Planet Ubuntu

Justin Dugger: Ubuntu advantages

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:47:42 -0700

There are some advantages to running Ubuntu I can think of:

apt-get
six month release cycles
at a very low cost
deep access to the process that creates Ubuntu
a large community with an established etiquette

But not among those is "never search the internet for drivers again". There is a perception that this is special to Ubuntu or Linux. Oh, and also that it's true. Which is why the Ubuntu UK podcast mentions it.

The problem, as I've lead you to believe, is that it's not true. Linux does support a lot of hardware. Probably more than Windows, certainly more than Apple. Greg K-H says people want Linux kernel source / binary compatibility for the driver support. What Linux doesn't do so great job of is supporting new hardware. Lets say you run out and build a new computer which includes a Gigafoo motherboard, with a pq43 chipset, which only hit the market recently and you want to install Ubuntu 8.04. You can't. (Specifics changed because my source is unavailable for details at the moment.)

Unsurprisingly, the hardware is only supported recently, and the 8.04 kernel is based on an older kernel. 8.10 will probably support this out of the box, but not 8.04. Technically, 8.04 LTS might be slightly different. But otherwise, there's a six month gap in Ubuntu's process where you might fall into unsupported territory (see? process does matter!). You certainly can't go to the vendor's website and download some drivers to make it work.

You could build a new kernel with the new drivers you need, but good luck finding where they are and whether they're ready yet. Someone came into #ubuntu-kernel today asking why his upstream kernel didn't build and the short answer is "it doesn't." The long answer is "you need to update your local copy, and if it's still broke get in touch with upstream about it." So even though your hardware might not be supported, you can still download something and make it work. If you build your own kernel, know C well enough to debug FTBFS and don't mind losing support from Ubuntu kernel devs. So in a malevolent sense, the Ubuntu UK guy was right -- not only do you (in posession of newer than six month hardware) need to download and build drivers from the net, most of you straight up can't. Somehow I don't think they quite meant it that way.

This isn't specific to Ubuntu or Linux. Microsoft carries a lot of drivers, but recognizes that they have to support new hardware released after them. Hence in Windows XP you have a floppy disk to provide the SATA drivers that XP didn't have the foresight to include. There appears to be a way to do this but it's not documented, and historical sentiment (fun drinking game: drink every time someone mentions Ubuntu in a Debian political debate) tells me they're not interested in helping out some poor guinea pig install Ubuntu.

Going forward, technologies like DKMS and practices like stable release updates can breath some life into this problem, but it's every bit social as it is technical. I think people have a bit of a right to be irate when they're promised something that isn't true, and I hope Ubuntu Marketing and everyone else understands this and agrees.

Og Maciel: Desktop screenshot for July

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 17:47:56 -0700

A screenshot of my work laptop. The current setup has Openbox for tons of keyboard keybindings, PyPanel, Twitux, Glipper, Gajim and GNOME Xchat. Add Terminator with lots of panels, Epiphany and Rhythmbox (not in screenshot) and you got the applications I use every day.

UPDATE: Link to a larger screenshot.

Quim Gil: This is not a GTK+ 3.0 blog post

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:49:00 -0700

I have been trying to follow the intense debate tagged GTK+ 3.0 and actually covering a lot more, from the longest post to the shortest. If I was into film criticism I would say that the story is evolving from decadentism to apocalypticism, with elements of final time, esoterism, conspiracy, dualism and reincarnation. It’s confusing… but solvable, since confusion is just a mental state.

As for the GTK+ 3.0 debate itself there is little-to-nothing I could add to Havoc’s conclusion. Perhaps is worth saying that my employer Nokia hasn’t pushed or inspired the proposal of the GTK+ maintainers and wouldn’t rush to jump out of 2.x if there is nothing new above. I’m sure Miguel knows that, and for the rest his criticism is valid and valuable.

But actually this post is more about GNOME, 3 or not.

Confused in the last years about the lack of leadership? Confused now about the lack of vision? Depends where you look at and what you expect from. Darkness comes when you observe too close your own belly. Visions come when you look for interesting stuff around and beyond. Leadership is nothing you search but something that one unsuspected day pulls you out while you are at something.

