Baldy’s Paradox

Open Office vs. MS Office - the Other Key to Windows/Linux Transition - Jamie’s Random Musings on Video IM - J.A. Watson’s Blog at ZDNet.co.uk Community

Open Office vs. MS Office - the Other Key to Windows/Linux Transition

Posted by J.A. Watson

As I have been going around alternately prodding my friends and family to try Linux, or asking them if they thought it would be possible, one thing I have heard repeatedly is that a lot of people use Microsoft Office and are concerned about their Office documents on Linux. I should also mention that a lot of them are very angry that Microsoft has changed the default document format in Office 2007 (again), such that it is incompatible with previous Office versions. Yes, of course, I know there are converters and such, but it’s just one more thing for users to have to worry about - and in general they aren’t confronted with it, or sometimes even aware of it, until they send a critical document to a colleague and discover that the colleague can’t open it…

IBM pushes “Microsoft-free” desktops

IBM announced a partnership with Canonical, Novell, and Red Hat to sell “Microsoft-free desktops,” says an eWeek story by Chris Preimesberger. The Linux software giants will work with hardware manufacturers to market custom-designed PCs preloaded with Lotus word processing and collaboration software, says the story.

Canadian Huynh wins gold - Yahoo! Canada News

BEIJING (Reuters) - Carol Huynh gave Canada its first gold of the Beijing Olympic Games on Saturday in the women’s 48kg freestyle wrestling event.

Huynh, 27, defeated Japanese two-time world champion wrestler Chiharu Icho who took silver in wrestling’s lightest weight class. The score was 3-1.

Finally!

And now you know why you shouldn’t mess with Canadian Women

Lost in the shuffle of this month’s Patch Tuesday barrage is the fact that a critical vulnerability in the ever-present Windows Media Player (WMP) was not fixed “because of a last minute quality issue.”

Microsoft originally listed the WMP update in the advance notice for August but, when the patches dropped on Tuesday, it had slipped because of patch-quality concerns.

The explanation from Redmond:

* Microsoft has heard from customers that the quality of updates is very important and, as part of the process at the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), Microsoft tests these updates continuously until they are ready for distribution to customers through our regularly scheduled security bulletin release.

This effectively means that millions of Windows users — WMP ships with every version of the desktop operating system — are exposed to a critical, code execution vulnerability that will not be fixed for at least another month.

Oh oh seems as if maybe Linux is a tad faster at fixing bugs, but that is just my humble opinion, Baldy

And no that does not mean I have changed over to Slackware. I have had a series of setbacks from 3 major storms to personal situations to a pair of computers deciding they should be retired. Yes I am still out here just a tad slow in the posting is all and I hope to repair that soon. I have been watching the development of Mepis 7 with a close eye and will let you know when it is out and ready for the masses. I am also playing with different distros and hope to organize a comparison of those before long so hang in there and watch for the up and coming news folks, I’ll be back.

Why is this date different? Twenty years ago the lights went on at Wrigley Field!
Okay I am a Cub fan and maybe nobody else remembered or cares but it was a dawning of new look and feel to the game of baseball in Chicago. But as normal the purists whined the new wave cheered and the Cubs chugged on. One hundred years ago was the last time the Cubs won the World Series. Hummm 100 years and 20 years is there a connection? Could this be the year for the faithful of the “Friendly Confines”? I’ll wait and see I have been a Cubbie fan for a long time and this might just be “The Year”.

A vendor of Linux-based WiFi arrays is finally releasing a version of its WiFi Monitor utility for Linux desktops. The open source, widget-like Xirrus WiFi Monitor for Linux enables users to monitor, secure, and troubleshoot WiFi networks, says Xirrus. The company refers to the software as a “desklet,” a widget-like applet that provides quick access to information and functions. Developed under the gDesklets framework using the Python language, the utility is being made available under the GPL (General Public License). Users have access to complete source code of the application, says Xirrus.

Sounds great for the really hard to configure setups,Baldy

WiFi software arrives on Linux desktops

Ah, August. It’s the beginning of the end of summer, and the time when we must all start shaking the sand out of our ears once more. The real world wants us back! This week, we here at LinuxInsider felt it our duty to help those who are fed up with Redmond to find their way to Linux. This is August — a month of transition and new beginnings, after all — so what better time for geeks who have been lost on the dark side to come over to the Light that is Linux? Read on, then, for a starter kit, of sorts, that will show the way to Linuxy salvation …

Better Than Beach Reading: A Linux Starter Kit

Well I know it has been a while since I posted but as you read the weather hit me hard and then I had a computer take a dump. So I was surfing distros when a good friend suggested I try Kubuntu(Okay it was LinuxChick) and the last time I tried it I had a sour taste in my mouth. But I gave it a shot. Well I was surprised they cleaned up the installer to start with. And it recognized that there was another distro on the harddrive and wanted to know if I wanted to duel boot or use the entire disk. Okay that is a improvement to say the least. The install included KDE3.9 or a beta of the KDE4 and the first gripe I have is Dolphin I suggest they let Willie free, that is horrible to say the least. And one thing that is still a Ubuntu/Kubuntu thing is they really hide a lot of the controls and you have to know the quick keys to get to them. I updated the system after I downloaded Synaptic(yes add/remove is cute but rather clunky) and I added a repo and updated to KDE 4.1. It looks good but even more of the controls have managed to disappear. Over all I will run it a couple of days and give it a good shake down and see what comes out. One of the advantages Kubuntu has is they are backed by not only their repos but debian and 3rd party ones also, making the search for just the right program a snap. More later and until then have a good day and a better tomorrow folks.

Kubuntu | linux for human beings | Kubuntu

What is Kubuntu?
Kubuntu is a free, user-friendly operating system based on the K Desktop Environment and on the award winning Ubuntu operating system. With a biannual release cycle and at least 18 months of free security updates for each release, it is the secure, stable computing environment you’ve been waiting for.

As some of you know I am ( and have been for quite some time) a die-hard Arch Linux user. A few months ago I bought an Inspiron 1525 with Vista preinstalled because us Canadians were not allowed to purchase the Ubuntu model. I mistakenly thought this machine would be a sure thing with almost any Linux… WRONG!
From what I’ve read lately, the Linux version of this laptop has slightly different hardware…

After trying several distros on it, including Arch, PCLOS and Mepis. Arch couldn’t connect via eth0 to complete an install! I decided to go with Mepis as it seemed to be the one with the least issues.

Now, Least certainly does not mean none! Wireless worked out of the box, eth did not. Sound worked somewhat after many weeks of digging, reading and trying a zillion “fixes”. All in all the system was useable but not even close to being the perfect setup.

Mepis was my first Linux Distro so I’ve had a certain loyalty to it from the beginning. They have been having some issues lately and the other day was the last straw. Wireless stopped working and nothing, I mean nothing would get it back online. The search was on for a new system. What the heck do I try now? Mepis has always been known for ease of use and excellent hardware detection/support…

Enter Ubuntu… Not being a gnome lover, I decided to give Kbuntu a try. I was shocked and impressed, to say the least!
Eth0, Sound and even the integrated web cam worked out of the box! That’s never happened. Wireless is running via ndiswrapper.
It’s only been one day, but so far the only problem I’ve found is a slight volume issue. The max volume is very low, but I’m sure that can be fixed, given some time to research the Ubuntu forums.

Update: Sound is much improved simply by setting the Master Channel to Front. Also the touch volume controls on the laptop itself work, that’s never happened either!

Update: The touchpad is working correctly out-of-box also.

I should also mention, Kbuntu runs much faster on this laptop than Mepis did.

Technorati Tags: Kbuntu, Arch Linux, Mepis