Hit a Wall

I think I have hit a wall with Ubuntu. I have made it 17 days but I'm running out of things to try. I have given up on WIRELESS NETWORKING for now and VPN ACCESS is a total loss (I can't find my needed VPN Client).

The things I have left that I want to try are Linux to Linux and Windows to Linux Networking but this will require some amount of research. I want to get a USB Scanner working and a USB Printer. I am going to play with some video editing and I want to try DVD ripping and buring.

Other things I have done: I've got full internet access thanks to Firefox 2.0, Email with Evolutions (all PIM function), Cell Phone access through the USB Cable, Digital Camera access, and all the removable media item I need. Open Office 2.x handles all my word processing, spreadsheet and slide show needs. Rythmbox works great for my audio needs and mPlayer does video pretty well. I've found a few surprises too, VYM (View Your Mind), I didn't even know something like this was out there (I'm searching for a MS Windows version for work).

The latest piece of software I installed was SKYPE, it's a very nice voice chat, IP Telephone. I haven't used it much but it works well and I like it.

On the photo editing front, I can use GIMP but I as I said, I'm a Photoshop guy and nothing will change that. With the photo viewers and organizers they are all pretty good and easy to use but nothing special.

I am comfortable using Ubuntu Linux with Gnome but once the windows disappear and I'm left at the command line, I'm at the mercy of other what others have written and just blindly type what they tell me too. I don't like not knowing what the commands I type in do.

Week Two Complete

It's been two weeks of no MS Windows and I'm doing just fine. So far there are just two things that I really miss from MS Windows, VPN access to work and Photoshop. I could, with time, learn GIMP enough to get by but "getting by" isn't what I want in a photo editor. Let's face it, I would only be happy if I could get Photoshop to work on Linux. With VPN, I need Watchguard software client for Linux. It might be out there but I can't find it. Without it I can't get to my work from home.

Linux on a Laptop. I have not had any luck getting my wireless network cards working on Ubuntu. This is a show stopper. I will be removing Linux from the laptop. I hate this but in this day and age, a laptop without wireless is not worth having. I have found some articles on line with hints and tips for fixing the problems I'm having but none work for me or the article is over my head for my level of Linux knowledge. The second problem I'm having with the laptop is the 1.5 second delay of mouse movements when opening windows. This made my laptop stutter. I could have lived with this but the wireless problem I can't accept.

USB support in Ubuntu is very good so far. Hardware support is good, but when you have problems there is never an easy answer. Rewrite the whole kernel, modify some "code", or buy a part that is compatible. These are your choices.

Software selection is pretty good. If you can think of it, you can find a program that will do it for you.

The built-in add/remove applications feature I like a lot. The ability to add other package installers is great. The problem starts when you have to download zipped files, extract them, get the dependencies too, and blah, blah, blah. What I'm trying to say is that if you can't find the program you want in a "package" it gets hard fast.

Over all I like Ubuntu Linux but I'm starting to see some of it's short comings. I have come to think of this Linux Box as more like a MS Windows 98 machine. MS Windows 98 ran a GUI (graphical user interface) over DOS (command line). If you wanted to do anything powerful you had to go to a DOS session to do it. Ubuntu is like this. The windows part is just "dressing" over the powerful command line. The real power lays in the command line. The problem is that most people don't like working with the command line so a windows "dress" was put over this command line. I think this duality is keeping linux out of the mainstream. Both MS Windows and Apple do almost everything through the GUI. Both REQUIRE very little command line action. Linux on the other hand REQUIRES command line access. You can not use LINUX without it.

I find myself comparing Linux to MS Windows. I've wonder why I do this. I have come to realize that this is because MS Windows is STANDARD. There are may things like this, the iPod is the STANDARD in mp3 players, Apple is the STANDARD in User Interfaces and TIVO is the STANDARD in D.V.R.s. These are just some examples, any products developed in those categories are compared to these items. Why are these items STANDARDs? Because they do what they do very well. MS Windows does not do everything right but it does do everything. Vary rarely do you to check computability list when buying hardware for MS Windows. There are usually three varieties of every piece of software for MS Windows (Commercial, Shareware, and Freeware) and they work with almost any combination of hardware. Is it pretty? No Is it cheap? No. IT JUST PLAIN WORKS EASILY.

