WE ARE *NIXED!

Distro Journey Series: iMagicOS... First Impression

2009-05-12T00:17:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

I'm running it on the ASUS F3T notebook I have as well as the ZaReason Breeze 3110. Thus far, it appears that the product has some potential. There are a few hiccups however. For starters, no volume control appears in the system tray. Also, the splash screen on bootup doesn't really work (the system still loads just fine). These issues are mostly cosmetic though. Thus far, the OS seems to be running just fine on both systems. I plan on installing it onto two more systems in the near future to begin testing on a more detailed basis. We'll see how it goes. Oh yes, I'm done with Slackware, and will have a detailed article in the next issue of the magazine.

What If?

2009-05-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

We all have seen how Clem Lefebvre, founder of Linux Mint, has opened up to the world and letting everyone know more about himself. What if other individuals from other distributions did the same thing? This is just something I'm wondering about myself. If anyone wants to comment, feel free to do so. :)

The Man Behind helios

2008-07-18T20:29:00.001-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Now I'm not really a sun god...I just play one on the internet so you can dispense with the whole animal sacrifice and incense thing...not at all necessary.

Finally, we know what helios looks like. Just take a look at the picture. For those who want to see some more pictures of him and Larry take a look right here. Thanks to Christian Einfeldt for the pictures.

The Distro Journey Continues...

2008-07-13T01:23:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

I am currently playing around with Fedora. I have three systems (maybe four if I can drag that one out of the closet too....) that I can experiment with. This includes two desktops and one notebook. After finishing the second issue of THE *NIXED REPORT, I shall install it on all the systems I have.

On a side note, I have a hankering for a Limbo 2440. I figured it would be a good idea to acquire a system with Intel's integrated graphics for a more comprehensive distro review. Maybe I can save up enough for one.

I would also like to know from everyone: What distros do you think I should give a go? I already have plans on Fedora, but I need suggestions for others. Feel free to let me know.

It's Time to Thank Felton

2008-07-08T10:51:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Ken "helios" Starks has made a request to the readers of the blogsphere who support Free and Open Source Software to let the town of Felton, California know that what they are doing is a very positive thing. Those who wish to write a single paragraph letter may do so by commenting on this blog entry here or by commenting here. I will e-mail comments left here to helios himself. The best ones will be posted on the Lindependence website.

Customer Service Blows!

2008-07-05T22:37:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Oh yes. I shall say it. Customer service blows, but not in the way you may be thinking. No, not at the moment.... You see, while plenty of customers must deal with the potential bad mouth on the other end of things, it is that other end of things that I will be speaking of.

Having worked retail, I now have a complete understanding of how it feels to deal with the normal every day person, the weirdo, the psycho, and the plain rude and grumpy who also just happen to be pompous and self righteous. So allow me to tie this into Free and Open Source Software today.

KDE 4

I keep reading of the complaints of the blasted thing not being ready. I am perfectly happy with 3.5 and the derivatives, so I shall stick to it for the time being. Some have compared it to Vista. Another has suggested a fork. So what happens when one person shows their frustration as a volunteer developer?

For starters, an individual by the name of "Allan" states the following:

I've been looking forward to 4.1 and gave various 4.0.x releases a go and have even defended KDE4 on Ubuntu forums. But if your post is indicative of the attitude of KDE developers then I will just walk away.

Take a gander at this gem from an individual identifying themselves as "Flar":

So a big thank you to all KDE Developer who made KDE such a big success in the past, but shame on them who are thinking users of KDE are not important for a Project like KDE.

I can completely understand how the individual in question feels. As someone who has to deal with customers you can only smile. You can never, ever be in a bad mood, and most importantly, you can not speak your mind in order for the person staring back at you to understand what you happen to be going through at the moment. Oh no, we are not allowed to talk back ever, and when we do, the other people act like the ungrateful jerks they are.

In other words, the people using the software itself often do not understand the process of software development in any shape or form. I was barely able to do Java a couple semesters ago. I do not have the patience for software development on a regular basis. I get frustrated too easily. However, the people who decide to develop on a regular basis should be treated with a little bit of respect as far as I am concerned. For those who think I am stupid for defending Troy at KDE, then you might want to take a timeout and read this.

So why did I point to a blog entry from helios himself? To make a point, especially one I already made earlier. In a previous entry, Pushing the Glacier, I asked a very hard question about those who sing the praises of FOSS itself, yet they do nothing except sit behind the keyboard all day long. I am talking more than passing out CD's and DVD's. I am talking about helping projects in a constructive manner through bug reports, donations, translation, and most importantly, marketing!

Folks, something big is coming. Very big. If you think for one second that Linspire and Xandros were two insignificant companies that are merely in their last throes, you have another thing coming. If you can not see the pattern right away, do not worry. I shall point it out in a future blog entry. In the meantime, to those who are ungrateful towards the KDE developers: GROW UP!

Older Desktops Are Fun

2008-07-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

In all of the years I have used computers I came to realize how fun desktops are, especially ones that are older. I am not speaking of the two gigahertz systems at all. What I am speaking of includes the old Pentium II's, the old school Celerons, older K6-2's, and more. I am currently running a Dell Optliplex GX400 that has the following:

256 MB of RD-RAM
64 MB NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (AGP)
20 GB Hard Drive
Standard CD-ROM
Floppy
1.5 GHz Pentium 4 Processor
Intel Integrated Audio (well, that's what most systems will see it as...)
Onboard NIC
Plenty of USB ports
Some older ports (parallel/serial)

I am currently running PCLinuxOS 2008 (customized) on this older system. This is the system I am going to run through the ground, grind the pavement, and pound into oblivion. In other words, I am going to attempt to make every customization I can think of. I have already started doing just that with the wallpaper, a custom skin for Audacious, and Firefox 3 theme. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop them here. What I am looking for is the following:

How to change the small menu graphic in KDE (similar to the start button in Windows).
How to change the graphic that shows up to the left in KDE's main menu when the button for said menu is clicked.
Changing the bootsplash for PCLinuxOS

That is all for now. The last thing I may be able to find for myself. What I may have trouble with is the first two.