Some guys are really into something in the GNOME context. Is it a coincidence that nobody seems to see heavyweight leaders there? Is it a symptom that they are in projects that many don’t see in the core of GNOME? Is it a surprise that they argue less and do more?

Why do you think they enjoy wearing shirts in GUADEC with a big foot? Is it C? Is it GTK+? Federico’s smile? The FreeFA? Find the answers and you will start getting a GNOME vision. Now go back to that toolkit debate and see how much it matters.

Also, who are those guys? Where do they live? Are they students, employees, entrepreneurs? Do they pay rents and phone bills themselves? Nappies? What are their real jobs? What products do they work for? Find the answers and you will start seeing a context of GNOME innovation. Now go back to that toolkit debate and see how much it matters.

I’m not saying the debate about GTK+ is not important. It is but… is it the central debate of GNOME? Do we need to find a vision for GTK+ in order to draw the future of GNOME or is it the other way round? Is the backbone of GNOME a one and only toolkit or is it something else?

All these heated debates about GTK+/Qt or C/C++… how sensible will sound to young and creative developers beyond 2010? Look the runtimes, look the Web. To build a vision around a toolkit and a native environment was a good strategic move ten years ago. Do you think the same strategy will succeed in ten years?

So many questions, it is confusing sometimes. This is why is good to have principles preceding visions and strategies. The principles have been always clear: freedom and collaboration. They brought us here and they will push us forward as long as we keep them in good shape.

Freedom, collaboration, one vision, a refreshed strategy, a context for innovation and… who will stop this? Only ourselves watching our own bellies. Toolkits and version numbers need to be reactors to reach the goals, not talismanic objects becoming an end themselves. Someone has to discuss and find solutions around them, but be suspicious if too many people spend too much time discussing.

Which reminds me to stop this post now.

Nick Ellery: 250000 Bugs Reported in Launchpad

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:49:02 -0700

It is to my delight to announce that exactly 250 000 bugs have - as of 19 hours before this post - been reported in Launchpad! Bug #250000 was an Ubuntu bug reported against gnome-terminal. Congratulations (or not?) for achieving this milestone!

Perhaps this is related to UWN reaching 100 issues, Ubuntu-UK podcast reaching 10 shows, and Launchpad being upgraded with huge UI changes :).

Jonathan Carter: MOTU Journey Update

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:49:42 -0700

A bit more than a week ago I learned how to generate debdiffs. I wish I knew how to do it earlier, since it’s incredibly easy, and very empowering.

Previously, when working on bugs on Launchpad, all I could really do is make comments on what causes the bug, and make suggestions on how to fix it. Now, I can actually fix it myself, and attach the debdiff that can be applied to the current package that will fix it. It’s awesome, all you really need to do is download a source package, make the required changes, bump up the version number, create a new source package and then create the debdiff between the original and modified source packages. And all it takes to create the debdiff is just one simple command.

I’ve learned parts of the above previously from the Ubuntu-MOTU classes, but what made it much easier for me is the MOTU Videos, which you can get on YouTube, or if you want to view it off-line (like I did), you can download it via http.

I won’t achieve my goal of becoming a MOTU by the end of this month, as I said I wanted to nearly three months ago, but I’ve learned a lot the last month or so, and I’m glad that I’ve actually made some progress. I’ll just have to work a bit harder and maintain/gain momentum. The MOTU’s have been great with helping out and giving advice. A big thank you to all of you, especially the friendly people of #ubuntu-motu.

Matthew Helmke: Dell is now selling Ubuntu 8.04 preinstalled

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:50:11 -0700

For some time Dell Computers has been selling computers on their website with Ubuntu preinstalled. As recently as a couple of days ago, that meant version 7.10. Today I noticed that they have changed the lineup of computer systems on offer, and have upgraded their offering to version 8.04, Hardy Heron, with DVD playback enabled. I am currently in the market, and this is looking good to me.

For comparison, System76 and zareason are some of the front runners from among the other quality vendors offering Ubuntu preinstalled on their computers. There are also several other retailers doing likewise. One of the companies linked in this article is likely to end up with my business.

