Fedora Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving.  Are you full yet?

Yes, I've upgraded to Fedora 16 64 bit.  Have not had issues, with one exception.  I did forget to back-up my e-mail files, but no worries.  I tend to forget that every time. No big deal.  All that is replaceable.  I did back up all my special pictures and documents.

Here is a snap-shot of my desktop with the F16 background:

 

There is a new program that I have not had a chance to use.  It is called Imagination.  It is basically a Slide Show DVD creator.  It is kind of like Windows Movie Maker...sort of.  Any way, I have not had a chance to play with it yet.  I'll be using it as I make a DVD to send my parents for the holidays.

I had to set up KMail as well as my Calendar.  I had all my settings right and could receive mail, but I could not send and the Calendar would not work.

Well, Akonadi has got to be configured before all that stuff works.  Akonadi is basically the bridge to the data base stuff that makes it all work.  If Akonadi is not set up and running, Kontact, Kmail, and Calendar will not function.  Any way, I set that up and immediately scheduled all my Pay-Days so I have something to look forward to every month as well as my Christmas Holiday coming up (and family events like birthdays and so on and so forth).

What else?  I set my games up (Minecraft and Java), all my video playback stuff like Flash  and such.  All in all, F16 is nice.  It has a smoother look than F15.  I think the fonts are a little more defined.  Oh, I am using KDE-Desktop.  Some like Gnome, but I choose KDE because that is what I am used to.

Fedora 16 is nice, but I need to change one thing:

I think I'm ready for my Christmas Desktop.  This, by the way, is a picture of Christmas time at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missiouri.  Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.

Games on Fedora 15

No, I have not upgraded yet.  Not Thanksgiving yet either.  I have a few games I like to play on Fedora.  One is Minecraft, and then Glaxium, Kobo Delux,  and Powermanga.

Minecraft is one that I payed about $30 for.  It is Java based which means it is cross-platform.  This means it works on Linux, Windows and Mac.  I'm sure if your smart phone has enough ram, Minecraft would work on it too.  But anyhow, Minecraft is a simple game in look and feel, but complex enough to keep the geekiest of geeks happy for hours.



To check it out, just do a Google search for Minecraft.  Great Christmas present for kids of all ages.

The next one is Glaxium. 

This is a space type arcade game.  It's a simple game with some cool graphics.  You are in a spaceship with weapons to defend yourself and to blast the enemy.  Pretty simple game that will keep your interest for hours.  This comes in the Fedora 15 repos which means it is free.

Another one is Kobo Delux. 

This is a 2D space game with lots of color.  The goal of the game is to blast all the alien space stations while they try to blast you.  It start from simple and goes to complex.  We've had gaming parties and this one was that game that everyone ended up playing throughtout the night.  It comes with most Linux distributions and is cross platform.  Don't think it is a network game though.  It is a lot of fun and challenging.  It will bring back the '80's in you.

The last one is goofy.  It is Powermanga. 

It is an arcade shooting game kinda like Galaga.  You shoot through all the drone ships to get to the mother ship.  You pick up special power-ups along the way.  These power-ups need to be maintained throughout the game.  Without them, you have no chance against the mother-ship.

I have never been much of a gamer, but on occasion, I like to do mindless stuff.  Fedora comes with a lot of fun games.  Cross platform games are really fun because they can be played on every system in the house.  Anyway, have fun with that.  Oh, all these games I have mentioned are available on other Distributions as well (with the exception of Minecraft which is  about $30). 

I just like Fedora, you guessed, because it's blue and wears a Red Hat.

Fedora LXDE

Questions come up once in a while if Fedora can run on older computers.  There are 2 spins on the Fedora Project web site. So, I'm going to try to install the LXDE version first, since it is the smaller of the two. The other is XFCE. Right now, I'm down loading both at the same time....and they are done in only 10 minutes. So, I'm almost done burning the ISO to disk, using K3b and it's done after about 3 minutes. I'm loading it in the old system and will finish this blog on the new LXDE system. Cross your fingers..... ...well shoot. Fedora requires 640 megs of ram to install properly. My old box only has 512. Oh well. I wonder what Linux runs well on older machines. I was able to get Debian 5 on there and then upgrade to Debian 6. But it is slow as most new OS's are on old machines. So, this blog is going to develop into a search for a Linux for older machines....update to come soon...

Fedora v.s Debian: Support Please!

Fedora and Debian seem to be really popular these days.  Fedora is the "bleeding edge" of Linux while Debian is the "Stable Mabel" of them all.  As you know, I am biased towards Fedora and my published reason is because I like the color blue and I like fedoras in general.  But, there are other reasons so lets compare.  The biggest reason is the support I get with Fedora.  Debian also has support, but how do both camps pan out in the end?  Let's see.  (Now remember, I am biased towards Fedora, so take all this with a grain of salt and remember, this is just for fun.  I am not an official spokesperson for any distribution.)


Just doing a Google Search for Debian brings the number one hit  as

Debian -- The Universal Operating System

First off, this web site is hard to read.  The first thing I want to do when I come to this site is to zoom in a little with the ctrl-+ buttons so I can read the list of links.  But moving on from that, the big things I want is documentation, downloads, and forums.  I cannot find a forum on the main web site of Debian.

Forums are a really good way for the Linux community to interact and solve problems at the user level. Debian does have a forum and it is located at:

http://forums.debian.net/

Going backwards up the list, I want downloads.  To get Debian, you have to get it from the main web site http://www.debian.org/ or get it from a friend ,like me. The hard thing about getting it from the web site is which one to choose?  I know that I like ia64 or i386, but what about the average Joe? And, my past experience has been that not all the downloads work every time, so I end up having to download about 3 times before I get a good one. But that is another story. Oh, and you might think you are getting a Live CD in your download, but that is not always the case. If it doesn't say Live CD then it just may not be.

