Thursday, May 31, 2012

Deja DUP Backup Utility-Gnome and Ubuntu One

Deja DUP Backup Utility-Gnome and Ubuntu One
Deja Vu is a  Psychiatric term where one has the feeling of I have been there before feeling, when one actually has been to the place for the first time in his or her life.
Deja DUP in Ubuntu (Gnome derivative) is an easy graphical backup utility, now in new versions of Ubuntu is the default back up system.
It is easy to use and I won bore you with details.
What I am going to tell you is that it is now integrated with Ubuntu One cloud service which Ubuntu offers you free up to 5 GiB. One can by extra space for a nominal fee.
If your work is light this is something you should configure for your own needs.
But one is mindful when restoring lost data.
One should ideally have a partition for tmp and ample amount too.
Even Linux by its virtue collects junk file as history (unless one uses Daemon utility to delete them regularly) and leaving healthy amount for home and tmp and var file system.
I generally use var which has a reasonable amount reserved for tmp.
Other factor to consider is the download and upload speed of your Internet provider.
So don´t wait for months and months for restoring since this back up utility does not restore part of the backup file.
It uses the entire file which takes time.
I do not use any of these utilities since my requirements are simple and I have my own way of archiving which is old fashioned and I never lost a file for over ten years since I started using Linux.
My only problem is when I want to recover a file, I used with Microsoft long time ago especially in an Access Database.
My old fashion methods If i may list goes like this
1. I use CD and DVD
2. For routine work I use rewritable Mini CDs. Up to 20 time one can rewrite.
3. Never use Flash Drives
4. I use several computers. My master computer is only used for critical work and regularly backed up and formated once a year.
5. Laptop is minimally used mostly to showoff.
6. There is a old computer for testing Linux distributions and it is hacked to its core but still working.
7. When I hear an unusual noise hard disk DVD writer or CD ROM, I opened the back cover and see whether there are ants or geckos have laid eggs or cockroaches had short circuited the internals with the Uric Acid rich Urine.
I do not have an air conditioned room but have several digital thermometers on top and on the sides of the computers.
If they are heated above 85-86 Fahrenheits, I switch off the computer and do some other menial jobs. Heat is very bad for your computers.
8. I do most of my work at night when everybody is sleeping and download speed is reasonable. With the global warming taken a real toll in our tropical not so paradise, mosquito menace is real and I can thrash them liberally (Unfortunately I cannot do that to our corrupt politicians which I love to do if I am given a chance like those hungry mosquitoes coming for blood meal.
I get the perverted satisfaction and exclaim, another corrupt politician thrashed, every time I kill a mosquito after bloody meal.
Of course I catch my sleep in day time when mosquitoes are sleeping.
9. My biggest problem is dust which collects inside and outside. I have not found solution except wet mopping.
Only time dust is down when we have occasional shower.

The best return one gets for using Linux is that oneś hardware never breaks down. 
Linux test the ability of the hardware and use the utility and process that best soot them which Microsoft and even dedicated hardware of Apple can boast.
 
10. The best remedy for computer a addict is to disconnect the router and pull out all the Ethernet jacks and better still dismantle the internals of the computer which I did, during our new year time.
I have never done this before.
I was running short of ideas to write on my blog site.
Mind you that was the best productivity period I ever had for decade.
During that period I fixed up a new overhead tank to store water for my fish tanks (fish die due chlorinated water and algal bloom) and water plants.
Made a lot of young plants for replanting.
Had I not done this I would have lost few of my plants due to extreme dry weather and no rain.
Fortunately, I sighted many varieties of birds and their nesting places who come to bath and drink water in our neighborhood.
Later I found our crooked politicians are clearing up a reserve where lot of birds nest in the name of development.
We cannot stop them and they are worse then the vultures.
In fact, I sighted three eagles and one a young one.
One day one of them grabbed the squirrel´s mate (they reside on our roof) and I was woken up by the call for help but too late.
The squirrels are now scarred to live in our roof (our house is on an elevation and exposed to elements including eagles) and even my fish out in the open disappear regularly due to kingfishers.
Only the tank which was covered with a wire net has fish in numbers.
I would not have noticed none of these nature´s secrets, had I not disconnected  my computers for about a month.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Ubuntu-Unity-Update-For Newbies

