Why I avoided Linux MINT?

I avoided Linux MINT due to many reasons. The TOP Reason being, its Desktop consumes the mose over 1.2GB.

I believe in LINUX Principle of Small is Beautiful. 

For completeness sake I decided to install Cinnamon Derivative valled arccoLinux which is new coming from USA.

ARC= Amateur Radio Communication.

Linux Programming Languages

 

Linux Programming Languages

1. Vi was my beginning but later went to Vim.

2. PHP MyAdmin was my Samba and Server friend but I do not want to touch it in my old age.

3. Perl was my attraction

Being a Writer this was an attraction and quickly settle down on 28MB Abiword.

4. Lyx and Gambas (no more Latex now buts it's derivatives)

5. Abiword

Is a word processor and a command line functionality.

It is now over 300MB and it is my work horse and it has its development package but very few has time for it. Debian 12.10- - - dropped it so, I will stick with 12.9--

 

Summary

1. C

Linux is written in C and this where I started coding.

 

2. C++

I did not waste time on C++

 

3. Python

Python was the one which attracted to me on Linux in the book “Joy of Linux”.

It is versatile but so long I gave up.

 

4. Java I really liked when it had Java phones which one could manipulate.

One cannot find a Java phone now.

 

5. JavaScript I hate because it is cross platform.

 

6. Bash/Shell is unique. 

I still read Linux Bible when I decide to look at a shell script for fun

 

7.  Perl was my attraction until I settled down in Abiword.

 

8. Go of Google.

I collected its package in Ubuntu which was 1.2GB when it became 2.4GB I have it up. It has gone above that and at which level I stopped counting.

Go is Linux based and bulky.

 

9. Ruby

Ruby on rails was Web Development Language which I had a flash when I first developed my first Private Web Page with WordProcess.com (not .og organization which has gone commercial now) long before Google was born. I still have it and I have forgotten my password for Yahoo Mail to open it.

I am going to activate it when I am ready with my 5 books.

It is in slow progress.

Linux Essentials is reaching 450 pages. It has gone above 600 pages, now.

I wanted to keep it as it is and I do not want to delete it. It is active but one needs to go searching for my web site’s name.

 

10. Rust is new and I have no knowledge except Ubuntu trying to Reinvent Linux.

It is going to be a either flash in the pan or making money which was not the intention of Ubuntu Master Guru.

 

11. Swift

It is macOS which I have no interest.

 

13.  Haskell and compiz compositor is supposed to be Research Work with very little Fat in its Core.

It is on a black terminal.

Until it comes with a simple graphic front,  I won’t try it.

 

14. R is the only statistical package for Linux.

It comes as Octave and is very large package.

I think it was developed in New Zealand.

Not when I was roaming in South Island.

 

15. PHP

Server side scripting language which has become plump and may become a pest and may take over your system.

Why Google Androids HATE AbiWord?

Why Google Androids HATE AbiWord? 

 Me telling, Good Bye to Internet after 20 years is easy.

IT protocols were not owned by big companies, in the beginning and the Internet blossomed as an educational platform.

BSD from California Berkeley did a yeoman service in the beginnings for services to be available in the Universities Worldwide.

It has gone through the full circle and back to big companies. 

Now money only speaks and big companies have a stranglehold on millions of minions.

That is called development.

In Ceylon, the software is used by army to snooping on us.

I have nicknamed this type of software as the proboscis the mosquito use it to suck living blood.

USB Pendrives, Portability and Python

To me small is beautiful.

Virtual not physical portability is innovative and a blessings.

Python is long and is longer than an anaconda.

But a very small script of Python is stable and reliable and one cannot erase it. 

That is the virtue of Python unlike other programming languages.                  

I am looking for a Python instruction book for the last five years but did not find one.

The idea is to fiddle with Python in my free time, instead of trying  gaming on a Linux environment.

I wanted to carry my Linux Operating System in a USB stick long time ago, when USB sticks hit the market.

It was a difficult preposition.

Then, the Pendrive Linux site changed my outlook completely.

It had a Python script that one can download and add seamlessly any supported Linux distribution to boot from a USB stick.

This was difficult with Debian.

Debian is not light weight to fit a SFS file.

Debian is meant for installing.

However, Live DVDs in GNOME, KDE and XFCE4 are now available.

Before that only Puppy Linux could do that in extremely small scale, with less than 100MB.       

Knoppix could do that in a big scale with persistent volume.

It has gone dormant.

I still have several of those primitive USB sticks booting on Legacy BIOS devices or old PCs.

I have left them in Ceylon to avoid overloading my suitcase.

I decided to organize my numerous USB sticks and erase duplicates except that contained bootable USB with bootable sfs files made by MutliSystem utility. 

It is a French utility based on Ubuntu but has gone dormant.

Only one USB could not be erased and it contained the one Python script, an expanded file, the MultiSystem Linux file and a few of my text files written in Abiword. 