That brings me to the next thing on the "download" subject.  Most end users, like me, want to use a Live CD.  This is an image you download and then burn to a disk to be used to sample the OS before installing it.  If you want to install it, then you just click the icon on the desktop that says something like "install to hard drive".  Locating this "Live CD" is a little hard on the Debian web site.  But here I'll give you that link. There you go.  Now have fun choosing which one to download.  What is bit-torrent any way and once I get the bit-torrent, how can I use that?  Hmmmmm

Next, would be documentation.  To answer all my questions, I need documentation.  So, I go to the main site to look for it. There it is. So I click on the link for more information and there it is.  Lots of information to show me what to do.  No fancy stuff here.  It's all business.  Hopefully, all that documentation will tell me what to download and how to get it to disc and then how to install it.  And, I know because I have been through this, it does tell you how it all works.

Debian is a very stable distribution once you get it installed, configured, and running.  I do like it and actually like the story and philosophy behind it.  I do like Toy Story , stability and the flexibility of Debian.  However, I still like the color blue and I like the ease of installation I get from Fedora.


Googling fedora, I get:

Fedora Project Homepage

So, real quick, Fedora has a nice web site to get downloads, documentation and link to its forum.  Notice, I only linked you to the web site.  From there you can go anywhere in the network of Fedora Project web sites.  The main page is clear, easy to ready and understand.  The documentation explains which download to get for your system.  And as you click through the site, you find everything you need.  Even the Fedora Forum is linked within the site.  Each page is colorful and retains your attention.


So, the bottom line is, getting the information I need to install and maintain Fedora is much simpler than Debian.  Fedora has a colorful, attention keeping, web site that points me to all the right places I might want to go.  Debian has all the same information, but it is harder to navigate and can be discouraging at times, finding what I want in a short period of time.  Both have user forums which are a great help.


Fedora is a Red Hat sponsored Linux Distribution that I enjoy using because of its simplicity, complexity, and color.  How's that for a little paradoxical blurb?  Hey!! At the very "kernel" of it all, they're both Linux.  Have a nice week.  

Fedora: Ready to Install?

Fedora 16 is in Alpha stage right now.  If you click on the Fedora logo at the right, you will be taken to the download site of Fedora.  You will be able to download F15 in any flavor (desktop preference) you want.  You will also be able to give F16-Alpha a run.

So, the first thing you do is download the Live Image (iso) to your computer.  Then, take your favorite disk burning application (at the bottom are some links that will help you choose...I've used MagicISO in the past with great results) and create an ISO CD.  This will be a bootable disk that allows your computer, upon reboot, go right to Fedora.

Just stick the new ISO disk in the disk drive and reboot your computer.  Your computer will boot directly to the disk.  Now, on your monitor you will see what Fedora looks like.  Fedora will run off the RAM (memory) in your computer and will not harm Windows.  Depending on the amount of Memory you have will determine your test experience.  I was able to run the Live CD on an Acer Netbook surfing the web, loading Flash, Firefox and pretty much set up the computer for use on a college web site before the 1 gig of memory was used up.  If you have more than 1 gig, your trial experience will be more fun and all without harming Windows.

Now, if you are ready to switch to Fedora, just click on the " Install to Hard Disk" icon on the Live CD Desktop.  If this is your first time installing Fedora, just use all the default settings for installing.  You will be given the option to use either the available space on the drive for Fedora (thus dual booting to Windows) or using the whole drive.  For new users, if you are ready to get rid of Windows totally, choose the entire disk selection. ( By "ready" I mean that you have backed up all your precious stuff like pictures, music, documents Outlook files, address book-contacts and even web site bookmark files).  Then let Fedora do the work.

One little blurb about backing up your Windows machine is this.  Just back up your files.  Do not back up the software.  Fedora comes with its own software that can read all your files in the new format. 

And a little disclaimer.  I take no responsibility for your personal loss of data, the destroying of your computer, or any other negative thing that happens when converting from MS to Fedora.  That said, and I have to say it, do your research and make sure you back up your files to an external hard drive before starting the switch.  The Fedora site (click the logo at the right) is full of information on how to make the switch, what the requirements of your system are and some various installation scenarios like RAID and Network Installation. 

When you get it installed hop over to the Fedora Forum and check out the Fedora Set-up Guides to help your first experience go a well as possible.  And don't forget to check out the links at the bottom of this page. 

Oh, feel free to join this blog.  You can also get the RSS Feed from this blog.  This blog has reached over 1600 views so far.  Thanks for looking. 



Fedora Documentation
MagicISO
ISO Comparison Wiki

Fedora and Apps: Kontact

I've tried to write about the applications I use on a regular basis, but never really followed through with the them consistently.  So, I'm going to give it a shot again.  For the next few weeks, I'll show you what I use.  Today, it is KDE's Kontact.


Kontact is an organizer on steroids.

It is comparable to Microsoft's Outlook.  

Of course I can read e-mail,

I can set up a calendar, a to-do list,

view RSS feeds,

create project outlines using Notebooks, jot stuff down on the Calendar via Journal (not shown)
view my desktop Pop-up Notes (not shown), and
even track time on my projects (not shown).

Setting up Kontact is pretty simple.  It has a pretty nice set-up menu.   And it can handle several e-mail formats.  I currently am getting g-mail and Windows Live Mail through this.  It can also hand your corporate e-mail if you have all your permissions are in place.