Ubuntu-Unity-Update-For Newbies with New Computer
I have already written an update of Unity for oldies like me but this one is for newbies.
If you are a newbie to Linux I am pretty sure, you will enjoy the Ubuntu Unity Experience very much.
The learning curve may be little steep for you as compared to an old hand at Linux like me, but it is worth the trouble.
If you are up to Utility value and you are on a budget and a student it has everything one needs.
Educational packages are bundled as tertiary bundle and it is only 123 MiB.
Only package missing was Xjournal.
Even for me (I do not use Ubuntu on daily basis) it was some learning on the fly and totally new experience.
I tried the dcm4chee which is meant for Electronic Medical Records and it only had the bear minimum, the web browser, Ubuntu One and few other utilities.
Bit annoyed, I decided to download the GNUmed.
It took few hours to configure cashe, software list and the downloading but after that it was smooth sailing.
In only a few minutes I downloaded the Abiword and I tried Libre-Office and to my amazement Libre-office was equally breezy download.
The I downloaded Calibre,Glob, kexi and statistics packages and many more, one after the other without any problem.

Mind you I had my other computer downloading GNUmed Live DVD, which is a SuSe Studio creation (Iĺl write about it later) and that certainly hampered the download speed.

All in all Ubuntu Software Centre is quick and breezy and nothing to qualm about.

It is well organized graphically which lists the install and available software on top of the dialog box.
It gives a history of the downloads, by the minute and what is currently being downloaded and what is in the waiting for download and (how many packages left to be download) and their total size / weight when downloading.
It does not tell you how long it will take but that depends not on Ubuntu but the download speed of oneś internet provider which is appalling in the third world.

Like Microsoft it installs the (says apply changes - dependencies and libraries have to be checked unlike Microsoft which might take a little extra time) package without any hassle.
All in all very good, unlike other distributions which takes ages to find the software and also to download when the package is found
Debian has an enormous repository and Ubuntu has bundled up the software according to its current usage.
So if you are a newbie go for it and enjoy the Linux freedom.
One warning, though.
When you first install from the CD (which you have to download which is also pretty fast with torrent) make sure-pull the Ethernet plug so that installation is breezy and there is no updating of software while it is being installed.
That takes ages, I mean updates, even if one has a fast internet connection.
This is simply because thousands of users, if not millions are using the service every minute.

There are bottle necks unlike seeders in torrent files when updating.
You better pick and choose your packages one by one.
I have listed some of the important software elsewhere in a book in digital and print form but mind you I have selected what I probably thought useful for an average user.
There are over 60,000 in Debian and fishing through that is not easy and that is where the my book may be useful.
Another feature, the Ububntu has introduced is that it queues up the packages the way you requested them (one can delete if necessary) and download them one by one which is pretty cool.
At any moment you can cancel them to save your time if the internet is SLOW and not responding the way you need it to be.

Enjoy the Ubuntu Freedom!
One more WARNING, if you have decided on a distribution (Old or New) and has all the packages, STICK with it and do not try to update (it takes two to three times the normal installation time) while installing; it can be pain in your ArxxxS and pretty constipated TOO.

