Installing Arch on a Flash Drive

Posted on August 26, 2011

 Installing Arch on a Flash Drive

I was not doing anything specific and decided to do some crazy experiment.
I begin to hate Linux CD/DVD distributions without live scripts and install only options.
Reason for is, that I have to install them to my hard disk, often having to redo the work.
This was bit of a nuisance and I thought of doing the install on a Flash Drive instead on my hard disk.

Downloaded 686 Arch Linux and booted it up.
After it booted up as root on terminal, I plugged in a Flash Drive.

Nothing happening since previously I mounted CloudUSB on this Pendrive and it filled up with Linux files and stopped due to lack of space. 

CloudUSB needed 4 GB and this had only 2 GB.

Then I mounted the Flash drive and using fsdisk prepared a boot file, swap file and a root file and fallowed instructions to the letter and installed the the ARCH Core  and installed grub and password for Arch and click OK.
Then it forced me to look at the Grub file which I did and I could not exit from the command terminal.
Fortunately, I had selected Vi editor and not the nano that ARCH offered (I have not used nano and it had only two editors).

I had to type I and fiddled with the command line (not used for ages and forgotten keyboard short cuts) and typed exit and quit and they did not work.
Somehow some trial and error with Esc and q (not wq) I exited the console and booted up with Flash Drive attached. 

My old computer does not boot from USB but it detected the USB but went back to my hard disk MBR.

This is one of the maddest thing I have done in Linux, thank god I did not erase my MBR.

Even then no worries Just install Mepis again or PClinux.
Anyway I mounted the flash drive and it’s boot partition and looked at the GRUB file.

What I could find was interesting.

It was mounting hd0 and non-existing Windows, probably a reflex action and not a true detection or detective work.

It could not detect my Mepis, PCLinux in that hard disk of 80 GB.

These Linux guys worship Windows and I was really disappointed.
 

In their defense the first partition was FAT with Image files stored there.

I want to mount this Flash Drive in my laptop and see what happens (My gut feeling is it won’t boot up) but it was nice thing for me to go to old ways and use Vi Editor and fsdisk for just fun.

Beauty of fsdisk is unlike graphic partition tools it reads all the cylinders and mark them and leave no un-partitioned gaps.

I am convinced even before mounting this on my laptop since this flash disk now has no fat partition but a boot partition, root and swap (500 MB) only that one eighths of my RAM.

Sure enough, it did not but only read the boot file and menu.

Still direct Linux booting is not allowed by convention and by force.

This has to change why worship FAT/MBR /BIOS?

But for newbies this is good dress rehearsal for bigger things to practice and learn without damaging the hard disk.
One has to remember the nomenclature used in numbering SATA or IDE or USB disks.
In fact, I had made a mistake used a for b and I ROLLED backed and redid the procedure above three times once due to monitor going idle and I could not proceed for configuring and second I named it wrongly and used sda1 and had to ROLL BACK.

I still have an old UNIX book and if I am in trouble (many Linux books) I can roll BACK to books unlike newbies with slightest problem who go to the web with a help me post and start WHIMPERING AND SAYS LINUX SUCKS.

I may write a few simple books and already introductory lessons in Linux is on ebay.
But I won’t stop blog post though.
It is like writing an editorial.

Virtual C.E.O.s

Posted on August 27, 2011 

Virtual C.E.O.s

The brand of C.E.Os are going to be a bane in future with the first of the kind of Virtual C.E.O.s and I am a prototype to be named as AsokapluS who will emerge in the meantime.

Why I call successful C.E.O. is a bane and wasteful is they either get old and run short of ideas and die with the institution or they get sick and spend rest of the money on medical bill.

I am in that profession I knew of a cardiologist who did miss his own cardiac well being and had to go abroad to get his treatment (I do not know what happened to him afterward).

But we are very good at making merry with other people’s misery and making money spinning and most of us have lost human touch and to be a manly or womanly for what is worth.

Having said that I wish Steve Job his well being in Mind and Spirit for producing wonderful gadgets and making them sell (even though I cannot afford or buy any one of them) at runaway prices and making others even Linux to emulate.

I never found fault with Apple since they produce good quality gadgets and making people to buy unlike Microsoft which lure (both legal and pirated) and produce a very bad product and making money by gunny loads.

I believe in Quality in the first instance (Total Quality Management-both internal and external customers) and get it right at the first instance rather than doing patch work (Microsoft).

Apple is trying the get it right first time round and one does not have to do it again and customers have to pay for the quality.I am not saying it is the best product (far from it) on this planet for the money one pays but its approach to quality is commendable.

Whereas Microsoft is trying to get it right for umpteenth time and still get it wrong.

In this context quality is costly but cost effective.

But at a time of debt and financial crisis we cannot do that for ever.

Customers need to buy at a affordable prices.

This is where Virtual C.E.Os all over the Globe work together with Linux Community to achieve something substantial and lasting.

Linux has teething problems but it can do small things and big things right by working together.

The concept of Virtual C.E.O.s means we work together at tandem not under close doors.

I test a distribution and report and guy on the other side of the globe read it with some meaning and work hard to get it right.

I only give little over 50% (it is currently the best and only Debian has achieved it) of the marks I allocate and make that as the bench mark for others to follow.

Why I use 50% is that to state and inspire who are on the shop floor that we have a long way to go in Total Quality Solutions.

We cannot satisfy every customer.

That is the bare bones of Linux.

Linus wanted to do that and he is still trying it.

If we think we have achieved all the best there can’t be any inspiration or incentive to be better.

It got be simple, too.

It should not achieved with the cost we are going spend to reach Mars and settle there.

For the 3 years I have been crying high as well as foul at times at Linux and guys on the shop floor (Developers) do the needful and I have all the small utilities now which I did not have there years ago in my pocket as a Mini CD or in a Pendrive.

I think as a customer first, then as a developer and third as a C.E.O. unlike in a business industry like Google.

Google takes such a long time get something right because everything happens in closed C.E.O. system and there is no ecosystem there.

Failure of the HP is and the new C.E.O. coming and dishing out WebOS which was open source and the tablet with it (Baby with the bath water) and all the other paraphernalia is due not being able to think in Virtual C.E.O.s Hat (Like me do not get high commissions for success as well as failures-America is a good example where failure is paid by the Federal coffers both business men (bankers, hedgers and speculators) and politicians (war efforts and war machine).

End result-Debt and IMF also want us to emulate America.

WebOS is the scenario where Open Source should step in and either acquire the HPs contribution as open source or re-engineer the whole thing and come out with flying colours.

What an average business C.E.O cannot do, a Virtual C.E.O can achieve with community help in no time.

That is my Concept.

We should give it a try and should not abandon WebOS.

In this context the Virtual C.E.Os contribute a lot but expects very little in return and the who community grows.

When I am gone, I am gone, but there are many more to emulate me.

For the time being, there is Linus, there is Stallman who stands tall and there is semi (business, adventure and human spirit-Mark Shttleworth) demigod.

John Maddock or Maddog also stands tall.

This has to work.

It will work.

Community will achieve.

Man progressed in this world because of his community efforts.

It was never by domination, by force or war efforts.

