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I was stumbling and I found this website, and to save our faithful reader from actually venturing over, I grabbed a screencap:
Something about this struck me as familiar.. where have I seen virtual desktops arranged as a cube before…
Oh right. Linux. Of course, this is deja vu all over again after the whole Mac “Spaces” which sure look an awful lot like Compiz’s Expo plugin. But of course the most important thing to note is that “Deskspace” is $25. Which is.. you know.. $25 more than the entirety of a free Linux distribution.
And people think Linux is all about the terminal.
Feeling good about myself today. I was poking around on the Geetar Freaks website for one reason or another and found this page:
http://geetarfreaks.net/Guide%20-%20Fix%20Casing%20Problem.html
Look closely for the credit :)
Edit Apr 1st, decided to add a screen grab:
His instructions aren't the best but it's still cool :)
Of course, I posted this script on this blog awhile ago, and if you are using Linux, you might find my instructions a little more useful. Sam from Geetar Freaks is a Windows user, and his instructions show it. :P Oh well, no harm done.
I put this under “Linux” even though it’s not really. This is a basic review of the Intel D945GCLF2, which is a nice Mini-ITX board great for a PVR project.
That fan is the downside.
In short, this board is wonderful. The processor packaged with it is a dual core Atom processor that has more than enough juice to crank out basic video playback for a PVR. I couldn’t make the resolution from the VGA port any bigger than 1024×768, but that might have been Windows, and I didn’t mess with it much since I was using the s-video at 800×600 anyway.
The board works completely in Linux with the exception of the s-video which is in progress. There is a patch in the wild that will make it work, and one should expect to see the Intel driver support even that, probably in time for the distribution releases of Fedora 11 and Ubuntu 9.04.
If you’re doing a PVR, don’t get a low-profile case or you’ll get locked into Windows (as I did) as low-profile PCI tv-tuners are few and far between, and ones that work in Linux are either hard to find or nonexistent. PCI-e cards are much more numerous nowadays, and you might want to go for a different board with a PCI-e x1 slot instead.
Now then, the single big downside is the fan on the VGA chip. The thing is a piece of shit. It’s very loud, and mine crapped out after three weeks leaving us with a dead PVR. This is apparently a common occurence with this board, but it’s a cheap fix.
Hear that? Me neither.
This is the Scythe “Mini Kaze.” It’s silent. With this, I can’t hear our new PVR even when the room is quiet, much less with the TV on. It’s about $4.50, and after shipping will come in under $10. If you decide to get this motherboard, order this fan at the same time. You won’t regret it, and it makes the motherboard a perfect Mini-ITX board.
This is something that has bothered me for quite some time.. and it’s not really important, but it’s something that has chewed away at my consciousness since I first installed Linux.
When I installed Linux in 2005, it looked like this:
Linux has come a long way since then visually. We have Compiz now, for one. Linux has the potential to be beautiful, but also customizeable. But it’s having an identity crisis. The first thing people seem to do when they decide to change their Linux to suit them better is go to the internet and see what other users have created. They usually wind up on www.gnome-look.org. But there’s a problem. Let’s go through the 10 most popular Metacity themes for Gnome on gnome-look. The link above will bring you right to this list.
I’m not even going to touch KDE. KDE 3.5.x had a theme called Redmond that looks exactly like Windows, and KDE 4.x looks more and more like Vista with every release. So this is just Gnome. So let’s get started.
- This one isn’t so bad, actually. But the influences of Vista are apparent.
- This is where the fun begins. Can you say “looks like OS X?”
The author apparently disliked OSX's buttons.
- Repeat after me: OS X is prettier than Linux. OS X is prettier than Linux. Except the buttons.
OS X is also just a little too light.
- Noticing a pattern?
Are the stoplight buttons that bad?
- I’m out of snarky remarks about OS X.
This guy apparently only likes the buttons.
- This one looks like Vista, if Vista had come out in 1998. Let me remind the reader that these are the 10 most popular themes downloaded on www.gnome-look.org, which has more themes than one could ever peruse. This is what the people want. Apparently.
Number 6? Really? At least it's somewhat original.
- Repeat after me: Vista is uglier than OS X but prettier than Linux…
Man, this looks usable. I'd love to stare at this screen for hours.
That one isn’t just a Vista clone. The window decorations are Vista.. inspired.. to say the least, but the rest of it is great. Easily my favorite. It’s like what we all wanted computers to look like when we were eight, but wondered why they didn’t. This is why: it gives you a headache. It cuts down on screen space. It’s ugly. I digress.
