Open Office Version 1 to 3 (dated-16-12-2008)

Open Office Version 1 to 3 (dated-16-12-2008)

SunMicroSystem Open Office has taken a giant step from its 2.4 version to 3.

I happen to see this version on a laptop with Linux distribution and was bit curious since I had been using it from version 1 which was the Star Office of Sun MicroSystems Office package released to the web as an open source software. Linux guys grabbed this with enthusiasm and it was budnled with all the Linux distributions.

This was the time I was migrating from Windows to Linux and its features included Web Format as well as pdf format.

I used to import Microsoft Office documents and remove all the Macros with proprietary claims which unnecessarily makes the the word file bigger than it ought to be.

In addition these Macros attract Viruses and make page laying extremely difficult from page to page. It is the nuisance Microsoft users have to encounter.

Auto formatting was a pain in the neck.

Other features of Open Office included that one can save the document in many formats as one wishes so that the recovery (this does not happen with Open Office) of a Microsoft file gone haywire was just a touch of a button.

It has a automatic recovery system when the power fails (if one does not have a battery backup when power fails) which I found annoying but it was a safety feature that was important if you are working on a long file.

Over five year period this happened only  three or four times and you can see what a "Finicky Soul” I am when working with computers.

I have only had one file corruption (one of these recovery incidents) over period of five years that was all due to my 128 RAM getting overloaded (hardware problem and not software) by many programs running at the same time.

That is the beauty of Linux with  multitasking abilities.

I only had to shutdown and restart and the file would be recovered in a few minutes, since the program gave me an adequate warning of the impending file corruption (due to RAM overload) and the misbehavior. I did not use enough swap file in those early days.

That is the value of this office package which I have no hesitation to recommending to anyone especially one is short of cash to buy the Microsoft new office package. I believe it is a waste of money.

The real reason I used was its PDF format which was a necessary ingredient for transferring a file across the Web.

The new version has arithmetic (formula feature) and calculation function which would be very easy for school kids.

Once you are registered with the Open Office home site automatic upgrading is available ad one does not have to wait for the next version.

Only down side that the database cannot be uploaded to an old access database. I have to live with it for the time being but very soon he community would find a way out of this scenario and remove all the Macros and ActiveX script and get the database raw table into its domain, whether Microsoft likes it or not.

Footnote

The exposure of the Internet Explorer to hackers probably from China, raises the question how safe is the Microsoft Software including Office.

Linux has many browsers (explorers) from Dillo to Falkon to Firefox.

Why we Ceylonese not using these browsers speaks of our up to date knowledge of IT Industry.

It is time to move to Linux especially Suse-11 and Mandrake 2009.

Ironically SLT (Sri-Lankan Telecom) does not support its wired service to Linux.

I had to go to Singapore in 2009 and buy a Router for our private use.

The modems they dish out freely in the past and dishing out in this Christmas do not support Linux

They are hooked to Microsoft.

16thDecember 2008

Google, Chrome, Cloud Conputing and the Future of Communication

Google, Chrome, Cloud Conputing and the Future of Communication

It is fitting to post the 200th and end my blogging exercise with some note on Cloud Computing.

I was one who was always concerned with the bulk we carry to school and work.

Light weight and agility with nimble footing was something I liked to treasure when young and in old age. When I see Ceylonese children carry gunny loads of books on their back. I pause to think of the wisdom of our Educationalists who do not understand the physical and physiological mechanics and making of a young child.

They also do not understand how the world is changing from factual world to interactive IT world and web utilities. Big books bring fear in children and adults.

I can remember tearing off the big medicine book into its chapters and making it small and light weight (this was an advice I got from a senior medical student).

Like one step at a time on chapter at a time makes it easier to read.

This I stretched further in the final year (now the big books are coming in pocket editions and and data and evidence medicine are carried in palmtops) and I only carried smallest possible note in my hand (rest in the head) and only noted down the few things that I did not comprehend fully to revise (I do this to present day- come across a new word, in English or Medicine, refer that in a dictionary and master the use of it, better still find a simple alternative word which simple people understand).

When you take the computer world operating systems are getting bloated by the day.