So we have to define this Virtual C.E.O and make many of them in all parts of the world, especially to protect the mother Earth which is vandalized from India, to China to America to this Small Ceylon (to cultivate banana to rich Americans in the rain forest and protected land).

Stupid ideas in this country is plenty!

We are a Banana Republic will soon be like Dubai.

Except perhaps our neighbouring Maldives who cries foul at rich nations.

How we Lose our Simple Mathematical Skills (S.M.S for short)

 Posted on August 28, 2011

How we Lose our Simple Mathematical Skills (S.M.S for short)

The other day I was asking a group of second year university students when one buys a Mobile Phone what are the points one should consider, none of them came out with a comprehensive answer. 

This is a mathematical skill with practical use.

A bit of knowledge of physics is needed to get one’s calculations right.

Now they do not study physics in detail when entering Biological streams and I believe one who has no competence in mathematics except counting the money they earn, having entered the biological streams.
They probably do not have understanding how to invest hard earned money, too.
I listed my priorities even though, I am the only one who does not carry a mobile in my academic community.
Elsewhere, I have penned down my reasons but in that entry  I forgot to mention how many major and minor accidents are related to use of mobile on the drive or on crossing a driveway.

This I call S.M.S (simple mathematical skills) 

My reasons
I carry a mobile when I travel and go abroad.

1. A light weight mobile.

2. Carry case and a collar and string to put round my neck so that I won’t lose  it when I am switched O.F.Fed. (On FITS of Fantasy-in other words Shopping Spree).

3. Battery which lasts at least 8 hours and overnight.

4. Processor not dual core but light and not heavy on the battery.

5. Possibly two (2) sims (one for the country of domicile one for the country on visit).

6. Possibly a radio to get local news and weather

7. Camera

8. Utilities with minimal graphic (low on battery) inputs 

9. Email and connection to twitter (if I miss a flight to contact the airline)

10. All Cs- Calendar, Calculator and Currency Converter

The shopping list can go on but I will stop at 10.

Coming back to Simple Mathematical Skills (SMS not short message system which I hate) which many of us lack when one visits a supermarket.

When I enter a supermarket whether here or abroad, I say to myself the stupid computer in this supermarket is slow and always record wrong data entry, I better check every entry, every point or number printed on it.

This I practiced for a time immemorial when I realized that the Indian Shop Keepers – I better put Asian without specification of the country of origin-in Southall who are open after hours,  put extra items which I did not buy, when keying in, (knowing very well English guys cannot count well) and caught a few of them and said I will report in threatening gesture and nobody had cheated me ever since even on long sojourns.
Then little later I realized English guys and girls cannot write  (not speak) in English, too which was very funny to me and I used to take Mickey out of them.
This malady of the English and Americans have invaded our country with lot of cash machines and calculators in all our shops.

If you do not calculate mentally what you purchased and what you paid for it is invariably you are paying a hefty amount in hidden cash to the supermarkets which you cannot recover.
I am not telling that these sales girls or boys cheat you but they are overworked and key in wrong and/or key in twice when the machine or the Internet connection is slow.
Unlike in some set up abroad they (sales person) cannot take home the wrongly keyed in items and the management or the computer never check with the stock balance in shells and refund the money if mistakes are made.
Somebody who manages the computer and stocks would be (my guess) are taking home the big items wrongly keyed in or when the next delivery comes some items are not loaded as per delivery note where the stock balance states something different.
There is noway one can check this unless one scans items against the number of items in the printed bill at the outlet.

It is the onus of the buyer and not the seller.

There are no laws to enact to effect (not even in over vote counting to balance the sheets) 100% accuracy and computers cannot do this but computer programmer can balance it by surreptitiously deleting or substituting few ones ant twos.

This must be happenings in big scale in government institution who have gone completely e-commerce.

If you do not check before you leave you are the loser.

The other point is the print is very faint (to save the toner) and fade away in one day and one cannot read it.

Why we make so many mistakes in this country. 

It is our training in mathematical skills is poorer than the English skills for so may years and it is getting worse.

Mental exercise is never taught but getting the answer is the only outcome tested.
All our good teachers with mathematical skill and with working knowledge in English have left this country and the Education department did not train any for so many years.
So you better improve your mathematical skills if you need to save and avoid unnecessary losses.
I have seen this happening daily and that is why I thought of writing this.
If I start doing SMS mistakes I should retire and say Good Bye to this world since I have not trained anybody in my household to do my mathematics.
By the way our politicians including the election commissioner were the worse in mathematics and that is why some candidates get more votes than the registered number of votes.

Unfortunately due to fiddling and multiplying (three votes for an individual on the Manapa Pora or the Preferential Vote the errors are of multitudes and not on simple arithmetical proportions.

Phoenix born out of ashes-Is it reality?

Posted on May 12, 2011

Phoenix born out of ashes-Is it reality?

When Linuxtracker Organization was attacked by the hackers and was emerging from the catastrophe they used this expression, rising from the ashes of Phoenix “to say they are reborn again” with vigor.

I have pasted the mythological story from Wikipedia below but to me fire was not a major concern till I started recording indoor temperatures.
 

In that period I have seen guppy fish die due to high temperature and saw flowering of some plants never seen in Kandy and its suburbs.

I have not been to the Botanical garden for some time and I am sure some plants there are dying due to warm weather.

The Kandy City was known for mild weather for centuries and it was where many come to escape from warm weather of Colombo.

Not any more.

My discovery is that we cannot even make wine in Kandy city now since the yeast the major ingredient in wine and alcohol die above the temperature of 38 degrees Centigrade.
And we hit this temperature regularly for the last five years of my recording.

I decided to take a stock of fire hazard in our living rooms, especially because there is a guy who live below our house who habitually set fire to whatever he gets hold of, almost on daily basis and I see ashes in my room and bed room, if I keep them open for ventilation.
 

Besides I fear sometimes my dog’s fur would catch fire if he is let out of the house.

My fire hazard registry goes like this.

1. Cloths
2. Bedding
3. Books
4. CD / DVD and their cases
5. Plastic containers (to avoid dust and ashes) buckets
6. Furniture including the bed and tables
7. All the wires that are connected to the Internet
8. My shoes
9. Computer utilities, keyboard, mouse and wires connected
10. Empty Cardboard boxes and last year’s (remaining) Wesak lanterns.

In actual fact, I have nothing except three items that would stand a minor fire.

My inventory was compiled when I was half asleep and the moment I got up I decided to collected all the items not useful and would catch fire to their final destiny, the fire itself.
 

So I took a leaf out of the guy who does it as a habit.

Set fire to them one by one and it took three hours to finish the lot and I stayed close to the fire till it was safe for the dog.

It was simmering even at midnight and I am pretty sure NO Phoenix will emerge from the ashes.

 
Our electric switch board caught fire three times during the last six months once due to lightening and twice due to sudden surge of Electricity from the Board.
 

The guys come and say the supply is OK and do nothing inside as far as the checking is concerned and leave us to our own devices even at night.

Thank god we do not have little ones in our house except the dog who does not understand electricity, thunder and fire crackers.

So my obsession to fire is well founded.