While I have used every one of these applications within Kontac, I mostly use it for e-mail, calendar, RSS feeds, and Notebooks.

One really cool thing about Kontact is that an Internet browser is embedded within the product making viewing video links a matter of clicking a button.  Then, a new tab opens with your video playing (of course you need Adobe Flash for this to work properly).  It can also be set up to open an external browser of your choice, like Google Chrome and Firefox (to name a few popular ones, but not IE as that is, of course MS).

How does it compare with Outlook?  Well, I use Outlook at work on the Intranet.  Outlook is a pretty powerful piece of software as it will integrate with I/M software, Word, Excel, Access, and any other MS Office product and access the MS Exchange Server.  And Outlook is fancy looking, has a nice calendar, to-do list, and a few other things.  Oh, did I say it was fancy?  Yes, it is fancy.  However, I think Kontact, for the home user, is much more adaptable for home use than the MS contemporary. 

Kontact will access the office suite of your choice either from the K-Office selection or the OpenOffice-LibreOffice suites.  I have not used it at work on the Intranet so I don't know how it would hand the Exchange Server environment.  And Kontact seems to be pretty plain looking.  I haven't gotten into changing background colors...but....you know...let's do that right now.  I have time......

There we go.  In order to do this in Fedora, just go to System Settings-Application Appearance and change the colors to what ever you want.  You can also download new themes for a starting point and then tweak them to your own preferences.
 This has been fun.  Check-in next week for a new KDE application.   

Fedora and Mac

So, we have PC, Mac and Linux.  Right?  Nope.  We have PC's and Mac, and Linux can be on both.  Yes, tis true.  Both can have the best OS in the world (IMHO).  With a PC, just slide the ISO disk in and reboot.  Installation is as easy as pushing the icon on the desktop.

For Mac, the following is an example of how to install Fedora on a later Mac.  Not sure if this works for PPC, but we'll address that later.  Anyways:

"The easiest way is to install "Refit" in your macbook leopard. "Refit" is like a bootloader and it shows a menu which allows any bootable CD or DVD to boot when you hit the option key after system power on. After you get past this menu its a normal Fedora [or Linux] installation, nothing new. There is a disk utility to shrink the volume of the hard disk for mac and thereafter you can use it format and install any OS you want. I am not sure whether you can format the entire hard disk and remove the macintosh OS ."

(This was quoted from the Fedora Forum.   It is an example of one of many threads on the forum suggesting the use of Refit)

So, basically, for all us newbees out here in the world of end users, Refit helps the Mac set up a boot manager so the Mac can dual boot the Mac OS and Linux as well as Window's 7 I believe.

That's all I know.  If you have used Refit on your own Mac,  I would be totally interested in your feedback.   Macintosh Computers are awesome machines.  Why not be able to load the OS of your choice on them as well.

Bamboo Fun on Fedora

I couldn't sleep last night so I got up, got some crackers, sat in my chair and what did I see?  A Bamboo Fun sitting really, really close to my desk.  Knowing that curiosity blooms into some of the greatest discoveries, I picked it up and plugged it in.

My first discovery was that it worked immediately in Fedora 15.  I didn't have to add the drivers, as they are all ready installed.  I could take the pen and migrate from screen to screen without lifting the pen.

My next discovery was it works with all the KDE paint applications as well as GIMP, Inkscape, and Scribus.  GIMP has the most control of the pen and then Inkscape is the runner-up.

O.K. Here is the kicker.  I could not get the Fun Tablet to work in F14 or F13.  The only difference that I can see in F15 is that I do not have the Nvidia drivers installed.  So, if you are having trouble with Bamboo on F15, I would check to see if your video drivers are overlapping.  There can be just one.  So, if you have two, they will negate each other and will produce zero work and frustrations will mount.

Sleep was overwhelming me so I put the pen down and went back to bed.  Amazing things can be discovered during an insomniactic moment.  The Wacom Bamboo Fun is just waiting for me over there.

Fedora 15

So, I'm sitting here eating my eggs and I remember that I have not blogged in a while. So, what's new with me.  I did get to installing Fedora 15 over Father's Day weekend.  And I upgraded my computer a bit.

The upgrade to F15 went very well.  I backed up all my precious files.  Oops.  I forgot to backup all my e-mails and Address book.  Oh well.  Guess I'll have to do with out those.  But I got everything else backed up and decided to do a new install.  I had been upgrading since F12 and thought it is time to clean some stuff up.

The installation went very well.  RAID is a little different on F15 compared to F12, but no really big deal.  It's actually easier than it used to be.  Another neat thing is that I didn't install Nvidia drivers this time around.  I chose to use the default video driver and it actually set up my dual monitors perfectly and automatically.  For a quick set-up of my Codecs I used the Autoplus to which is an extra tool that automatically installs most need things for the system.

In short, I am happy with F15.  The biggest change I've noticed is Openoffice has been sidelined for Libreoffice.  Same thing generally speaking.  But all in all, I'm loving F15.

On my Desktop

I promised a little while ago to a "What's on my Desktop" thing. My number one favorite piece of software is Kontact. It is very comparable to MS Outlook. It handles all my e-mail, my calendar, my to-do-list, has a time tracker, an RSS reader built in, a news reader, a Journal, a cool notebook for brainstorming and outlining, pop-up notes (views all notes from desktop) and anti-spam add ons. This program comes with the KDE Office Suite and is just that...Sweet.

