flash version on Linux.
quick notes:
Less than two years ago, being a couple of versions back with your Flash player wouldn't have been the end of the world. This is as much about Flash's totally reinvented usage, as it is about Linux. Previously, not having Flash didn't make you feel totally left out. Maybe you'd miss some animated banner ads (but they'd probably still work). With the increasing importance of search engine optimization (Flash isn't so easy to index for Google), and social bookmarking (Flash isn't so great with the unique URL's), and people's patience (Flash can get people kinda mad when they have to renavigate 6 steps after hitting the "back" button), web sites managed by Flash were getting less popular.
But then the YouTube/Vimeo/Google Video/Blip.tv/Revver embeddable video storm happened.
(original photos via Chris Pirillo's video experiment)
And Flash was actually really great for video inside of an otherwise non-Flash page. And then people started using it even as an embeddable mp3 player.
(a screengrab of a del.icio.us page set to browse mp3's and podcasts)
You didn't have to download podcasts and other mp3's. You could cleanly play audio and video in a browser page. (Yes, other specialized players/ plugins could previously do it, but way more clumsily than Flash).
With the newly realized ease of embedding video and audio (aided not just by Flash, but by the excellent players being made by the likes of YouTube and del.icio.us), audio and video was being used a lot more not just for entertainment stuff, but for delivering technical, business, and basic communications stuff. (For example, here I have an embedded demo of VMware Fusion Beta. In Flash!)
In any case, the huge wave of new Flash content really stung when you were on Linux, because all over the web, almost any embedded video was a reminder that you were a second-class citizen.
Ideally in the future the web won't be dominated by closed players, and users won't be held hostage by any single company. But given how much better Flash performs these basic multimedia functions at the moment, it's a good day for Linux.
related:
quick notes:
- You can get Flash 9 for Linux here
- Red Hat will include this in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, released February 28
- Novell will put Flash 9 in Service Pack 1 for SLED 10 (date undetermined)
- step by step Flash 9 installation how-to for Ubuntu Linux (thanks osnews.com!)
- still no 64bit version
Less than two years ago, being a couple of versions back with your Flash player wouldn't have been the end of the world. This is as much about Flash's totally reinvented usage, as it is about Linux. Previously, not having Flash didn't make you feel totally left out. Maybe you'd miss some animated banner ads (but they'd probably still work). With the increasing importance of search engine optimization (Flash isn't so easy to index for Google), and social bookmarking (Flash isn't so great with the unique URL's), and people's patience (Flash can get people kinda mad when they have to renavigate 6 steps after hitting the "back" button), web sites managed by Flash were getting less popular.
But then the YouTube/Vimeo/Google Video/Blip.tv/Revver embeddable video storm happened.
(original photos via Chris Pirillo's video experiment)
And Flash was actually really great for video inside of an otherwise non-Flash page. And then people started using it even as an embeddable mp3 player.
(a screengrab of a del.icio.us page set to browse mp3's and podcasts)
You didn't have to download podcasts and other mp3's. You could cleanly play audio and video in a browser page. (Yes, other specialized players/ plugins could previously do it, but way more clumsily than Flash).
With the newly realized ease of embedding video and audio (aided not just by Flash, but by the excellent players being made by the likes of YouTube and del.icio.us), audio and video was being used a lot more not just for entertainment stuff, but for delivering technical, business, and basic communications stuff. (For example, here I have an embedded demo of VMware Fusion Beta. In Flash!)
In any case, the huge wave of new Flash content really stung when you were on Linux, because all over the web, almost any embedded video was a reminder that you were a second-class citizen.
Ideally in the future the web won't be dominated by closed players, and users won't be held hostage by any single company. But given how much better Flash performs these basic multimedia functions at the moment, it's a good day for Linux.
related:
- the Gnash project, an source Flash player currently playing stuff up to Flash 7
Labels: audio, browser, flash, gnash, linux, macromedia, multimedia, oss, player, plugins, standards, ubuntu, video
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Graphics bling and proprietary drivers in Ubuntu
There's currently some discussion in the Ubuntu community about how much proprietary stuff to include in Ubuntu by default (different from letting you grab stuff from the vendor on your own after the install). This is almost always about graphics drivers.
Community member Ante Karamatić had some interesting thoughts on the issue, and then made some points about the state of open source Linux gui bling, too:
There's currently some discussion in the Ubuntu community about how much proprietary stuff to include in Ubuntu by default (different from letting you grab stuff from the vendor on your own after the install). This is almost always about graphics drivers.
Community member Ante Karamatić had some interesting thoughts on the issue, and then made some points about the state of open source Linux gui bling, too:
Proprietary drivers in Ubuntu by default? Don't. Just don't do that. I don't want them. If someone wants them (or must use them); great, make it as an installer option. 'Yes, I want fancy graphics, even if nobody could help me solve tons of bugs and even if that would break suspend and hibernate and even if that would maybe mean braking GPL' would be an OK option in installer :)
OTOH, both compiz and beryl have serious issues and they should stop working on creating newer, even more useless plug-ins and start fixing some usability bugs; 'java + beryl sometimes doesn't work', 'beryl crashes all the time', 'don't destroy my workspaces', 'F9 is fetch all in evolution; now it doesn't work', 'what's with the flickering in xmoto while running beryl and apt-get update', etc, etc...
Labels: beryl, community, compiz, drivers, linux, open source, ubuntu
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
These Links Matter To You. Tuesday, December 5, 2006
- How to screencast on Linux
- Guess what ubuntuvideo.com has
- Miguel de Icaza on Groklaw's over-the-top analysis of Novell's support of OpenXML in OpenOffice (it's true, Groklaw has demonstrated a bit of ignorance here. Almost every distro's interpretation of a project can be a little unique)
- Last week was Ubuntu Open Week, where newbies, the curious, and the besotted could meet up in different irc channels and talk about specific topics. Here are the logs.
- An image of the One Laptop Per Child laptop is available as a VMware image, FYI