Python takes over the booting mechanism of the USB stick and all my attempt to erase or clean the stick was not possible.

I even tried FATPup and failed.

I get an error message stating, only readable not writable.

So beware!

Be careful with Python.

I hate bulky Word Process utilities, especially Microsoft and do my work only with AbiWord.              

It is tiny compatible with Windows.

It is essentially a programs interface with only 28MB capacity but it has expanded to about 300MB. 

It can be shared in the Internet and it make tiny text files.

AbiWord is a free, Open Source word processor renowned for its lightweight design, speed and cross platform compatibility.

However, Google is scared of AbiWord and does not support it.

It serves as a streamlined alternative to heavier programs like Microsoft Word, making it ideal for everyday text editing, drafting documents and running smoothly on older or low resource hardware.

Lightweight and Fast:

It requires minimal disk space and memory, resulting in very quick startup times compared to full office suites.

Cross Platform except Google Android:

The software supports multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux distributions. 

Debian old editions did not support it and only Emmabantus supported it in the beginning. On that reason alone I used Emmabantus. 

I have a copy of Emmbantus in my NUC.

Format Compatibility:

It reads and writes to dozens of industry standard file formats, including Microsoft Word (.doc / .docx), Rich Text Format (.rtf), OpenDocument (.odt), and HTML.

Document Creation:

It handles basic layout and formatting beautifully, including table creation, image insertion, bulleted lists, and styles.

Extensibility:

Users can add customizable plugins to integrate advanced features such as translation tools and specialized export functions.

Beginners and Minimalists:

People who want a distraction free typing environment without navigating complex menus.

Low Power Hardware:

Users with older computers or embedded systems where resource usage is a priority.

While AbiWord excels at everyday tasks, it does lack some of the advanced formatting options, macros, and deep multimedia capabilities found in robust proprietary programs. It is officially maintained and available for download via the SourceForge AbiWord Project Page or the AbiSource Download Center.

The strength of AbiWord is it can remove Macros coming from Microsoft. I did that with my Theses to confirm to University of Peradeniya, specifications.

It one needs a particular, Macro all what one has to do is to open the Abi File in LibreOffice and do the additions and save it on both .odt and .abi file formats. One does not need Microsoft Words.

All these I have done and AbiWord is second nature to me.

While US English is the default setting for the software, it supports over 30 different languages for spell checking and proofing.

AbiWord handles proofing (like spelling and synonyms) via its modular plugin system.

Spell Checkers:

The program uses pre-installed, Open Source dictionaries, allowing one to easily check spelling in languages other than English.

Thesaurus:

The thesaurus feature in AbiWord is powered by Aiksaurus, the Open Source thesaurus engine.

Thesaurus Support:

While Aiksaurus includes support for several languages, depending on the type of OS and how AbiWord was installed, one need to download additional language plugin packs to access and use synonyms in languages other than English.

How to Install Additional Languages

In Linux:

Open your terminal and install the specific language dictionaries using your distribution's package manager (e.g., for Debian/Ubuntu, search for and install packages like aspell for your specific language code).

In my case all books written by me for publication were made in AbiWord.

Thank YOU.

LibreOffice, again coming from France, I used to add only a few features to the ported AbiWord file, ready for publishing in a book format.

Problem with Microsoft Macros is they are bulky and their page format cannot be resized to Thesis Specifications of University of Peradeniya.

In other words Microsoft Macro are not compatible with each other but sits on top of another making it a very bulky end product.

I used AbiWord for my thesis,too.

All self learning which I have perfected from childhood.

Now, Python for heavy work and AbiWotd in program mode for tiny work like writing a book not a leaflet or brochure.

There is bulky T Text for working on mainframe computers.

WPS is a good alternative in an Android environment with classic and light weight downloads with lot of features.

Linux is always a text file easy to handle.

Mind you I could not format one MicroSD locally purchased. 

All the others SD cards are in my cellphones or mounted on a USB compatible mounters.

Pure Linux is a Text File

This blog site was created due to pure frustration with Microsoft Windows.

I hated Visual Basic.

I am a medical teacher and keeping medical records safe and secure was my original intention.

Way back in my Linux history, I wanted to train  100 Ceylonese guys (no girls by choice) or introduce Linux and Free Software to 100 guys.

It was a total failure.

The exception for girls is due to one girl who was recruited to do my work. She typed only one letter during her stay with our Department. She was allowed tp attend the Linux Seminar that was limited for only 50. She scooted to Canada. I got to know her plan and said, please do not put me as a Referee. You have deprived a Ceylonese guy who deserved it better and I am going to state that fact. I did not see her again.

My attempt in a open public meeting was scuttled by Microsoft by bribing the guy who organized the bonanza for Microsoft.

Me the vagabond, went into overdrive,   here I am still promoting Linux.

That little incident Microsoft should regret.

I became Linux addict and Linux advocate.

