Free-Libre Open Source Software
Firefox bloggers rejoice: Performancing for Firefox
I'm writing this using a new Firefox extension: Performancing for Firefox..
Performanicing is a WYSIWYG blog editing tool. And from the look of it, is really quite nice compared to some of the other blogging tools available for Firefox and/or Windows.
I've also been looking at the Xinha Here extension which turns a text area in a web form into a rich text editor, so we'll see how these two roughly equivalent (ok, not really) extension stack up over the next few days.
Now if only I could figure out how to plug Performancing into a wiki, that would be very cool.
Punt: open source 3D world viewer
Punt is a Open Source multi-language Windows desktop application that allows the user to view the terrain of any world in 3D. Using open standards Punt can make use of data from the Internet combined with local data in common GIS-compatible formats.
inkscape: open source graphics program
I N K S C A P E was in the news today because they've just released a new version of the software on their way to a 1.0 release. From the website, the software looks quite good, and it's nice to see that they are releasing for Linux, Windows, and Mac.
This is high on list of software to evaluate because the recent acquisition of Macromedia by Adobe has left the availability of non-profit discounted copes of freehand in question.
Have you used it? What do you think?
Update on Gizmo Project: Free Call-in from “regular” landlines
This is isn't exactly the easiest or most "seamless" call-in (which is why the Gizmo Project folks also sell a traditional call-in add-on), but if you dial one of these access numbers and then hit 1 for the sipphone network, you can call my gizmo client by dialing my sip number. I just tested it with the Atlanta number and it work just fine - and the incoming caller-ID works too!
I may have spoken too soon about my VOIP client of choice
On Friday, I grabbed a copy of the Gizmo Project VOIP program. It's somewhat similar to Skype in functionality, but rather different in underlying mechanics.
What grabbed my attention about the Gizmo Project was that it uses an open VOIP protocal that's also supported by the FLOSS Asterisk PBX. In addition to being an open protocal, the codecs used by the Gizmo Project claim to be able to provide good quality voice transmission over dial-up links. Finally, although the conference service is still not supported, I was intrigued by the software's free conference service.
So, I've set it up, and invite you all to do the same so we can evaluate it. I'm on as arifmamdani, same name as on Skype, so feel free to give me a call!
so much for Linux
It's been about a month since I began my experiment to reacquaint myself with Linux. The experiment was partially motivated by the fact that I was out of shape and didn't want to be carrying more weight on my bike than I needed to. The laptop, being the heaviest item in the bag was the first thing I looked at getting rid of. Hence my return to Linux.
So, it's been a month, and my commute of around 11 miles per-day (round-trip) has greatly improved my ability to pedal with ease. What that means is that I no longer have to avoid carrying the laptop unless I want to.
So where am I going with this? Well, things are moving at work at a pace that's faster than normal. This happens in summer, but it also happens when we're nearing the start of a training program. Right now, it's both. So a few days ago, I was packing up my panniers to head to the office and was thinking about what I needed to do that day. It took less than 10 seconds for me to realize that there was a great deal that I needed to accomplish and that more importantly, I just didn't have the energy to fight with the linux laptop anymore.
I packed the iBook, headed to the office, and haven't booted the linux laptop since.
Now, don't get me wrong, I continue to think that Linux is a great choice for most people who have to do email/word-processing/etc. The reason it didn't work for me is that a lot of my work right now involves email and scheduling meeting, and here at PTP, we run a Microsoft Exchange server for our email and calendaring needs. The Ximian Connector that is supposed to make Evolution work with Exchange just didn't work effectively. I got tired of needing to kill and restart processes, load my mail before loading the calendar, and just generally never knowing if the program was going to suddenly crash right in the middle of my workflow.
For right now, that means that I'm back on my mac, but if we ever get rid of Exchange, or if I see that there's a new version of the Ximian Connector out, I'll be sure to try returning to Linux again.
more linux observations:
even the graphical blogging client requires that you type in html code for things like paragraph breaks and all that.
why?