Even, the Linux derivatives are bloated in size and the KDE 4, I fondly call the Gorilla of Linux to drive my point.

Linux started with 4 to 32 MB of code but now fills a DVD (42, 000 packages in Debian and not even itemized yet) without an effort.

They come neck and neck with Microsoft.

The bloating period is coming to an end with the entry of Chrome Browser and Chrome OS from Google.

Now chills are running down the spine of Microsoft and if this takes the center stage software era and profit making are going to be thing of the past.

Utilities and Services will count like Water, Electricity and Payphone.

In future it is Cloud Service and Google will carry the load.

Already Cloudusb (a company name) and dropbox are established and they are platform independent.

Quoted from a web page published elsewhere!

"Google has said that Android is optimized for touchscreen interfaces, while Chrome is optimized for keyboards. It might be just as accurate to say that Android is optimized for consumption first, content creation second, while Chrome will be optimized for both consumption and content creation".

For some of us, the crucial difference is "play" and "work."

I am one who wants to outsmart even Google by carrying my operating system in a Pendrive (Flash drive). into my grave if that is allowed by the government.

This is what I want the education department to give serious thought.

The Jolicloud Manifesto
At Jolicloud we believe a movement has started. A movement that will change the computer industry forever: a world where computers are inexpensive, where operating systems are free and software is online. This is the world we dreamed of when we first discovered computers and the Internet. And this is why we wanted to build an operating system (OS) around a platform that gives everyone the opportunity to be part of this movement and access a whole new range of possibilities.

Jolicloud is an Internet operating system. It combines the two driving forces of the modern computing industry: the open source and the open web.

Jolicloud transforms your netbook into a sophisticated web device that taps into the cloud to expand your computing possibilities. The web already hosts a significant part of our lives: mails, photos, videos, and friends are already somewhere online. Jolicloud was built to make the computer and web part of the same experience.

The online world is taking processing power away from our computers, so we won't need expensive machines in the future. The web improves itself, so we don't need to replace machines all the time to be able to run newer versions of operating systems or office suites.

But the real catalyst of change has been the arrival of the netbooks: they started as an experimental low cost laptop for kids and they now radically change our views on how much we are willing to pay for personal computers. Think about it: computers are now becoming cheaper than mobile phones and MP3 players.

We feel privileged to witness this rebirth of the computer culture and are very excited about the world changes it can foster: More affordable means more people around the world connecting with knowledge, more communication between people and more balanced access to computing power with less cost, format or geographical limitations.

We come from the web, so we built our user interface mostly using its core technologies (HTML, javascript, CSS). We have integrated our web DNA into the OS to make it modular, social and personal. Our developer platform relies on the web and will let anyone or any service join in no time. With our API, developers will have the ability to let their website communicate with the computer directly with no need to code specific native applications.

Of course it's just the beginning. Netbooks are very new. They are still bulky, but they are making progress with better keyboards, better screens and battery time.

No one has yet entirely switched his or her life online, but everyday larger parts of our personal and business lives are relayed and stored via the web. Online connectivity is still expensive but prices are dropping as operators can't resist the global needs of the "always on" generation.

Legendary computer inventor Alan Kay once said, the best way to predict the future is to invent it. This is why we created Jolicloud. Like every project we can't do it by ourselves. We need your help and support to make this project a success. Together let's change the status quo and build the coolest OS for netbooks.

The future lies in the IT industry and not in heavy textbooks.

Less textbooks is environmentally friendly too.

We do not have to chop more and more trees to produce paper and textbooks which are getting outdated by the minute.

Cloud of computers can carry all the education material online.

Children should carry a Pendrive and few workbooks.

That is the future and it is next evolution of mankind.

WordPress

 

Sunday, December 12, 2010

WordPress

My privsate Web Page still working (but I cannot update, I have forgotten the password for yahoo mail) was based od www.WordPress.com which I recived free. www.WordPrtess.og one had to purchase.

WordPress is a Open Source Content Management System (C.M.S) that provides a simple web application platform for web hosting. If you a Linux geek you can download it and tweak it to satisfy your needs but the open license prevents you from developing new themes other than what is already agreed and known as the standard.

It probably developed from Ubuntu Turnkey applications and has a significant market share of web hosting for smaller companies.