Note: I received no compensation of any kind for making this post.

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Efrain Valles: Software Freedom Day 2008

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:49:48 -0700

Well, like I mentioned before, It was only last year when I heard about this wonderful global event. Natalie Colina and Rodrigo Rodriguez (both members of a LUG in Paraguana, GULIP) told me about this oportunity to promote more aournd my city, also to show a sign of unity and true world wide community. They participated in SFD 2006 in the city of Paraguana. So They encoureged me to sign up a team last year. so SFD-IGLURBE was born. it was then 2 team in Venezuela last year. Many teams in Latin America celebrated, Costa Rica did a fantastic job. the Nicaragua Team really organized and award winning day :D. Last year was a fantastic year for Software Freedom Day Enthusiasts. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico.

I am glad to see that this year Venezuela has 4 teams registered. Falcon has a team and it is thier third time celebrating. Maracaibo is back for its second year after a very successful event last year. and It is the newcomers. Caracas and Valencia that will definetely help raise more awareness.

We are still fine tuning what the activity will be this year in Maracaibo. But if it all goes as planned we should have a very nice demonstration of what can be done with community on our side.

This time around I thank Nathalie and Rodrigo for introducing me to a project that I sherish and I shall continue participating in it since it brings us all together around the globe. Plan an event in your area, Join us now… follow the StartGuide.

Matthew Helmke: What is more important to the human race?

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:49:48 -0700

The preservation of knowledge or the preservation of capital? The preservation of knowledge has my vote, and so I am happy to hear about the current efforts of entities like the U.S. Library of Congress to review current law and pursue copyright legislation adjustments to allow them to fulfill their intended purpose of making sure that what is learned in one generation remains available for future generations to use and benefit from.

As a side note, this also sums up why I have pushed for and used Creative Commons licenses on things I have written and which I sell or have sold.

Thanks to Greg and his blog post for the story. Some of you have seen his post already, but I have several friends and readers who probably have not yet seen it. Give it a click and a quick read.

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ம ஸ்ரீ ராமதாஸ்: Ubuntu Kaipidi Thozhargal - Across Tamil Nadu

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:49:48 -0700

Ubuntu Kaippidi Thozhargal has been successfully put into practice from now on. We launched the scheme two months ago calling for volunteers who could hand over Ubuntu CDs in their cities/ town/ village if there is a demand. Seven people have volunteered so far and we have sent packed set of Ubuntu/ Kubuntu/ Edubuntu/ Xubuntu CDs [...]

Luis de Bethencourt: freemix rockin in dublin

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 06:49:01 -0700

d33p is my vj nickname
freemix running in ubuntu is my set

free software rockin in dublin
want to join?

0.2 coming soon (python + gstreamer + clutter)
stay tuned...

Andres Rodriguez: I now have a MOTU Mentor!

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:51:41 -0700

Today, just few hours ago I received a notification from Nicolás Valcarcel (nxvl), who is part of the MOTU Mentors Reception Board, telling me that I have been assigned a MOTU Mentor for the Junior Mentoring Program.

When he told me that I had a mentor already, I just felt that things are going the way I planned :). My mentor is Steven Stalcup (vorian), and even though he loves KDE and I love GNOME, we will get along :). Every package is good to work with while someone is learning, but I’m really interested on Server Related stuff.

So if anyone has a suggestion for my learning process don’t hesitate to contact me. I set up a wikipage, where I’ll keep track of everything I’ll do through the mentoring process. I already have a first task… read the Debian New Maintainer’s Guide. Should be easy since I already have worked with some tools and done some merges. But anyways… wish me luck :).

Nicolas Valcárcel: Augeas

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:54:54 -0700

I’ve been writing a lot about Augeas and all the process i go through to get it included in debian/ubuntu. It seems that a lot of people was following it, but some of them don’t actually understand the whole picture and what is augeas for, so i’ve been asked to write a post explaining what it is, so here we go:

From the upstream homepage:

Augeas is a configuration editing tool. It parses configuration files in their native formats and transforms them into a tree. Configuration changes are made by manipulating this tree and saving it back into native config files.