- I’m still out of OS X jokes. Seriously.
Guys: OS X is really not that great. Seriously.
- FINALLY. This one is actually decent. And guess what? It’s either in the repos or included (I forget which) in Linux Mint. All I’m sure of is that I’ve seen it, and I didn’t download it from here. But: it’s very plain, and it’s.. frankly.. pretty ugly. At least it doesn’t look like Vista or OS X.
Of course, the one that doesn't look like a different OS would be a terminal screenshot. Wtf?
- And finally, number ten is… another OS X clone. This guy likes all of the OS X look though, the buttons and the monotone.
It's Tigeopard! The color of Leopard and the buttons of Tiger! YAY!!
oooh colors
I just hope that I’ve illustrated my point. It’s not that Linux doesn’t have a relatively distinctive look, at least in Gnome. KDE, as I said, just looks like Vista (as of version 4). A few distros have developed a look. Ubuntu is very identifiable (but ugly), Suse is identifiable (and pretty), and Fedora’s artwork team is doing some wonderful work. But the community needs to get with the program. If I wanted my OS to looks like Windows or Mac, I’d use Windows or Mac. I’m OK that these clones exist; it’s cool that it can be done, but why are 90% of user-made themes either clones or exactly the same with one little change? COME ON PEOPLE. Be original!
Linux deserves this. Go make some themes. Make them beautiful. Make them not like OS X, and not like Vista. Seriously.
The FreeBSD installation wasn’t quite painless… the lack of a graphical partitioning tool sent me running back to a Linux boot disk to make sure I didn’t hose my useful Linux Mint install. When setting up the partitions, the new filesystem names were alien to me :(. The install CD didn’t have the driver for my wireless card, so I had to plug in to do the FTP install.
From there the experience reminded me a lot of installing Gentoo, which I guess makes sense because Portage is based on BSD ports. I quickly installed Gnome and GDM and then fought with vim for quite some time. I toughed it out with csh and vi and got a basic install working, but my sound card is still not working, and I haven’t figured out what BSD users do about Flash and whatnot… in any case I’m not really setting up a desktop workstation anyway but it’d still be nice to have my sound card working!
Really all I have to say is: it’s nice to be back in Linux! The experience of having something so familiar (Gnome) running on the alien BSD backend is one that makes me very uneasy. I’m sure it will get easier though, and I won’t pass judgement until I’ve given BSD a fair chance. Because different does not mean worse!
As a Linux advocate, I’m often asked which Linux distribution is my favorite. This isn’t really fair; I find that many of the different distributions have positives and negatives. So let’s cover it in one post. (I may do some of my own screenshots but for now, links to each distribution’s page at The Coding Studio)
What if you’re a Linux newbie? I recommend Linux Mint.
Linux Mint is an Ubuntu derivative that is developed so closely with Ubuntu that you can follow all of the great tutorials in the Ubuntu forums, but already has things like Flash and Java installed so you don’t have to go mucking around in the terminal on first boot. Also, the IRC channel is very active and full of helpful folks waiting to help newbies, and the IRC client in the OS will connect you if you simply open it. Screenshots at The Coding Studio.
What if you want to distribute Linux on the PCs you sell? In this case I recommend Ubuntu.
Ubuntu has exploded with popularity in the last few years, and since it doesn’t package some of the sticky legal situation stuff like Linux Mint does, the vendor can add the cost of mp3 codecs and whatnot on top of their PC, preinstall them everything before they ship, and the customer will be happy regardless of whether he is an experienced Linux user or a newbie. Screenshots at The Coding Studio.
What if you have an old computer or you just want a lightweight system to get the most out of your computer? I have a personal soft spot for Crunchbang Linux, a new Ubuntu derivative using the superfast Openbox Desktop Environment. Crunchbang is slick and eye-pleasing and does its job very well. If you are a Linux newbie with an old computer, however, Xubuntu might be a better choice. Xubuntu is officially supported by Canonical (Ubuntu’s sponsor) and will feel less alien to Windows users. Screenshots for Crunchbang and Xubuntu.
If you’re a big Free and Open Source Software advocate, Fedora may be for you. Fedora is also a great option if you’re more comfortable with Red Hat for one reason or another. In my opinion, PackageKit is much more userfriendly than the update manager in Ubuntu and its derivatives, but installing non-free plugins can be rough. More screenshots via The Coding Studio. If you check out Fedora and you don’t mind installing non-free software, be sure to check out rpmfusion.