Another program I like is called Blogilo which I am using right now. It allows me to write my blogs off-line and post them when I get a connection. I can post pictures and even see a preview of my blog before I upload it.

For web browsers, I currently have the choice of 3 i.e. Firefox which I use all the time, Google Chrome which takes a little time to set up, and Konqueror which I use once in a great while. There are several others to choose from. These are just the three I use.

Fedora is full of Graphic Software. If you get the KDE desktop, one thing you get is Digikam. This allows you to download pictures and video from most any camera on the market today. There are also "plug-ins" that allow you to post your pictures straight up to your favorite social networking site. These are called KIPI plug-ins.

For video I usually run a program called Dragon Player. Actually there are many to choose from as far as video play-back. The key is have all the needed codecs installed which allows seamless entertainment. For on-line video, I have flash player as well as some add-ons that allow other formats to be viewed via web-browser interface.

The bottom line is that if you need your computer to be able to do something, there is a Linux developer out there in the world who is already meeting that need. Many of those programs have been ported to Fedora and if for some reason you can't find it for Fedora, there's plenty of help to coach you through doing it yourself. Fedora people are generally very friendly and eager to help overcome most any obstacle.

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Fedora Talk

I installed Fedora 15 on my son's computer which is a Hewlett Packard G60 series laptop. It installed without a hitch. Wi-Fi installed automatically. It is a really nice system. Openoffice.org is now replaced with Libreoffice which is pretty much the same thing, but has more promise of being maintained for several years to come. I did have to set Samba up so it could talk to the rest of the house. I installed Chrome, but had to tell Chrome where to find the Adobe Flash plug-ins. No problem as the Fedora Forum people are a really great help.

Ease of installation was just that--easy. Just stick the disk in, reboot to the disk, and answer some simple questions and it installs super fast. Any other stuff need can be found on the Fedora Forum. And it is Blue. I like the color blue. Another thing that is nice about it is the system installs RPM files from the internet by the push of a button. Just like I said, easy.

I installed KDE because that is what I am used to using. Rumor has it Gnome 3 is full of bugs. Those will soon be worked out. Fedora is still a bleeding edge Linux Distribution. The Fedora Team does a great job getting new ideas out. And it is the Fedora Community that gives the welcomed feedback. After Fedora people play with the new stuff, other distribution incorporate it. Distributions like Debian.

Oh yes. Back to Debian. Debian 6 is using software that Fedora 10 was using a few years ago. So if you want the fun stuff, get Fedora. Fedora installs easier, downloads are more dependable, updating is really easy, upgrading is pretty much automatic and really fast.

And the bottom line is, I like blue.

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Debian Upgrade

O.K. folks. I tried to do a direct install of Debian Squeeze to my Asus box to no avail. Lots of issues there primarily because my box is so old. What I did to was go back to the Lenny CD that I have.

First thing to do was install Lenny. Once installed I opened Konsole (KDE) and typed:

#aptitude update

#aptitude -f full-upgrade

That made sure I had all the latest for Lenny. Next I typed the following:

#nano /etc/apt/sources.list

In nano I changed everything that said "lenny" to "squeeze" and saved the file.

Next, I typed:

#aptitude update

#aptitude -f full-upgrade

It is now updating everything to Squeeze. It should be that simple. We'll find out. Meanwhile, I'll just watch the Konsole do its thing.

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Debian vs. Fedora...the saga continues

O.K.  To be fare, I am currently downloading a live image of Debian Sqeeze.  It is the "standard" iso meaning I think I'll choose my "spin" upon installation.  I like KDE, but the KDE spin was 1.0 g and I only have a CD player on my Debian box.  I guess I could have put it on a USB stick.

Which brings me to another point.  Debian has a super large amount of choice for downloading.  It is so huge that an end user might become overwhelmed and not know what to do.  I chose the "standard" ISO because I wanted to install using the CD player.

A little about my Debian box...oh the download is complete...pause while I get this thing going....I'm burning the ISO using K3b on my Fedora 14 box.  The download took about 5 minutes compared to the Fedora download I did yesterday.  The Fedora one is different as I have a more modern computer to use.

Oh, the Debian box is...wait, the CD is done. Let's start installing this on my Debian box which is an old Asus box with a Pentium 3 or 4 processor at just under 800 mhz and 500 mb of ram.  It has an Nvidia 256 mg dedicated video card, a CD player and an extra USB card.  It is connected to the Internet, of course.


So, let's get started on the installation.  So, the live CD is running and we are on our way.  It is currently about 10 minutes to 3.  I'll let you know how long it takes.  It is now 5 to 3 and I found the "standard" is not what I want.  I'm going to try the USB ISO.  Hang on there, I'll get back to ya.


So, I went back to the "Standard" ISO and chose "text install" from the main menu.  Everything is running smoothly and it is now 3:15.  It is now 3:40 and it says installation is complete.  We'll see.
 
So, what was installed with the "Standard" was Debian with no desktop or anything.  So, I just entered, as root, "aptitude install kde" to see what I get.  And now it is downloading all the necessary files for the KDE-Desktop experience for Squeeze.  It is now 3:50.  I might watch a movie while I'm waiting.

Debian vs. Fedora 4?

Yes! It is here. Fedora 15 is here. So, in this hour I am changing the oil in my commuter car, downloading Fedora 15 KDE-64 bit and blogging about it at the same time. I have not decided whether to simply upgrade from 14 or do a full install. For the sake of the Debain vs. Fedora arguement, I think I will do the upgrade.