My intention here is to let you know that there is www.wordpress.org that gives you a blog space like here in Google's blogspot that can be your personal web site before you mature into a Web Wizard.

Other reason for me to highlight it here is that it has support for Sinhala fonts and Tamil fonts for your web writings.

Do not wait till Government provides you with necessary infrastructure in IT including fonts, go and become a Web Star (not a Mega Star) by learning the basics with WordPress.

It is easy as a word processing program and you will ascend to greater heights once you master the Codes.

A glossary of the Codecs are published elsewhere free for access. It is free but once you are mature you can pay a nominal fee and upgrade your blog site which for me is almost a complimentary website without annoying advertisements that hide your creativity.

I downloaded WordPress some months ago but failed to write something about it since I was obsessed with Linux 100 Live CDs.

Now I am quietly delving into inner strengths of Linux and Open Source, talking about WordPress is appropriate here.

The omission was a serious lapse on my part and my apologies for that.

WordPress is as important as Dropbox for new wave of web activity with cloud computing on the horizon.

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie is no more.

18-10-2011

Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie is no more

on Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie is no more.

We have lost two outstanding personalities within the space of 3 weeks.

Mr. Steve Job of Apple Mac is one of them.

The other one is Mr.Dennis Ritchie.

He coauthored with Mr. Kernighan “The C Programming Language” (popularly known as “K. & R.).

That was the beginning of modern computing.

He (Mathematician) was the principal designer of the C programming language and co-developer of the Unix operating system, working closely with Mr. Ken Thompson (Electrical Engineer), his longtime Bell Labs collaborator.

His father, Alistair, was an engineer at Bell Labs.

He was recruited by the Sandia National Laboratories, which conducted weapons research and testing in fact making A Bomb.

He left Sandia National Laboratories and Joined Bell Labs and remained there till 2007.

Thank God he left lab testing weapons of mass destruction.

Linux we use today originated from UNIX he pioneered.

It is strange coincidence that when cloud computing is on the horizon and tablet becoming  a universal utility both of them passed away without seeing their dream products.

There are two others that matter.

They are Richard Stallman and Linus Torvalds.

These two will oversee that these products are within the reach of every human being with Amazon bringing the price of Kindle down.

There going to be a sea change.

We have to turn back and reflect on these gentlemen’s achievements.

It was all collective responsibility.

Learning Microsoft Productivity Time (LMPT) and the Learning of it.

 

02-10-2011

Microsoft Productivity Time (LMPT) and the Learning of it

on Microsoft Productivity Time (LMPT) and the Learning of it.

It was an awful and painful experience to use Word 2007.

It is supposed to be user friendly and not at all.

Not so sweet story today, I should share with.

I was preparing to do a survey on some penetration testing of computer utilities with my students.

I wanted to do this but kept postponing it.

I tabulated 101 items of Apple, Microsoft, Linux and third-party software for testings.

I did this on Abiword and made a Microsoft version since I have run out of toner in my printer.

I may have done this in about 15 minutes and prepared the printer setting to my liking and copied it into mini re-writable CD.

Then at the office I opened the file and made a copy in Microsoft had a printer view and there were some ugly sections.

Wanted to break them into new table section and right clicked and looked at the menu to find table split.

Mind you I have worked extensively with Microsoft from Win 95 to XP 2003 and have a series of books on Words which are in the attic (I do not like to donate or burn them, they are museum pieces anyway) and I knew the exact utility to use.

The Table split.

I could find cell split but not table split.

After 10 minutes of searching I asked our Secretary for help.

She could not find it.

I asked one of my colleagues.

She could not find it.

Unfortunately the technician I trained in computing was on leave.

Then the chief technician came and did a page break and broke the table in a place not desirable for my liking.

After one hour everything was in a mess and print preview was a disaster.

I do printing only twice to see typos and keep as my copy and the other for final copy.

Thankfully my chief technician showed me the step to page break.

PageLayout and then a another layout and hundred of bizarre arrangement of word utilities.

I could not delete the page break and accidentally clicked layout and found the table menu and somewhere there I saw table split function almost hidden in the clutter of many other utilities I will never use in my life time.