With all of that said I don't dislike Linux. It's different and it has gotten something right. It's stable, it's fast (command line), and its secure. Those are great things to be, but it's just not user friendly yet. As I said, I think of it as MS Windows 98. It had a pretty windows "dress" on but underneath its still DOS (Terminal).

At Two Weeks of Only Ubuntu Linux, I give it a 7 out of 10.

Firestarter, Clam and ROOT Oh My!

I haven't post much today because I had to read a lot. I installed FIRESTARTER, a firewall, and CLAM, and antivirus. I read about theses apps before I installed them causing the delay in my posts. I figured this would happen as I went forward. The things I want to do now are getting harder and require research. I have medium experience when it comes to firewall so I wanted to make sure FIRESTARTER was something I could use. If you get a firewall wrong you loose your internet, network and more. The firewall installation went easy enough but CALM told me it was out of date and needed to update its definitions. I said sure, and it STOPPED. It told me I would have to log on as ROOT to continue. Hmm.... I'm new to Linux but more than one person told me not to use ROOT as my daily log on but hey, this was an install on VIRUS softwar, I can see where it would want ROOT access.

Now one would assume to get ROOT you log out and then log in with ROOT (root) as your user name. I did that, Ubuntu asked for my password. I never set one up for ROOT during install. I tried mine. NOPE. I tried (blank) NOPE. I tried ROOT. Nope. Well that bites. What now? read. read read. I did a Google search and found some articles about how to log on as root.

It's not hard but while reading the HOW TO article I saw something that bothered me, a lot. The author of the article did a nice job of explaining this task (HOW TO ACTIVATE ROOT IN UBUNTU ) but the response from the "LINUX Experts" was very shocking. They flamed the author for giving out this info. The "Experts" acted like the author should hide this knowledge from NEWBIEs because they "might" use it as their daily log on. They screamed the praises of SUDO (command line function more later) but none told how to use it. Many Newbies don't like or are scared to use the Command Line. The Experts who responded to this post basically told NEWBIEs, use SUDO (and figure it out on your own) or don't use Ubuntu Linux, we don't want you. One even said "Newbies need to learn to figure things out for themselves". I thought LINUX was an OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY. Was I wrong? Should the Experts hide the knowledge from newbies, else we use it wrongly? Or worst yet FORCE users to do it their way or not at all? Even though some of us are NEW to LINUX (Ubuntu)most are very EXPERIENCED COMPUTER USERs just looking for something different. We know better then to use ADMINISTRATOR or ROOT as a daily log on account.

Here's something that EVERYONE that uses ANY LINUX DISTRO should remember and never, never, never forget, SOMEONE GAVE YOU THIS WHOLE O.S. FOR FREE TO DO WHAT EVERY YOU WANT WITH IT SO GIVE BACK! If a newbie asks you how to do something tell them, give them the warnings and let them have at it. If they break their computer or it gets hack and used for evil so be it, it's theirs to break and learn.

I know "but their hacked computer can be used for DOS ATTACKS, Child Porn FTPs, (insert computer evil here) and that affects more than just them". Well I have NEWS for you, if every Linux machine in the world was hacked tomorrow, their sum would still be very small when compared to the number of MS Windows Systems OWNED right now.

Rant over, resuming normal operations.

The Road Map for the next 18 Days

This was created using VYM View Your Mind. I have gotten a lot done so far and really like Ubuntu on this desktop machine. The laptop is a different story. It looks cool. runs ok. but has some troubles. I need my VPN client so that I can do work stuff from home. Wireless is a Most have. This is a show stopper. But if you notice you'll see more working items then not. Next week is Hardware week. Printers and Scanners oh! my! I still see that I have lots of items that I need to explore so I will get it gear and start tomorrow.