Not only that I was very happy we lost the Cricket World Cup and I wish we will never win another world Cup till the Global Warming is taken care by our Buddhist Monks seriously.
Had we won it our guys would have burnt down (fire crackers to begging with and deliberate later), the remaining forest in no time by accident or by design to have free entry into CROWN Land and now the President’s Land.
I have made a resolution not to light a lantern for Wesak this time round and I am sure nobody with sane mind would join me in my effort to highlight the global warming and its toll this small country is experiencing now. 

This does not mean one cannot light electric bulbs instead (with less hazard) but without overloading the system with many bulbs.
I hope if their are Buddhists out there who love this land should think of joining me as a gesture worth portraying without causing any harm to the principles laid down in Buddhism and its spirit of universal brotherhood.
Just think of the wastage I.P.L is making during the 20/20 games when some Indians are not having a square meal.
Make it a point to switch off the TV set during Wesak and think of the poor Indians who are struggling to make ends meet.
 

After all they are our neighbours (poor Indians) in need of spiritual guidance if rich Indians are neglecting them for a song and cricket.

We owe India the rich heritage of Buddhism and giving them something to ponder about is value added contribution on our part to the poor Indians who need not be poor in wisdom by default.
 

Fire Risk is there in this country but we do not have a proper fire brigade to cover the entire country and they come many hours after the fire without water and we have to provide them the water.

Fire wins and we lose everything and that is the name of the game.

Mythology
A phoenix is a mythical bird that is a fire spirit with a colorful plumage and a tail of gold and scarlet.
It has a 500 to 1000 year life-cycle, near the end of which it builds itself a nest of twigs that then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix or phoenix egg arises, reborn anew to live again.

The new phoenix is destined to live as long as its old self.

In some stories, the new phoenix embalms the ashes of its old self in an egg made of myrrh and deposits it in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (literally “sun-city” in Greek). 

It is said that the bird’s cry is that of a beautiful song.

The Phoenix’s ability to be reborn from its own ashes implies that it is immortal, though in some stories the new Phoenix is merely the offspring of the older one.

In very few stories they are able to change into people (who set fire to the entire world).

Most important things to know when using LyX

 

Most important things to know when using LyX

1. LyX comes with excellent documentation — please use it! Start with the menu Help⇒Introduction, which will give you a very brief introduction to the documentation. Then learn about using LyX with Help⇒Tutorial.
2. LyX is what we call a “document processor.” By design, it is different from regular word processors — in a way that makes writing documents easier. But only a little different, so don't be scared. The documentation will make it all clear.
3. The output from LyX looks great! Use the menu Document⇒View [PDF (pdflatex)] or press the toolbar button now to see for yourself.
4. Yes, LyX can mimic (almost) all LaTeX functionality. And yes, LyX can import LaTeX files. Experienced LaTeX users should skim the rest of the Tutorial, then read the “LyX for LaTeX Users” chapter. (Everyone else: don't worry, you don't need to know LaTeX to use LyX.)
5. LyX has lots of features for people who read or write a language other than English. In addition, the key bindings, toolbars, and many other characteristics are highly configurable. See Help⇒Customization for details.
6. The LyX home page is https://www.lyx.org. Get information about LyX, subscribe to the LyX mailing list(s), take the LyX Graphical Tour: https://www.lyx.org/Walkthrough, and more.
7. Note for Linux users: Please check that the language packages for the LaTeX distribution TeX Live are installed. Otherwise you will get LaTeX errors.
   For example on the Linux distributions (K,X)Ubuntu and Debian the package name for the German language is “texlive-lang-german”.
   After the installation of the language packages you must use the LyX menu Tools⇒Reconfigure.

LyX-Run this parallel with LibreOffice Piece.HERE

LyX-Run this parallel with LibreOffice Piece.HERE
Posted on October 25, 2011
 

LyX

Advanced open source document processor

Alongside Kile, LyX is another tremendous powerful LaTeX GUI.
It allows you to create impressive documents in HTML, PS or PDF format rendered with unbearably beautiful Computer Modern fonts.
LyX is also available for Windows and is a little less difficult to use, in my opinion.
I have reviewed LyX not that long ago.

User-friendly LaTeX source editor and TeX shell and KDE.

LyX – Word processor

LyX is an advanced open source document processor that encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents, not their appearance. LyX lets you concentrate on writing, leaving details of visual layout to the software. LyX runs on many Unix platforms (including MacOS X), OS/2, and under Windows/Cygwin.
Note that all these ports use the same xforms interface and therefore need an X server.
LyX produces high quality, professional output — using LaTeX, an industrial strength typesetting engine, in the background; LyX is far more than a front-end to LaTeX, however. No knowledge of LaTeX is necessary to use LyX, although it will give a user more power.
LyX is stable and fully featured. It has been used for documents as large as a thesis, or as small as a business letter. Despite its simple GUI interface (available in many languages), it supports tables, figures, and hyperlinked cross-references, and has a best-of-breed math editor.

Few Words about LibreOffice, Why I Do Not use it?

I Do Not use Microsoft Words for over 25 years.

Few Words about LibreOffice, Why I Do Not use it?

As far as I know Only Ubuntu removes not used languages at the end of the Installation. If YOU using Ubuntu do not skip this part of the Installation. 

I am not an Ubuntu user by default.

There is a simple way to solve the multi-language problem.

If one uses the Calamara Installation, one can choose the language of interest at the installation time along witht the keyboard of the country, say US-keyboard.

I have got My NUC System Updated with two KDE Instances one from Debian fold and other Netrunner (I have special affinity for Netrunner from Day of 32 bit Neptune). Netrunner has Synaptic package Manager and it list out application in an alphabetical order and its interface somewhat clumsy but looks like a Cellphone face.

All this is to say I use Abiword for my Books and nothing to beat it.

I can save (save as) a file of AbiWord in Debian KDE folder and not on Nerrunner home folder. I have to copy it to a USB and then copy it from there. 

This is for me wasting time. 

I need it to direct copy. 

I use the same password and there is no snooping on other users folders (I can do that as an Administrator but very rarely).

All these are "30 year Techniques" which makes me never go for "back up" or save files, except in Google Drive. Yesterday, I browsed Google Drive and copied an articles published in New York Times in this blog spot, named "forgiving" published in 2013.

After the Ukraine War, I do not subscribe to BBC, or any of American Newspapers. 

They are all "Faked News".

Coming back to Word Processing, I get so annoyed with all Word Processing Software except Lyx, Latex and Text Editors, I now Use Abiword in Puppy Linux for my text editing work on a USB Stick.

I have now remove LibreOffice completely and using Calligra Words and Focus Writer as test suits.

Even OpenOffice I now ignore.

My estimate yesterday was LibreOffice uses about 2GB DATA (scanning after removing all the additions for over 200 languages -there are 2000 functional languages currently out of 2500 almost equivalent to types of mosquitoes-). 

I do not use LibreOffice but I add D.B.S. to its folder (if I need for any DATABASE Work) after removing language packs. Just for sanity I click Sinhala Package for install.

I do not use Marati, Gugarati, Panjabi, Polish , Katalonian and Greenland

 It took half an hour yesterday and another half an hour this morning (in my second instance of Debian Gnome) to take the language junk from my system.

I do not think even U.N.O. bothers about language now.

Budgie Desktop

Budgie Desktop 

First time in my life I used Budgie Desktop.

It is very simple, neat and elegant.

It cannot be configured but fixed.