Remember, in a previous post, I downloaded Debian Squeeze and attempted to install this. Oh, but before that, I attempted to upgrade from the previous version, Lenny. The upgrade was difficult for the end user and even for the intermediate user. The upgraded failed only because I did not have the right knowledge to accomplish the task. I'm sure, with a few tries, that I will be able to do it. Right now, I am simply searching for the uncorrupted Live CD that will install on my devoted Debian box. I will try that again as I do like Debian, but right now, Fedora seems to be more geared to the end user than Debian.

With that, to upgrade to Fedora 15, first, one does:

#yum install preupgrade

When that is complete:

#yum -y update

#reboot

Then when your system is up and running do:

#yum -y preupgrade

Then simply let the OS do its work. Stick around to answer a few questions and maybe push a few buttons. Oh, I should also mention, whenever you do an upgrade, make sure you have backed up you precious files. I've never lost a file during a Fedora upgrade, but no promises here. You can back-up using an external hard-drive, CDs, or DVDs, or large thumb-drives. You can also use off-site services like Dropbox, ZumoDrive, ADrive, and more. Check the list.

Oh, Fedora just finish downloading. That was just about 30 minutes. I'm not ready to do the upgrade as I personally need to do some backing up and I need to get out and finish changing the oil. Tomorrow, I'll do my backup and let you know how I do it.

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Linux Applications: KSnapshot (KDE)

One of my favorite applications under KDE is called KSnapshot. This is a pretty fun little tool. Not only can you jpeg your current desktop, you can also grab pics or portions of pics from the web, save as jpeg and then make wallpapers out of them. For example:

Once it is captured then you can add it to your desktop. But before I show you that one, you should also know that you can free-hand a pic from the web, save it and add it to your desktop: 

And I'll show you the desktop. I'm using dual screens. It can capture both screens or just one at a time or a freehand capture of what is on your screen. This is pretty nice and a really fun toy:

So, as you can see, this is a pretty fun application only available on KDE on your flavor of Linux. As you know, I'm using Fedora. Don't miss the new release of Fedora 15 in less than 10 days from now. 

Internet Browser Stats

Hey, I'm just looking at my stats for this blog. Pretty small numbers, but what I'm noticing is Internet Explorer and Firefox are #1 and #2 respectively. Chrome takes 3rd and Konqueror is 4th. Then we have the others that folks have barely heard of unless they are using them.

Most people know about the top two, but Konqueror is usually only known to Linux users running the KDE environment. So, this is interesting. And what do you personally use? I use Firefox mostly and then I use Konqueror on rare occasion. At one time I was using Chrome. Firefox tends to have the best security features with the most add-ons and extensions available.

The nice thing is Firefox comes in the Fedora packaging so there is no need to download from the Firefox site. Just install straight from the Fedora repositories using "#yum install firefox". Then install Flash and all your media codecs and then your browser experience will be awesome.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the new Fedora 15 release date. Have a good weekend.

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Debian vs. Fedora 3

Actually, it is not very fair to compare the two distributions as Debian is usually extremely stable and Fedora is usually really bleeding edge which leaves room for a little bit of instability. So, people who really like Debian will not really enjoy Fedora and vice versa.

Now here is something really cool. If Debian has software available to it, Fedora also has that same piece of software, but in a later version. So, in Fedora, the user can have access to the latest Firefox whereas Debian users only have Iceweasle in the repositories unless they want to go against the grain and "risk" downloading and installing the actual Firefox browser. The later is an action truly frowned upon by Debian purists. Fedora users could care less what you download and put on your own machine. If you can get it to work then more power to ya.

Oh, another example of that is when KDE Desktop comes out with its latest version, Debian will not have it in the repos unless you want to use the "unstable" repos and then I'm not actually sure if you can get it. Of course you could always do a work-around and install it directly from KDE but don't depend on the Debian gurus for support if you choose to do that wild thing.

Fedora, on the other hand, usually has the latest KDE stuff available as soon as compatible version is built and that is usually within weeks of the latest version being announced.

So, Debian is more stable and "safe" and really prides itself in sticking with the GNU Linux statement. Fedora is the bleeding edge Linux which is truly exciting to many users in the Linux world. So, like I said, it is not very fair to compare and contrast the two because each focus on its particular user group. But all in all, they are both Linux, so have fun with that.

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Debian vs. Fedora 2

I did a Debian vs. Fedora a few weeks ago and got several hits. I talked, in general about updating the OS and how simple Fedora was verses Debian. But wait a minute! Why is the new Debian 6.0 called Squeeze and for crying out loud, what the heck is "Love Lock"?

Debian first. All the names for Debian releases are based on Toy Story characters. Yes, the last one was called Lenny and this one is called Squeeze. The one previous to that one was, I think, called Etch. Then, there was Sarge, Woody, Potato, Slink and Hamm. Kind of catchy. The next one is going to be called Wheezy. (cf. http://www.debian.org/releases/ )

Fedora is not quite that simple. The naming has to do with the previous name and its relationship with the new name for the new release. In short, there is a reason for everything under the sun and for a full explanation please go here .

But, I am partial to Fedora. There is a whole lot of thought that goes into the distribution and because of that we, the end users, get a whole lot of benefit. In the end though, Debian and Fedora are both Linux and that's that.

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Easter Time

There is a passage in the Bible which says something like "when I was a child I did childish things and when I grew up I stopped doing those childish things". Of course that is a paraphrase of the actual text of I Cor. 13:11, but I'm sure you get the point. So, what does that have to do with Easter?
Well, when I was a kid, I colored Easter Eggs so adults could hide them, so a bunch of kids and myself could go find them again. What does that have to do with Easter?