The rolling distributions can be a PEST on YOU at times and unlike Microsoft if the distribution is stable it will do donkeys work for YOU for years without bothering you.
If you want to be like me have several computers at your disposal (old and new) one for regular work without any changes for years and the other/s for testing and evaluating up and coming distributions.
It has become a routine for me but I also may take a break and sit back and enjoy the scenery instead of driving the car in heavy traffic.
On reflection one daft thing i have done was to stick with the old computer and use new computer sparingly except perhaps testing.
This may not be true if you are one who is using the computer for games.
It is completely a new ball game altogether but technology peaking up as it is one need not have the latest vogue to enjoy a good game, Linux included.
There are pretty good Linux games and go for Ultimate Linux which is a perfect point of entry for a super-gamer. 
Mind you it is also an Ubuntu derivative and is closing up the GAP with major distros.
For the oldies LinuxMint (Cinnamon and Mate) is there to play with till COWS COME HOME.
I have posted this while downloading the packages mentioned above and will update as soon as possible.
Only complaint I have is that it is slow on my old IBM computer with 1 GiB RAM, but I prefer slow response from the computer since if I make a few mistakes, with a lightening fast computer, I won´t be able to figure out the mistakes I inadvertently made in the first instance.
If you are an impatient newbie, it is better you RAMP UP the RAM to 3 or 4 GiB before installing Ubuntu.
Mind you all Linux distributions now except perhaps AntiX and Taylor Swift are very cravvy on RAM. 

As for Ubuntu 12-04 which is the latest in the series which has ironed out some of the STICKY parts of the work place and added LibreOffice on the Left Panel for easy use.
I am one who loves workplaces (it used to be up to 20 in good old days) which organizes the work one does without hindering the current activity/ies.
PCLinux (Full Monty) has one of the best organized workplaces and that is why I use it on daily basis.
It takes a lot of resources (Graphic) and slow to start but when one is on the job that slow start is not a loss at all.
Switching from one workplace to the other is quick and cool.
This unique feature is one thing that old Linux lovers will miss in Ubuntu Unity but with time to come Ubuntu will probably will make switching from to the other easy.
What it currently does is making the workplaces (actually zooming in an out like in a camera lens) big and small and all that consume a lot of resources and thereby overcooking the graphic card.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Electronic Medical Records in Linux-GNUmed


Electronic Medical Records in Linux-GNUmed
This is something that escaped my attention and hope you excuse me for not highlighting them in Linux100.
There is no excuse for, not bringing them into your focus being myself a medical man.
Suffice is to say that in this country nobody has taken interest in EMR, especially based on Linux.
It is an essential tool when so much is wasted on Medical Care.
Developing a database was one of my first priorities, when I started  research activities.
I did all that on window´s based software and when I gave up windows and got engrossed in Linux, one of the first things, I noticed was the lack of such software and small utility databases that can be used for storing data.
Yes, there is MySQL , the server based database that cannot be used on a desktop, of an average doctor in practice.
The doctor has to  buy proprietary utilities and as it is often is, they are very, very expensive.
It is interesting to note that tkFP was built by three, two lady doctors from USA (they lost their jobs when Medicare was re-structured0 and a Linux developer.
They with the help of the tkFP developer developed a working Electronic Medical Record System for their use in a small office room.
But GNUmed is a Debian innovation and it can be used by windows, mac and any Linux distribution once properly configured.
It is Hugh!
It has a server back-end utility and a client based utility for the desktop.
Now that cloud computing is taking shape this will be one of the best open source EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system for the use by a medical practitioner.
I am currently downloading over 600 MiB of software with add-ons which include imaging utilities (AMIDE).
The Ubuntu derivative for Medical use is called dcm4chee (Ubuntu 11.10 i386) and it has only the base system without any Linux utilities except web browser and few accessories.
I tried to install it with Internet connected and it took a long time and got hanged up.
What I did was to pull the Ethernet plug and install it and then download the GNUmed.
It is currently downloading very, very slowly (we have a very slow download speed) indeed.]

Once I finish and tested it I will be with you soon.
Purpose of this writing is to let you know that there is GNUmed Live DVD of 1 GiB for one to download (unfortunately point to point download) and test before using
For one who is interested  GNUmed Live is the beginning.
Unfortunately for me it got dislodged / disconnected for the third time and I am trying it for the fourth time and it is still hovering at 650 MiB.
That was the reason for taking the longer route to install it on Ubuntu.
Hope in future, a few of the distributions will include this package (bit large for a CD and labeled it as EMT enhanced Linux distribution.
There are many EMR software including medical imaging (software) and I have listed some of them below.
It is difficult to cover all of them but GNUmed is a good start up utility.
It is a large package if one installs with links to imaging software.
1. GnuMed , Open source EMR 
2. tkFP : an impressive open source EMR for linux
3. OpenEMR : Open source EMR Package 
4. Patient OS : Free and Open source EMR for Windows , OSX and Linux 
5. Ultimate EMR (Electronic Medical Record)
6. FreeMed : open source GPL-licensed  EMR 
7. OpenClinic :P HP web based EMR
8. ICD browser : Open source ICD-10 browser for Linux , Windows and PocketPC 
9. FreeMedForms

