Caffeinated Gonzo!

For later retrieval: Here is the link to Ubuntu’s handy comic book on  upgrading Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) to Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn).

Falko Timme contributed this article on Fedora 6 entitled ”The Perfect Desktop“ to  howtoforge.org.  First in a series, the article is geared towards those who might be considering moving to Linux in the wake of the release of Windows Vista. The aim of Timme’s series is to “show people who are willing to switch to Linux how they can set up a Linux desktop … that fully replaces their Windows desktop.”

“The Perfect Desktop” is a good walk-through of the process.

Personally, I have used Fedora in the past [Presently I am using Ubuntu for my own use although I have been toying with the idea of switching back] as a desktop replacement,  and have been *mostly* happy with the results. I don’t really need to be convinced of it’s utility, although I still have a hard time convincing the family that Linux is a ”friendly” way to go through life.

Articles like this can be very helpful to smooth out the process.  Good job. Falko.

Just in time for the New Year, debianadmin.com has posted a handy guide to installing the latest Debian release, complete with pictures. Now only if it came with a comic book…

See: Debian Etch Beta3 Graphical-mode installation With screenshots

If we want the world to embrace free software, we have to make it beautiful. I’m not talking about inner beauty, not elegance, not ideological purity… pure, unadulterated, raw, visceral, lustful, shallow, skin deep beauty.

~ Mark Shuttleworth

Far from the cold days of computers locked up in dungeons with white lab-coat suited scientists, our relationship with computers have evolved into something more personal and akin to our relationship with our automobiles.  Whether we love computers, or hate them, the biggest influence on how we relate to a computer has more to do with Aesthetics than numbers.  Design is  is an important part of any computing experience. 

Personalization is another important feature. As much as IT Support people hate the idea, very few people use a computer long without at least attempting to personalize their desktop environment in some fashion.

Creative people love the Mac because it is beautiful. Geek’s love Linux because it is tweekable.  Back in the early 1990’s many PC users became Windows users because of two innovations.  Reluctant as they might have been to give up the familiar look and feel of Lotus 1,2,3 and WordPerfect 5.1, secretaries adopted Windows because it had the ability to have a cute desktop and they could play Solitaire when the boss wasn’t looking.

Whether the average home / home office user adopts Windows Vista early will have more to do with aesthetics and available bells and whistles than any perceived gain in productivity or security over Windows XP.

Linux is cool.  If you are a geek that is.  It can even be beautiful at times, but Mr. Shuttleworth is correct when he says that it could use some improvement. 

Aesthetically, I would love it if my PC could look, act and feel more like OS-X. If I could afford to replace all of my Windows software for their OS-X counterparts cheaply, I would switch in a minute. 

Linux when done right is like a cheap vacation from the day to day business world that is my PC experience.  The more beautiful it could be, the happier more fulfilling my little byte-sized vacations could be.

For future reading I am bookmarking A tutorial on using Ubuntu Linux to set up a SAMBA Domain Controller Tutorial on HowToForge.

I am curious enough to plan to put the tutorial to a test at home real soon.

Digging around on one of the social bookmarking web sites today I came across this link for a tutorial on APT-GET for Debian Linux users. The post has been out there a while but I found the tutorial to contain some very useful information well worth a read.

The blog All about Linux is the home of this and many other useful tips, howtos and just plain fun topics related to all things Linux.

Linux is a friend of mine. She's the one I hang out with when I am not at work and I don't really want to be serious. I really like her. She's a lot of fun, but she is not somebody I am going to bring to the office for a tour or talk about at dinner with my straight-laced boss.

It's not that she's too sexy for the office or that I'm afraid that my boss will hit her. Frankly, in spite of all the talk, Linux likes to wear cheap war paint and really isn't as flashy as she'd like you to believe.

Linux is somebody I like the hang out with at home with at home. She's comfortable, she's quiet and she doesn't demand a lot of attention, unlike my other housemates who are Windows boxes.

As for the office… yes, I've taken her there. In fact we have a little thing going in the server room, it's called Asterisk. It's a PBX and no, it's not for phone sex.

Linux is great, she really is, she's just not some body I'd take home to my mother.

It's a good thing I'm already married.

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