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Sunday, 6 May 2001
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Today after church I installed Linux Mandrake 8 on my home PC. I was skeptical, because Mandrake 7.1 had completely failed to install, no matter what I tried. But with version 8, the two-CD install went flawlessly — what one Daynoter (sorry, I forget who it was) used to refer to as something like a "head-bump" install, meaning that he could bump the keyboard with his head, and the product would install perfectly. I chose the "Expert" install even though I'm extremely not an expert, because I never choose "Recommended" or "Typical," on the assumption that I know better than anybody else what should be included. Which, space permitting, is usually the kitchen sink. And that's pretty much what I went with here, installing everything except the various non-default servers.
I even figured out how to tell LILO that I wanted Windows to be the default OS choice at startup. The machine rebooted, I picked Linux, and logged in as root to a KDE desktop session. (I also installed all the other desktop managers available, because I like to play.) To my amazement, there were no video problems. To me, this was a sign that the Linux Desktop is almost here. In terms of technical sophistication, Linux is apparently beyond Windows; in terms of ease of installation, it seems pretty equivalent; in terms of practical day-to-day useability, it seems to be kind of equivalent to Windows 3.1. For instance, while I was thrilled to see that my modem worked perfectly, and dialup networking installed with nary a murmur, none of the browsers will automatically dial when I start them: I have to run the dialer separately, and then fire up a browser. What's up with that? Then when I connected to the internet, I tried the three included browsers: Netscape Navigator, Mozilla, and Konqueror. None of them let me copy-n-paste a URL from one to the next — does Linux lack a system clipboard? And the font rendering in all three browsers was very poor, especially in Konqueror. The other two were better, though not good.
Some time back, I bought a Lexmark Z32 inkjet printer because the Lexmark website had a Linux driver for it. So today I went there and downloaded the driver. It came as a .tar.gz file, which I copied into a new folder under the Home directories. Clicking on the file opened it right up, even more transparently than using WinZip in Windows, and then clicking on the driver file fired up an installer. The installer went through its paces flawlessly, by far the most Windows-like ease-of-use experience I've had to date under Linux. But when the installer was all finished, where was my new printer? I guess it's there somewhere, but I have yet to locate it, or be able to print to it. Invoking "add a printer" in the desktop setup program just gives the same choices that showed up at install time, with nothing like a "Have Disk" choice.
Bottom line? I'm truly impressed, at first glance. This looks to be far and away the most usable Linux desktop to date, but I still have a lot to learn before I can achieve my dream of living without the Borg.
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Monday, 7 May 2001
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Today I want to give my boss the software inventory I've compiled. Then we'll know where we stand in regard to compliance. I checked out the BSA Truce website, but didn't take any steps towards contacting anyone. There an interesting article here from vendor AAxnet about the whole issue, including links to other articles regarding the Beast That Ate The World. Informative reading, if a bit biased. Didn't bother me, as I happen to share the same bias, but be aware that this is intended to be read more as editorial than as journalism.
LATER...
OK, that makes THREE calls from Maria the MicroSoftware Nazi. This time the receptionist put her through without warning me. Maria wanted me to tell her how many computers we have, and what software we're running. She actually expected me to blurt out everything I know about our operating environment to somebody who makes their living playing "my lawyer is bigger than your lawyer." Nobody ever said Microsoft lacked nerve.
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Tuesday, 8 May 2001
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Here's the latest move in the Borg's plan for world domination, courtesy of our friends at la Reg... A licensing scheme for which the word "nefarious" seems to been invented. The infamous Microsoftware rental plan has arrived. At least phase one, in which the Borg accustoms its victims to the latest imposition by instituting it first in large business locations.
On the home front, I played a bit more with Linux Mandrake last night, and won a few and lost a few. I seem to have — no, I really have — lost all my desktop icons under Gnome. *shrug* I dunno... And I still have no idea where my Lexmark printer went when the automatic install routine ran. That's a major bone I have to pick with Linux in general: installs typically seem not to add any icons to either the menus or the desktop. Then what's an ignoramus to do? Oh, yeah. Read The Fine Manual. Any additional suggestions, Smart People Out There? I wonder if Brian & Tom's Linux Book would shed any light? Better check.
LATER...
Oh, and BTW— I downloaded Opera 5 for Linux and tried to run the installer. It told me Opera was already installed. That brought up some questions, to wit:
1) Why didn't it appear in any menu anywhere?
2) Does Linux (or Mandrake or KDE or the RPM utility) always refuse to reinstall the same version over top of what's already there?
3) What ELSE lurks unsuspected behind the bland GUI face?
StarOffice maybe?
4) When you create a link to a program, why can't you rename the link?