Time for Some Revision

2008-06-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

More than likely, the previous post will be appearing in the next issue of THE *NIXED REPORT. I will polish it a little bit more, because I kept seeing an issue with word usage errors and such. Besides, there are points that I need to add to the article itself. I plan using this blog a bit more often as well. That is all for now.

Pushing the Glacier

2008-06-26T02:55:00.001-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Free and Open Source Software is a wonderful thing. I use it everyday. Whether it is OpenOffice.org for writing this article, using Firefox to do research for this article, or using VideoLAN to listen to some streaming Internet radio courtesy of Ormgas, I know that I am saving money, time, and hard disk space by not using the commercial alternatives. For the rest of my college career, I no longer need to pay for expensive software. I am not the only one who has come to this realization.

According to the Associated Press in May of 2002, key segments of the U.S. Federal Government rely on computers in which the operating system utilizes Linux as the kernel of choice. As recently as December of last year, the New York Stock Exchange has moved to platforms that utilize the Linux kernel. Several hundreds of systems were purchased so that they could be independent from other technologies. It is quite clear from the two examples that parts of government and business are getting it. I am sure more are going to understand the meaning behind computing freedom, but how can it be spread?

Jeremiah T. Gray from Linux Insider has given an interesting suggestion: build the educational base. Keep that in mind for later. One of the issues at hand is the great Catch 22:

Organizations will only use FOSS if there are budget constraints.
The resources lack for professional consultants and administrators.
Resentment grows because FOSS is now seen as a distraction from getting things done.
That means less experience for potential consultants and administrators.
Organizations are reluctant to utilize FOSS platforms.

Gray said it best:

"Since today's newbies are tomorrow's leading engineers, the sooner we get the tools in place to teach them the important lessons they will need in the field, the sooner we can start using the amazing software they will eventually develop."

This educational base is very important, especially considering Jim Whitehurst has admitted that his company, Red Hat is not the easiest company to do business with. The technology is great, but Whitehurst sees an efficiency problem. Whether it is dealing with customers in a better way or encouraging other companies to share their source code so that development time is not wasted on software that may not be used, one thing will be a deciding factor in Red Hat's success under his leadership: how educated is the user base? More importantly, how can the user base be effectively educated?

Back in the 1980's, Apple was quite dominant in the educational sector. However, they were a recognizable brand outside of the educational sector. They started outside of the educational sector. Yes, it helped that one could find an Apple in school when they were younger. However, if one were to read Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, they would soon realize that a user base had to be established. The fact they appeared in the educational sector shows that it was a success.

So in that same vein, how can more of a user base be built? When enough people become educated, things are brought into the educational sector. In the case of FOSS-based platforms, businesses and government groups are already utilizing FOSS itself. The foot is already in the door, unlike Apple back in the day when they exploded after the education sector picked up their hardware and ran with it. This is where I am seeing a problem, and some questions need to be asked.

As it stands now, there are three projects currently in operation that are very noble. In one case, it has already impacted the entire world. For all of the projects, they could be the beginning of something wonderful.

The School

Imagine if you will a large underfunded school district. Now imagine said school's principal being interested in the possibility of using FOSS on their computers. What would your reaction be if you were to see such a story appear in your favorite newspaper, on your favorite news channel, or on your favorite FOSS news website? How would you know if it has not?

Enter Christian Einfeldt of the Digital Tipping Point. It is a project that has the aim of creating a documentary of FOSS entering into multiple cultures of this world. Right now, he is working with a school on migrating to a FOSS-based platform. Due to the Iowa situation concerning Microsoft, said school got some money as part of the anti-trust settlement, hence why so many have thanked the state for staying with the lawsuit for so long.

This settlement allowed for said school district to purchase machines from ZaReason, as noted in Enfeldt's Slashdot journal. However, Apple is attempting to charm the district as well, so the machines that they had at the time were not stacking up too well compared to a MacBook. A notorious blogger went out of their way to attempt to tell the world about it. It was then picked up by LXer and soon appeared on my site. Where was everyone else?

Where was all the other major FOSS news sources? How could they not have noticed that this individual was doing some interesting things on the west coast? Remember, I am speaking of an entire school district that can not be named due to a certain software corporation in the state of Washington who probably would not want to lose any customers from the education sector. Were it not for this notorious blogger, I would not have known about this project myself, nor would I have covered it on my own site.

Einfeldt is at a potential tipping point as it were for adoption of FOSS on a mass scale. Some call it the domino effect for a reason. When one goes, so follows the rest. Why were we not paying attention to what he was doing all of this time? There are plenty of people out there who love FOSS to death and will sing its praises all day long, which is great. However, why not also spread the word on projects that could cause such a tipping point to occur?

I once talked to the high school principal of my school in Leeton, Missouri. I asked them about considering something other than Microsoft products for the workstations. I was starting to see the potential at the time of software in which people could have access to the source code. I was told that it was Novell's Netware technology that kept them on a Windows platform. Lots of schools in my time as a high school student used Netware technology with Microsoft Windows for their technology needs. Even if they switched to SuSE, it would not have meant much as it is to this day a very small district.