This Week will be an important test week and will decide the fate of this machine. The person who is going to keep this machine when these tests are over wants an account put on here for her. So I will. She has agreed to try this Linux. She has two demands, One her Cannon i9900 Wide format printer must work without error. Second her Cannon USB scanner must work. She requires the ability to print photos from 2X3 up to 14X19. She has to have a photo organizer that is easy to use, and features rich. She wants to do some CD Riping, encoding to MP3s. DVD Ripping to iPod format. light Open Office Work, and some page layout. Internet and Email .

I see no reason that this can't happen. I will buy her a room 300-500mb external drive for storage and leave the two 80bgs in it for local stuff.

RIp and Burn CD

I wanted to end today on a high note. I wanted to RIP a couple of CDs. I wanted them in MP3 format at 192 bits rate. I wanted the MP3s be named ARTIST-ALBUM-TITLE-TRACK. I put a good CD in and CD JUICER popped up offering to RIP the CD for me but it did not offer to do it in MP3 format. I had my choice of OGG WAV FLAC and a few others. No MP3.

Well I went to the add and remove applications and added two programs GRIP and RIPPER X. Both look like they would work but Ripper X would not connect to FREEDB.ORG (track naming site) so I went with GRIP. I made a few changes (and there are a lot of options) Well I found the LAME encoder set it to be default then went to the ENCODING Tab and set it up to be 192 bit, Rip to Wav, Convert to MP3 , then Erase WAV. GRIP is not a MS Windows program and you have to have a little command line knowledge and not be afraid to play a little. This is more like I was expected from Linux. You get a nice mix of both command line and windows making it very customizable.

I recommend GRIP for your Ripping pleasures. After ripping and moving the new MP3s to my IPod I decided to see if I could convert the MP3s back to an audio CD. (I know I'll loose quality but this is just testing). I ran Serpentine Audio CD Creator who offered to help as soon as I put a black CD in. It created the CD just fine and I tested the newly created disc on a boom box left over from the 80's.

VPN

I tried to find a Linux Client of my VPN software, its to connect to a Watchguard firewall box. I had no luck. This surprises me, the Watchguard Box itself runs on Linux. The Watchguard Site is not that friendly either. This will require more reading.

I have moved back to my desktop Ubuntu Box because of the lack of wireless on the laptop right now. I also noticed a bad stutter when new windows open on the laptop, any window or dialog box does it. What happens is the mouse locks up for about a second and a half anytime a new windows or dialog box opens. There is also a quarter of a second delay when you click on a button (back/forward/ect) in Firefox. It reminds me of work on a REMOTE Desktop. It's not horrible but it is noticeable. If I get the wireless working I'll start using the laptop again.

Its been a bad Linux Day.

Dell Inspirion 8100 Laptop

While I'm complaining (and to just get it all out) the Dell Inspirion 8100 was made in about 2000? so it's six years old. It has nice features, but the screen is a 15 inch and has its resoultion set to 1400 X 1050. Text appears very small on it. Most people would think this is nice, but it won't rescale, it just makes the screen smaller with a black border (like letterbox on a standard TV).

There are only 2 USB ports (USB 1.1), but it does have a CD Burner, both touch pad and joystick mouse, Built-in 56K modem, 100mb Network Wired, Firewire, and a floppy drive. (not to mention the legacy Serial/Parallel ports. The complaint isn't with the features but with their locations. CD Rom left side, Floppy Drive front beside removable battery, USB back, external keyboard beside CD rom, Firewire and external auido jacks below PCMCIA Slot. and the worst is the NETWORK Jack. It's on the front, right. As you see in the photo's, if you use this and are right handed and use a mouse, they just get tangled or worst you pull on/bang into the network cable.

OK, I feel better now and besides, I only have my time into fixing this laptop (and not even my time) so it is basically free. BTW if you have a laptop that the screen is DARK or looks like it doesn't work at all, it's probable just a $35 bulb or $50 inverter but you better have very good soldering skills.