Forgiving and forgetting is it only a concept to be revisited?

Forgiving and forgetting is it only a concept to be revisited?

This is something I have picked up from New York Times. 

The article that came up as “Forgiveness “ has spawned a healthy discussion and a little internet forum. I have already circulated it around even though it has come 18 months too late for any usefulness to this country. But the point I want to emphasize is that different people have different threshold and the bitterness is truly embedded in ones Long Term memory. Forgetting is one form of escape I believe. But forgiving needs an active contribution. 

 

We had tsunami how quickly we forgot  and embarked on full time War. 

 

Now the war is over and the healing has not yet even commenced but another political war started. Now that the political war is over we have commenced an international war of attrition. 

It is going in endless cycles.
We are still in the box (I call it the Hate Box) and out of the box philosophy has not even considered as a viable option.

What I have done is to picked up few of the posts at random and reproduced it here to start a  healthy discussion in this country. We are supposed to have three to four powerful religions of reconciliation. Are the followers ready?
I have also made a little comment below to show my ignorance and the apathy I myself had cultivated inside me.

Comment 1
True that Bishop Tutu in his Truth Tribunals showed us that reconciliation cannot occur without forgiveness; however, you did not include the most critical aspect of the reconciliation process. There was no reconciliation or forgiveness without full and complete confession on one's evil deeds to others. Those perpetrators who admitted their deeds, who accepted full responsibility for their actions, who atoned openly for their violence to others--only those--were given forgiveness and allowed reconciliation.


Of course we would want to lift the burden of victimization from ourselves, the seething and anger and wretched hatred we feel when another has betrayed, harmed, or abused us, and we would want to find a way to forgive in ways consistent with justice. As normal human beings, we do not want to be stifled or compromised by the pain of our hatred toward another. Yet, we cannot extend forgiveness this if the perpetrator does not even recognize the harm he or she has done. We cannot do this if the perpetrator takes perverse and continuing pleasure in the agony caused to us. We cannot forgive if the perpetrator gives no promise of never again causing such pain to others. All we can do is bargain within ourselves to release ourselves from the hold of the perpetrator. We can say to ourselves, "He has done this to me, and I have suffered. However, he will never have another moment of my life, and so I choose to let go and move on. I choose this for myself." And we do this for ourselves, not for the evil person. We do mindfully choose to let go of anger and rage in order to reclaim our own lives and our own power. We do this so that we can live fully again.


Comment II
I was born in Warsaw and have always thought of myself as Polish, although I was Jewish as well, certainly enough so, that at ten, as far as Hitler’s ethnic cleansing was concerned, I became marked for extinction. When the call came for my mother and I to move to the Ghetto, my non Jewish father said, never, and without my mother who was forced to hide we moved to another apartment where no one knew us. The time was early 1940 and I was 11. As yet, there were no walls around the ghetto and most people could not even fathom the idea that a nation which had produced a Goethe and Beethoven could engage in mass murder of children.



With typically German efficiency, following a perfidious plan, the walls went up, the people were caged and made ready to be exterminated like vermin. When the horrific truth finally became evident that the “civilized” world was going to allow it to happen, for most, with the exception of a few heroes who decided to fight, it was too late. After three years of torture they could not gather the energy to save themselves or perhaps, did not want to do it and face the “civilized” world which had betrayed them. Mein Kampf has been published in 1933 and in Germany alone 5.000.000 copies were sold. Hitler’s megalomania was never a secret. The “civilized” world knew and did nothing.
The memories of Holocaust and other mass murder crimes live deep within all of us but few of them compare to the mass murder of children as demonstrated by the mountain of baby shoes behind a glass at the Auschwitz museum. When I thought of the small feet of the children who perished I realized that it was not just one madman who needed forgiveness, it was the whole Civilized World which had betrayed them. It is to them to them I screamed.- How could you? You, who call yourself civilized? You Popes and others professing love each Sunday and You democratically elected Presidents and Judges. You shook your heads, did nothing and proverbially washed your hands. You are all to blame. Yes, you are worse than Hitler. You are all bad and I hate you. Can there be a more poignant proof of pervasive inhumanity in the civilized world. If that is civilization? I don’t want to be civilized.


My thoughts went suddenly to Africa and the 3 year old I saw on BBC the other day who was going blind because there is no water to wash his eyes and then, to the 5 year old little girl I saw working full time in a rug factory in the Middle East. I bought the rug she made and I know that everyday I waste enough water to wash a hundred little eyes in Egypt..
I fully expect to live to be 85 surrounded by my grandchildren because that is my current life expectancy. But, I also realize that if I was a woman in the Congo I would probably have died thirty years ago.

Of course that was just the beginning. How many children did the enormous atomic mushroom over Hiroshima killed and how old was the little boy on fire lit by napal in Vietnam? How many of the little faces of Tutsi children in a gigantic field of refugees fleeing for their life will ever have a chance to grow up? Those questions must be by now firmly implanted in the collective mind of “civilized” people, who like I have seen what I saw shook their heads, gathered their own children around themselves and then went on with their lives as usual.

Could it not however be possible that the millions of small souls who have chosen to die so visibly at the hands of others during the last century did it so that, the millions of others who will follow will have a chance to live and grow. Is not Mandela and his bloodless miracle in South Africa proof that it may be so, that humanity can forgive and win and that children need not die?

Yes, by forgiving Hitler and the “CIVILIZED WORLD” perhaps I can forgive myself.
And find peace. After all “ALL FORGIVENESS IS SELF FORGIVENESS”



Comment III
When I shared the events surrounding the recent loss of my dad at age 86 with a handful of close friends, and later with a group of acquaintances, many individuals told me that my experiences brought them some comfort and moved them to reconsider their own lives. If it is useful to you in any way that is an added blessing.


My dad was blessed with twenty-five years of inexplicable good health according to the account his cardiologist gave me three years ago. The doctor explained that most cardiac bypass procedures will add an average of only ten to fifteen years to the life expectancy of patients like my dad with poorly controlled hypertension and advanced cornorary artery disease before they become occluded again. Yet here was my dad still inexplicably driving around Tuscon and reading the Wall Street Journal.

But as his cardiologist was quick to note -- as inexplicable as all of this was -- the circumstances surrounding the success of his open heart surgery at the Tuscon VA Medical Center were even more improbable. My father had gone in for a routine cardiac catheterization that day. As the procedure progressed he became so stricken that a call went out over the PA system for any cardiac surgeon who was in the building.


Evidently it was not my father's time because the physician who caught the page was one of the world's leading heart surgeon who was in the building coincidentally. This did not prevent him from rushing to my father's bedside and scrubbing up. Once he had cracked my father's chest the situation was far graver than anyone could have anticipated.


The cardiologist explained to me that this physician was probably one of only handful of surgeon's with the requisite skill and determination to save my father's life at that time. My father was so gravely ill that this gifted surgeon had improvised a sextuple bypass procedure and totally re-routed the blood flow in my father's as he went along.


When I received a call from my mother that my father was gravely ill in the Cardiac Care Unit I had been so estranged from him since childhood that I had little emotional investment in his recovery. The psychological stakes were so low for me at that time that I had no desire to rush to his bedside for what may have been the last time.