California has plenty of larger school districts though. It has been over two weeks since I read about the project in and of itself. Why were there so few publications out there taking a look at it? There is still an opportunity to make this thing go viral, and I would love it if it were spread all over the web. The question is whether or not the keyboard commandos out there are willing to lift a finger to help out this volunteer on the west coast by raising awareness of such an interesting thing, or are they going to be too concerned with the needs of their own CPU to even care?

The Town

While a school is on the verge of potentially converting to FOSS, there is a town in the same state by the name of Felton. The plan is to have an entire town Microsoft free for at least a week in July. If all goes well, it could go on for months on end. Let me ask you, the dear reader this: would it not be a cool thing to wake up one morning and read in your newspaper that an entire town said goodbye to Microsoft? Speaking of press, why has there been such a lack of press on this?

Carla Schroeder briefly covered it on O'Reilly. Danijel Orsolic also interviewed the people involved for said project which can be read on the Nuxified website. Other than that, there is a brief mention on FSDaily, a comment on the part of a snarky blogger, an episode of The Linux Link Tech Show talking about it, and mentions through feeds on various sites, there has been no mention of said project. Where are the major FOSS news publications? Why are they not even looking at the possibility of an entire town being converted to FOSS, even if it only lasts one week?

There are plenty of high name participants too. They include OpenOffice.org and Codeweavers. The *nix distributions that are also being represented include Mandriva, Mepis, AntiX, Wolvix, Fedora, and Ubuntu. They are fairly well known too. Again, where is the FOSS press on this, and why are they dropping the ball?

Without enough press, an informed public can not know what a project does, and what it requires to get the job done. There are times when making the most noise does not produce the loudest result. The silence from the major FOSS publications out there has been quite deafening. I understand the phrase, “Silence is Golden,” but would they be taking a bit too far in this instance? Will they stop staring at Big Iron for five minutes to take a look at spreading FOSS onto the desktop?

The Generous Man

The Golden State itself has been quite the theme in this article, and it in the case of James Burgett, it shall be so once again. This is an individual who finds a use for technology that has been discarded, because previous owners no longer had a use for it. He has also given out computers to the disadvantaged. The Alameda Computer Resource Center itself has been seen as an inspiration. Without it, we may never have a vendor such as ZaReason. The project was already getting attention from the mass media in general, but when a crisis hit them, coverage spiked.

A bit of an explanation is in order. I screwed up in the past concerning ACCRC. I saw it posted on ZaReason's website one day, then went off in the *NIXEDBLOG about it. I have since removed the post after rightly being ripped to shreds. Long story short, I leaped before I looked, but I digress.

The whole point of writing about the ACCRC itself was to raise another question. Why did it take such a crisis to get so many people to pay attention to such a wonderful project? There was great coverage by various outlets beforehand, but after being threatened by the state agency in question, it obviously got more attention. Some could argue that his popularity went up on CNN due to this. How major does a potential threat have to be before people start caring for real about such a project.

Yes, once again, I am talking about the (lack of) press coverage as of late on ACCRC. Hey, I understand being a bit hesitant due to Burgett's specific request concerning copyrights, but come on! Since when did we have the right to own somebody's words, thoughts, feelings, and dreams? I would like to think never, but that would be my naive side talking. I myself would have no problem giving the organization itself the right to redistribute anything as far as interviews go (assuming I can land one... which would be assuming that Mr. Burgett is no longer upset with me... assuming I had the courage to ask, which I lack at the moment in this case).

Now is the time to turn my attention away from the press in the moment and talk directly to you. Yes I mean you, the one reading this. By that I also mean those who are a part of the whole FOSS movement? There is a very important question I need to ask of all of you.

Where In the World Have You Been?

After watching the efforts of advocates of FOSS for quite some time, I can now see how all the effort put into projects like putting the Tux logo onto a race car can feel like pushing a glacier with the others sitting on top of said glacier laughing at you. Of course, this can apply to other projects, where it feels like two steps forward, three steps back. The lack of caring on the part of a massive crowd can be frustrating, especially when at least one prestigious news discussion site refuses to talk about some efforts of promotion. Do we really want FOSS to become more widespread or do we want it to simply happen by magic? Or do we really care about preventing Microsoft from dominating the entire world with their proprietary products?

Now I know there are those out there who have done their best in promoting FOSS. There are also those who have donated to the projects they saw as worthy of receiving a monetary incentive to keep going. There are also those who are on a very tight budget, and thus supporting such projects with time and/or money may be out of the question. Feel free to turn a blind eye for the next few paragraphs, since I am not aiming this at you.

Are We Trying to Proliferate FOSS or Are We at War Against Self Preservation?

Considering that Microsoft is attempting to make another play in Asia itself, one could come to the conclusion that they are afraid of FOSS itself, whether it be Linux, GNU, and other forms of software that are not locked down, but free to be scrutinized and modified as anyone sees fit. What does that tell you? It tells me that unless FOSS is marketed to those not familiar with it, it will eventually start fading away. Forget about the distro wars for a moment, the arguments over Mono, feuds between distros, and feuds between bloggers and distros. This is not doing anybody any good right now.

What I am asking is a very difficult question to ask. Do you really, truly support FOSS and the philosophy behind it or are you more interested in getting the Internet equivalent of a hand out? Without all the blood, sweat, and tears of the various developers around the world, you would not have the polished product running on your computer at all. I know there are going to be all kinds of “reasons” for either not paying attention the three efforts I listed above. Allow me to address the potential “reasons” now.

Shooting Down the Excuses

I can hear it now. Some may say, “Not my country, so why should I care?” I am not saying you should care about the projects listed earlier. Why not support local projects that do not involve sucking up to Big Iron or preaching to the choir? There are plenty of things to do like starting a computer lab, an Internet cafe, and more.