10. Sofa : medical simulation framework

Monday, May 21, 2012

Google and Sinhala /Tamil Transliteration


Google and Sinhala /Tamil Transliteration
Google has made nexus with Dinamina Unicode and now it is possible to type in English vocabulary (English letters with Sinhala /Tamil phonetics). By the way, English is now enriched with the Sinhala/Tamil words.  
It is going to be a complete new ball game.
We used to write in English the Sinhala colloquial and Kunu Harupa so that the Suddhaś (Europeans) won´t understand, what we really mean, diplomatically speaking.
Now we cannot do that or carry that tradition any longer since what we say is immediately converted to the original script in vulgarity at its worst, if not at its best.
This is a good thing and even in Email we won´t be able to send slanderous messages and the language will  be richer without its vulgar picks /pricks/ pickle and spices.
I once wanted to translate some of my English / Sinhala scripts but it was an uphill task and gave it up.
Now I can simply type it in English and check with a right  click in the middle of the stem to see whether I got the right spelling in Sinhala.
Sinhala keyboard will be relegated to backyard soon.
In their apathy to get it off the ground which was 2 decades late already, the fate that it deserves has finally reached.
Mind you one is not allowed to use vulgarity, politically not phonetically speaking.
In the streets and political platform it is the only currency that sells but its days in political platform, the days of utter filth that pervaded in the past is also numbered precisely in descending order.
Filth has no place in a cultured society Sinhala included.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites


A comparison of Redhat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu Linux Websites
The two best web sites on Linux are Ubuntu and Redhat.
1. One is commercial, the other is both commercial (Entry into Music world) and social.
2. Ubuntu has enormous resources but poorly organized because of its dependence on Debian.
3. Redhat the resources are limited if one is a desktop user.
4. Its server resources are streamlined and well organized but the streamlining is not done by the USER but the corporation.
5. Its resources are based on Fedora Development which is very very SLOW but probably stable because of slow input.
6. Ubuntu uses LibreOffice which is far superior to Open Office.
7. OpenOffice was destroyed by ORACLE and then given to Apache which is trying to revive its old roots and lags behind by at least three years of stagnation. 
It is BULKY and I never use it now.
I prefer light weight AbiWord.
If one is hooked to OpenOffice Debian still faithfully bundle it with its distribution.
8. So go for Debian instead of REDHT which is a GOLDMINE of resources.
9. Biggest PLUS point of REDHT is its Literature which no Linux distribution except perhaps Ubuntu can boast.
Most of it is HiFi administrative stuff which only Administrators would worry about but not the ordinary users.
 Debian has entered the foray now with a book in French and English.
I wish them GOOD LUCK and one need not worry about REDHATś publications, and the and money saved. If you subscribe for digital form make it a point to contribute a little from the money saved from REDHAT.

10. Biggest Minus point of UBUNTU is its lack of Administrative (ROOT USER) power and configuration ability. That is why I do not use it on a regular basis.
11. Current situation is very FLIUD.
Ubuntu because of Unity (I have made comment elsewhere) and Fedora because of its Butter File (btrfs) system and turning round on its head and torso, seeing 100 things at the same time and because of the RAPID SPIN.
It is too fast for any average desktop USER or even an administrator to keep phase/pace with.
12. MIND YOU Ubuntu has made rapid progress in Server (Another reason I dissociated with Ubuntu) Editions and on Cloud Computing with Ubuntu ONE, and it is fast closing the GAP Redhat has established.
It is going to be a sure winner with 20 million targeted this year not REDHAT.
13. If you do not like UBUNTU, there are 100 of other derivatives and I recommend Ubuntu Studio, Ultimate Linux,Tango Linux and many more.
I LOVE Pinguy Linux the most.
Recently there are Terrible Linux, Hybryte, Unidockynapse and more for the newbies to play with.
14. For REDHAT there is almost nothing except Fedora and Scientific Linux. Mined you scientific Linux has no scientific packages in it. 
One is on a desert and I am happy I have looked for other resources rather than REDHAT and many other distributions.