A lawful act of benevolence.

Please note that I have used the words that follows, to test the digital dictionary. I hate the cellphone keyboard and tried using many but none satisfy my needs. 

I love the touch of keys of a standard keyboard and cut and paste of Microsoft, I despise.

I always use simple instructional English.

I call it academic English.

The computer language bores me to death and one finger typing on a digital keyboard is painful to my index finger digit.

The stated comments about Microsoft, I have repeated over thousand times.

I do not hate  Window users but I only pity, them.

Satire is in my genes and that genomic piece in my genetic code has kept my head above water for so long.

Lot of American and British guys, lately Ukrainians do not have backbone to resist subtle and deliberate insinuation by USA/CIA.

Freedom, I value and Linux gave me that freedom.

I am glad after many years in the doldrums Linux has woken up to take Windows head on and Windows guys have found Linux Python utility as an escape route.

This piece is to make the statement that YouTube is useful for advertisement and it increases the coffers to Google.

Text book and text file is the sure way of learning Linux. 

All Linux is a grand text file and python 3 plus integrates it.

By the way, some of these utilities are coming from Free BSD. 

The best server utility, if you care to learn is BSD. 

Decade ago I promoted BSD one always need an Internet connection to use BSD.

No text books.

 

T.C.P. and I.P.

 T.C.P. and I.P.

When I wrote a book about Internet  many moons ago it had 6 (SIX) or so Engineering protocols and it looks like they are merging some of them and making 4 layers.

1. Data Link Layer with uniform standards or protocols.

2. T.C.P. or the Transfer protocol.

3. I.P. or the dedicated IP address protocol

4. System or hardware based Application protocols providing services.

What happened to the topmost layers?

Most likely Eaten Up by the Cloud servers or the D.O.D (Department of Defense) protocols of the Facebook and  the Twitter.

I think the CIA has outsourced top two layers  of its services to Facebook and Twitter and both earn money in the process.

What a profitable plan?

I always never believed in their strategy.

That is why I stopped using both long time ago.

One Drive, Google Drive and Dropbox are putting restrictions on users and are waiting to suck in dollars and pounds.

Me telling, Good Bye to Internet after 20 years is easy.

IT protocols were not owned by big companies, in the beginning and the Internet blossomed as an educational platform.

BSD from California Berkeley did a yeoman service in the beginnings for services to be available in the Universities Worldwide.

It has gone through the full circle and back to big companies. Now money only speaks and big companies have a stranglehold on millions of minions.

That is called development.

In Ceylon, the software is used by army to snooping on us.

I have nicknamed this type of software as the proboscis the mosquito use it to suck living blood.

My OEM Laptop Hijacked by Microsoft

My OEM Laptop Hijacked by Microsoft

You have to put up with this piece which is technical but I will put it in simple English but mixed with a few jargon words of computer science.

I wanted to call, "a stop" to my Internet activities and its protocols but still, many guys  visit my blog space. I decided to continue it bit longer but it will come to a stop eventually, like the dramatic divorce case of Bill Gate but still simmering for a few years before the final stop but his hopeless operating system in the name Windows would limp around for many more years, just as well irritating the gullible Windows user

The machines do not have emotions or brains but are dedicated to doing a particular process,          like vending machines distributing soft drinks.               It is software or a dedicated program in computer science terminology.

Now my laptop has no operating system running since, I accidentally erased my BSD dedicated ESP boot plan.

I was bored due to Coronavirus incarceration and decided to boot Ubuntu 20 version as a supplementary version to Debian. It reverted back my laptop to Microsoft pirated U.E.F.I. mode and it says there is no operating system, in spite me installing two distributions, Debian 9 and Debian10.

Even Debian finds shy of touching U.E.F.I.

Why?

I do not know.

Is it litigation by Bill Gate cronies?

But TrueOS a BSD version does take over the hard disk and the operating system, in a flash.

It takes over my computer under its umbrella.

TrueOS is totally destructive in the hands of a newbie. To complicate the matter when I pulled out the Ethernet wire I damaged it in several places. I have a few broken parts now. Sadly, I do not have a crimpler to connect the working lengths.

I decided to go WiFi and I pulled the Ethernet  wire of the router.

My bed room is 80 feet away from the router. Ethernet wire distance away and Pulling a costly Ethernet wire 80 feet long on the roof is not a healthy pastime at my age,

Besides, there are thunderstorms day and night.

TCP/IP and router protocol will be at the end of this piece.

I used my Dialog data in a few hours downloading Knoppix which stopped exactly at 30% of the download,  not once but twice due to our Internet Master, Ad-Monster (I do not call him administrator) interfering with my download well pass midnight.       He may have had a paranoia that I was downloading pornographs.

Now coming to BSD and TrueOS are actually Internet Protocol dedicated Operating Systems and one need an active Internet Connection for installing them live. It was five years ago, I boot loaded the laptop with BSD using Ethernet connection (wire) but now I can do that by WiFi and it detected all my carriers but with the data blocked by the Dialog service provider.