I can see someone stating that they do not particularly care for one of the individuals. That is perfectly okay by me. Why not support something you do agree with instead of wasting your time telling the person you do not like why they are doing things wrong? If we had more constructive things happening as opposed to people fighting each other all the time due to disagreements in philosophy, then FOSS would have a more prominent position in the world today. Now is the time to stop being so timid in my humble opinion when it comes to Free and Open Source Software.

Please read over this article, pass it around to your friends, talk about it, discuss it, and think about it. Mark Shuttleworth once told me during the attempt to plaster Tux on a race car that it would be really cool if the community as a whole could get the thing happening. So why am I not scrutinizing his comment to me? Perhaps it was because he had a valid point, and it is one that Jeremiah T. Gray shared in the article I cited earlier. The seeds need to be planted, but are enough people going to kick the digital-handout mentality?

Only time will tell it seems.

Morals, Force, and Freedomware.....!

2008-06-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Danijel Orsolic has posted a very interesting blog which can be read here. Thanks to that, a discussion ensued on another site, and unfortunately, due to that site's Terms of Service, the thread was deleted. I am now getting a better understanding thanks to all of this. This understanding shall be a helpful factor in writing that article. Thanks Danijel. I greatly appreciate it.

Some Tough Questions Coming Soon.

2008-06-25T15:46:00.001-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

This will not be an easy task to accomplish. Quite the contrary. You see, I myself have been trying to figure out how to write this next article which will be posted on multiple blogs for maximum exposure possible. I will be doing so at a time in which I will be busy with something else by the time it is published. In other words, after getting this blasted thing published, I need some room to breath for a bit.

I have run into a bit of writer's block at the moment. Luckily, I have the day free so I can focus. Anyway, keep your eye on this blog, because I intend to ask something of the FOSS community... and it is not going to be an easy task.

Working Environment Almost Complete

2008-05-30T18:49:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED!

I am experimenting with VirtualBox 1.6 at the moment and will be using it quite extensively for THE *NIXED REPORT. Upon realizing that distro hopping can be a real pain when it comes to data, I figured it would be so much easier if I were to create a virtual machine with Debian Etch. I am nearing my feature freeze per se.

I have the office suite and web programs I need. I don't have the latest versions of everything, but that's not the point. The point is I want to be able to have a consistent environment to work in. When the freeze happens, I won't update the virtual system. It will stay as is. :)

Video or No?

I'll see if video editing can be done via VirtualBox. I know photos are doable though. I'll give that a try and see if it works.

The Declaration of Lindependence

2008-05-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

As our effort comes closer, Larry Cafiero of HeliOS Solutions West has penned a sincere and humbling declaration. Some are sure to take offence to the obvious parallels between this and the original document.

It is the highest living honor one can render...your offence should be voiced in that it hasn't been done until now.

What is LINdependence 2008?

Declaration of Lindependence

When in the course of digital events, it becomes necessary for the people to dissolve the proprietary bonds which have connected them with their computer operating systems and other proprietary software.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all computer users are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are the pursuit of control of their digital experience: the right to choose their software, the right to run a program for any purpose, the right to study and adapt the program to one’s needs, the right to redistribute copies to help your neighbor and the freedom to improve the program and redistribute the improvements to the public for the benefit of all.

That whenever any form of corporate software hegemony becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to abolish it and institute a new system, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form that ensures digital choice and digital freedom.

When a long train of abuses and usurpations by proprietary softtware provided by multinational corporations design to subject computer users to digital despotism, it is the computer user’s right — it is their duty — to throw off this system, and to provide new safeguards for their future digital freedom.

We, therefore, the computer users of the world solemnly publish and declare that all computer users ought to be free and independent of proprietary software; that they are absolved from all allegiances to, and all political and social connection to, proprietary software, and claim all rights digital freedom provides. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of the divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our sacred honor.

You may go here to sign...

All-Righty Then - Thank you Larry.

Welcome to 64-bit Land!

2008-05-02T13:44:00.001-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Well, this is the first time I tried this ever. You see, I am running Ubuntu 8.04 LTS 64-bit on my desktop system. It took forever to get my Dell LCD monitor working (it can be finicky at times). The system seems to be running fine, but... it is the first time ever that I am running a 64-bit OS on my Athlon64 system. Hopefully, everything will run smoother than ever, but time will tell on that. So other than RAM capacity, what is the different between 32-bit and 64-bit systems? Does it mean better performance? Feel free to comment.

Codeweavers Gives Linux Project a Boost

2008-04-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

CodeWeavers Inc., the leading manufacturer of Windows to Linux software compatibility products, announced today its support for Lindependence ’08, which involves migrating the entire town of Felton, CA to the Linux operating system. “We’re pleased to provide our CrossOver products for this effort,” said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers’ President and CEO. “We think that these sorts of migration efforts vividly demonstrate that Linux is ready for prime time, and is a lot easier to use than many people might think. We’re proud to be helping this effort in any way we can.”

CodeWeavers will be making its award-winning CrossOver software—which makes it possible to run Windows software applications on Linux PCs without needing a Windows OS license—available to every computer user in Felton. “If the citizens of Felton are ready to make the effort,” said White, “We want to help them as much as possible. CrossOver is a great way to have your cake and eat it, too. With CrossOver, we predict that many folks in Felton will hardly know they’ve been migrated, because they’ll still be running the Windows software they love, but without the headaches of Windows.”

To All the Little Guys Out There.

2008-04-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

In an effort to bring attention to some of the lesser known distros out there, a new e-mail address has been created. It may be used for purposes of announcing a new release, updates, news, and more. One question that comes to mind may be, "What is the point to all of this?" There are already distro news sites such as Distrowatch, but some distributions are bound to not be listed on even the most mammoth of sites. There are distros out there that are not getting attention, despite potential technical merit. In other words, there is a void that needs to be filled.