I need to get the page break out tried 10 minutes with View  Menu to see  the background layout lines and I could find any.

Simply I could not delete the page break.

Annoyed I started undoing one step at a time and also deleting corrections of typos and after another 5 to 10 minutes, I was back to where  I started and with another numerous clicks got to split table (mind you I was an addict of tables) and split it exactly where I wanted got the printer layout checked  and did the typos again and saved and got a print out after one an a half hours.

That is  90 minutes divided by 5 pages and 18 minutes per page to get print ready material.

Original typing with five typos (I do many typos now due to poor sight) took probably 15 minutes.

This is what I call Microsoft Productivity Time (MPT for short) which is amazingly long and when its windows 8 comes this productivity time will grow by leaps and bounds.

Then I have to call it Learning the Microsoft Productivity Time (LMPT) for Win 8 and reading it will take another two hours.

Every time a new product comes productivity time lengthens.

That is how Microsoft make writers life writer friendly but the writer should use Abiword for the final product even though he is a Microsoft user.

It was 4 years ago, I dished out Microsoft Word and extra time I saved during these four years I use for blogging on my life free of Microsoft.

Thanks Microsoft for your hard work on Win 8 and I will copy all the web publishing currently published on the web to calculate what a lot of productivity time writers waste on non-existent product.

Postscript

I managed to find the way to delete the page break.

Go View and then to Outline and select the line and press the delete button.

Slackware Linux

 Slackware 

Slackware is a Linux Distribution created by Patrick Volkerding  in 1993.

It is one of the oldest linux distribution and the dcurent verion is 14.2.

Originally based on Softlanding Linux System (SLS), Slackware has been the basis for many other Linux distributions, most notably the first versions of  Suse linux distributions and is the oldest distribution that is still maintained.
Slackware aims for design stability and simplicity and to be the most "Unix-like Linux distribution" .

It makes as few modifications as possible to software packages from upstream and tries not to anticipate use cases or preclude user decisions. 

In contrast to most modern Linux distributions, Slackware provides no graphical installation procedure and no automatic dependency resolution of software packages. 

It uses plain text files and only a small set of shell scrips for configuration and administration. 

Without further modification it boots into acommnd-line interface environment. 

Because of its many conservative and simplistic features, Slackware is often considered to be most suitable for advanced and technically inclined Linux users.

I have never used it.

Linux Mint-LXDE-Fist Post Here

This site was commenced on the 27th May 2010

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Linux Mint-LXDE-01
 

With much thought I have formulated a marking scheme for all Linux distributions from LXDE, to Live CD to DVD and special dedicated distributions for kids, education and science.

For a Live LXDE I give 750 points.

For a good Live, stable and installable CD I give 1000 points.

My gold standard is PC Linux 2009.2 which gets 1200 well above the 1000 marks.

For a comprehensive DVD the minimum is 3000 but could go up to 4000 points on its needs.

I just tabulated Linux Mint 8 LXDE and got a score of 705 out of 750.

It has no games even for a light evening.

Taking from Ubuntu it major weakness is not having an administrator.

No Skype and K3B.

Otherwise it is sleek, beautiful and elegant.

I would like to give it a newbie.

Chakra Linux

Chakra, I think Arch Linux should revive this distribution with a New Version to add to already popular Arch Derivatives.

I am currently using Manjaro. 

 

I wanted to dedicate this distribution to one of my classmates who passed away, last year. I tried all my best to contact him but failed. His Christian name was Chakra and he did Chemistry Special. Eventually, 6 weeks after his demise I got a message from one my older friend that he had passed away.

I had a reason. 

He had gone to Modern Buddhist Monk and he has told him to practice Meditation. I told my friend if he takes this advice he won't last 6 weeks.

Sure, he did not.

I cannot add this piece to my book "Business of Mediation" book posthumously as a form of respect to him and his family. 

I have many other examples.

This monks becoming healers is an antithesis to me.

Even as a Medical Guy, sometime I step back and ask help.
 