Actually, it is a library which does all that stuff and can be manipulated using its public API. But what does this actually means? I will explain it using augtool and /etc/hosts as an example. As you might know it has the information of the host names and their IP addresses, so let’s take this hosts as an example:

127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain host.domain

After parsing it on augeas we will end with:

/files/etc/hosts/
- - - - - - - - - - - 1/
- - - - - - - - - - - - ipaddr = 127.0.0.1
- - - - - - - - - - - - canonical = localhost
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = localhost.localdomain
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = host.domain

So, then we might want to change some values:

augtool> set /files/etc/hosts/1/alias[2] myhost.domain

Ending with:

/files/etc/hosts/
- - - - - - - - - - - 1/
- - - - - - - - - - - - ipaddr = 127.0.0.1
- - - - - - - - - - - - canonical = localhost
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = localhost.localdomain
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = myhost.domain

or add new values:

augtool> ins alias after /files/etc/hosts/1/alias[1]

what will turn into:

/files/etc/hosts/
- - - - - - - - - - - 1/
- - - - - - - - - - - - ipaddr = 127.0.0.1
- - - - - - - - - - - - canonical = localhost
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = localhost.localdomain
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = myhost.domain

then we need to set a value since now it’s NULL:

augtool> set /files/etc/hosts/1/alias[2] myhost

ending like:

/files/etc/hosts/
- - - - - - - - - - - 1/
- - - - - - - - - - - - ipaddr = 127.0.0.1
- - - - - - - - - - - - canonical = localhost
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = localhost.localdomain
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = myhost
- - - - - - - - - - - - alias = myhost.domain

Then you can save it using:

augtool> save

Also you can add a new host, or whatever you want, just need to play with the tree.

Ok, but how this Black Magic work and how can i expand it to read new configuration files? Augeas uses lenses which are a Meta Data type using regular expressions that is being used for parsing, reading and writing configuration files. If you want to play around with lenses you can check this step-by-step tutorial written by Raphael Pinson (Thank you!)

Greg Grossmeier: Preservation Entities Should Ignore Copyright

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:54:54 -0700

That isn’t me talking, that is the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress along with the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Law Project, and the SURFfoundation released a report (pdf) on Monday that basically states just that.

The stated purpose of the report is:

to review the current state of copyright and related laws and their impact on digital preservation;

to make recommendations for legislative reform and other solutions to ensure that libraries, archives and other preservation institutions can effectively preserve digital works and information in a manner consistent with international laws and norms of copyright and related rights; and

to make recommendations for further study or activities to advance the recommendations in the Report.

The key is number 2, “to make recommendations for legislative reform…” From the release on digitalpreservation.gov:

As the laws of the countries discussed in the report demonstrate, in many cases exceptions and limitations do not accommodate the actions required for digital preservation.

Now, the recommendation doesn’t just simply state that anyone who wants to preserve information can do so. So no, you won’t have the LOC on your side if you are sued for “preserving” media on your home machine which you do not have legal right to possess it.

From the report:

[These suggestions should] apply to all non-profit libraries, archives, museums and other institutions as may be authorized by national law (hereafter, “preservation institutions”) that are open to the public, provided they do not undertake these activities for any purpose of commercial advantage.

These institutions would be able to (1) reproduce as many copies as necessary for effective preservation, (2) transfer those copies to other formats as standards progress, (3) “communicate” those works within and between various preservation repositories to maintain redundancy.

Why did the Library of Congress et. al produce this report? Because without some changes to the current status qua of copyright law libraries and archives will be unable to exercise one of their most important roles in our society: preservation.

[In the current US copyright system] there is no specific authorization for libraries and archives to make preservation copies of published works in their collections.

If you are at all interested in learning more about how copyright effects the preservation of our society’s knowledge, you should read the report. Plus, for those of you who thought that librarians are just quiet subservient employees of the state that don’t speak up for our rights; think again. Librarians are at the front of cultural freedom as any other group, if not more.

