Unifying All Linux distributions-Is there a justifiable case for this approach?

Unifying All Linux distributions-Is there a justifiable case for this approach? 

Let me be forthright.

There is no case for Free software Foundation or the Community based Linux Distributions to follow a unifying theory.

In fact it is a waste of productive human endeavour.

Just as there are many newspapers, and many models of cars and sports and clubs that deal with these sports institutions, the variety of Linux distributions deliver a product that would appeal a greater user base.

What is probably lacking is the many developers do not focus on a certain or particular theme or vision and do it for the fun of it.

It may have a religious flavour or a sport or hobby enthusiasm and the human nature is for these to wax and wane.

That is the reason for some distributions to go dormant and some of them to have an active community support.

The community support and vigour is the one that make the Linux distributions successful.

It may not be true for a business model which is based on a particular task of course makes ends meet and make a profit at the end of the day.

If one mix this like Fedora and Redhat I believe that middle ground is never reached.
The tendency is for it to shift towards the business model.

They were the failures.

Suse also come into this fold.

For argument sake I will use five categories of users.

1. General users.

2. Hobbyist and gamers.

3. Students.

4. Scientists.

5. Technocrats

The beauty of Linux is that it can cater for any of these appeals.

Unlike business model which identify certain section of this population Linux should not restrict itself to a certain segment of the users.

In the beginning of the Linux story and history it was the hobbyist that played the major role.

Now that Ubuntu has taken a very distinctive an admirable vision and direction other developers also should focus on these efforts with their vision as a priority.

I always say even Linux developers have to make room for providing rice and curry or bread and butter for their families, once the hobby element is taken out of the denominator.

One should not measure the success by the fan base.

It should be based on the utility value.

I will give one example since I have downloaded and tested as many as 300 hundred distributions from September, 2009 and still continue to do that with a less aggressive manner to cut down on my electricity bill and also because the Sri-Lankan Teleom does not provide me the speed I pay for them .

I pay for 50 K bit and get barely 5 K bit per second.

With the 20/20 promotion they only worry about the profit and not the service that they provide to their customers.

There was a distribution based on Slakware was for writers and its last version was in 2009.

If I remember right it was named PocketWriter

It was a live distribution and I was not able to install it since that was the time I was getting into habit of writing at least to document, a portion of the lovely distributions I tested (not all).
I really liked this distribution. 

This distribution has gone dormant since there are fewer writers in this world than readers.

I hope the developer who did this distribution if he reads this piece activate this distribution for the sake of writers like me (I have deliberately excluded writers and media men and women who use Linux distributions in my informal list above).

That is the point I want to drive in this piece.

Even though the user base is limited the utility value of all the big and small Linux distributions outweigh the the consumer base.

If we use the Unifying Theory we are going to lose these innovative but very useful distributions.

Some of them are tiny like Puppy, 4M Linux, Finnix and many more.

They have a place in this Universe of Linux distributions.

We must not fall into the trap of Apple and Windows mentality.

Now that I have tested few Apple Macs, it is pain in the ARxxxx for users like me who do not like to be slaves of the gadget as well as the operating system.

I hope I have started a “Flame War”.

It is good for the the next generation of Linux distributions.

I hope somebody makes a distribution like PocketWrier for writers like me that can be installed in my netbook and not a Mega Super Computer.

That is the the vision that is lacking in Commercial and corporate Linux.

We need technocrats not the corporate CEOs.

Linux and Mobility with Wireless World.

I have more information for you.
My decision to go mobile was proven right.
My wired connection is giving me only 5 Kb per second and it cannot even connect me to Google let alone my email..
I switched it off and ecven my torrent downloads are at snail pace.
I only went for a data plan and no iPhone or mobile telephone used.
I hate telephones and take them as constant irritation and enemy to productive work.
I am made to understand that cell phones will eclipse the human population soon.
It is matter of time 
Only internet and prepaid SIM.
The other requirement is Linux compatible unlocked dongle and a good Linux distribution, ideally a latest edition.
They are Ubuntu easily the best and automatically connected me to the Internet.
It gives all the details too.
I will list them down (some numbers are changed to mask my IP Address) here if one is doing manual configuration.
They guys and girls in Dialog, Mobitel. Airltel, Tigo and the rest do not understand them unfortunately.