For those who are a part of a distro and who want to make announcements concerning their distro, here is the e-mail address: distros@thenixedreport.com. The following is a list of subject lines that may be used to simply communication:

Release: Whether it is alpha or a final release. By using this in your subject line, you are indicating that a distro has been released.
Update: This can pertain to updates for the distro in question, such as new versions of software suites or security updates. Since online repositories are often used, information pertaining to repository updates, such as changing repository addresses and more, may also use this word in their subject line.
Site: Any news pertaining to the distro's website may use this word.
Staff: Any news pertaining to changes in developers, webmasters, etc... This can come in handy when announcing a new developer coming on board or a new leader being elected (depending on the distro).

Of course, when using either of the above, it may be a good idea to indicate the name of the distro before the word. The format would be as follows: [Distro Name] [News Type] For example, if Linux Mint were about to change the location of one of their repositories, the following would work: Mint Update

Information on Released Distros

If a new release is available, then the version number of said distro should suffice. However, it is recommended to offer as much information as possible. For example, what version of the Linux kernel does it use? If a different kernel is used altogether (other than Linux) then what version is that kernel? Which web browser is included? What about e-mail clients and office suites? How about the version of X.org or XFree86?

Where that Information Goes

The information provided will be posted in the news section on THE *NIXED REPORT website. If a longer release is available on the distro's website, a link will be created so the rest of the announcement can be read.

Distro Feature: Shift Linux

2008-03-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Not every distro out there is well known. One can even go so far as to declare that some of them have active opposition against them. It is these little guys that do not always have the coverage that they deserve. So starting with this blog post, I will raise awareness of an interesting journey begun by Neowin forum members.

Shift Linux is a distribution that was formerly based on Morphix, but now has an Ubuntu base. Their 0.6.5 release has begun the journey towards 1.0 status. Here's a bit from their release announcement:

Shift Linux 0.6.5 is the first public preview release of Shift Linux One. The version number may be confusing, but the team is focused on a solid 1.0 release soon. Shift Linux comes in 3 different flavors, Gnome, Lite, and KDE. All 3 are based on brand-new Ubuntu Hardy Beta 1 packages.

We have also added in our own customizations such as the Shift Original theme in Gnome, present in 0.5 and 0.6, Shift Linux wallpaper, and other packages not included in the Ubuntu release, such as Gnome-Do, as seen in the screenshots. This release is installable. Shift is a free, GPL-based Linux distribution that can be freely distributed or modified.

There are three editions: GNOME, Lite, and KDE. So whatever your favorite desktop environment is, one of the three CD's will likely cover it. If not, then you are free to pick your own desktop environment, since this is Ubuntu-based.

Again, I have not tested this distro myself. What I find interesting is the concept of a journey. The whole project has the aim of being a learning experience. So what about the naysayers who may not like that they are not doing this distro from scratch? The team simply asks for said distro not to be attacked, but constructive criticism is more than welcome. Want to find out more? You can visit their website or go to their section of the Neowin Community.

FOSS Advocate Needs A Little Boost!

2008-03-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

This article is cross posted, so take note.

I wish I did not have to do this. I was requested not to make a public spectacle of it, but as it turns out, somebody else has done it for me. In the WE ARE *NIXED blog, I talked about how a certain vehicle's transmission went upchuck. They still need to get the blasted thing replaced, but are in need of funds in order to do so. That is why I am going to make a spectacle of this.

Go ahead.

Laugh at me if you will. However, I have never seen a person with the passion that they have for helping out kids who need a computer to do their assignments now that many schools down in Texas are requiring one or the alternative....alternate assignments, which can be a humiliating thing. I have also never seen a FOSS advocate with so much energy. Yes, I am making a spectacle of this, because there are times when a steering wheel needs to be yanked in times of an emergency. This is one of them.

Any situation can be assessed as pretty dire when it involves a vehicle that just will not budge anymore. However, when the wife of the advocate starts pleading for assistance, then that should be an indication of how dire said situation actually is. I myself have no choice but to follow the orders of helios. I was asked not to give a single drop in that bucket at this point. I have no choice, because I am completely broke until Thursday. However, what I can do will be more powerful than any amount of cash I can drop down in the near future. By clicking here, you will be taken to the appropriate page for donation purposes. So please, if you can, help this person out a little bit.

Of Silver Linings and Sterling Friendships

2008-03-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

Running a new business while trying to work a full-time job can be a bit of a challenge. Throw in the fact that you are also the Director and President of a charity that builds computers for disadvantaged children, and you just may find that your time is stretched every bit as far as your finances.

It's critical that you keep all of those things in their own boxes...letting any of one spill into any of another can be troublesome.

Or illegal...depending on the commodity/element carelessly sloshed.

Such is my life and the choices I have made therein...there are no complaints here...

It's hard to sympathize with self-inflicted wounds.

Recently I came to you and told you about one of our customers. Her name is Paula and bless her little heart, Paula is a danger to herself and society when seated behind a connected, competent computer. I told you of some of her exploits during that previous report...I didn't tell you the half of it.

See, there's a thin line between regaling your audience with tales of those who can physically harm themselves with a computer and flat out making fun of their ignorance. Some of you have accused me of doing the latter. You know what...you might be right.

I do take a bit of pleasure in telling you just how hair-brained this person can be. I completely and with great measure, enjoy telling you how this person could bypass every safeguard Microsoft put into place and allow her to hose her system.

Gee, just like Linux...it assumed you knew what you were doing and let you delete mission-critical files.

Imagine that.