October 21, 2020 by pavroo
Last Updated on: 14th September 2023, 04:30 pm

Web site: chakralinux.org
Origin: Germany
Category: Desktop
Desktop environment: KDE Plasma
Architecture: x86_64
Based on: Independent
Wikipedia:
Media: Live DVD
The last version | Released: 2017.10 | October 8, 2017
Zobacz po polsku Zobacz po polsku: Chakra

Chakra – an operating system, a community-developed GNU/Linux distribution with a focus on KDE and Qt software, utilizing a unique half-rolling release model that allows users to enjoy the latest versions of the Plasma Desktop and their favorite applications on top of a periodically updated system core.

Features:
– Plasma by KDE – A continuously updated Plasma Desktop.
– Bleeding edge applications – The latest versions of your favorite applications.
– Stable core – A periodically updated core system provides stability.
– One-time installation – Set up your system once, and you will receive all the latest changes by keeping it updated.

 

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Chakra Linux
Chakra has done a good job and has taken away black screen and has introduced the light KDE desktop.
Boots up quickly and connect to web without a hassle.
It has Avahi and Konquer which probably has saved lot of MBs.
 

K3b is a value added disk burner.
The installer is still in black screen, probably to save MBs but would make a newbie nervous and me somewhat blind.
 

This is the same criticism I (black screen) I leveled against it (dark and black background) but Chakra has come of age and it has everything a savvy needs.

Thanks guys / girls.

We must offer generous donations if we care them to survive in the long run.
This writing was done live Chakra booted and running without any stain on my RAM.
They have included a neat script with passwords which is admirable.
By the way, I downloaded Orion (Ubuntu derivative) with 1.3 GB and could not mount it.
There is no hint of the password for alpha in its release or documentation.

In a hurry for the release most developers forget simple things.

Thanks for including the password script which others should emulate.
There are no colour fonts since I am working live CD on RAM.

  

Chakra
 

Chakra has come of age.

It gets 740 out of 750.

It is light weight and has light weight Document Viewer instead of Abiword and OpenOffice. This change is a revelation for me having criticized both Open Office and Office 7.

I hear there is a light weight AbiWord, too.

It has Skype, K3B and many attractions and has Arch base which is fast and efficient.

If you are fed up with heavy Suse and Mandriva this is the one which fits your needs.

Its black background at installation is not suitable for an old man like me (I can put up with it, though) but this is probably a way to free RAM at installation.

I found it difficult to locate flash buttons and click buttons and they should improve on this in the next version.

 

GnuStep

GnuStep is now invariably bundled up with Gnome, now.

Friday, September 17, 2010
GnuStep
This is the purest of the pure of Gnome and free software foundation (F.O.S.S) distribution. 

It follows the rules of the foundation and include utilities without compromising foundations goals.

In fact only a handful of them follow the rules to the letter.

It is a very good distribution with lot of utilities and I could not find gParted in the lot.

This distribution follows the principles and it should be a benchmark of Linux and Gnome.

Note my words, there is a difference of Gold Standard and the Benchmark.

Benchmark is the Guiding Principle but Gold standard is the utility Status whether you are a Gnome fan or an average consumer fed up with Microsoft and its franchises.

Interestingly, it has Blender in its fold so it gets very good average score from me.

Tea and Cookies

 Monday, October 25, 2010
Tea and Cookies
 

It is time for me talk and Tea and Cookies, now that I am well above my target of 100 Linux derivatives with lot of cookies in them.
 

This is not about the cookies that are behind one's browser or cookies that Linux developers put out almost everyday but real cookies we love at tea time.

But unfortunately Ceylonese cookies are getting expensive by the day with American flour is up, roosting on top of the roof and coconuts are hitting the ceiling in prices, I am bound by duty to talk about cookies the kids love.

If not my grandpa role is of no use.

If I talk about baby rusks it is beyond the reach of our average citizen mother and father.

The ordinary cookies are also expensive and their quality is getting poorer. 

If a packet is above rupees fifty (which is the price of bread now) we Ceylonese prefer bread and sambol to American cookies.
 

The reason for the cookies getting poor in quality is probably due to the companies cutting corners with all the ingredients making cookies going up in price to save expenses and maintaining the profit margins within their target range.

I am now down two or three varieties that maintain the quality but with the price well above what it used to be. If the price keeps going up perhaps I have to give up eating them.