1. IP Address ooo.222.222.152
2.Broadcast Address as above 000.222......
3.Subnet Mask. 255.255.255.255.255
Default Router 00.64.64.64
Primary DNS.000.19.72..201.
Secondary DNS.000.19.72.201

Please do not use above they are not real.
Then comes Knoppix 7.0.4. Live or installed but one has to look for the network utilities and configure but it is automatic and no manual entries.
Sabayon 10 is also pretty good and I am posting this with Sabayon Gnome the brand new touch screen compatible and compiz version.

Good luck with your mobile roaming with Linux and there over 200 active Linux distribution to choose.

I have stooped downloading and testing them to save my electricity bill which is more than I pay for the Linux Magazine for a year subscription and I get a DVD with every issue.

Why don't you subscribe to it and save time and electricity?


Linux and Mobility with Wireless World.
If one is an ardent Linux user one is discriminated for being such in Sri-Lanka.
This had been the case few years ago but with routers hitting the market we were lucky.
Lately even the server functions are slow and not reliable and I was without internet connection for over 10 days.
I decided to opt for Mobile connection as a backup which my daughter uses since she prefers the mobility than to hook up to a wired Ethernet.

As usual I did a market survey to find both Mobitel and Dialog do not support Linux with their dongle devices.

I did not check Tigo and Airtell.]

I bought few dongles for wireless router (which I do not use now) when I was abroad but they do not have slot for SIMS.
I knew of a vendor who is quite up to date with gadgets in Kandy and he found me a dongle that can be used with any SIM and Linux compatible.

After that I found a wireless router that was Linux compatible.

Armed to the teeth I went to Mobitel and bought a SIM and with the help of the guys at the desk after several visits we were able to mount my Linux distribution with the dongle attached.

Below is an email related to that story.
It still has minor hiccoughs, none of which the Linux cannot negotiate.
It is strange that the dongle should not have Linux script to support Linux and the guys and girls who work for Microsoft and Apple have to bootstrap their efforts to be less discriminative in a commercial world.

This is why one of us has to be a hacker to hack these dongles for them to be universally acceptable. 
I have no time for those activities till I retire but a guy who has more time and adept at Linux should try it for me. 

Following is an email I posted to Mobitel Service.
Thanks for your help.
The SIM is still temperamental with my Linux Distribution.
It is all due to the dialog box wanting a number, password and ping information.
I persisted with not entering any data in those entries and at last the SIM sent a message to handshake with the server.
Still there was a problem since I worked with the live distribution on RAM and not on my hard disk installation.
In a couple of goes the hard disk installation picked the message and I was quickly on the web.
Unfortunately every time I wanted to access the web I had to configure it since the netbook was earlier used with the wired router ( I will have a go, with the wireless router when I have time).

Then I changed the SIM to Mobitel Dongle but it was not automatically recognized by Linux.

I opened is files in it to find install Linux file and clicked it and the script installed 7 files in a folder but still those files were not automatically recognized by Linux since the root kit and its files are meant for Microsoft and Apple Mac.

I believe a clever Linux guy (not me) can write a simple script to overcome this problem of the Mobitel Dongle without any physical changes.

I will look into these files when I have time (busy now).

In the process I may have corrupted the SIM and may not be able to use it anymore.
I will be visiting you to buy another SIM if it was the eventual outcome of my adventure with the mobile gadgets.
Thanks again.

Knoppix-7.0.4-Linux Magazine Issue

Knoppix-7.0.4-Linux Magazine Issue
I have good news for Linux Lovers.
Linux magazine for December 2012 is out and it has Knoppix 7.0.4.
Knoppix developers have iron out all the problems it had with the issue of April Magazine release.
I have already stated those issues here.
Go and download Knoppix 7.0.4 or if you bit lazy go and get three issues of the magazine now.
This edition has different desktops in addition to LXDE.
It is a fantastic live DVD from which one can install into hard disk.

