Happy New Year to all...

Just want to start off the year wishing everyone a safe and prosperous 2005.

Say no to "vendor lock-in"!

I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but as you know, I've been playing around with my PC and Linux. One thing I would like to point out with software is an awful scenario, where an entity becomes dependant on another entity for a piece of software. This is commonly known as "vendor lock-in". It's not a unique case. Many of you out there may already be "victims" of it without knowing.

Why is this bad you ask? What happens if the vendor you are relying on does something different in their product that you use, that all of a sudden stops working on your PC. What choices do you have left? Not much, I think.

One of the best features with Open Source software is the avoidance of "vendor lock-in". As the source is available, if one person doesn't offer the service you need, you could always fix it yourself, or employ someone to fix it for you.

Why have I brought this point up after many months of silence? Well I've just had some dealings with a large IT company which supports some Open Source Linux distributions. The only problem is they don't support Gentoo Linux (yes I know, more zealotry). Nothing would make me happier if this large IT company would release the application server and their source code management application so it was fully functioning with Gentoo, but alas, they only support Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux. Don't fall into the trap of believing their words, just say NO.

So I'm quiet again...

I've been quiet on these pages as I've been working away on my machine at home, and playing around with the world of Open Source software. I can't believe how easy life can be with a well designed package management system. And yes, I am referring to Gentoo Linux. The more I use it, the more I appreciate it. I've also been chatting with work colleagues who were thinking of upgrading their operating systems. They were currently on some version of Red Hat Linux, and were asking me my opinion on what to go to next (this was around the time of the Red Hat - Fedora Project split). I mentioned to them about a system that never needs to be re-installed again. They were intrigued. They tried Gentoo. They have both said they will never look back! Effortless updates... you can't ask for more than that! Superb documentation. Great, friendly community. For zealotry like this, that money cannot afford, give it a go!

Installing software...

I've been busy, not on this "soap box page", but on getting Linux to run on my PC at home. For those of your that want to have a look as to what I'm up to, please visit my Linux on Toshiba page. That page has been quite active, as I have been updating it with what I've been doing with Gentoo Linux. I cannot sing the praises of that distribution enough. When I want to install some application, I find it's name in the application repository, and then type in one simple command to download it. It will then compile and install itself onto my hard-drive. "So what?" I hear you say... Well, it also looks at anything it depends on (libraries, environmental applications), and then downloads them as well. "So what? Microsoft Windows does it easier!" Well... yes and no! It does do it a little easier, as it does provide one standard set of widgets for all applications to use, but it still does not provide library protection. That basically means, sometimes if you install something, you may find some of your other applications just stop working, because they are depending on their old libraries being there... the old libraries you've just re-installed with the new version.

Gentoo eliminates all this by compiling everything from source and having an excellent dependency resolution system. So excellent, that most times I only have to type in the one command to bring down a complete open source system. Red Hat Linux (and other RPM based distributions) has their own system called RPM, but it does not do as good a job of getting software installed. There have been many articles about this on the web, commonly known as RPM Hell. Pick any of the articles to have a read. I have not yet seen one article praising RPM for going about installing software the right way. If there is one, please inform me and I'll update this page. I cannot really comment about Debian's way or Slackware's way of doing things, since I haven't used them properly before, but I will in the next few weeks / months.

How much is that puppy...?

The wife and I recently picked up a Hungarian Vizsla puppy from a local Melbourne breeder. This dog is what I would consider one of the best dogs I have ever had. She's only a few weeks old, and is already familiar with her name, has almost mastered not going to the toilet in the house, and has picked up on a basic game of fetch. If you're considering getting a dog (and I was a pro-Welsh Corgi person for a long time), consider this breed too. If you're after details, please feel free to e-mail me, and I'll pass the details of the breeder to you.

Images of Vizslas can be found here (via the Google.com images search engine).

Happy 2K4!

I hope you all had a safe festive period over the 2003 - 2004 period, regardless of your personal religious beliefs. I hope your 2004 is safe and prosperous in all aspects.

All the best to everyone!

I know it's a little late, but all the best to everyone over the festive season, regardless of belief. And may your 2004 be safe and prosperous.

The Toshiba P20 and Linux...

Ok... As mentioned in the last entry I've purchased the PC and I've attempting working with it. For my experiences, please have a look at this page.

Some ideas for content for this site...

I've been thinking for a while about something to write upon that would be of use to me an to many other people as well... I'm thinking something along the lines of a FAQ, but a topic-less FAQ... just questions I have asked myself many a time and searched the Internet for and not been able to find an immediate answer for. I'll take on board any suggestions any has, and even some question you may want to post. Just send them to the usual e-mail address.

On another topic of interest, I'm thinking of obtaining a notebook shortly. The one I currently have is a Toshiba Tecra 500CDT. It's about 7 years old, and is running a Intel Pentium I 120Mhz Chip, a broken (dry joint) CD ROM, 1.2 GB Hard Drive, and with Windows95 installed. I once tried loading Red Hat Linux 7.0 onto it, but due to my limited hard-drive, low memory (32MB), and then lack of knowledge, I got it up and running, but was frustrated at how slow everything ran in GNOME. This lead me to re-install Windows95. I know now I could have optimized it by switching off some services, and also choosing a lighter desktop. The laptop was good in it's day, but I think 7 years in IT changes many things. Saying that I'm thinking of upgrading to a Toshiba P20 (Clicking on this text will either trigger a download, or load a PDF into your browser. The PDF is originally from Toshiba Australia's Website. It comes with a Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz Chip with HT, 80GB Hard Drive, DVD-RW/CD-RW, 17" wide screen, and many more features (but they're the main ones I'm interested in). What has all this got to do with content? Well I plan on documenting my installation of Linux on it. My strategy will consist of first restricting the WindowsXP partition of the hard drive to about 15GB, and dedicating the rest of it to Linux. I'll be attempting the following distributions in the following order: Knoppix (to get a feel of what's going on), followed by Red Hat / Fedora or Mandrake, then finally Gentoo. Wish me luck. I should be able to document my steps in a clear, understandable manner allowing those after me wanting to install Linux to find my information useful.

Ok... so I'm a little slack with this page still...

I'll admit I'm a little slack when it comes to updating this page. It's not like there's nothing I have to talk about (or "whinge" about)... It's just been that I've been busy at work... and unfortunately I need to work to pay bills...

The main thing that's been happening is the continual discussion of SCO vs. IBM and the associated fall out from SCO also going after users of the supposedly infringed code. This case appears more and more to me like a matter of interpretation of US Laws, and I for one do not know how this will apply to Australian Laws. It also appears to be a test in the US courts of how strong is the GPL License.

On another front, there is an increase in studies based on desktop deployments of Linux. I do believe that Linux is technically up to the task, and just needs to be sold to people who have a closed mind to anything but Microsoft. It looks like a massive up-hill battle, and it may wage on for a few years yet.