If you visit my blog site you may read my reviews on many of them.
I have a book on Linux distributions on Amazonś (both digital and print).
One day I might STOP blogging altogether and that is the reason for the compilation.
I am currently working on Small Distributions (my academic work keep me off the desk and desktop)
If you do not like all this there are over 300 more Linux Distributions to choose from including Puppy and Knoppix which are my favorites.
If you buy the April Copy from LINUX MAGAZINE one will get KNOPPIX FREE without any hassle for downloading.
If you subscribe for LINUX MAGAZINE print form you will get a FREE copy of the latest Linux Distribution.
If YOU are a newbie subscribe to the magazine but do not expect the writer to spoon feed you.
TRY LEARN IT in your WAY and SPEED.
Who knows at the end of one year YOU may be better than ME.
Mind you I am subscribing to the Magazine to SAVE my Electricity BILL (no downloading on a regular basis now) in Sri-Lanka.
It has sky rocketed now and if I save on my electricity I can buy 10 different types of Magazines (DEAD TREE- one has to kill a tree to PRINT a BOOK or Magazine).
I have no choice now but PLANT as many small trees as possible.
Will you do that for ME?

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

REDHAT is DEAD, RHEL is Billion Dollars' Worth, YET, LINUX and its Desktop is not DEAD but soon be 21 years OLD


In my life with LINUX, two incidents made me to change my OUTLOOK.
They were both challenges.
1. Number ONE.
Redhat deserting Me and US.
That was easy, I went to SuSe (Another disappointment in corporate world) and Mandriva and now PCLINUX FullMonty.
2. Number TWO.
The local cronies of Microsoft Corporation, using school leavers to disrupt a tiny workshop for KANDY school boys.
Yes they bribed the school leavers and threw in alcohol to douse them.
That was the turning point.
Had not for these two trivial incidents in my life full of bigger challenges to overcome, I would not have taken almost obsessive interest in Desktop Linux.
OUTCOME.
1. Five (5) books in Linux including cloud computing.
2. Almost daily downloading and testing Linux Derivatives.
3. Archive of over 400 Linux distributions from 1998 to TODAY.
4.Promoting LINUX Magazine.
5. Contributing articles.
Good News.
Two Debian Developers have translated the Linux Administrators Manual to English (from French).
Its print form is $50/= but digital form is FREE but make sure YOU Donate few dollars in appreciation of their dedicated work.
REDHAT had the best MANUALS, then.
It took another 10 years to fill the VOID.
Like what Richard Stallman had said about Apple Mac and Steve JOB,
I don't like his death, but I am happy he is gone.
I am Happy REDHAT is DEAD and RHEL has gone its own way to the corporate world.
That does not mean DESKTOP USER/s will sit back and Lick his/their wound/s or corporate ArXXXXSss.
They will innovate and move forward with new ideas.
If you have time and money please subscribe to Linux Magazine.
It has lot of wonderful tricks for newbies and experts.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Ubuntu-Unity Update-12.04-Warning for Oldies with Old Computers