I have to eat the humble pie.

Dialog wants nothing but money and there is no proper service. They supercharge on temporary extensions.

Mind you, our Water Bill is more than the Internet Bill with a broken pipe leaking for one month or so without our notice. Thankfully, they did not disconnect the water unlike Telecom.

Mind you, I have stopped answering the land phone or giving any calls. Only, news of Coronavirus and I say the Coronavirus comes through the telephone wire.

Now to the technical stuff.

BSD is platform independent unlike Unix and is a Internet Protocol dedicated system.

If internet is out it is out of service.

1. BSD is platform or computer independent.

It does not matter what operating system you use, an expensive Apple or inexpensive supercharged Linux.

2. It is Internet protocol dedicated.

3. It uses Virtual Memory handsomely.

4. Its software programs are super fast unlike Microsoft.

5. But its learning curve is deep if you are using the black terminal.

6. It has a graphic Vi Editor for Ex terminal editor of Unix.

I hate black terminals.

Graphic terminal is soothing to the eye.

Linux has soothing Desktops and Plasma is my current favourite.

BSD has only one Lumina Desktop which is a  bad start for me.

7. Its handling of ESP is pretty good and it erases the UEFI of Microsoft's (OEM Ploy) in seconds without any fear or favour.

8. Its software bundle is lean and fits into a CD not.a DVD.

The rest of the software is in the Internet, now popularly and affectionately known as the cloud.

9. Its server version is slim.

10. It is FREE or free to distribute.

No copyright charges like Apple.

11. It is Unix variant and not Linux variant.

It has teething problems with Linux.

12. It has all the big programming languages like Perl, Ruby, and the  anaconda version, Venerable Python.

I am still looking for a Python. programming book for the last three years.

I will stop at this. the next number is my favourite mathematical number 13.

Like Java Beans the operating system should be platform independent.

Hardware manufacturers should not have roadblocks.

It is OK for Apple, since it supervises its own hardware.

Microsoft does not put money on O.E.M. or hardware development but secretly insinuate U.E.F.I.

Its Surface Tab is a failure in front of Androids.

MX Linux beta Testing

For completeness sake, I decided to install 25.2 Testing image.

It is 3.6GB 300MB bigger than the Stable Image. I am happy it is within 4GB USB stick. I am stil writing it to a USB. 

There would be a Running Commentary.

It is a good distribution but I did not likes it upfront Desktop Appearance of its KDE.

Currently, KDE Desktop is getting fancy look. MX Linux KDE has its own look.

Its booting is fast but still has the old familliar look.

Familliar selection.

Language

Time Zone 

Sysvinit

SystemD

Welcome Screen 

MX Package Installer lists packages according to category and Synaptic Package Manager is Under Utility Category.

Installer goes into Image checking mode.

I do not hit ESC button.

I resize the Installer graphic frame to my liking. It has help and live logging.

There system information and user manual.

Check the keyboard.

I choose custom disk lay out.

There is Option for Replacing the system.

Do not choose that option. No way to go back.

I select ESP, SWAP and /root.

I forgot WiFi but Time Zone Location is not available.

Paused for required Operator Input.

Time Zone Australia 

Language US English 

User name and passed 

Root Password 

Thank you froom MX Team.

Finalzing GRUB.

Could not time the Installation time but it is over half an hour, mostly due to delay in my Inputs.

It is finished.

Booted at 11.22AM.

AbiWord installed.

Installalling GNOME and XFCE and GDM 3 for Plymouth.

UPDATES are available.

4.2GB free from 15GB.

Clicking it at 11.43AM.

20 UPDATES of 655.6MB.

UPDATES finished at 11.45PM.

Running with GNOME.

THANK YOU MX Team.

No mishaps at all.

Installing Audacity.

Brave added

Palemoon 40MB

Librewolf 438MB.

BlueFish is not in the list.

Installing Synaptic Package Manager.

Getting BlueFish through Synaptic.

Added Stacer and misding components of AbiWord. Add dillo, too.

Frozen Bubble, Epiphany and the browser added.

Still I have 2.5GB left to add Opera, Vivaldi and Falkon.

I have 1.2GB left and my bottom line is 1.GB.

Strangely, CachyOS that had problem with booting does boot with MX Linux Boot Menu. It looks like the Generic Graphic, Driver for my NUC is dull and off colour.

I know how to sort it out.

I have no hesitation recommending MX Linux 25.2 Testing Image.

BlueStar LINUX UPDATE

Yes, I got the Latest 7.0.1 image from Linuxtracker and installed it.

Well, it is the most beautiful KDE Desktop and it has Octapi Installer from which I learned how to install additional applications. 

I had it Installed in my NUC but with an old image I could not get AbiWord installed. 

If any distribution does not support AbiWord I would not use it. 