And finally, if you want to run a home server, CentOS is the most obvious choice. CentOS combines the stability of Red Hat Enterprise Linux with the low pricetag of free software. Of course, if you end up doing more than hobbyist stuff, the support provided by Red Hat might be worth RHEL’s hefty price tag. Again, CentOS screenshots on The Coding Studio.
This is really easy.
First you have to install openssh-server on one of your machines. You only have to do this once. If you already have openssh, skip this step.
Either run:
sudo apt-get install openssh-server
in your terminal. Or, if you’re a terminal-phobe:
- Open Synaptic, (System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager)
- Click Search, type in “openssh-server”
- Click the check and choose “Mark for Installation”
- Click Apply
- Wait until it finishes and exit Synaptic
Open Nautilus on the other computer. (for the uninformed, that’s your file browser. Click Places->Home Folder in Ubuntu on your panel; in Mint it’s MintMenu->Home Folder)
Hit Ctrl+L when the window opens. A location bar will appear. In it, type
ssh://yourusername@the.ip.address.of.the.remote.machine
Obviously, replace yourusername with your username, and the ip address can be the domain name if the computer has one. Your screen should look similar to this:
Press enter. Insert your password when prompted. You are now connected to the remote machine and may drag-and-drop as usual.
#!, pronounced “Crunchbang” Linux is the newest addition to my Tablet PC that I am striving for. Crunchbang is a lightweight, stripped down Ubuntu derivative. I’m trying to get it to boot from SD; I’ve gotten as far as getting the bootloader to recognize it, but so far it’s hanging while “looking for the root filesystem.”
It’ll be pretty cool when I get it done though, and cutting the HD out of the picture for stuff like note-taking on the tablet should give me a huge battery boost. Expectations aside, there will be updates when it becomes a reality.
I wonder if there’s a market for OS-on-a-card, running for $20 a pop?
I think this would be pretty slick...
Update: Feb 2nd 2009
It seems my BIOS does not support doing this, and although I have /boot installed on my hard drive, launching Crunchbang from GRUB is proving very difficult. I can get the boot to start but it stalls while “looking for root partition” which makes me think I’m missing some driver module for SD.. but I’m unsure and the project might take longer than I had hoped. More updates to come if more success arises.
Actually, this is about Frets on Fire X:
I can beat this one if I'm not taking screenshots...
Frets on Fire X takes the base that Frets on Fire built as an open source clone for PC and makes it awesome. You can get the game for Windows, Mac, or Linux from http://code.google.com/p/fofix/. It’s pretty slick but the download itself doesn’t include any music. However, if you head on over to http://geetarfreaks.webs.com they can hook you up with music from the games and their original note charts. The site is also full of great stuff like themes (make FoFiX look like Guitar Hero or Rock Band) and a tech center for ripping the songs off the games if you, say, find the game for sale used and don’t have a console, and feel uncomfortable about downloading the songs off the site for whatever reason. Disclaimer: The song downloads do seem to be in a gray legal area. The site is not distributing full copies of any copyrighted material, so I think this falls under Fair Use. However, if you get in trouble for this, it is in no way my fault. OK, now that I’ve covered my own hide:
First of all you’re going to need a guitar, and toysrus has one for $20 that works in Windows and Linux. I actually got mine on sale for $10 so if you hit up slickdeals.net you might be able to get it cheaper. That one is Red Octane too so it’s not a cheap knockoff; it’s a great guitar and it’s not expensive. The only drawback is the wire, but the wireless ones just aren’t worth $60+ to me.
See? It even says official.
In Windows you need to go to Google and find the Xbox 360 Controller driver. This guitar uses the same one.
In Linux the guitar is usually plug-and-play, but I had some issues plugging it in before booting. When you plug it in, the light on the guitar should be your only indication. Start FretsOnFire and go into Options->Controls. Start changing the controls and if you can select a control and press a button on the guitar you’re golden. If this doesn’t work, make sure the “joystick” package is installed on your distribution.