As regard to TEA, it actually sky rocketed well before the budget and with milk is up in price we have to cut down our habit of drinking TEA.
In the office now it is black tea and I have stopped drinking it by default.

With this all gloom, there is a silver lining in the sky.
Reason for writing this is to highlight that fact.

One of our Ceylonese companies just celebrated its 20 years in existence.

It produces an excellent ice tea priced little above Coca Cola.

 

It was called Hela Dive and I gather it was bought by a Sheik in the Middle East.

 

Arabians love TEA.
 

Coca Cola is the number one company in America and this Ceylonese company can beat it, if they do a good market adventure and aggressively promote the tea here in Ceylon and abroad in Middle East and then slowly hit the markets in America.

Coca Cola is junk.

Nescafe is bad for your heart.

CEYLON TEA is healthy and protects our hearts should be the motto.

Clockwork Precision

This done AntiX on Live Mode

Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Clockwork Precision
 

Clockwork precision is something lacking in this country in workman's skills as well as in time management.

I leaned it from my father and the colleague principal who taught me the basics of it and the value of it which I perfected it in the Western World.

In the Labour Era (not the current one that ended recently) which ended with Mr. Arther Scargill, Mr. Tony Ben, Mr.Ken Livingston and many other names that I forget workers were well organized and down to earth and work to precision in London and suburbs (with the inflow foreign migrants including from Eastern Block this tradition of working according to clock and round the clock has slowly and surely disappeared, with conservative's sweeping role of market reforms and greed instead of welfare society, eroded to an extent that I decision to come back home was better option, than of becoming a Senior Citizen there shivering in cold winter expecting the summer to be sooner than late) and maintained the British economy vibrant.

It is no better here for Senior Citizens except for politicians with clout.

The time and time management was ingrained in the minds of workers then.

Then came the goals, finishing targets and profits that ended up in stock market crisis.
 

Strangely now, Americans are talking about social welfare and they cannot achieve the targets of their choice in time frame before the elderly eventually succumbs to ill fate.

What I am writing is not about the time management mentioned above but about the clock itself.

That itself is not the grandfather clock but the tiny digital wrist watch of mine which I used for the the last 16 years.

Before that I must write a few of the stupidest things I have done.

The things I did before going abroad was more ridiculous.

Whenever, I go abroad the first thing I used to do is to buy the most expensive wrist watch I could afford somewhat like a status symbol (I once lost one of them but was able to claim insurance-that was the only time I had claimed insurance in spite of heavy premiums I paid) and when I leave again buy something bit expensive.

This has become a liability when I come home.

I used to hire a taxi from Kandy to Colombo for Rupees 600 those days and I had several favorite and good drivers to take me all round the country (I was true tourist not the stingy white skinned ones that come here for boys now) and when ever I leave the drivers ask me,

"Sir, Mata Oya Wage Orolosuwak Denna Barida; Sir Can you give me a wristwatch like what you wear".

One fine day I was in a good mood I gave it to the driver and told him it is expensive and take care.

This is the guy who used to take a famous films star around the country and he never got any presents for the film star guy.

He was happy and I was bit unhappy, to tell you the truth but overcame that attachment in good time.

When I came the next time he was very unhappy, the reason being his lodging was ransacked within a few months and he lost most of the valuables including the wrist watch I gave him.

This incident changed my outlook completely and from then onward I used to buy the most inexpensive (sometimes children's ones) for daily use and disposed all my other comparatively expensive wrist watches to whoever who had some liking for them (mostly relatives).

This change (buying the cheapest and not looking at it) was consolidated when Ms.Chandrika was the President and her clock work activity was in direct competition to that of mine for 11 years.

The story about my clock is very simple.

One of my cheap (not the cheapest - I had brought from abroad) watches stopped working.

I went to a watchmaker in Kandy who was very good and showed him the watch.

He looked at it and said nothing can be done.

I walked in, to buy a new one and he called me back and said he can put a circuit for Rupees 240.

I asked him how long will it last and does it keep the time correct.

Ten years without a problem and it is Korean one he said.

I obliged and it was working for the last 16 years except for the brief period of one month.

