posts tagged with the keyword ‘linux’

2012.01.04

Review: Windows 7

Windows 7

Since there will be a point in the future when I upgrade all my Macs to Lion, I figured I should start getting ready, and in order to get ready, I usually need to upgrade my virtualization software. I use VMWare Fusion as well as Parallels Desktop on my Macs. My main use of Windows is for browser testing, though now that I spend time at the Milwaukee Makerspace I also use a few Windows-only applications like CamBam.

My VMs were all running Windows XP, so I figured that it was time to move up to Windows 7, and my old pal Larry Clarkin suggested that I’d like it much better than Windows XP. So in the interest of science (?) I figured I’d review Windows 7.

(Note: This review will be heavily biased against Windows, because I don’t like Windows.)

OK, here’s the deal: I don’t like Windows.

Windows is ugly.
Maybe the interface is customizable, maybe you can skin it, or theme it, or whatever, but I find the default user interface just plain ugly. I’m a Mac user, and I’ve gotten used to a good looking operating system. I’m a Linux user, but I tend to use the command line mostly, but even when I did use Linux on the desktop, it looked better than Windows.

Windows isn’t UNIX.
I mean, Linux isn’t UNIX, but it’s close. Mac OS X is UNIX, or at least it’s very close to being UNIX, depending on who you ask. Windows 7 isn’t UNIX, and I find that annoying. 90% of the time I’m using a Mac I’ve got iTerm running, and I either using it on the local machine, or ssh’d into another Mac or a Linux server.

Windows has little value to me.
As I said, my primary use of Windows has been for browser testing. Specifically, Internet Explorer testing. So pretty much the only reason I used Windows was to test 2 or 3 different versions of the worst browser out there, which, oddly enough, a lot of people used. (Luckily that’s changed.)

Now that I need to use Windows-only software like CamBam, I may end up using Windows 7 more than I used Windows XP, but it’s still just a matter of being forced to use Windows because there isn’t a Mac OS X version of a specific application. There is no joy in Mudville.

So ultimately, Windows 7 may be awesome if you’re a Windows user, but as a long time non-Windows user, it doesn’t entice me, and my primary use is in situations where I can’t use Mac OS X. But remember, this is just my opinion, and my point of view. I know dozens of people use Windows every day and tolerate it, and some even enjoy it. Kudos to them!

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2010.07.15

PHP error_reporting

PHP (Once again a note for myself, but if you find it useful, well, you’re welcome!)

After a PHP upgrade, I noticed at least one bit of PHP code one the server wasn’t working (the TextLinkAds plugin for WordPress) so after a bit of digging around in php.ini, I found that this line was uncommented: 

error_reporting  =  E_ALL

Which was causing warnings to spit out when some PHP scripts were run. I commented that line, and uncommented this line instead… 

error_reporting = E_COMPILE_ERROR|E_RECOVERABLE_ERROR|E_ERROR|E_CORE_ERROR

…for a little bit less error reporting/warnings about things, and that fixed it.

I’m sure this is not a cure-all, as another site with the same plugin always worked fine, and was never affected, but still, I didn’t really like seeing those warnings (which I believe are harmless, but they may need investigating anyway.)

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1 Comment »

2010.07.13

apt-get fixes

Ubuntu As I get more and more used to Ubuntu and using apt-get I figured I should start keeping some notes. (btw, did you know that in the old days we had to compile everything!? Sheesh!)

apt-get kept crapping out on me with errors, some failed install I believe. This seemed to fix it: 

cd /var/cache/apt/archives
sudo rm -rf ./*
sudo mkdir partial

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

Yes, sudo apt-get update is in there twice. You may only need once, but twice shouldn’t hurt.

You may also have to look for trouble in: 

cd /var/cache/debconf
sudo rm -rf ./*

Warning: Unless you understand what rm -rf does, don’t type it!. It is a destroyer of files. Make a backup if needed. While these are cache files, and it should be harmless to delete them, remember that rm has no undo command.

Also, I’m running Ubuntu on an old G4 PowerBook as a low-power server (thanks to Dave from Kernel Design.) I’ve only had a few problems with the old “powerpc-linux-gnu” so far, mostly involving finding a BOINC client that will work. The typical LAMP stack is good, and the DAViCal install was painless.

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2009.06.12

Time Lapse from Eee PC

I find myself on a quest to do some time lapse video… and this one was done with the built-in camera on the Eee PC running Ubuntu (Netbook Remix) and the application UCView.

There seems to be a bug in UCView that prevents it from creating more than 150 still images. I’ll need to dig into that a bit more… It can also create video files, but I prefer stills. With the stills I typically use mencoder to combine them into a video file.

The Eee PC is a nice small solution for time lapse photography. It’s one device, and does everything. Quality? Well, not that great… and bugs? Hopefully I can get more than 150 images in the future…

This will be the first post of many exploring time lapse photography/video. It can be difficult. Just ask this guy.

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3 Comments »

2008.11.29

One Year with the Asus Eee PC

It’s been a full year since I got an Asus Eee PC, so I thought I would review…

We can start with my first impressions of the Eee PC.

Throughout the year the little computer has served me well. It’s almost always in my backpack and ready to use. Being just 2 pounds is a definite plus for something you always carry around. Lightweight is definitely a top feature. As for battery life, well… I really expected better. With wifi on, I typically see under 3 hours, which isn’t great, but again, small computer = small battery, so I can live with that. The power adapter isn’t too big, so I always carry that around as well. The battery does seem to drain more than it should in sleep mode, so I typically turn if off when not in use.

Asus Eee PC

Connecting via wifi was only an issue at my own house where I had a weird setup (which I’ve since fixed) and anywhere else it worked fine. One annoying issue is disconnecting an external monitor/projector. The Eee PC thinks it’s still there and you can’t see the parts of the screen you want to because it assumes some higher rez display is there, it’s annoying, and worse case, requires a reboot to fix. (I’m used to the way the Mac dynamically deals with monitors being connected/disconnected and does the right thing.)

As I wanted a unit that “just worked” (as much as a Linux computer can) I stuck with the default Xandros OS on it. I contemplated trying Ubuntu a few times, but things like “recompile the kernel for wifi to work” or other such warnings turned me off. Besides, for the way I use the thing, I didn’t think I’d see much benefit from a different OS.

So after one year how am I liking the Eee PC? There have been a few small issues, but none I couldn’t deal with. For the price, it was worth if. Of course today you can get a much better little PC for even less money. It served me well through Web414 meetings, and BarCamps, and anywhere else I needed a computer on the go. (Unless I needed Mac-specific applications, in which case, it was totally useless.) The screen is small. I’m glad to see that 1024 pixels wide is what the newer machines are using, as 800 pixels just doesn’t cut it. All in all, I’ve been pleased with the Asus Eee PC. (I’ll be following up with another post specifically about how I hosed it all up.)

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