Oh, and if we didn't do the Easter Eggs we would certainly be still hunting for special candies on that day. I remember my mother used to hide candies early Easter morning just so she could watch us hunt for them. Of course though, we couldn't eat them before breakfast and we certainly couldn't eat them with our special Easter clothes she had be slaving over the sewing machine for the last six months just so we could have something special for Easter Sunday. (We had already grown out of them before that morning because we grew really fast and her sewing machine just could keep up. That's why she would be hemming them on Easter Eve at the last minute).

What does all this have to do with Easter and where did chickens, geese (remember the golden goose egg as the ultimate find during the Easter egg hunt) and rabbits come into the picture? Oh, sunrise services at church? O.K. Mom slaved over our Easter clothes for six months, hemmed them the night before because we grew really fast, made sure she purchased enough Easter yum-yums so she could hide them before the Easter Sunrise Service, and made sure we didn't muck up the special clothes or our Easter appetites (forgot to mention this one) reserved for the special Easter Dinner we were all to share after the Easter Sunrise Service.

Pretty busy day for just another holiday. Time to grow up. I'm really frustrated with it all and I'm not going to go into all the paganism that the Catholic Church married into in order to get the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ accepted among the ignorant pagans of the day. All I want to do is take a little time a declare what I believe as an adult (remember that we are putting childish things away now).

As an adult I believe the summary:

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (1 Cor. 15:3-8)

This weekend, remember that Jesus Christ died for our sins, was buried, was raised on the third day and He did all this so we could have the privilege of being forgiven for our sins and gain permission to be with Him in Heaven for eternity. 

Of all the things Easter is not, I block them all out and remember what Christ did for me on that Cross and that He did not remain in the grave but rose from it so I could follow Him and also be resurrected to newness of life only to be with Him for eternity.

[All Bible text is from the English Standard Version]

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Spring Tidy and Repair

I have today off, so, I though I would take care of a few things. Most of those things have to do with getting my spring-time cleaning and organizing out of the way. I have lawnmowers to get going, grass to mow, a garage to clean, stuff in the garage to sell, and finally plan my upgrade to Fedora 15.

I have been working some mega hours at my day job and a lot of things have been neglected. The first thing I've notice is my nineties-something Craftsman riding mower. I actually salvaged it out from under a pile of leaves from over at my neighbor's house last summer. I tuned it up, repaired the tires, balanced the deck, replaced the blades and the belts and finally put it to work. I was able to get a double-bag grass-catching system for it, too. Now we come to spring time. It started right up recently. I used it for 4 solid ours already this spring. Yesterday, I noticed I needed to tighten the belt tension on it so it would cease the terrible squealing it has been doing as it tackles the heavey grass.
This particular mower doesn't have an automatic tension thingy so I have to do it manually.

My Craftsman push-mower is only a few years old. That thing burns through spark-plugs almost like an old house burns through light bulbs. And, just a micro-ounce low on oil and the cantankerous thing simply stops running. And when the air filter is the least bit clogged...yup, you guessed it.

Needless-to-say, that mower is super picky. Anyway, I have to get those running today and then join my son who is already out there mowing the church lawn.

I closed my business in 2009 and finally got things shut down in 2010. Now I am left with a lot of specialty hardwood flooring tools that may never get used. So, I'll be selling a lot of that stuff in the next few months. I might even advertise them here, so keep tuned in.

Finally, as I mentioned before, I usually upgrade my computer over holiday weekends. Well, Fedora 15 is coming out and the guys there somehow missed Easter weekend. No matter.  I still have Father's Day.  I just have to back up my precious files and be ready for that day when I push a few buttons and watch the magic happen. What magic you may ask? When Fedora 14 magically transforms itself into Fedora 15 of course. Actually, it's not magic. It is a calculated effort on the part of all the developers behind the Fedora Project.

Without them, I wouldn't know what to do with myself twice a year.  Guess I would probably be running some other distribution like U...or D...or P..... I'll save that for another time. You might just be wondering what other Linux distributions there are. Well, there's a whole lot of them, but right now, I'm off to spring tidy and repair.
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The Perfect Vacation

Usually, when I think of something, someone else has already thought of it and done it. Nevertheless, my perfect vacation is a road trip on a full-dress, Harley Davidson touring bike. Since I don't currently own one, my dream is open ended. First thing I need to do is visit my local Harley shop in Burlington or Smokey Point Washington. Nice to have 2 choices and both are convenient because I go both directions regularly. And both have shopping malls close so that I can easily have my wife drop me off to browse while she continues to do her own style of shopping.

So, if we are shopping north I-5, she would drop me off at Skagit Harley-Davidson while she continues on to Cascade Mall and Costco. She could even shop Home Depot, Target, Wal-mart and even meet friends for lunch at Olive Garden (which happens to be one of her favorite places). All I'll need for my trip is time and access to a coffee source.

If we go south, she would drop me off at Sound Harley-Davidson in Marysville, WA. Again, all I need is coffee. She will have access to the Seattle Outlet Malls, Costco, Home Depot, Wal-mart, Target, Best Buy, and several other places that can keep her busy while I spend some big bucks.

I have a dream to fullfill, so I really want to spend the dream cash. I have always loved riding and am looking forward to purchasing a bike that will last the miles and the years. I like the Harley touring bikes and I want to go as big and full as possible. I want stereo, intercom, comfort, bags, hitch, and power (lots of power).

So, my dream is to make my purchase, have my bike shipped to south Florida and then ride the Atlantic coastal highways visiting all the old southern hot spots all the way up to D.C. Then, I would cruise the northern highway back to the Pacific Northwest.