But helios, the audacity of someone who supposedly "cares" about the victims of Microsoft greed, and comes to his audience then seemingly makes fun of her...thouroughly enjoying it. You call yourself a "professional?" You walk away from that poor person for days without even calling her to make sure everything is ok?

You bet your idealistic, holier-than-though backside I did.

Right after I assigned Ryan Foster her case so I could go build and install 2 computers for
K4K clients. There are only so many hours in the day and only one helios (some sigh with relief).

Set that self-rightous indignation down long enough to grab your calculator and do the math...it's fairly easy.

Ryan did a great job with her too I sent him back out after she murdered her Vista file system and had him install Mandriva on it.

Should anyone be paying attention, it's a 47 mile round trip.
Those miles add up at $3.20 cents a gallon, especially when driving
a 3/4 ton 15 passenger van.

Oh, it was Mandriva Power Pack. I paid for it by the way.

It was money well spent in this case. I in essence, payed a ridiculously low price
so Mandriva Tech Support could help her when she needed it.

Sure she can call me when she wants to but she won't I don't get many really good ideas in my life, but I consider this one in particular a stroke of brilliance.

As opposed to the massive stroke I would have had everytime I saw her phone number on my caller ID.

By the way...In that few days I delegated her account over to Ryan...? She was limited to 90 minutes every three days (as per our contract, not by me). This "idiot" can now edit her Xorg file to accomodate her bastardized PNY Nvidia graphics card, she can now edit her menu.lst file to fix the Windows partition she hoses weekly and she can find her daily and weekly cron files.

Thank Mighty Heaven above that her wireless worked out of the box. Thank You Mandriva.

That is what is accomplished when you don't insist on hand-holding and the arse-powdering of new Linux Users.

She actually had to go to a neighbor's house and download then burn a live Mint CD so she could have computer and internet access while she was waiting for us to come back out and reinstall her system for her.

A reinstall she was more than happy to pay for...since she busted the dickens out of the
previous one.

The system she completely hosed by the way...on numerous occassions.

The one that was working flawlessly when we left.

It is stated on our contract/invoice thusly:

"When HeliOS Solutions leaves your residence or place of business, your new Linux System will be working at an optimum level. Should you break or render your system unusable by accessing the Root account and altering any of the configuration files listed below, HeliOS Solutions is not responsible for fixing it. We will, for a fee, be happy to return and make the necessary repairs."

You know...I think everyone in this business should have at least one Paula in their active customer roles at any given time. My friend and associate is correct...just how "dumb" can you consider someone to be who digs their fingernails into the dirt and trys to see how the roots work? That is a trait to be fostered, not maligned.

Dumb indeed.

Some of you are of the opinion I did just that...impune her good name.

Well let me do the unthinkable here. Get your attorney on speed-dial. Ok, ready to be outraged to the point of litigation? I enjoy this way too much.

This airhead, this destroyer of bits-n-bytes has a last name. Up until now, I didn't use it because I didn't want to impune or embarrass her...but that's changed now. This Computer disaster in a skirt is named Paula Richards. She is a Research Physician with a well-known national agency that has the word "disease" in their name. She can do some of the dumbest, the most abhorent and borderline obscene things to a computer I've yet to witness.

In her moments of unadulterated ditzy-ness, she can do some amazingly
stupid things to her computer. In a fit of kindness, I've omitted some of the
most egregious.

If she ever stopped to think about what she is doing, chances are she wouldn't do
the idiotic things she does, but she's always had someone to come bail her out.

Not now.
In the end it's been a fair trade-off. She learned to think before she clicks and I've
learned to see the diamond under the dirt.

Ouch!

She didn't like me saying she does obscene things with or to a computer, lest you get
the wrong idea about her. She's sitting right beside me and she nailed me in the ribs
with her bony little knuckles as I typed the above line.

She's been here the whole time, commenting while I type.

The jab in the ribs was for the "obscene" comment.

Yep, she's watched my type this whole blog...on HER computer.

The one SHE has fixed, the one SHE has tweaked, broken, then tweaked again
to her liking. We're here to get some information on a family she gave us that might qualify for one of our K4K machines.

She has offered to sponsor the family to get them a computer.

Grace of this magnitude forgives volumes of ditz-hood. I thought I'd help finalize her new install while I was here.

Call it tough love, call it smart business...call it what you want, but in it all, some of us need to learn something if we are going to work this business.

Make that person fix their own problems...if they have the drive to go in and find out how to break it, they have the obligation to go in and fix it...or at least be the one to click the mouse as
you walk them through the steps...maybe.

Paula Richards is just such a self-described airhhead.

And yes...she said it's ok to say...she's blond and proudly perpetuates the stereotype. And in the next moment, she will dumbfound you with her knowledge of the molecular structure of Anthrax. She's smarter than 8 combined helios'. Maybe 10. She has
taken the manipulation of her "blondness" to a level of Mensa proportions. And by the way,
she comfortably qualifies to be in that little club...she just doesn't see the point. She is afraid
stuffy and pretentious behavior may be contagious.

And she enjoys catching people, especially men; in their web of pre-conceived images
and then devistating them with her true self.

We can count ourselves fortunate that we don't run into any of that in our circles...or in our
comments.

Now say goodnight Paula. We're going to say the magic words now.

"Good-night everyone".

Now say the magick words Dr. Richards.

"All-Righty Then."

(Whadda geek)

She's gonna do just fine.

My turn...

Hey...I think we just did a blog duet.

All-righty Then.

Post Script...

Dr. Richards is impressed not only with the GNU/Linux operating system, but by the intelligence, compassion and open friendliness of the Linux Community. I think we can count
on her support in the future by helping us educate a Windows-bound world in the joys of true
computing freedom. Thanks Doctor...thanks.