Wireless Networking Ubantu 6.1

Ubuntu 6.1 does it even support wireless networking? Yea I know it says it does, but mine doesn't. I've tried two different PC Cards, D-Link AirPlus DWL650+ and a Motorola WN825G. I am trying to get them to talk to a Linksys WRT54G Router with WEP enabled. I can't get either of them to work. I have read about the Motorola Card and know it has a Broadcom chip set which I see several people are having trouble with. I have seen a couple of solutions but they are so cryptic a solution I can't figure out how to use them.

I'm very disappointed with Ubuntu 6.1 Linux with wireless support. In theses days of wireless everywhere, especially on a laptop, this support is MANDATORY and should be very easy to use. There should be not "edit this file", "remove the built-in drive", or worse yet "go back to last years version". I know that Driver Supoort is very hard without vender help but you should CLEARLY STATE THAT YOUR HARDWARE WILL NOT WORK during the install process and tell me exactly what I can get to make it work or provide a clear, BUILT-IN to the INSTALL PROCESS, a list of compatible hardware that I can buy. Even APPLE Computers do wireless right. I know they make their own hardware but it works every time and so does MS Windows.

The other thing I don't understand is why can't there by an ADD/REMOVE Hardware option like the ADD/REMOVE Applications? Just let me pick my hardware from a list and click on it to install. If my hardware isn't on the list then I can research it to get it to work or just buy one of the Hardware items from the list of known working ones.

If I was GUARANTEED that a certain wireless card would work, without editing anything, just plug it in, run a single install app and configure it with my SSID and WEP, I'd go buy one.

BTW both these cards work fine in MS Windows. Just plug them in, run a single install file, reboot, and configure with your SSID and WEP Key.

LINUX and Wireless Installation 0 out of 10, it's did not work for me. Once I get it going maybe I change that number. Without good wireless support Linux is like a new 50 inch plasma tv that is stuck in black and white mode.

A Ubuntu Laptop Too.

I am lucky enough to have a lot of hardware laying around. (I work on computers for people who don't have lots of money and they usually "pay" by giving me their old or broken equipment or not) I've taken some of that stuff and put together a Dell Inspiron 8100 Laptop. It's a PIII 1.2 ghz, has 512mbs of ram, a 40gb hard drive, built-in 100mb network, a built-in modem, and a CD Burner. (I had to rebuild the screen, new bulb and inverter) It had MS Windows XP Home on it and it was just sitting there so I said what the hey, and put Ubuntu Linux 6.1 on it.

I was missing the portability of my laptop so this should cure that, plus I can take this to work and see if it will play on an ACTIVE DIRECTORY DOMAIN.

I started this install at about 6pm and I just now finished. Why? A bad CD. I have had the worst luck with my Linux media. If you've read all this blog you'll remember that I had to download the ISO twice because of a few bytes missing. I used the same CD I installed my Desktop Linux Box with, but it would lockup at 59% every time on the laptop. I took the CD out a few times and looked at it and it seemed ok but after the third attempt, I burnt a new CD and it worked.

I thought it might have been a Linux/Laptop thing (hence the three repeats) because it would hit 59% and run the CD for about 10 minutes staying at 59% then start the hard drive and run it until you powered it off manually. I thought it could have been the hard drive too but I ran a hard drive utility from a boot cd and it said the hard drive was fine.

Why tell you all this? Because when you are experimenting with a new OS don't rule out the little things. Who would have thought you downloaded a bad ISO? then just 10 days later have the presumed working install CD (had worked twice before) have a tiny scratch that kept it from working. So before you blame the OS or just assume that Linux can't do it, check your cables, check you CDs, and make sure its plugged into the wall power outlet.

Tomorrow I plan on testing wireless from the laptop and Linux to Linux networking. Anyone know if a Motorola WN825G PC Card works with Ubuntu? We'll find out.