Dad recovered with no emotional support from me -- his eldest daughter. What is even more telling is that if he was hurt or surprised we never spoke of it. His and my mother's lives were an ongoing stream of medical and psychiatric crises most of which I did respond to. After all I was a licensed highly trained healthcare professional myself.


In my late 30's I was finally diagnosed with full blown chronic post traumatic stress disorder due to neglect and severe physical abuse that I had suffered from my earliest childhood. Much of it at the hands of my father. The severity of these events had left me so incapacitated that I was removed from my home by the State at age 15 and required three years of protective custody from my parents to heal enough to pull my life together. The prognosis was poor but I surprised everyone by receiving a scholarship to an elite libral arts college where I went on to excel. I thought that was the end of it but now I found that like some golem these events had been called back to life.


Gradually in my forties and early fifties I took an increasing interest in my father's World War II experiences as a machine gunner in the Army Air Corps. I drove out to Van Nuys Airport to tour B-17's and the other planes that my father had flown in and speak with the Vets who were touring with the vintage planes. Then I read autobiographical accounts from army airmen in the European Theater on the Internet.


I realized that World War II had given my dad PTSD ( the VA had awarded him a ten percent disability for 'shell shock') and that my father had unwittingly passed the condition on to me - his beloved eldest daughter- and that I had the poor health and emotional scars to prove it.


At this point my war was over, I was able to see my father as the World War II hero he was for the first time. He enlisted at seventeen having never held a gun and wound up as a gunnery sergeant and expert marksman despite his original plan to avoid combat.


Soon my father (who had thrown out all of his combat memorabilia along with his medals and commendations) in accordance with his his feelings of shame around his eventual breakdown began to recount his experiences openly with me. We visited surviving members of his squadron and as he became a hero to me, my dad was able to reevaluate his life and see himself as a hero as well.


During the last two and a half years of his life he became for me the dearly beloved father that I had always wanted and is still my hero. I treasured every moment we were able to spend together. I explained to him the Catholic concept of grace as being an unearned divine blessing which described our situation quite accurately.

My philosophical quagmire!
It is nice to see how different individuals approach this common phenomenon in different ways. It is time we develop a technique to address this problem in a more detached way. I think it has to do with how we remember things good and bad. To add to this there is often a confusion whether to forgive or forget. I think it is more forgetting than forgiving. It is a defense reaction we all have.

We may even forget to forgive!

I say that saying sorry is qualitative (sometime quantitative-How often we say sorry but keep our anger within?). But sometimes we say sorry  with little empathy (since the desired effect was achieved in the first place to annoy somebody). Having not to say sorry is Total Quality Empowerment ( Total Quality Management Principle utilized to full strength). We do not want to lose a customer, Don't we?.

In that context both the rights of the offender and the offended should be safeguarded, We have to do it in a business like manner. Acid Test is whether the customer comes back or not. If he does not we have failed in both forgiving as well as forgetting. The technique I use at work is to avoid addressing the issue until my inner anger dissipates to a level of almost zero. Once the anger is gone it is easy for us to get on with the work as usual. Forgetting and the reformation have to be done by the offender and he or she needs more time than the offended. Point is that there should not be any aggravation! I have never delved into this since I tend not to do things to offend others unless of course I am provoked to total warfare. That rarely happens in day to day life. I may need to study this in some depth how others manage this common problem. Anyway this article has made me to revisit this issue in a more academic way or perhaps in a philosophical way.

 

Batocera USB, Belin Etcher and Gdebi

1. Batocera USB which is 8.6GB does not boot.

2. BelenaEtcher could not write the Batocera image but destyoyed the partition table of the USB.

I managed to recover the USB.

 

3. I could not find a Debian package for Gdebi in graphic mode, not on terminal.

I have given up using terminal.

 

4. However, I searched through Synaptic Package Manager and Installed it.

It is a Graphic installer  and it can install Debian packages one has downloaded without using the terminal.

 

5. It is very difficult to find a Debian packages and I would try Installing Opera which not available in synaptic.

KDE Desktop PAIN is OVER

 I have a reason why KDE is so, BULKY.

It does not have a reposotory to feed into the user after the first install.

So it adds all the currenty avaible applications kit in one basket.

In other words all the eggs in one basket.

So one bad egg can fail the system

Read also Most Elegant KDE Desktop is? on this blog site.

Let me start with Linux and Unix Basics.

Unix started on Multitasking background and Universities shared scared resources.of Computers. They were hard to come by and mainframes computers were as big as a fridge but kept horizontally, not vertically.

Administrator to service the resources and users with password protection were the normal protocols.. 

Now cellphones and computers are ubiquitous and they have eye-scanner passwords and everybody using them is paranoid.

Coming to KDE it is a pain, it took a long time to install Netrunner.

WiFi configuration was OK.

Could not browse the Internet while installation was in progress.

There were 11 instances of Firefox opened but none with gamail configured.

I am doing this on my cellphone.

Even time or clock stopped clicking for 10 minutes.

What a Frozen Candidate the bulky KDE has become?

To test integrity of my partition table and to see how ?btrfs or butter file format (its redundancy to satisfy Red-Hat, I do not like) works I used Btrfs for install.

I have 25 partitions including booting EFI. 

Could not even format a USB stick.

Only good thing was its Synaptic Package Manager.

Did not have Gparted.

Most of the old kernel distributions do not support EFI and the image cannot be run on a USB.

Buster and Bullseye have problems running packages.

I am not interested in snap-shotting and I want the file integrity checking at boot time which Debian Gnome does a good job of it.

While doing the updating I have erased MX Linux and Netrunner, both KDE versions.

Instead of those versions I have now installed Debian KDE which I am beginning to get impressed with.

By the way, I started Linux with Mandriva and Suse on a KDE desktop.

In fact, MX Linux went into FREEZE MODE while I was running Suse Linux Tumbleweed on the BOX Utility. 

That was a disaster and fortunately RAM did not burn itself.

Home folder had 9GB and Suse was 4.7GB big and the Box Utility reserved 4GB and there was no room to manipulate.

My regular home folder has 50GB and reserving 100GB if YOU are a Netflix guy a good ploy.

Since I have at least 4 distributions running in my 298GB SATA Disk, recovery is simple. Just open the folder and delete the ISO Image. 

Another point about KDE is it cannot handle or delete a big file of 4GB which Debian handles just sweetly.

Well I do not like KDE graphic intensive "boot panel "and i need to rectify that now.

Overall, ext4 is a good choice for most users due to its wide support and good performance, but btrfs may be a better choice for users who need advanced features like snap-shotting or data redundancy. It is important to carefully consider the specific needs and requirements of your system before choosing a file system.

Semiconductor Technology, From Transistor to MOSFE Transistor

I am one who believes, in that Modern Technological Innovation has something to do with Reverse Engineering of Alien Artifacts.

Some relevance nace to Bob Lazar and John Lear revelations.

The story goes like this.

These artifacts were either divided by design or found mangled  into pieces due to Scalar X-ray irradiation.

Pieces were coded and given to Black-Rock like American Commercial Entities, the names of which DO NOT exist according to American Experts.

 

The original fear was if one company has all the information Powerful Monopoly would result.

In fact, bona fide Secret Service was born in America.