That is the bottom line.

I knew it was a simple problem and by installing the new version I could sort out the problems which I did.

It had few problems with configuring WiFi on Live Session in the past. It is sorted out now.

The major problem was UPDATING. It has sorted out that problem, too.

It has amazing collection of SOFTWARE already installed and I have no hesitation of recommending it to a newbie who wants an elegant KDE Desktop.

Well, I am GNOME Desktop guy.

To begin with it does not support GNOME.

The Octopi has lot of Desktops to install but after installation it does not Support SDDM Plymouth to mount them. Does not make am entry.

It takes lot of space and I could not install Blender due to lack of space. This I have solved by giving more space in another partition.

I got AbiWord installed and it is running smoothly.

Only downside is it used dark themes and the boot up Plymouth is so dark, I find it difficult to select the distribution I wish to mount.

But my favourite is CachyOS OS.

It has its own Application Store which is Huge. If you are comfortable that is the one to try. It is the best ARCH distribution and is on top of www.distrowatch.com.

It had problems with GRUB and that is sorted out.

However, if you are one who is like me who has several distributions already installed,  CachyOS should be installed last. 

Since, I do not like the SDDM of BlueStar Linux, I am Installing CachyOS now. It has no problem with Debian GNOME.

By the way, if you are very new to ARCH my Recommendation is REBORN OS.

Everything is Graphical and one need not bother about the Terminal.

Its GRUB is very beautiful.

I have all three in my NUC with 3 instances of Debian GNOME. One is on 50GB /root partition. I have all the Iso Images saved there. That saves space for my regular Debian Instance.

By the way, I have Ultimate ARCH distribution which is dedicated to games. I could not install Dolphin File Manager to store DATA.

Some reflections on Early Computer DATA

Some reflections on Early Computer DATA 

Some reflection, on Binary System and early computer environment is worth mentioning. I started with Live Linux CDs, that is after having being fully fed up with Microsoft Windows. I had to run 42 Floppies to get Windows 95 running on an IBM Computer with 512MB RAM and 4 MB Video RAM.   I still have it in Ceylon but not in working order.    

When we were building our house, I used to give the Mason Bass,the old metal gadgets for our indoor steps’ alignment in 90 degrees, as a form of concrete reinforcement. One of them was Commodore 64 Computer. 

I would have give even our first computer for similar reinforcement of concrete but my son did not agree. 

That is why it is still surviving and unlike the desktops of today, they were heavy and metal framed. The motherboard was huge unlike a motherboard of a NUC with an integrated Graphic Card. They consumed lot of electricity and needed lot of ventilation fans to keep them cool.

Installation Floppy Disks

Coming back to installation floppies, the most common 3.5-inch floppy disk can hold only 1.44 MB of data, while the earlier 5.25-inch disks commonly held 360 KB or 1.2 MB. These, along with 8-inch disks (initially 80 KB), were the standards, respectively, the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s, before being replaced by higher capacity media like CDs and USB drives.

Installation Floppy for Windows System were;

Windows 3.0/3.1:

6–11 disks (3.5" or 5.25")

Windows 95:

13 Distribution Media Format (DMF) disks

or 26–28 standard 3.5" disks.

Windows 98:

39 DMF disks.

Windows NT 3.1:

22 disks

Data

Computing technology is based on data, its storage and data access when necessary and performing useful functions using a st of data. All these need to be addressed briefly here.

Data storage in computing is the retention of digital information using technology like magnetic, optical or Solid State Media to record binary data (0s and 1s). It acts as the long term memory for computers, storing files, applications and operating systems, allowing for future retrieval.

The key types of storage media include HDD, SSD and USB. Primary storage (e.g., RAM) is fast, volatile and used for active tasks, while secondary storage (e.g., SSDs, HDDs) is slower, non volatile and used for long term retention in drives and the cloud.   The ability to retain data even when the device is powered off, which is a defining feature of storage devices.

Binary Data

All data is stored in a binary format, composed of bits and bytes, which allows computers to interpret information efficiently.

SSD

Offer high speed, reliable and non volatile storage, often using flash memory, suitable for fast boot times and application loading.

HDD

Use magnetic storage to store large amounts of data cheaply, often found in traditional computers and servers.

USB and Memory Cards

Portable storage solutions ideal for transferring small to medium amounts of data

Optical Storage

CD, DVD, and Blu-ray discs are still used, often for long term archiving.

Cloud Storage

Data stored on remote servers accessed via the internet, often relying on data centers and managed by cloud providers

RAM

Random Access Memory

ROM

Read-Only Memory

RAM and ROM are essential computer storage types. RAM is volatile, fast, temporary memory for active applications, erasing on shutdown of the computer. ROM is non volatile, permanent storage for firmware, retaining data without power.

Think of RAM as a desk for working, and ROM as a bookshelf.