I was busy and yesterday I went to another shop to change the battery.

The inexperienced girl there checked the battery and said it is OK but the circuit was faulty.

I could not believe it.

I asked her to check it with a new battery.

Result was the same.

She fiddled with the contact points then called an older lady to help and she fiddled with it some more and put some anti-corrosion oil and said, nothing doing.

After all this I told them for 16 years this worked all right and I paid only rupees 240 and I cannot find my favorite watchmaker and I left saying that my eyesight is weak, otherwise I would have found what was wrong.

All in all I now made my own diagnosis.

It is mechanical and nothing but.

I came home late and I left the watch on the drawer but only after a little fiddling and thinking that I would attend to it sometime later.

So, I did find the time and fiddled with it and it is working now perfectly.

This how Ceylonese operates.

Either the workman / work woman was / were not properly trained or they were trained to cheat.

I will not pass the judgment on this issue but only state that honesty has no place in this country.

The man who ran the shop with the honest watchmaker vanished within five years.

The owner raised the rental and I never so him after that not even in the pavement.

This is the status of life in this Kandy City in Serendib.

I am almost in my retirement I want the clock to stop lest I get older than now.

Fast forward, I am in Australia and I bought two  semi digital wrist watchs for Rs.1600/= each and gave one to our domestic aid who sometimes comes late (she is a very busy woman).

Linux and the RAM

 Friday, November 5, 2010
Linux and the RAM
It is not so long ago with 4 MB on board VG and RAM 64, I was able to boot Redhat 8. 

Mandrike, Debian, Xandros (no live CDs except Knoppix, I had not yet discovered the Damn Small Linux) with some difficulty Suse in my desktop.

The Linux is somewhat bloated now.

Without at least 512 RAM one is not able to boot and install Linux now.

This is not a good recipe for average Ceylonese who cannot afford to eat rice with Pol Sambol now (due to surging RAM on Pol Pol Arrakku and Pol - Coconuts).

If anybody makes a Linux distribution called Pol Sambol Linux, nobody will care to try it even if it is given free of charge (nothing is free in this country liberated except daily headaches, including Naredra Modi fiddling on trouble Waters).

So RAM is important for a low budget person like me.

Let me talk about the type of RAMs before relating my story.

I started with 100 BUS S.D.R RAM.

Those days finding two 128 RAMs was extremely difficult especially 100 BUS speed.

I had to wait for years and hacked them out of junk computers imported to Ceylon.

If I remember right Alpha Digital Company in Kandy where I found them.

Then came the 133 (BUS) speed S.D.R RAM and somehow I could muster 256MB of RAM with an assortment of 128's and 64's.

This was just enough for me to boot all Linux distributions without a hassle.

Then came D.D.R 1, 2 and 3 and the RAMs were hefty in size.

S  stands for Static D Stands for Dynamic.

The other day my daughter's computer with Linux installed was out (the reason is the usual overload and with 20 GB hard disk -over the last one year she had collected junk files (no viruses) and she does not want me to clean the junk files and she does not do it herself and one or two years of IDE hard disk is good throughput, anyway). 

She was using Microsoft Windows.

I dismantled the hard disk and put a new 80 GB hard disk that I have kept for future use.

I was trying to partition (not with dos now) the new hard disk with PCLinux-2010 and I could not.

Then I tried LXDE and could not.

Finally I had to go back to DSL and later to Linux partmagic to get the new disk prepared.

I did not enjoy all this at late night and gave her the computer with SATA 20 GB and 80 GB IDE (dual) with newly installed PClinux 2010-10 and downloaded, few of the software she needed for her work.

This was also bought from a junk deal and of course I added 512MB Graphic Card to get it in prime condition.

I asked her whether I should buy a new one and she was not that keen on a new one (now that she is very much comfortable with Linux without viruses and dropping her bad Microsoft habits was a welcome change).
 

The new Linux (PCLinux 2010) distributions are cravey on RAM and use the full 256MB RAM and after that I could not do anything useful including install.

This is why I call KDE the Gorilla Linux with some affection for Gorilla and the KDE (I am a KDE fan now except when I do repair work on old computers),

So if you are using Live CDs have at least 1 GB of RAM if you are thinking of installing the same.