The Story Goes,  it took some years for Transistor, Fiberoptics and Laser techniques to be deciphered from mangled debris.

It is only by 1980s, that America was able to design primitive computers using Transistors by companies like Sun Microsystems, Texas Instruments and RadioShack to name a few. 

However Intel had a monopoly at the beginning. How this happened I haven't got a clue except I was hooked to Intel Devices from Late 1980s.

They were huge but very Limited Memory and I did not know about Linux. Unix only existed and Linux only in mid 1990s.

CPU was the Master designs, those days.

It was the processor that did the computer work.

RAM and Video RAM were intermediary to process power of the CPU into human legible information. 

Binary System was born to begin with and soon became Source or Owned Code with Copyright Tag.

CPU has a fixed and singular design.

In other words each processor has a singular function. 

Therefore to increase the throughput Multiprocessor Design had to be deviced. These chips were thick and bulky in design. 

Needed Heat Sinks to decipate heat generated.

Silicone was the base because it was a good insulator of electric currents (or elections that shuttle through) and Silicone absorbs the heat generated.

They were easy to handle and mathematics were full numbers and not things like pie numbers or roots with decimals.  

These Transistors or assortment of Chips Circuits could handle the Gates and Voltage control. 

They were of (one) 1 Volt, still to this day.

Now there is a limit for these primitive computers.

We need flexible, scalable and energy efficient and low voltage and small designs.

MOSFET was born.

This is where the Rare Earth come into play.

Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Chip for short) Field Effect Transistors are not fixed like Central Processor Units.

1. They are programable and can be connected wirelessly.

2. The flexibility and energy efficiency of MOSFET are going to change our future designs.

3. Above all programmability at low cost.

Not fixed like CPUs.

4. They can be fabricated to nanometer level. 

5. They can be stacked to even Three Dimensional Circuits. Current Circuits are FLAT and Serial not Parallel.

We are still at 7 to 9 nanometer level.

New FAB Machines can reproduce these Chips at tremendous speed.

 

6. Miniaturization and stacking of chips are done by rare metals.

7. Whoever who master these techniques will rule the future world.

I think China is well ahead and may already have deviced means at least at primitive stage but America has to do some "Catching Up".

That is why President Trump wants war with China to Slow Down the Chip War of the Future.

The diabolical state in Ceylon is we are surrounded by golden sand and we cannot even make a single chip in Ceylon.

China is exploiting the sand to the hilt.

We had been fighting (with India's incitement) with our fellow humans and there is no end to this SAGA. 

Anura, Arjuna, Wira Wansa, Champika and Nirmal are only the political bonobos (monkeys) in this manifesting SAGA.

I have excluded Sepala, Sugath, Gune and Chapa who are political fanatics of their own designs.

Less I talk about NPP/DJVP/JVP is better for my Soul.

Butter or Btrfs File System Cannot Coexist with Ext4 and my two Almost Forgotten Dreams

Yes, I installed net Runner 25.64 on Btrfs file system and Debian Genome installed with the same NUC system does not mount them at boot time.

On has to have one file (Ext4) system and combining them with Btrfs, even for testing (which I hated long time ago) leads to catastrophe.

Btrfs may have caused similar problem 30 years ago when I was using Red Hat and Suse. It looks like lessons learned in the past stay and stick.

It struck a code in me.

Yes I installed Debian Cinnamon having formatted Btrfs with Ext4 and it works fine.

This piece in to bring notice to say another code guy has died young under 45. 

Singers go through this phase and I think Code Weavers do suffer similar fate.

I do not know the details but Ian Donald. committed suicide after altercation with the American police. He sustained some head injury and that was hushed up by the police.

Intelligen young guys are very sensitive to emotional liability and changing the routine perhaps good sleep with dreams is a good remedy.

My Dream 

Dream was in two parts or may be two dreams partially remembered but had some important message to go by.

Set was like a Government Hospital in Ceylon with chaos all around.

My role was not significant perhaps I was a passive observer.

In one section lot of little children unattended. 

Their mothers were not to be seen.

Why?

I do not know.

May be taken in for examination.

In another corner bit a commotion with adult men fighting for something. 

This may be attendants trying to sort out numbers for various clinics.

In another corner there were a few doctors who were oblivious to the chaos around more busy looking at their cellphones cum laptops.

Then suddenly a guy appeared from nowhere and everyone seems to be in unusually busy mood.

The dream abruptly stopped.

I do not need to send this to Maha Brahma for interpretation.

Yes, Health Minister has come for his political vituperations.

Certainly not for any inspection or opening up a new facility.

Second Dream is Global and Almost Real.

It is related to a Chinese Story travelling fast in the Internet. I am prepared to sign an affidavit to the effect that it did not come from a Secret Chinese Spy message intercepted by the Legacy Pup Linux Protocol which I accidentally found while doing AntiX Search.

This Magnetic Effect is found somewhere in a place between Siberia and Russia. The current Chine, Iran and Russia collaboration has nothing to do  with this finding.

There suppose to be a huge Magnetic Ring surrounding a Rate Metal Deposit (read my next blog piece related to MOSFE Transistor Phenomenon) claimed by both Russia and China. In this unusual region any Drone that has lost its Battery Power while on transit to a adversary  region can Recharge Itself Wirelessly.

What is Iran's connection.

Simple.

In case of American Strike on Iran Nuclear Facility, these Drones will swarm from this secret location, confusing the American's Latest Secret Drones to reroute them back to America creating an Third World War scenario.

That is why they have given Zelensky a one month respite from Ukraine War.

Mind you this is a real dream and I should be taken to task by Secret Service of any of the above countries.

Debian KDE Desktop has some Options

Yes, Debian KDE Desktop has some Options.

I downloaded and K.D.E Live desktop and tried to install it.

This Calamara Installer has many glitches.

Additionally applications are limited.

In the nick of time I gave up.

Netrunner, MX Linux KDE desktop and Neptune is much better. 

Additionally I tried Zenwalk and Seven OS old edition.

Absolute Linux current Iso has problems.

It is not sfs file and Box Utility cannot mount it.

By the way, the developer has given up updating it and hope somebody take over it and keep it Alive.

It is based on Slackware.

I have never tried Slackware and it is as difficult as ARCH.

 

After a bit of research  I discovered when on click on Discover one is taken to a dialog box from where one can download gnome utilities including Abiword and Box utility.

I am currently trying to download Suse Tumbleweed for testing on Box Utility. 

Yes download was OK.

It is on Virtual Installer mode.

Iso is little over 5GB.  

Takes 50% of the CPU and 4.3GB of my RAM. 

I am using Stacer to see how it is running.

Stacer is a pretty good Utility.

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 of 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?

Eaten up by the Cloud servers or the D.o.D (Department of Defense) protocols of Facebook and Twitter.

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

What a profitable plan?

I always believed in this strategy and that is why I stopped using them 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 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 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 and in Ceylon a software is used by Army to snooze on us.

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

Interestingly, the name of the software start with a P.

There is an appropriate slang or vulgar word starting with P in Sinhala.

What a coincidence?

Lions and Snow Leopards-Apple Computer Guys

Posted on July 31, 2011

Lions and Snow Leopards-Apple Computer Guys

Ever heard Lions and Snow Leopards living in the same home.
 