Apple Mac, Yellow Dog, MakkOS (Fleas) and My Dog-The Connection and the Nation Building

Apple Mac, Yellow Dog, MakkOS (Fleas) and My Dog-The Connection and the Nation Building

All the above have literal and metaphorical connection.

The common denominator is thee size of one’s pocket.

All except Yellow Dog is going is going up and the trend is exponential with the announcement of our budget which is is economically strangling the nation with debit and credit crisis.

While the black money is going in percentage from 30% to 50% and we are debiting our money in the NBT (Nation Building TAX) and if one is having Rs.33,000/= turnover (above the SME-Small and Medium Enterprises) a day one is taxed for helping the economy in which the current government is unable to encompass and accomplish its energy with unnecessary extravaganza.

Yellow Dog is is open source distribution that can be installed in a Apple Computer.

I do not think any one of us in the university can afford to buy an Apple computer for productivity work.

Leave alone if one us including academics can afford an old netbook, it is a luxury.

Some years ago I figured out the cost of one Microsoft computer not pirated, I could have three computers, one at office, one at home  for me and one for my kids for playing games (basically DOS games that are / were very good but out of vogue now).

If I revise my old computations with Apple as an example today I can have almost 50 computers wirelessly connected in my SME business model using Linux as the Link Language.

The beauty is that the economics of the  NBT pundits cannot figure it out or understand the Linux OR its open philosophy and versatility.

They are engrossed with hedging deals instead of critical thinking.

What about MakkOS, the dog fleas which are plenty in this country like IRCs in Welikada with some political backing or the vote bank.

But the trouble is the treatment of dog fleas has gone up and I have to live with my dog and its fleas.

There is a saying in Sinhalese, that we say “if we sleep with a dog we wake up with dog fleas”.

That is of course if we are not interrupted by mosquito menace.

Fortunately we have a temporary respite with torrential rain and not full game o f cricket.

That is also a blessing since we can switch off the TV to save on electricity.

Fortunately, I do not watch SORROW-Lankan cricket but more interested in how the hedging deal was accomplished with ex-cricketers in the fray and running the SHOW.

I sometimes think if I hedged myself with an ex-cricketer instead going on an academic exercise called industrial action, I could have earned the entire emoluments in the university in one transaction.

That is only a wishful thinking.

Coming back to my dog which is having an expensive taste is refusing to eat the meager meal provided.

I did a survey and realized he wished that I should be back on with industrial action lest he missed all the fun we had during the prolonged strike.

Yes, we had dog food those days without our salary being paid but the dog food we shared had more meaning than all the 6% increase in educational funds we were asking for.

I am in full agreement with my dog who does not understand anything about Work or Free time (duly paid after three months) or Strike.

Yes the company we had eating dog food was worth in gold than the promises we were entertained by the economically Enlightened Economists.,

We are treated like Pol Buruwas by the elite.

Fortunately my dog who is eternally wagging his tail is a Pol Buruwaa but I am not.

Who else are the Pol Buruwas?

They are the poor voters

Linux Update on Apple Mac

Linux Update on Apple Mac
I have lot to report now.
Even though, Apple Mac on IBM hardware is based on Linux architecture boot parameters are different from Microsoft.
There is no BIOS but it has something called EFI where Apple Mac boot parameters are locked in and that little bit less than 1 MB [in fact few kilo bites] cannot be erased or formatted.
That little bit is essential for booting the computer and probably the firmware is written there and is permanently resident there.
I could not change it and after installing Ubuntu, I could not boot any other CD.
I searched the web and an Apple user who seemed to be having the mind of a HakingTosh PLAYER helped me.

One has to hold down the C for Command line and P and R for RAM to get the factory boot options AND THEN I could boot all the CDs I downloaded with Linux for Power Pack PCs.

 I managed to install Debian xfce.
The old Mac has very little RAM.
It took a very long time while connected to the internet for updating files.
Ubuntu and Xbuntu [I have now installed Xbuntu because my favorite word processor is AbiWord ] 6.0.6 version [ do not confuse with Debian 6.0.6]which is few years old and has no updates and installation was pretty breezy.