Another dream would actually have me making my purchase then traveling south via the Pacific coast highway and then cutting across through the southwestern roads and southern states to the Atlantic coast. I would then cut north to hit D.C. Afterwards, I would run diagonally through the Midwestern states, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and back to Washington.

The bike I choose will be keep me in total comfort for the whole of the trip.

Tune in for the next update towards my dream vacation. I can't wait to visit my local Harley shop to dream a little.

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How to Switch OS Part 3

You have probably guessed by now that I am one who really enjoys running Fedora on my computer. Fedora is the only OS I have on my computer, however I do run VirtualBox from Oracle. And inside VB, I have a legal, registered copy of Microsoft's Windows XP. Actually, everyone in my family runs Microsoft Window 7. I'm am the odd-ball. But I digress.

To switch or not to switch. That is the question. That is the only question? How about asking some more, like:

1) Do I hate pop-up adds?
2) Do I want to control my web cookies?
3) Do I want to have multiple software choices that I control the cost of?
4) Do I want to grow up and stop using my computer as a gaming console?
5) Do I want to have a very powerful, multimedia, production platform capable of being extremely multifaceted, meeting my every need (except the need for gaming)?

These are 5 questions that can be asked. Fedora answers them with bleeding edge technology back by the Red Hat Linux corporation.

So, let's get started. By now, you have backed up your documents to an external hard drive or a series of DVDs. Download the Fedora ISO either in 64 bit or 32 version, burn the ISO to a CD, then insert the disk into the drive on your computer and then reboot. Most modern computers will boot to the CD drive. Once the Live CD is loaded, it will give you an option to install to the hard drive. Click the icon and then follow the easy instructions. If you have troubles after that, you can post a comment here, you can post a question on the Fedora Forum, or you can also post a question on the Linux Home Computer Consulting page on Facebook.

Fedora has a lot of quality people who are experts in Linux and always willing to help new users cross over from either Mac or Microsoft products. Have fun with it. Remember, always keep a back-up of your precious files.
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1st Day Off

Today was my first day off from work in a long time. I had great plans. I planned to do the last little fixes to my truck, go to the dump, load the lawnmowers and then go mow all day long with my son, and then get home in just in time for dinner. Great plans need to leave room for the uncontrollable.

First, I could not find my parts for my truck, so I rearranged my plans to drive the family car to the part store and buy them all over again. Well, I get up this morning only to find that the keys to the car were missing. "No problem", I said to myself. "I'll just improvise from my trusty bucket-of-bolts". Well, I couldn't find that either. Bummer. So I dug around in a couple of tool boxes and found a few odds and ends and made the repair. This is after quite a bit of kicking and stomping, coffee drinking and quite a lot of hollering. Oh, I did take an hour or so off from all that to watch Tron. That is another story which I'll tell right now.

So, I try to de-stress from my tragic parts hunt and sit down to watch Tron (the latest from Walt Disney) on DVD. I get half way through the movie and the thing locks up. No problem. I just washed it off, dried it, and tried again. Fedora has at least four DVD programs and all were locking up. I discovered a long scratch which just so happened to be in the area that I was trying to view. I finally got the movie advanced past the scratch and was able to watch the rest. But, the movie was a little disappointing as there was no closure, in other words, it had a bad ending that left me hanging.

Oh well, I ate lunch. "Hey, where's the butter" I yelled. No problem. Nothing like making grilled ham and cheese with bacon grease. Tasted fine. Some Sun Chips and yogurt and was well on my way. I repaired my truck, went to the dump, got the rider to start for the fist time this spring, and am now ready to face the mowing season with confidence.

Keep tuning in for the next "How to Switch OS". Fedora 15 is just around the corner and you'll want to be ready. Until next time...
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Debian vs. Fedora

OK people. This is why I like Fedora. Command line for an upgrade to the latest and greatest is:


yum install preupgrade

yum preupgrade

reboot

done


Debian is pretty involved. I am currently upgrading my Debian box to Squeeze. It is fun for geeks (which I am sort of one, in a hillbilly sort of way). First you have to change all your repositories from Lenny to squeeze. Then you do your upgrade from there. A little more involved and I hope I did it right, otherwise, I will be starting from scratch on that machine I'm switching over to squeeze.
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How to Switch OS Part 2

Are you tired to of the same OS and you want a change? Are you tired of your OS because upgrades cost a fortune and in this economy it's simply not going to happen? I have an idea for you. Oh, by the way, I'm not going to mention the OS that you might have because I don't want to take the time properly document the others. But Linux will not cost you anything to get started, unless you want to send some money to the developers of your favorite distribution (like Fedora for example).

Some things you need to know about Linux. Contrary to popular opinion (which cannot always be trusted), the Linux desktop handles similarly to the popular OS's. It is fully customizable. And, when I say fully, I mean fully. That means, if you want to write your own script to customize your desktop, you certainly can. And, if you get stumped, you always have a huge network of people (especially connected with Fedora) that you ask ask advise from.

Linux has several contact managers to choose from. I use Kontact from KDE. But there are several others to choose from. Speaking of several, if there is a piece of software that you need, the Open Source community has probably written several to choose from. So, you have many choices for Photo Management, Productivity, Contact Management, Instant Messaging, Blogging Clients, Web Browsers, Flash, Video Card Drivers, Print Drivers, Bible Software, Games, Multimedia Software, Digital Animation, Mind Mapping, Video Editing, Music Authoring, Slide Show Presentation, and more.