In Ceylon Lions and Leopards live in such close proximity and in harmony only a terrorist can drive them mad.
I hear they cannot simply because they are proprietary products from Apple Mac.
 

Some time ago I wanted to write something about Apple Computer and write a Final Cut but for no reason I could not.
 

It was a very fortunate lapse on my part and had I done that I may have to eat every word of my short piece.
 

The other day I happen to walk into Kandy Super Market and I saw something very similar to Pinguy Linux and drop into see who is promoting Linux in Kandy.
 

I was wrong and it was a posh Apple Mac Store but I could not see any iPods.
 

All the computers had Snow Leopard but not the Lion roaring. 

It looks like they are dishing out the last remains of Snow Leopards on unsuspecting but rich customers.

Just yesterday I posted and updated today that one can install four Linux distribution in over 2 and half hours and make them cohabit but unfortunately Snow Leopard and Lion can hardly ever cohabit in the same computer.

The trouble one has to go to install (which has two disks) Snow Leopard on Lion computer, only and expert can do that also on has two apple computers side by side with firmware attachment.

This guy who is a keen photographer wanted to transfer some photographic stuff from a camera and his old camera was not supported by the new Lion.

But if he gives his video to me I can convert them to many formats using ArtistX or AVLinux.
 

This poor guy, metaphorically of course (who is poor who cannot afford a new Apple computer) should learn some Linux before he gets older like me.

R.I.P. Linux–Rest In Peace for Windows

Posted on September 12, 2010

R.I.P. Linux–Rest In Peace for Windows
 

Recovery Is Possible-.Linux
This is the CD I use when I have accidentally erased everything in my hard disk which I did recently while partition my hard disk.
 

I really love this because it reminds me of letting Windows Rest In Peace a long time ago.

But it is for recovery of your files and photos.

It says Recovery Is Possible and recently, when I visited a computer hacker (he rips off old laptops and sells the usable remnants for the price of a new one -good money if I stated doing that) to get a CD/DVD for my son’s old Hitachi Laptop.
 

Unfortunately my son as well as I forgot all the passwords and could not boot it.

Not rooted or booted for one year.

I found a Combo that juts out of the front panel but I got the old Hitachi working again and I am going to use it for testing Linux distributions until the Combo packs up or I pull it out and use net booting utility to rip the BIOS and booting sequence.

New Wave of Linux-Multibooting Capability and its Culpability

Posted on October 3, 2010 

New Wave of Linux-Multibooting Capability and its Culpability

Most of the Linux distributions are making a culpable offense by not recognizing other Linux that come from various backgrounds.

In the beginning the LiLo had problems with booting other Linux distributions.
Then came GRUB it solved most of the booting problems by booting from any partition unlike Windows which have to start from the first sector.
 

Linux guys have not put this weakness of Microsoft to light.

Now is the time to highlight why we give priority to Microsoft.

It is unfair in legal sense in open market economy.

It also should learn how to boot from any sector of choice other than Master Boot Record.

Nobody should give the copyright inheritance of the first sector to any Linux or Microsoft distribution.

It should be with the customer or the user.

It is a monopoly.

Why computer wizard did not expose this weakness to light is my grouse.

They only aggravate the situ by only recognizing Windows and DOS sometimes and invariably gave Microsoft the first place.

This is a culpable mistake Linux developers perpetuate by its taking the starting block.

Why give the head start to Microsoft?

I have found only three distributions doing it right
They are PCLinux (the new distributions now have a problem not including other format options – other types of disk formatting including DOS), Mephis, Debian, Suse , Mandriva, Redhat and Fedora.

Redhat had the best GRUB including RAIDs .

Still SuSe has the best partition tool, even though it restrict itself to 15 partitions.

Why I do not know?

All the other Live and installable CDs I checked had problem recognizing other Linux distributions.

But they invariable recognized Microsoft by default or is it fear induced by Microsoft by its global propaganda or is it both.

Why not recognize its sisters and brothers breathing over the neck to have a good start.

Most pertinent question is why Microsoft cannot see with their eyes open wide Linux or other partitions.

They are totally blind to independence an market forces.

Where is universal  brotherhood?

Where is universal comradeship?

There are two reasons.

1. One is boot loader they use is LiLo.

2. The other is that they do not write a script (copy of the booting sequence in the header files of the root partition).

They all write on the M.B.R while giving priority to Microsoft almost by default or deceit.

Ubuntu do this, all Ubuntu derivatives including attractive Mint do this culpable offense.

It is time to wake up and put this right.

Suse recognizes only 15 partitions.

There used to be over 60 partitions those days before the RAID and volumes came into existence.

I used to have at least 8 (2 windows) distributions bootable on my hard disk barely 80 GB.

Those days Linux were not fat and heavy and some of them could stay on 2 GB partition.

I used to modify boot sector by various means to get all running without a problem with GRUB as the boot loader.

Now the hard disks are over 300 or 500 we must go back to all traditions and have at least 30 partitions recognizable.

Then I can boot Microsoft, Apple Mac and Open Free BSD as part-timers with Linux preferably my own assembly called God Bless You All (G.B.Y.A) (thanks to all the guys including Puppy Linux) and I will throw a party even the all mighty God has directed me to the grave for rest after the party.

Recovery Is Possible or Impossible and cohabitation is a must in the coffin for all of us at the end.

Absolute Linux-Install Only

Posted on September 13, 2011

End of the line for Absolute
Sunday, 12/15/2024

Age, expense, but mostly LACK OF TIME leave me no choice but to give it up.I won't bore you with the crybaby details, but I gotta make ends meet. If someone wants to take the distribution over, I would be happy to freely pass it on.I enjoyed tinkering all those years.

 

Absolute Linux Current Iso image does not boot from a USB stick. It is probably for a Live DVD. It does not have sfs file to boot in Box Utility and it freeze.

 

Absolute Linux-Install Only

Web site: www.absolutelinux.org (not active)
Origin: USA
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: IceWM
Architecture: x86, x86_64
Based on: Slackware
Wikipedia: Absolute Linux
Media: Live DVD
The last version | Released: 20240602 | June 2, 2024
Zobacz po polsku Zobacz po polsku: Absolute Linux

Absolute Linux – a very light Linux distribution based on Slackware. 

The IceWM window manager was used as the default desktop.

There is a set of programs included in the system which fits for working on a home computer.

Additional scripts (also working in graphical mode) allow for easy system configuration.
Low power consumption ensures free work on old computers.

Each version of Absolute (packages) is compatible with Slackware (Absolute 14 -> Slackware 14).
 

The Absolute installer available on CD/DVD works in text mode.

The last version of Absolute Linux was released in June 2024.

 Absolute Linux

I had some allergy to this distribution but not any more.
Allergy is due to——->
In the early days of my Live CD distribution testing, I downloaded Absolute Linux and by shear accident I said yes to a command and it took over my hard disk and installed it and wiped everything.
That was long time ago and I wrote Microsoft Killer on the CD and never tried it again till today.

Almost everybody in the University on token strike (remind me of the old days when we had to strike demanding bread, milk, rice and not coconuts) I decided to try this on one of my old computers in office which  I had messed up including the boot record and its mouse, the PS/2 mouse was fidgety.
I plugged in a USB mouse and started installing.