Debian is the latest 6.0.6 and has upto date facility.

I managed to install Yellow Dog 5.0.2 and had to terminate it due to not having the third CD downloaded.

It is like the old Redhat 8 with 6 CDs and it is pretty good.
I had to do lot of searching for the images. 

Its partition tool detects Apple firmware unlike gParted in Ubuntu and Xbuntu.

I could also use a home partition.
Yellow Dog based on Redhat has the best partition tool for Apple Mac hardware.

OK then, thanks to Debian, Yellow Dog and Ubuntu for your their excellent work on Apple hardware.
I won't test or write on Apple Mac for sometime, lest I will destroy the precious little RAM I have in my old Apple hardware.
i have done enough installing already.
I am currently downloading the 4th, 5th and 6th CDs of Yellow Dog.

If you have any additional information on Linux on Apple Mac please do not hesitate to make some comments below for other users Apple users to experiment with Linux.

Linux-Ubuntu on Apple Mac

Linux-Ubuntu on Apple Mac
You may be wondering why there was no addition to my blogpost.
I did not have access to internet for two solid weeks all due to thunder storms and the local telecom server unable to provide service.
I wanted to write about Linux on an Apple Mac and my first encounter with Apple Mac computer had to be delayed by about three weeks.

Three weeks ago, I was hunting for a RAM for IBM Server which I had misplaced after dismantling its components.
With the strike on, I did not want it (the server) to be obstructing my massive clean up efforts.
Before tidying up, I just wanted to see whether I could find few 266 DDR RAMs.

I was looking for them over the past 9 months.

It needed an EEC (Error corrected) dedicated RAM.
I walked into a computer shop and the guys knew me instantly and after a little search gave me a negative reply.

As I was walking out I saw an Apple Mac (Globe) with a beautiful monitor.
I asked, is it working and the guy said not Apple but Ubuntu.

That was a pleasant surprise and I got the young chap to run it and he even did not know how to open the CD tray.
I jacked in a USB Linux and it did not boot but after a long pause it booted up Xubuntu and it had Abiword, my favorite word processor.

I told him nobody except me would by it and nobody knows Linux in Kandy as much as I do and it is not Ubuntu but Xubuntu to be precise.

I checked the hard disk capacity which was 36 odd and the RAM was pretty low in today's standard and it was a good toy for me to play with Linux testing. 

I told him I will be back in two hours and if they quote a good price the deal was on.

I was collecting money for breast cancer project in those two hours.

Try all your tricks and tell me how it boots and BIOS etc were my instructions.
When I came back, they had given up on it and only the live CD was booting after a very long delay.

I managed to take the live CD out and could boot live only once at home and the thunder storms started and the install script did not work.
The same night the local server of the telecom was out and I could not have any access to download a Linux CD to install.

Ubuntu 5 and 9 power pack editions, I had were of no use and did not boot.
I downloaded Xubuntu 10 and it also did not boot.

All this was due to low RAM.

Toady morning I managed to download both Xubuntu and Ubuntu 6.0.6.1 and fortunately I managed to install Ubuntu on the first go.

Several goes with Xubuntu (to save the RAM) did not work with some file errors in the CD.
I could not find a Debian or any other less than 700 MiB (CD version) to instal on the old Apple Mac.

It is again Ubuntu to rescue.

What ever false propaganda people are spreading against Ubuntu, it was Ubuntu which had the nerve to spread its influence even on Apple hardware.
In less than 10 minutes it copied the files and in another 7 minutes it installed and configured the hardware in a Mac which had 80 odd RAM.

It is amazing what Linux can do even with low RAM.

It has open office 2 and firefox which was old but got me to my email and blogspot in an instant but without cookies.

I hate cookies which is pain in the neck and delay mounting files.

BIB THANK YOU to guys at Canonical and the guys who keep old repositories full of old Linux distributions.

If not for you lot of working hardware would be in the junkyard.

Now I can say I am an Apple hardware (if not software) convert.