Transmission of helios Goes Upchuck!

2008-03-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

Komputers4Kids is a project of Ken "helios" Starks, who is also an author on this blog. The goal is quite simple, yet challenging: to get computers into the hands of kids who need them, because many school districts down in Texas are requiring more and more assignments to be done on a computer. The K4K team managed to obtain a van to transport plenty of hardware and other supplies from place to place, but.... the transmission upchucked outside of Dallas, and yes folks, I have seen those roads. I saw them when I went to A-kon one year, and trust me when I say that traffic can be brutal at the wrong time of day.

Anyhow, Starks and the K4K crew could use some help in getting the vehicle repaired. They are asking for $600 USD, which can be donated by clicking here. So why am I not plastering this all over the place? There is no need t make a public spectacle of it, so if you want to spread the word, just e-mail it to your friends instead.

Update on the Website!

2008-03-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED!

This will likely be cross-posted. I have updated the website to where it is now a portal. For now, there will be four sections on said portal:

News Area: This is where the Content Management System (CMS) is at. News from multiple avenues will be posted there. I will warn you that signing up is intentionally disabled to prevent spam bots from infesting the site.
*NIXEDBLOG: The site's blog, which uses WordPress, will still remain on the website.
Forums: Trust me when I say this.... the forums will become more active in the future.
WE ARE *NIXED: That's right. A link to this blog is on the portal as well. How is that for keeping things simple?

I have not figured out what software I am going to use yet. I am torn between OpenOffice.org and Scribus. The purpose of the WE ARE *NIXED blog is to chronicle success stories concerning migrations to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) platforms and applications. It is a very specific focus, and I am currently looking for more authors. So please let me know if you are interested. Thank you for your time.

You only know good when you've seen bad...

2008-03-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

Thomas has been kind enough to ask me to guest blog on his new endeavor and I am glad to do so. You will notice that I have increased my postings on the Blogger site as opposed to the Serendipity blog...reasons are many and convenience is high on the list. Hint to anyone that cares...if there is anything on the old blog of helios you would like...now's the time to get it.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. This is the only place it will be noted.

Now...We're talking about important things here. Success is important to many. Today's success that belongs to you pays dividends down the road to others, at least in many cases. I've rarely seen it work otherwise. But as in everything, "success" is relative. It is my contention that success is only measured by the depths of previous failures. Those who are given success rarely understand the value of their position.

Paula taught me how to gauge success...at least in what I do.

Paula is not an unintelligent woman. She holds a PhD. in her field and a famous publication relevant to her profession recently published a paper of hers. No, Paula isn't stupid by any measure. Maybe you can help me with the descriptors here.

HeliOS Solutions does in-home and onsite installs for home users and businesses. Our services are growing daily as is our client list. What once was an idea laughed at by many in the community is beginning to look like it may work. One of the many phone calls last Monday was from Paula. She wanted help with her computer. But it wasn't exactly what we were used to fielding.

Sbe was desperate to have us fix her existing Windows machine. She stated that she had so many viruses on it that it would rarely boot but when it did, it was almost useless. I explained to her that "We don't do Windows" and gave her a brief explanation of what we did and how she could benefit.

No sale...she thanked us and hung up.

Then called back two days later.

She wasn't kidding about the viruses. ClamAV reported 163 viruses active and we lost count of spyware applications somewhere around 400. It was truly a sight to behold. I have never seen viruses fight each other for dominance. I booted the live cd while she sat next to me and for 20 minutes, I showed her how Linux worked. When I thought she was comfortable with it, I let her have the chair.

Sale made. Three hours of careful instruction and one happy customer.

I wish I could just give her the money back...I honestly wish it were that easy.

Paula's first free "support call" came to my cell phone twenty minutes after I left her Town House.

"I've got another virus. I thought you told me I couldn't get a virus".

"No Paula, I don't think you do have a virus...if you do, you and I are about to be famous. What is going on?"

Unfortunately, she told me. I had set her up with a perfect Wine install. She had a bit of software that needed to run under wine and I had shown her how to install within that environment. Apparently, I wasn't specific enough. It never occurred to Paula that the .exe programs she had used on her XP machine were the vehicles for many of her present viruses. To her, it was perfectly fine to use those same .exe's...after all, she was in Linux, right?

I got there within the same hour and checked her machine. Yep...Windows viruses will reside and create the same havoc within a Wine environment. Now, I've seen it with my own eyes. This time I reinstalled for her and made sure I found all the infected .exe's on the Windows side and deleted them. Since I had made her a live CD of her updated installation, it was easy to get back up to speed. With words of advice and caution I left her with a perfectly functioning Linux Box.

To my best estimation, that lasted about 79 hours.

she called me a bit after 9 pm. Long story short, she decided to go 733t on me and hack her xorg file. While I was glad she got over her fear of the command line, I wasn't particularly happy with the fact that she hadn't backed up her original xorg.conf.

And yes...we provide explicit instructions on how to do so and the importance of doing so.

Instructions she decided to ignore.

"This is not a problem Paula." I spoke with the confidence of a man not seeing the bus coming up on his blind spot.

Doing about 110 mph.

"I want you to insert that disk I gave you...your back up disk. When it boots we are going to copy over..."

"I don't have that disk anymore."

"What do you mean? Did you lose it?"

She was quiet for about two seconds longer than I was comfortable with. I knew by the lapse that it was bad news.

It was.

"well, my boyfriend needed a copy of my music files and my thumb drive isn't working so I thought I could use the space on that disk to copy them over. Now all there is on the disk is that music. I didn't know it would erase the other stuff."