Installing was on write mode which I like very much and it was like using Debian where everything was configured step by step.
 

It took a little extra time fearing it will destroy my FAT partitions used for storing some archived material which I have already forgotten.
True to the statements below which I copied from its home page it does write and reported the faulty on board sound and gave me opportunity to configure USB external sound card I plugged in.
It is very light on the old computer and had everything including K3B, AbiWord and LibreOffice.
I have no hesitation of recommending it for dual booting.
It uses LiLo and could not detect Peppermint I had already installed.

Apart from that glitch it is an excellent distribution for a newbie learning Linux.
Another admirable feature is that when you first time boot it tells you what ought to be done including using a user account.
I had some difficulty in finding the control center which is the first entry in the menu because it gives neither Gnome or KDE desktop appearance which is in fact is a remarkable feature what I like the most.
It gets one out of the regimented routine and frees you with new found Linux independence.
Well done guys an girls at Absolute Linux.
 

Mind you it took 11 days to download (the longest but Hanthana Sinhala Linux did not finish after 14 days) by torrent.

Please use the point to point download and I am currently downloading its latest version.
It cannot be listed in  my Live CD/DVD list since only thing it lacks is a live sfs script an I hope in future it is included by default with UnetBootIn for USB booting.
Desktop oriented, as opposed to use as a server
All-at-once installer with the packages I wanted. 

Sifting through everything on the Slackware installer was hell.
Lightweight. 

Had some older equipment and also wanted to incorporate use of my modified version into my PC repair business — installing it on older machines for customers.
Like to play. Want the latest, best software. Slackware was perfect for this as all the headers are left in the packages/libraries so I can compile what I like. Since I like to script/program, I made myself many little utilities and shortcuts to configure the system more easily.
I want complete control.
But I want the operating system to stay out of my way.

Is a modification of Slackware.

Fast, stay-out-of-your-way desktop.  

No Gnome or KDE. 

Uses well integrated collection of the best lightweight software to give you most of the things the “big desktops” give you, only at at much, much faster pace.

The software folks use on a desktop: Firefox, OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Pidgin chat, GIMP image editor, WPClipart, Thunderbird mail, K3B CD/DVD burning, Frostwire P2P, Deluge BitTorrent, 2 dictionaries, a bunch of games — basically any of the latest, most popular Open Source software.

Many script utilities (with friendly little GUIs) to make configuration and maintenance of system easier and still allows manual (text-file based) configuration, if desired.

Package compatible with Slackware minor versions. (ex. Absolute 12.2 -> Slackware-12.2), with a few exceptions: kernel packages, KDE-libs, madwifi, ndiswrapper, svga-helper, a/etc.

Root user can install software or set system configurations. That’s it. Perfect for parents and IT guys. If you want to do something root user is allowed to do, log in as root. That’s what the account is for.

Finnix, the Live CD for System Administrators

 Posted on July 25, 2011

Finnix, the Live CD for System Administrators

Finnix is Genome / Linux Kernel 3 and only 102MB and fits a mini CD.
 

Below is a reproduction from Finnix Organization.
If I write about Linux Live CD that boots with Windows X desktop only, I am doing an injustice to the Linux Developers, who make wonderful Little Utilities for system administrators.
Below is one of them, a CD that boots without a desktop window on a terminal (window) with 300 MB of utilities.
 

Download and enjoy!
 

Thank you Guys and Girls of Finnix organization.

Finnix, the LiveCD for system administrators
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Get a pair of free high-quality vinyl stickers, and find out how you can support Finnix.
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Thank you to our major sponsors, mirrors, donators and others who help support Finnix!
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Finnix is a self-contained, bootable Linux CD distribution (“LiveCD”) for system administrators, based on Debian. 

You can mount and manipulate hard drives and partitions, monitor networks, rebuild boot records, install other operating systems, and much more. 

Finnix includes the latest technology for system administrators, with Linux kernel 2.6, LVM2, encrypted partitions, etc. And above all, Finnix is small; currently the entire distribution is over 300MiB, but is dynamically compressed into a small bootable image. Finnix is not intended for the average desktop user, and does not include any desktops, productivity tools, or sound support, in order to keep distribution size low.

Linux Ultimatum-Finishing with FinniX

 Posted on February 21, 2012

Linux Ultimatum-Finishing with FinniX

It is almost 3 years that I had being trying to promote Linux.
I am going to wind up writing on Linux from the end of this month.

It never materialized!
You won’t believe why I am going to do that.
It has nothing to do with Linux or visitors to my site.

Nearly half a million had visited my blog site.
Thank you and you had been a source of strength.
 

It is all due to money and price hike of electricity.
 

1. I cannot afford to pay a huge electricity bill.
It has almost tripled.
 

2. Second reason is slow internet.
 

3.Third is abrupt power cuts and interruption to downloads and my sleep.

 

All these due to irrational Engineers who are paying lip service to politicians and bungling in economics and power generation.

Besides rain also failing when there is power cut we do not have water too.
We are heading for disaster like “crabs in a boiling pot”.
We are getting cooked for no fault of ours.

We sacrificed and tighten our belts when war was rampaging but we asked to do more.
 

This is not realistic to me.
Fortunately I have written four books which are available at Amazons during our industrial action period.
Currently I am writing a book on Placenta and its clinical relevance with any help from the University.
That is taking a big tall on me.
 

Finishing with Finnix, it is a tiny distribution of about 100 MB with lot of administrative tools and bug fixes.
It is Debian based.
I am currently downloading it.
It (Finnix) came on the Valentine Day with love to all Linux guys and girls and we married on the day before.
I missed Finnix (Linux) and my wife missed or forgot the day we got married.
I was one up on the deal.

If you are a Linux guy or a girl do not forget your loved ones, the community and your closest friends.
 

They need a little pat on the back.
 

I am currently listing all the little distributions (little book will be the outcome) and that will soon be in Kindle and Amazon.
 

So Good Bye.
I will be here if I have had good dreams with Maha Brahma helping me.
We need god’s help to get rid of the bad guys in politics who are ruining little we have.
THANK YOU, Google and you are doing a wonderful job.
The blog front has an easy and nice face front.
You have done a very good face lift.
THANK YOU.
WordPress is also doing wonderful stuff.

Computer Aided INvestigative Environment)-Caine 2.5

 Posted on October 9, 2011

Computer Aided INvestigative Environment)-Caine 2.5

CAINE (Computer Aided INvestigative Environment) is a GNU/Linux Live CD distribution.
The CAINE forensic framework contains a collection of tools wrapped up into a user friendly environment. 

Furthermore introduces novel important features; it aims to fill the interoperability gap across different forensic tools, it provides a homogeneous GUI that guides digital investigators during the acquisition and analysis of electronic evidence, and it offers a semi-automatic process for the documentation and report compilation.
 

The CAINE distribution offers all the main commodities of a typical Ubuntu desktop: easy-to-use environment, highly customizable architecture, reliable interfaces and a enhanced packed-oriented software distribution system.
 

The GNOME desktop offers a well known and efficient graphical environment to the digital investigator.
It is built from the standard version of Ubuntu Linux 10.04.
It can be booted into a PC under investigation as a live CD.
It can be installed into a forensic laboratory PC as a permanent operating system.
It has a beautiful desktop.