Mackenzie Morgan: The Ghost in Your Machine: IPv6 Gateway to Hackers

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:53:40 -0700

Today I'm at HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth, a computer security conference) with my friend Joe Klein. He just gave a talk on IPv6 security, forcing me to make sure I setup my ip6tables to DROP all before showing up here. His talk went well, and on top of that talk, an article for which he was interviewed was published in Wired. The article is The Ghost in Your Machine: IPv6 Gateway to Hackers,

Mackenzie Morgan: Google Search Vi

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:53:57 -0700

Hey everyone, check out Google Experimental. The last experiment available, Keyboard Shortcuts, makes Google Search act like vi. It's great. Move up and down with J and K, open a link with O, search with /, and switch modes with Escape. Very cool.

Miia Ranta: LUGradio Live UK 2008

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:59:51 -0700

I hate traveling a lot. Still, there are few things I’m ready to sacrifice my mental health to by traveling, and one of them is excellent Open Solutions related confrences, shows and … things. One of the latter is organized in Wolverhampton UK this weekend, and I’m attending the last ever LUGradio Live.

Somehow the feeling is still a bit blue. Already when I had booked the tickets and made reservations for the hotel, I read from Jono’s blog that the last ever episode of LUGradio will be recorded there. I’m not too fond of podcasts - especially English and spoken ones, as they usually demand too much concentration. But LUGradio has been one that I’ve off and on listened to as long as I’ve been listening to podcasts.

Plenty of friends are coming too and I can’t wait…

Greg Grossmeier: Forever will I be famous,

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:59:51 -0700

At least in the Open Source/Open Microblog world:

Kinda funny how my quotes is complaining about what a recent Bazaar udate did to my command prompt. But, I stand by my statement: what it did is not cool at all.

Benjamin Mako Hill: The Googlenet

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:56:24 -0700

At the hotel I'm staying at in Alexandria for Wikimania, there is wifi from a closed network that requires login and that has no user-accessible way to gain increased access.

However, they have defined a set of "exceptions" to their closed network policy. The exceptions are described on the page users are redirected to upon connecting. Essentially, the exceptions boil down to any website that ends in google.com.

You can use Google search (but not click on the links), use GMail, Google Talk, Google Reader (but not see any images on the blogs you are reading), Google Calendar, Google Maps, Google Checkout, Google Docs, and so on.

A few people at the conference seem only barely inconvenienced by the arrangement and most seem to be able to get work done! I can't help feel like I'm experiencing some dystopian version of the Internet from 10 years in the future.

Leandro Gómez: Tech show - Episode 1

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:56:24 -0700

As promised, yesterday I’ve uploaded the video of our very first tech show in Canal 2. You can watch it here.

I’ll upload a free version of the video as soon as I figure out how to convert it from wmv to ogg. And no, neither vlc or ffmpeg2theora works for me.

Feedback appreciated! Send your comments to: primerahora at canal2.com.ni

Watch us next tuesday. The topic for the second show will be Web 2.0.

Update: You can download the video in .ogv format here (thanks JorSol). You can also suscribe yourself to our youtube channel and receive automatic updates on new episodes.

Christophe Sauthier: New leader in Ubuntu-fr

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:57:01 -0700

It is now official, since I have updated all the paper of our legal entity, that I am the new leader of the french Loco (http://www.ubuntu-fr.org). But I am not alone, and quite a renew of the team happened (and is still going on)... Of course I'd like to thanks all the guys who has worked hard to make ubuntu-fr what it is today. Thus trying to improve it, will be a greater challenge...

One of our the first decision has been to move our local entity address, to my private one, since we had some problems with the previous address... It should help us a lot...

But expect more to come : indeed we have lots of ongoing work, since we had already started the transition for some months : new website (the transition to drupal should be done within weeks..), new projects, rework of some existing procedures with the permanent will to include more and more people in the decision process... To sum up, lots of stuffs that I'll be glad to detail here :)

Jorge Castro: Thanks for being patient ...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:54:48 -0700

I now have access to approve/disapprove LoCo mailing list requests and have cleared most of the queue of requests, so if you've been waiting for a list then sorry for the delays.