What is important is all the work is done only in RAM memory and it is the single most important factor. More RAM the computer has more workload the computer can handle. RAM is volatile (loses data when power is off) while ROM is non volatile (retains data).

RAM stores data for active applications and immediate CPU access. ROM stores crucial boot up instructions (BIOS) and system code.

RAM is significantly faster than ROM.

Data can be read from and written to RAM quickly. ROM is primarily read only or rewritten infrequently and slowly.

Storage Capacity

Typical modern devices have larger ROM (128GB+) for storage and smaller RAM (8GB-16GB+) for processing.

I hated floppy disk with limited data capacity.

My work started with CD and transitioned to DVD. I used to get a set of DVDs with Linux Journal, I subscribed while I was employed but stopped subscribing after retirement due to high price. I would not have written this book if not for reading those journals on a regular basis. Still later, there were journals published by individual distributions. Ubuntu was one of them.

CD (Compact Disc) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) are optical storage devices that use laser technology to read and write digital data, such as audio, video and software. While CDs generally store about 700MB of data (mainly for audio/data), DVDs hold much more, typically 4.7GB or more, making them better for high quality video and larger files.

 

Note: 

It is hard to find a DVD to record some music if not computer software.

CD

Developed for audio,it holds approximately 80 minutes of music or 700MB of data.

DVD

A higher-capacity format designed for movies and large data storage, offering around 4.7GB to 17GB.

Both use a laser to read tiny bumps (pits) on the disc surface, but DVD pits are smaller and closer together, allowing higher density.

Most DVD players can play CDs but CD players cannot read DVDs.

Both come in read only (ROM), recordable (CD-R/DVD-R) and rewritable (CD-RW/DVD-RW) formats.

CD

Music albums, software installation, data backups.

DVD

Movies, high capacity data storage, large software applications.

While largely replaced by streaming and USB drives, they remain useful for physical media collections and secure, offline backups.

Banana Story

Man cannot survive only on Bananas, Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes.

Banana is richer in some components compared regular potatoes.

However, potatoes are rich in proteins.

Sweet potatoes are sweeter and rich in Vitamin A (rather carotene).

So the best way to eat is to mix the three in various combinations.

CHNOPS consist of 98% of the living matter and Oxygen is about 65% by weight.

Carbon

Hydrogen 

Nitrogen 

Phosphorus 

Sulfur 

I add Calcium to this list since we are vertebrates

Macro Elements 

Sodium

Potassium 

Chlorine 

Magnesium 

Manganese 

Micro Elements are

Iron

Zinc

Cooper 

Selenium 

There are only  11 elements necessary for living and no food contains all.

Banana can be eaten in many ways but some ways like eating as banana chips is not a healthy way. 

When banana is cultivated in excess the excess material is converted to chips and I have no problem with that.

Banana is a fruit with low glycaemic index.

Glycaemic Index is the index that measures the availability of sugars or calorie after ingestion.

It is a ranking index.

It measures how quickly sugar is released. It also measures how quickly the blood sugar rises up.

Both fiber and fat content may determine the rapid or slow availability of sugars.

Cooking also increases the availability of free sugar.

While potatoes are high in GI bananas are low in GI.

Eating potato chips and banana chips is the worst way to consume food. 

Both as a medical student and a medical man I did not know these facts even though I was very much interesed in nutriention. 

I almost finished a book on Exotic Fruits and Vegetables of Ceylon and an introductory chapter in basic nutrients was considered necessary. So this is how compse that introduction.

In our time Tuberculosis and Nutritional deficency coexisted. Tuberculosis was called wssting disease and the B. C. G. Vaccines was the only solution to mitigate both nutritional deficiency and devastating illness, Tuberculosis.

How many ways to eat bananas.

1. Fresh Banana

2. Cooked Banana - Ash Plantain 

3. Banana fritters

4. Banana chips 

5. Banana with Toast Bread

6. Add volume to Mixed Fruit Salad

7. Banana with ice cream 

8. Banana in a milk shake 

I could not think of 10.

9. Forgot Banana Bread in CEYLON at Mesna Tea Center

10. Banana on top of Yoghurt at Kheels

But my favourite was Soursop with vanilla ice cream. 

This is the Year of LINUX (2026) and Debian Testing Rocks

Yes, this the Year of LINUX (2026).

I am currently installing Debian Forky.

I had some mishap with a recent Image but today, I got the write image. I have been using Debian Forky for a long time and I had only one USB stick with that Image.

I jusy wanted to try the latest build but last image I downloaded had issues and I posted that issue in my blog post at Google. 

Wthin a few days, the Developer Guys and Girls responded smartly.

Thank YOU.

Long Live LINUX.

DEBIAN Testing Full Install has many Additional Applications

It did not complete the full installation.

I gave 50GB space.

I never tried Debian Edu which is used in school administrations.

I wanted Debian Medical, Astronomy and Ham Radio which is huge collection. 

The said applications were downloaded during Installation.