The "other stuff" was her backup disk. I told her that she needed to get a copy of that live cd from the Internet and once she had it, she was to copy over the xorg.conf file from that one to her /etc/X11/ folder. She asked me if I would make her a copy and bring it over.

I said no. She was going to have to learn to do these things on her own. If she broke it, she needed to learn how to fix it.

I didn't hear anything from Paula for over a week. No news is good news as far as she is concerned and most of the scars from her experience were healing nicely...I even stopped having the nightmares in a few days. All was returning to normal. Lessons learned? Don't make the customer backup disk from a writable medium, and always make backups of their critical files...oh let's say...xorg and grub/lilo conf files. That would seem to be a good idea.

I knew from the caller ID that it was her. That number had deeply burned itself into my awareness. I thought I noted a slight tremble in my hand as I reached for the phone.

Paula's boyfriend broke down and bought her a brand new Vista Computer from Dell. In her wisdom, and in remembering how I had told her that Mcaffee Antivirus was the Anti-Christ, she decided to remove it from her computer. Oh no...not through add/remove programs. Vista was way too different and she didn't know how to find the control panel so she just went through all her files and anything that remotely sounded like "Mcaffee" or "Norton" was deleted.

She complained that now it wouldn't boot...not even in safe mode and would I mind coming over with another Linux disk and fix it.

I am weighing that possibility now against consuming copious amounts of alcohol on a regular basis...I don't know, maybe even a venture into the darker side of pharmaceuticals. Realizing either choice can be destructive, I am now calculating which will be the safer venture.

I have a friend who is not only a Geek Extraordinaire..she is an Author in her own right and one of the most brilliant network admins I've the pleasure to know. We have one point of contention between us though. She contends that some people should never be allowed to touch a computer...ever. Sanctions so severe I cannot name them here should be imposed should they breach that restriction. I chastised her repeatedly for these beliefs...How narrow-minded she had become...that was just wrong to think that way.

No my friend. I stand with you on that side of the fence now, fully in agreement and apologizing for my own narrow view of the world and my trust in the human condition.

Some people should NEVER be allowed to touch a computer and I don't care what degrees hang on their wall.

Now...I have an appointment with my psychologist. It seems I break out in nasty hives every time the phone rings.

All-righty Then

h

New Contributor On Board!

2008-03-07T18:03:00.000-08:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED!

We are going to be having a new contributor soon. It's none other than helios himself, one of the most passionate *nixed advocates out there. He has been pushing Linux-based operating systems for quite some time now, and he could very well post some interesting success stories.

So welcome helios! Woot!

Some changes to be made to the website.

2008-03-07T00:30:00.000-08:00

If you've looked at THE *NIXED REPORT website for the past couple of months, you'll know that it has all stagnated. I left things where they were at for quite a while. I'm thinking about starting things anew, and in order to do that, I'll have to set up some easy way to update and edit the site itself.

That means I will not be doing HTML as much through KompoZer, as wonderful a tool as it has been. Note that I said not as much.

In addition, I also have plans to jump into the second volume of the online magazine. Yes, I do have plans to sell subscriptions and e-versions on an issue-by-issue basis. I will also allow for multiple forms of payment in the future. Yes, I will be using the same system that hosed a colleague of mine. However, I will make sure things are much safer on my end. Since no physical items are involved at this point, that is much less of a risk. I will also have waiting periods, as much as it may pain the consumer. In other words, I would wait so many days before I withdrew money from my PayPal account to ensure that everything was on the up and up. If the transaction came from a hijacked account, the money would be readily available to return to the person who was ripped off.

As soon as I am able, I will also set up a Google Checkout account to add an additional payment method so that users who prefer not to use PayPal have an alternative to utilize. I will also utilize Google Ads to help supplement the business side of things.

By the time you have read this, you will more than likely have come from the *NIXEDLOG. I posted here first, and will likely have already posted a reference link in my site blog so that everyone knows about this blog's existence. The main point of this blog is to:

Share success stories of people who have migrated away from proprietary operating systems. Yes, OS X counts as well among the proprietary.
Share stories of investigations/confrontations concerning people taking money from Microsoft. This can include politicians and businessmen.

So in other words, there will be multiple authors on this blog in the future. If pictures can be provided, all the better!

First Post. Woo hoo!

2008-03-06T17:43:00.000-08:00

Thomas Holbrook II | WE ARE *NIXED

March 6, 2008

The idea has been brewing in my mind for quite some time. Just look at this website and watch their videos from YouTube for a better idea of what I am thinking. Last September, I sent an e-mail to helios telling him to keep an eye on We Are Change and see how the mainstream media in general would treat them. Of course, there was a blackout. The point I was illustrating was quite simple: Free and Open Source Software has been mostly blacked out due to large corporate influence. Of course, it can be traced back to one source quite easily, but that is a story for another day.

I also e-mailed Don Paris of Blue GNU, which deals with Free Software news. He told me something that inspired me enough to craft an idea. He told me that it would be interesting to see a similar group but with a focus on technology. Imagine if you would a group of people or multiple individuals confronting major businessmen, figures having control over public education, and other important fields. About what? Free and Open Source Software. Specifically, Linux. There would also be GNU, Firefox, OpenOffice.org, and more. The whole point would be quite simple: confronting those who sold out to a certain corporation in Redmond, Washington. So with that, I have begun a blog entitled WE ARE *NIXED. For now, it will contain mostly writing. However, it would be my pleasure to have stories told in which people promoted FOSS in creative and unconventional ways. So if decide to go for it per se and do said promoting and/or confronting important people to ask those hard hitting questions concerning them, their pocket book, and that company up in Redmond, please feel free to e-mail me at this address:

thenixedreport@gmail.com

(I am using multiple mail providers to familiarize myself with multiple interfaces)