Ubuntu-Unity Update-12.04-Warning for Oldies with Old Computers.
If you own an old computer and the graphic card is not NAVidea I have some bad news.
1. Do not think of installing Unity.
2. It is beautiful when booted up to RAM that is all one get.
3. It has inherited some Windows (98) problems.
4. It cannot distinguish from C drive to D drive.
5. It assumes you have a laptop and have only one hard disk.
6. If you install to the second drive it will assume that the other drive had to subjugate to Ubuntu and want boot up.
7. It does not even recognize even Windows operating system.
8. That is why I said it was like win 98 and imagine only one world and there no other computer world.
9. It does not recognize even native Linux distributions.
10. Its GRUB is the most horrible Grub I have ever used.
11. It hangs up in the last few minutes of installation.
Why I do not know?
12. If you install it without Internet connection it fails to finish updating and and hardware detection. If you connect the Internet it takes over 5 hours to finish downloading uploads. 
I was lucky we were on holiday and home full of visitors.
I setup Ubuntu installation (my test computer) go and have a gala time with the visitors and come up to see whether it has finished but it never finish it for three attempts.
13. It does not give a running commentary or the reason for its failure.
14. Linux standard Ctl+ Alt + F1 to F6 never worked. It does not respond to Ctl+Alt+ delete too.
It is just like windows and just hang up.
No warning or any radical explanations.
15. As patient as I can be, I tried it for the fourth time and it completed installation.
But failed to boot up even though I dedicated Master Hard disk.
Finally I installed Pinguy 11.04 to get my system running and to test other distributions.
My computer is IBM Netvista in very good condition in spite of regular testing.
In fact I dismantled it and gave a thorough clean up and added two new DVDs and a new hard disk for testing during our new year.
So if you have an old computer and very impatient do not try Ubuntu. I tried the DVD version but the CD version did not give the above problems but failed to recognize windows and other Linux distribution when first booted up.
So my honeymoon with Unity ended abruptly and I hope they remedy these deficiencies sooner than late.
It is called L.T.S and they should withdraw that label till the patch work is done and GRUB is updated  with stable script.
I am not going to write an update again for another six months.
I wish somebody do a thorough investigation of Unity Ubuntu.
I must tel you after 5 days I manged to download Linux Debian MATE / Cinnamon and would write about it when I have time.
It booted live but I did not install it due to my obsession with Ubuntu.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Google Drive Update

Google Drive is not yet ready with Linux application version yet.
However, my documents with Google were transferred to Google Drive intact and Firefox browser can link it without an application installed in your Linux.
You will have to have a Gmail address, though.
That is of course is very smart move by Google but Linux guys are watching it all the same.
Android which is customized Linux or is it tinkered with CODE with few extra bit of code belonging to Google.
That of course is not SMART, though.
I hope they will release the extra code as open source, sooner than late.
Please do not try Apple Ploys.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Tails-i386-0.11-Anonymous-Amnesia

Tails-i386-0.11-Anonymous-Amnesia Linux.
Debian based tails is (i386) is out is very handy if one want to be anonymous.
I booted it up with my extra computer and Google did not let me access my email and was asking me the two step verification which I did not have.
I immediately signed up for two way verification which was painful procedure, making me running to answer the telephone which is located in the ground floor to get the verification number.
Then I waited for application / equipment specific password which was 12 letters long and did not let me verify it with my computer running open not anonymous.
The I went to the other computer loaded with anonymous, tails and when I  tried the Gmail, it tells me to enter a number ending 75 but the ending  number was 91.
So I can now tell you that even with the most elegant search engine Google could not locate my second computer which was one number up in the IP address protocol.
Both computers were log in at the same time with the same router and it is an ample proof that tails is working fine and hiding  my IP address well, when anonymous is booted.

Orca the utility for blind was working like a rocket scientist and it could even pronounce the word SINHALA in English letters.
If you are in any godforsaken country where your police or the government is eavesdropping on you, go to the nearest cafe and download tails.
At the moment it is only developed in i386 version and available at www.linuxtracker.org.
When you download the torrent will detect the seeders using anonymous addresses, elsewhere in the www globe and I advise, you better cancel them when the torrent prompts you.
It may be the American L.P.L (DOD version)-(Light and Private Linux) that is eavesdropping on you and sending wrong data, all the same to your computer to corrupt the image.
Please do not use L.P.L because every time you use LPL it sends a message  to American D.O.D and that is how President Obama is running USA with paranoia.
I hope they will not vote for him again, if bright Americans are reading this message.