Evolution, Exchange, and Suse 9.3
Somewhere in a previous post I think I talked about my return to Linux and some of the challenges I was running into.
One of the greatest has been with Ximian - now Novell's Evolution mail client and the Ximian Connector software that enables Evolution to talk to an MS Exchange server.
Thinking that using the Linux distribution from the company that now owns Evolution would result in a better Connector experience, I installed Suse 9.3 Professional.
And........
Nothing. Although there was much to like about Suse's setup, Evolution and specifically the Connector portion of things were complete crap. Ximian Connector/Evolution performed worse than the same software running Fedora Core 3 or the latest Ubuntu.
So, at least for the time being, I continue to return to the first distro I installed - Ubuntu. It's not perfect, but things work well enough for me to continue using it.
The Death of Linux?
The following was sparked by an email message from Dirk Slater, formerly of the LINC Project, now with the Tactical Technology Collective.
Here's Dirk message (moved here with Dirk's permission):
So I take it you've all seen the news about Apple's new partnership with Intel. There's a lot of speculation about what all this means but the piece that I found most interesting was the one by John Dvorak predicting that this will all lead to linux's demise.
You can find the story at:
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BD0E8469A-28FC-415D-928...
[note: marketwatch uses a free registration system - you can find a username/password at bugmenot.com]
So hears why I'm emailing the five of you, we all have one thing in common. We've chosen Mac's over linux as the operating system we do the most work on. So does this mean that we're precursors to the kind of situation that Dvorak is talking about - that it won't be as detrimental to Windows Market share as it will to Linux.I think you all know each other - except, Steph and Marek, you don't know Ric, who is my step-father. Stephanie may never have met Arif, who was part of the first meeting LINC had with Marek way back when and is now working at Progressive Technology Project.
So I know Amanda, Arif, Ric and I had used Linux as a desktop before switching to mac (well Ric was close to using it). I'm pretty sure Stephanie and Marek are similar. I know Linux has come along way as a desktop environment since I switch to OS X nearly three years ago, but does this mean that its only real use will be as a server environment?
And Steph and Marek - what will this mean for the folks we are working with in developing countries who are using linux on the desktop specifically because of licensing issues and the ability to localize (two things that Dvorak doesn't take into account). Is there enough of a foothold that it will keep Linux on the desktop alive?
I know we're all very invested in seeing Linux succeed. And I have a feeling Microsoft is not too upset about all this, in fact I just saw a statement from their mac microsoft office folks saying they will be continuing to develop microsoft office for mac. What if they actually port Access to OS X? Would that kill linux completely? At least in the states?
I know Arif and Amanda have both heard me say that if a grassroots groups were starting fresh, they'd do best to spend a little extra to get Mac's and it would pay off in the long run. I guess there will be an opportunity soon to have people switch without having to completely invest in new equipment. Should they switch? Amanda and Arif - is this just part of my rich fantasy life? Amanda, given that you really weren't given a choice when you started at LINC, would you have switched, given the choice? Is LINC sticking with OS X?
Anyways read the article and if you feel up to it - let me (and the other trendsetting linux killers on this email) know what you think.
Dirk
Getting back to linux
Back when I was at the LINC project, I worked on a Linux laptop full time. Then Mac OS X happened, and I fled the linux world for the user-friendly *nix on the Mac platform. Now, I'm starting to look at linux as a day to day desktop OS again.
First, the why: basically, because it's the beginning of the bicycle season and I'm out of shape. Since I'm out of shape, I'm trying to carry as little as possible. Now, my 12" iBook isn't exactly large, or heavy, but in trying to carry as little as possible, it was obvious that it was one of the things that should be left at home along with the extraneous notebooks, manila folders, and just about everything else that I didn't absolutely need to work. Also, we're in the planning stages of a new program, and at least one of the groups we're hoping to work with is an all Linux shop. I figured the least I could do was return to Linux land and see how things had changed in the last year or two.