I did manage to put Opera in the menu under Networking-WWW, where it should have been in the first place. And I managed to change the icon properly, both in the menu and on the desktop. And it fires up nicely, and renders fonts MUCH better than the other contenders. AND it was a less-than-three-meg (unnecessary) download.
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Wednesday, 9 May 2001
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Played a little more with Mandrake last night. I guess on reflection that the poor font rendering I notice in the web browsers is probably due to the video driver, from what I remember of a recent post by Tom Syroid. Have to look at my card and see what ATI chipset it has, then see if a better driver's available. If so (doubtful), I'll need to learn how one updates video drivers in Mandrake. And I notice in the Mandrake online Fine Manual (as in RTFM) that my Lexmark Z32 printer should have been autodetected, and the reason it wasn't may have been related to the BIOS setting for the printer port. I haven't checked it yet, but I bet it's set to "Compatible" because that the only thing that works with my truly ancient Okidata OL400. Newer printers make use of the "ECP" and/or "EPP" BIOS settings, which enable more extensive communication between PC and printer. Guess I might try and find a little LPT2 card somewhere. Can't be changing BIOS settings whenever I want to use a different printer.
I'll probably reinstall Mandrake soon, after changing the BIOS appropriately, and copying the printer driver onto a floppy. Not just because of the printer, but also because of my lost Gnome desktop, and my almost-complete non-cluefulness about Linux. I need to spend some quality time soon with the online docs... buying a book, alas, defeats the "free-ness" of Linux. And, of course, dead-tree books are hopelessly retarded when it comes to keeping up with things that move at internet speed, like Linux. Fortunately, online docs both on the CDs and on various websites are almost certain to include everything I need to know. I just need to FIND it. Heh.
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Thursday, 10 May 2001
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I am the Software Nazi. (I am the walrus. Goo goo goo joob.) Be nice to me, or you may never see another spreadsheet. Gee, too bad Linux isn't quite up to snuff as a drop-in desktop replacement yet. Not for Aunt Emma, anyways. Hey, who am I kidding? Not quite for me, either, just yet. Someday...
LATER...
Here's a thought... I know I'd never be able to sell the company on StarOffice 5.2. Heck, I'm not that crazy about it myself. But still... They also have a database (Adabas D) that's a separate download. I wonder if it works with Access-style .MDB files...? We use a number of homegrown Access thingies (stop me if I'm getting too technical). What if we don't actually need Access to use them? Sweeeeeeet! I'm gonna try that out right now. The internet is a Good Thing. Free software is a Good Thing. A high-speed internet connection to download free software is a Very Good Thing. I like computers today. Not like some days.
LATER LATER...
Turns out Adabas opens Access 97 files, not Access 2000 files. Of course.
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Friday, 11 May 2001
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My friend wanted to email me some snapshots of her kids in BMP format. I told her JPGs are way smaller for uploading and downloading, and asked if she had a way to convert them. Apparently she didn't. So I looked on Tucows for some quick-n-dirty image file convertors. I found a shareware applet called Advanced Batch Convertor that works just fine; just a little ~800K download. I don't know if it's worth the $30 they're asking, but it works as advertised.
And along the way I note that Linux's famous Gimp (GNU Image Manipulator) Photoshop clone has been ported to Windows. Mighty powerful software, and all free fer nuthin'. I downloaded it just to try it out, though of course Mandrake and many other Linux distributions include it as a matter of course.
I've decided I'm definitely going to reinstall Linux this weekend. Maybe even tonight. I have a bunch of distros, and I've never even tried Debian or SuSE, much less any of the "also-rans." When I look at Linuxiso.org, I'm amazed at the number of distros available. I count twenty-two. Jeepers! I had no idea. Life's too short, man. I recall that Brian Bilbrey has characterized Debian as a "purist's Linux." I'd better take a good look at his installation notes pages.
Incidentally, I still haven't totally given up on StarOffice for some of our work needs. There are people who don't create documents, but do receive them from other people. These people need something that would let them view and print those received files, more than they need the full power of MS Office in all its bloated glory. And for that matter, the Borg used to have Word and Excel file viewers on its website. I'd better check and see if those still exist. Hmmm... Life remains far more interesting than comfortable.
Well, well... here is a Word file viewer, for those who don't have Word installed on their computers. And here's one for Excel. There's also one for PowerPoint. Actually, there are about a dozen assorted viewers for various needs. I guess the Borg hasn't officially noticed that they're making it possible for some people to not put Office on their machines. Eventually they'll rectify that, and make sure that nobody can open Office files with an Office license. But for now, kewl!
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Saturday, 12 May 2001
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No entry.