Now, if you did download some music from GeetarFreaks and you’re on Mac or Linux the music isn’t going to work, and it’s due to some naming problems. I’ve written a python script (make sure you have python 2.x and not 3k when you run this) that will take their .zips, rename them properly, and organize them. Other than that, follow their how-to. Here is the code for the script:
import string
import os
import zipfile
import shutil
def lowercase() :
contents = os.listdir(".")
for x in contents :
if os.path.isdir(x) :
print "Entering " + x
os.chdir(x)
lowercase()
else :
print "Renaming "+x+" to "+x.lower()
os.rename(x,x.lower())
os.chdir("..")
def unzipall() :
zips = os.listdir("./")
for filename in zips :
if (zipfile.is_zipfile(filename)) :
print "Unzipping "+filename
short = filename[:-4]
os.mkdir(short)
shutil.move(filename, short)
os.chdir(short)
unzip(filename)
os.chdir("..")
song = open(short+"/Song.ini")
for i in song.readlines() :
if (not i.find("Name")) :
Name = i[7:-2]
song.close()
print "Renaming "+short+" to " + Name
os.rename(short,Name)
os.remove(Name+"/"+filename)
else :
print "Skipping "+filename
def unzip(filename) :
fh = open( filename , 'rb')
z = zipfile.ZipFile(fh)
for name in z.namelist():
outfile = open(name, 'wb')
outfile.write(z.read(name))
outfile.close()
fh.close()
unzipall()
lowercase()
print "Finished."
I had the wrong script up for the first day.
Apologies to anyone who tried to use it.This is Python so make sure you keep the indentions. This is known to work in Windows (useful for the mass unzipping) and Linux, and possibly works in Mac OS X. To use:
- Place the script in the same folder as all of the .zips you downloaded from Geetar Freaks.
- In Windows, just put it in something.py and run it.
- In Linux/Mac be sure to put it in a file named something and make it executable (chmod +x something.py), then run it. (./something.py).
- Be careful with this script because it will keep renaming files to the same name but lowercase all the way up the directory tree, so if you put it in /home/ it will rename everything in /home/username/etc/etc/etc/etc but if you just put it in /home/username/etc it will only rename etc/etc/etc :P In that vain: Second Disclaimer: This script is provided as-is with no warranty or copyright (consider it public domain), and if it breaks your computer, that’s your problem, not mine.
Everything not covered here is covered in either the FoFiX howtos and/or the Geetar Freaks “Tech Centre.” This is just what I had to figure out on my own.
Wordy title..
OK so let’s say you’ve written a great backup script, backup.sh and it’s executable (chmod +x backup.sh) and you want it to run automatically when you plug in your external hard drive.
This is pretty hackish, but without learning udev or HAL scripting this is the easiest way to do this.
- Place the script in your home folder.
- Go to your desktop.
- Right-click and choose ‘Create Launcher’.
- Enter Backup for ‘Name’ and for ‘Command’ put the complete path to your script: ~/backup.sh
- Choose OK.
- Open a Terminal.
- Type: "mv ~/Desktop/Backup.desktop ~/.local/share/applications/" without the quotes.
- Plug in your device. When the dialog comes up, choose your application launcher.
- Check ‘Always Do This.’
Now, I haven’t tested this if you have more than one device with which you want to do this, so you might want to test if you have more than one of the same type of device (say, two USB externals) and you don’t want the script run on both of them.
If You Want to Get An iPod Classic/iPod Nano 3G (Possibly 4G) Working, keep reading:
If you’re in an Ubuntu/Debian derivative and the script needs to be run as root, just add ‘gksudo’ before your script in the ‘Command’ box in the launcher. If this is for your iPod, change the command above to "gksudo ipod-read-sysinfo-extended /dev/path/to/device /media/mountpoint" without quotes. You’re set. If you want to run a media player after this, you need to put the command just given to you into a script and add "&& your-favorite-music-player" to the end. Other than that, you’re all set.
If you’re on a Fedora box, you have to set up a program called ‘consolehelper’ and the whole thing gets a lot more hackish. I ran into this on my desktop, and the Ubuntu users really have it easy as far as this goes. So here’s how to do this. Obviously, insert the commands without the quotes.
- Do the above, except inside of “backup.sh” put "~/ipod-read-sysinfo-extended /dev/path/to/device /media/mountpoint && your-favorite-music-player"
- Type "ln -s /usr/bin/consolehelper ~/ipod-read-sysinfo-extended"
- Sign in as root.
- Create a new file in /etc/security/console.apps/ called ipod-read-sysinfo-extended and insert the following inside:
PROGRAM=/usr/bin/ipod-read-sysinfo-extended SESSION=true . config-util
- Create a new file in /etc/pam.d/ called ipod-read-sysinfo-extended and insert the following inside:
#%PAM-1.0 auth include config-util account include config-util session include config-util
- Double check to make sure that the command in your custom application launcher points to the symbolic link in your home directory at ~/ipod-read-sysinfo-extended and not at the one in /usr/bin.
That should do it. Good luck, and be glad you didn’t have to do this the hard way.