I gave 50GB for the /root.

it is taking a long time to install.

I would Report, after install.

4809 additional applications in the bundle.

By the way, the latest Version of Debian Testing image does not boot. It is missing the kernel.

Why? 

Today, I got a working image downloaded.

I am Installing it currently.

It took 1 hour 2 minutes to install the full desktops and the two cellphone utilities.

This is Running Commentary on Installation of Elive

Enlightenment

Enlightenment is a rather unusual desktop environment. It is in fact, more of a Window Manager as it lacks taskbar, panel and even menu. Yet, unlike many lightweight environments, the Enlightenment desktop is full of eye candy features one would expect from a full blown environment but using only a fraction of the resources. There are subtle animations tucked in almost on every element of the desktop widgets.

The desktop has a first boot wizard that enables one to select various aspects of the desktop that define its behaviour and appearance. For example, one gets    an option to select the text size in the windows, which is a really useful feature and even more so, if one is running Enlightenment on a high DPI  (means how many dots per inch or pixels per inch it supports) display.

Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a compositing window manager for the X-11 window system.

Since version 20, Enlightenment also supports Wayland and is shipped with some Linux distributions such as Bodhi Linux and Pentoo.

Enlightenment includes functions to provide a graphical shell and can be used in conjunction with programs written for GNOME or KDE. When used together with the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), Enlightenment can be referred as anEntire Desktop Environment.

Elive CD

Some reflection, on Binary System and early computer environment is worth mentioning. I started with Live Linux CDs, that is after having being fully fed up with Microsoft Windows. I had to run 42 Floppies to get Windows 95 running on an IBM Computer with 512MB RAM and 4 MB Video RAM.   I still have it in Ceylon but not in working order.    When we were building our house, 

I used to give the Mason Bass, the old metal gadgets for our indoor steps’ alignment in 90 degrees, as a form of concrete reinforcement. One of them was Commodore 64 Computer. I would have give even our first computer for similar reinforcement of concrete but my son did not agree. That is why it is still surviving and unlike the desktops of today, they were heavy and metal framed. The motherboard was huge unlike a motherboard of a NUC with an integrated Graphic Card. They consumed lot of electricity and needed lot of ventilation fans to keep them cool.

Coming back to installation floppies, the most common 3.5-inch floppy disk can hold only 1.44 MB of data, while the earlier 5.25-inch disks commonly held 360 KB or 1.2 MB. These, along with 8-inch disks (initially 80 KB), were the standards, respectively, the 1990s, 1980s, and 1970s, before being replaced by higher capacity media like CDs and USB drives.

Installation Floppy for Windows System were;

Windows 3.0/3.1:

6–11 disks (3.5" or 5.25")

Windows 95:

13 Distribution Media Format (DMF) disks

or 26–28 standard 3.5" disks.

Windows 98:

39 DMF disks.

Windows NT 3.1:

22 disks

After one day of toiling, with the help of CachyOS and Reborn OS, I got the GRUB in working order of my NUC. Now, I have 9 distributions including ELive running. There are 3 Debian, 2 Testing (Forky),  1 Stable Trixie and also Emmabantus running Trixe. 

 

Warning

Choose this distribution if you have only and old hardware. It would run with 500MB (Conky showing the RAM use) but it shoots up to 1.5GB, if you are running programs.

Minimum RAM I recommend is 2GB.

It is old Bookworm kernel and compatible only with Debian. By the way, it is based on Debian.            It is incompatible with all the ARCH distributions.        It ruined my GRUB and I have reinstalled CachyOS and REBORN OS. No bother, I can install 4 ARCH derivatives, in the time I spent installing Elive.     Besides, I can install Enlightenment Desktop on top of GNOME of DEBIAN. There is also Enlightenment Organization which promote this Desktop.

After several look up for the Live USB for free iso image download, I found a torrent file of a folder consisting of 6.9GB with two images of 32 bit and 64 bit.

DEBIAN also takes a long time to install since it supports many Desktops on the first install. One can avoid this by downloading only one Live image say, GNOME, KDE or XFCE. Do not download Source Code images and they cannot be installed. DEBIAN Testing images are released every 2 weeks and the last one I downloaded was faulty and I could not use it to install Testing Debian. It is less than 4GB and it carries some fault. There are no torrent files for Testing images but the image I downloaded some time back is working fine.

In the meantime, I lost all my Linux images, saved in a NTFS Partition. I have now converted this to EXT4 and installed another instance of Debian GNOME.

Installation details of Elive.

It started at 13.32PM.

At 13.42 I formatted /partition 9 which had second instance of REBORN OS.

It is detecting the 18 partitions in my NUC.

It is already a bit of a pain but I am not yet annoyed.

At last I got the layout of my Partition Table.

Selected partition 9 with 16.7GB.

It is still brewing grog or alcohol but this is the Month of Wesak and I do not consume alcohol at all.