So, you don't need to feel like you will be missing something by switching. You have many, many, many choices when you start by choosing Linux. I recomend Fedora because it is the bleeding edge Linux OS. On my computer, the software I run is tailored to meet my needs. You may have different needs. If you have a need and an idea for the software to meet that need, chances are someone has already thought of it and wrote it and made it available for you to install on your own system.

For example, I wanted software that I could use to author music. Tux Guitar is the answer for that need. There is also a guitar tuner that I have on my desktop. The tuner works great especially because I have some awesome speakers that really help project the proper pitch.

Oh, since we are on the subject of sound. I us Amarok for playing music. It also will play you favorite on-line radio station.  Since we are on the subject of multimedia, I use Firefox for my primary browser. But, you can also use Konqueror, Google Chrome and several others. It just depends on what you like. In those browsers, I run Flash and several other plug-ins that allow me to watch multiple types of on-line video.

Right now I am blogging using the client called Blogilo. It has many features that allow me to upload lots of content. I'm a little lazy so I haven't utilized the multiple features it provides.

I have a desktop sticky-note, a nice clock and have many other choices for widgets to use.

I use Bible Time Bible software. It is similar to others but only uses Public Domain books. This program is always being developed so I always stay tuned to recent updates.

Oh, speaking of updates, software updates can be available daily. I usually update once a week. I update because there are always new features the developers are adding.

Oh, no viruses. I do not run anti-virus software because no one wants to take the time to write it for Linux. However, you will need a hardware-firewall to keep your home systems secure. While you may not get viruses, it is still possible to hack your home.

Well, time to go, but tune next time for part 3.  
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How to Switch OS Part 2

Are you tired to of the same OS and you want a change? Are you tired of your OS because upgrades cost a fortune and in this economy it's simply not going to happen? I have an idea for you. Oh, by the way, I'm not going to mention the OS that you might have because I don't want to take the time properly document the others. But Linux will not cost you anything to get started, unless you want to send some money to the developers of your favorite distribution (like Fedora for example).
Some things you need to know about Linux. Contrary to popular opinion (which cannot always be trusted), the Linux desktop handles similarly to the popular OS's. It is fully customizable. And, when I say fully, I mean fully. That means, if you want to write your own script to customize your desktop, you certainly can. And, if you get stumped, you always have a huge network of people (especially connected with Fedora) that you ask ask advise from.
Linux has several contact managers to choose from. I use Kontact from KDE. But there are several others to choose from. Speaking of several, if there is a piece of software that you need, the Open Source community has probably written several to choose from. So, you have many choices for Photo Management, Productivity, Contact Management, Instant Messaging, Blogging Clients, Web Browsers, Flash, Video Card Drivers, Print Drivers, Bible Software, Games, Multimedia Software, Digital Animation, Mind Mapping, Video Editing, Music Authoring, Slide Show Presentation, and more.
So, you don't need to feel like you will be missing something by switching. You have many, many, many choices when you start by choosing Linux. I recommend Fedora because it is the bleeding edge Linux OS. On my computer, the software I run is tailored to meet my needs. You may have different needs. If you have a need and an idea for the software to meet that need, chances are someone has already thought of it and wrote it and made it available for you to install on your own system.
For example, I wanted software that I could use to author music. Tux Guitar is the answer for that need. There is also a guitar tuner that I have on my desktop. The tuner works great especially because I have some awesome speakers that really help project the proper pitch.
Oh, since we are on the subject of sound. I us Amarok for playing music. It also will play you favorite on-line radio station.
Since we are on the subject of multimedia, I use Firefox for my primary browser. But, you can also use Konqueror, Google Chrome and several others. It just depends on what you like. In those browsers, I run Flash and several other plug-ins that allow me to watch multiple types of on-line video.
Right now I am blogging using the client called Blogilo. It has many features that allow me to upload lots of content. I'm a little lazy so I haven't utilized the multiple features it provides.
I have a desktop sticky-note, a nice clock and have many other choices for widgets to use.
I use Bible Time Bible software. It is similar to others but only uses Public Domain books. This program is always being developed so I always stay tuned to recent updates.
Oh, speaking of updates, software updates can be available daily. I usually update once a week. I update because there are always new features the developers are adding.
Oh, no viruses. I do not run anti-virus software because no one wants to take the time to write it for Linux. However, you will need a hardware-firewall to keep your home systems secure. While you may not get viruses, it is still possible to hack your home.
Oh gee, I'm running out of time for this session. Tune in for part 3.
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How to Switch Operating Systems

Well folks. Fedora 15 is just around the corner. As you may know, I have had Fedora on my system for over a year. It is my primary OS. I made the switch from the leading OS only because I no longer had a need for it nor did I want to spend nearly 200 buckaroos for the new OS.

It is very easy to switch to Linux. Simply back up all your personal documents and files. Don't worry about your MS games or programs. All those will be replaced with the Linux equivalents. Depending on the size of your files, you will need an external hard drive to temporarily store your files.

Next, obtain the OS of choice (Fedora 15 will be out in April or May, hint, hint). You can download an ISO file from Debian, Fedora, Mint, Ubuntu, etc. This ISO is transferred to a CD or a DVD. Then, with your computer turned on, simply insert the disc, reboot your system, and your computer will boot to the CD. You will then be given a choice (yes choices start immediately in Linux) to install on your hard drive. Follow the instructions and before you know it you will be saying hello to a brand new world of computing.

Time to go for now. Next time, I'll give a more detailed view of Linux (from a Fedora perspective of course) and all the software I have on my system. I'll even show a few screen shots of  what I have in my "dock". Bye for now.
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