Otherwise it will freeze down the installation process. 

This is true of Ubuntu 10.10 and SuperOs (DVD), too

Suse needs minimum of 512MB (but ideally 1 GB) and that is also with CD and not DVD.

Suse of course can be installed (very good feature) from the live CD without loading into RAM which most of the Linux Live distributions do not include or offer including PCLiniux.

Ultimately I decided to use the computer as a TV box in addition to using it as a web outlet with 1 GB RAM added.

Unlike those days there are plenty of unused second hand S.D.R RAMs in the market without buyers.

For Linux newbies and savvy this can be a Treasure House or Goldmine.

The Linux is far behind in configuring variety of TV Cards now on the market and I hope developers will be looking to this aspect since it is cheaper to use a computer as a TV box instead of an expensive and flashy LCD TVS now on the market.

Linux on a Low Budget and RAM

15-09-2010

Linux on a Low Budget and RAM

I was somewhat obsessed with the variety of live CD distributions on offer that I have overlooked the Linux on a low budget and computers both old and new with little and inadequate RAM.

There are many to list but I will mention a handful of them to conclude my investigation of user friendly tiny winy distributions that I have come across.

1. Geebox come to my mind that is similar to Gamebox or media player with needing 0nly 25MB.

2. My favorite is Puppy which is 90 to 120 MBs and there are over 30 varieties.
The last of which I downloaded was EliteOS (with a commercial presentation included).
It is pretty good.
In the Puppy 5 series, the Lupu is another celebrity.

3. Damn Small Linux (the one I use when I am in trouble booting and partitioning) is a beauty on its own with only 50MB.

4. Astrumi (120 MB) is another good one. I think it is a Polish distribution.
The older version cannot recognize LCD monitors.
New ones are coming by the dozens.

5. 4MLinux-Gamer is only 11MB and and the standard is 25MB.

6. Voyage is only 45MB.

7. xPUD a web browser and media player is 65MB.

8. The xin-v1 is only 52MB.

9. SliTas

10. Tiny Me

11. Finnix is another

12. WiFiWay small 285MB and Standard 408MB (Spanish).

13. Minix is 385MB.

14. CRUX is 220MB.

15. NimbleX was less than 200MB but now is bit fatty and has doubled itself to 400MB.

16. Feather Linux is also another flag bearer (like DSL) of small and beautiful Linux.

Then come to the the partition tools, there are many and one does not need a proprietary software to do partitioning (I have dropped MS partition magic for good but it was the one that saved many hours of sleep (sleepless nights before that) in the early days of Linux experience)

17. gparted

18. partmagic

19. pmagic

20. R.I.P. Linux

20 is a magic number for me. 

In studies of evolution (my personal work) if there are 20 related species in a locality that 20 would circumvent any adverse climatic change at least temporarily but if that figure is 3 the species is critically endangered.

With the same context in time to come Microsoft is an endangered commercial species may be catering for other planetary systems in space.

The host of Ubuntu derivatives that come as TURNKEY should be the fitting end to my list.

The list is endless and my favorites are Puppy, DSL and Feather Linux.

They are the ones I have used comfortably and on a regular basis and have used in demonstrations to show (my) prowess in Linux.

Sorry guys and girls that I have only mentioned your names only and they are much better than my GoGo.F.O.F. Linux which is still under construction with my workforce on extended Christmas holidays enjoying other Linux for relaxation.
 

They are allowed to copy any good idea free of charge or copyrights.

It is an understatement when I say that they are the most useful when one (I am in trouble) is in trouble or on low in RAM to do the tit bits (not bits and bytes).

Bye till new year!

Celebrations 3rd anniversary without Microsoft

This was posted with AntiX Live Session

Monday, November 15, 2010
Celebrations 3rd anniversary without Microsoft
 

I am celebrating the third anniversary without Microsoft, this Christmas.

Is there anybody other than Anuradha doing work only on Linux in Ceylon?

Please post an email or comment below so that we can have a private party.

I was trying to catch 100 students (school leavers to train free) from Kandy.

That was a total failure (blessing in disguise for me) but welcome free time for me to enjoy life with my kids.