It wants a password for a new keyring.

Obliged.

I did not want Google Chrome to snooping.

234 dollar contributions in 10 days.

I decline any contributions because I do not have an account in Australia.

I would have obliged, if I was in CEYLON.

It is configuring the installation.

I hope it would not ruin my GRUB.

I declined Chrome Browser and SNAP of UBUNTU.

It is running the Terminal and removing redundant stuff.

I am a patient retired doctor and I have gone through this rigmarole from 32 bit time. Hence no major mishaps along the way.

THANK You Elive.

Long Live Linux is my motto.

I would have an account on ELive in my book Linux Essentials. No reservation intended.

I have already Enlightenment Desktop on top of GNOME, IceWM, Blackbox and Openbox window managers included.

I loved Enlightenment Desktop from 32 bit time. With all the animations I cannot resize the Terminal Window to read what is going on the background. This is something, I learned from ARCH Linux. Iread every comment made in the Terminal.I take seriously every comment they make in the Terminal on Python 3 plus.

It is 14.17PM and already one hour gone.

Not yet finished.

REBORN OS finished installation in 12 minutes and that is why I use ARCH instead of Bookworm of ELive. However, I am going to keep it as the 9th distribution in my NUC.

It is finally doing the GRUB and Init.

Anyway it is better than Prism Linux and GARUDA Linux that ruined my GRUB.

Finished at 14.28PM, 2 minutes short of 1 hour.

Did It ruin my GRUB?

Yes, it did.

By the way, I had the Elive Image in a 8GB SD Card and it would remain there for sometime.

It is saying it is updating my GRUB.

It has only one user but others can be added.

No Root User but  a Sudo.

This violates the Linux Principle.

Well it got the GRUB in order with a beautiful Plymouth but ARCH derivatives not booting.

I am booting it now at 14.38PM.

Thank You again.

My NUC has no Audio but I jacked, my son's USB Audio Jack and I am currently listening to a random sample of music.

Thank You for the Music Elive Linux.

I have no hesitation in recommending it to Newbies but read my above comments.

One has to learn to be patient in LINUX Installation.

That is a cardinal rule.

It (ELIVE) has come a long way.

I am going to install AbiWord now.

It already has Audacity.

Added Lmms (Grand old Linux Audio Studio Utility) and AbiWord.

AbiWord accessed my current working book on Linux Essentials.

Thank YOU.

Linux ROCKS on ELIVE Linux.

15.00PM and my it is my Tea Time.

Coffee I made at 12PM has gone cold but I would have it now, like some ice coffee.

It is bit cold in AUSTRALIA.

It is 16.04PM and I am still listening to music.

THANK You for the MUSIC.

The video quality is poor and they are old time music when video technology was very poor. Transferring them to digital tend to loose quality anyway. My eyesight is poor anyway.

By the way, MPV Player of Linux is excellent.

The Elive project has published a new stable release of its Debian based distribution featuring the Enlightenment desktop. The new version uses Debian 12 (Old Stable) as a base and offers both versions 16 and 27 of the Enlightenment interface.

The unique features on this release include OpenRC as an optionalInit System available during installation for users who prefer a SystemD alternative that adheres closely to the UNIX philosophy. Synthwave Player is an impressive new music player developed for months by Elive is included as a default.  An extremely light weight application forVoice Control forhands free interaction (no-AI), and is optional. Desktop Clock: A simple, lightweight desktop clock that we made for the E16 desktop. Enlightenment 27: A preview of the last Enlightenment E27 with a few Elive features included is included by default to use and play.

This will be the last build of Elive including the very solid Debian 12 back ports and with all the stability needed. It is in an extremely polished system,  a perfect LTS snapshot of Elive Stable."

Elive 3.8.50 runs SystemD by default, but users can optionally run SysV Init instead with the selection made during the installation process. When SysV init is selected, OpenRC runs as the service manager on top of SysV init.

Elive, or Enlightenment live CD, is a Debian based desktop Linux distribution and live CD featuring the Enlightenment window manager. Besides being   pre-configured and ready for daily desktop use, it also includes "Elpanel" - a control centre for easy system and desktop administration. Elive is a non commercial, cost free operating system designed for everyday use,    and it offers a much faster, friendlier and feature rich alternative to an expensive proprietary OS.

With Elive, computers up to 15 years old can be transformed to high performance machines with a stunning interface fully customisable.

I think Elive tried become a commercial entity but failed. It is now crowd funding its project which is a good thing. It looks like the Project Leader who started it has joined the team.

It keeps on supporting 32 bit computers.

Its 64 bit version is 4.2GB.

   

WARNING 

Choose this distribution if YOU have only OLD hardware.

It would run with 500MB, RAM in Conky, and it shoots up to 1.5GB if you are running programs

 

Minimum RAM is 2GB.

It is old Bookworm Kernel and compatible with Debian kernel only

It is incompatible with all the ARCH distributions.