__The requirements__: We've recently been using a technology life-cycle model in our training programs to illustrate the process an organization will ideally follow as it adopts a new technology. Since I'm also trying to eat our own dog food, I did an informal version of this process as I started my trek back to Linux.
My requirements were pretty simple
* I need to be able to connect to our Windows SBS 2003 server for file sharing
* I need to access email through our Exchange Server
* I need to be able to print
* I need to be able to browse the Internet
* I need to be able to open/edit/save MS Word format files
With these requirements in hand, I set out to find the right Linux distribution.
I didn't spend too long on this step since I've kept up to date with developments in the Linux world and had pretty much narrowed my choices down to Debian or Ubuntu (a Debian based system).
I've used Debian in the past for servers, and while I like it a lot, I wasn't interested in all the configuration work I'd have to do to get a basic desktop system up and running properly. I'd been hearing a lot of good things about Ubuntu, so I downloaded the CD image, burned a copy, and started the installation.
__Ubuntu__:
The installation isn't what I'd call pretty, but it works, and it's not hard to figure out. I went with the defaults for everything, and within about 30 minutes, was looking at the login screen.
After about another 30 minutes, I'd configured Evolution, the mail client, to access our Exchange server, and had set up our printers and a connect to the file server.
Up to that point, I was very happy. It's about a week later, and I've spent a fair bit of that time using the Ubuntu system.
Overall, I'm still happy with it. For the most part, things just work, and in some cases, work better than the Mac.
__Things that work well:__
* Printing - printing pretty much just worked. I did have to know about how to connect to our different printers since one has a built in network card and the other is attached to a Netgear print server, but actually connecting and printing works like a charm - better overall than the same setup on my Mac.
* File access - again, this was easy, with one small caveat listed below. I just used the "Connect to server" option in the Places menu, entered in the relevant details for the server and was browsing our shared files. Open Office, the FLOSS office suite does a great job with most of our Word files and Powerpoint presentations - most of them.
* Access to Exchange - using Evolution's Exchange connector, I can do everything with Exchange that I can with Outlook - at least everything that I've tried so far. This is much better than the Mac since both Apple's Mail program and MS's Entourage don't completely work. There is one small caveat here as well.
* Browsing the Internet - as on my Mac, I'm using Firefox and everything works just fine. If I keep up with this setup, I'll need to figure out how to share bookmarks between computers. Del.icio.us is a possibility, but I'll have to see what I need and what works.
__Things that don't work so well:__
* File access - I think this is a bug in the Gnome desktop system that I'm running. I can "mount" network servers on my desktop, but they don't appear in file operation dialogs. What this means is that although I can network files, I have to save to the desktop and then copy over to the network share - I can't navigate to the share through the save dialog. I found a reference to the bug, and it appears to be fixed in newer versions of the software, so I'll have to see if there's an update available. Also under file access, Open Office has trouble with some of our more formatted documents. This is generally not a big deal, but it's still an issue.
* Access to Exchange - again, this could be a configuration/version issue, but Evolution can be somewhat unstable accessing Exchange - at least if I'm impatient with it. If I jump around in Exchange folders too quickly, I can make Evolution crash. Restarting Evolution generally puts things right, but it's still a problem.
* The interface - the criticism of Linux has always been that the interface is ugly, and that look and feel across programs isn't consistent. This is still the case. It's certainly better than it was a few years ago, but there's still much more work to be done. Ubuntu has done a lot to make it a more comfortable environment, and they've succeeded, but compared to the Mac or even Windows, it still doesn't compare favorably. To die hard techies, the interface may not seem like a big deal, but I think that interfaces matter a lot- we spend a lot of time using computers, and I think it's silly to think that skimping on interface is OK.
Overall though, I'm happy. The system does most of what I need it to do, and it means that I don't have to cart around my laptop.
