Josh-Kerr.com

We’ll, I’ve had Ubuntu 6.06 Drapper Drake running on my box for the last couple of days and all I can say is WOW! Now this is what Linux should be. It looks clean, it installs/upgrades clean, packages are easy to install/remove, and it just works. The documentation for Ubuntu is second only to Gentoo’s Wiki and there are a ton of people ready to help if you get stuck. It gets better too. I now have XGL up and running on my box, talk about eye candy. I know that Macs have had a lot of these features for a while now but this is just cool! In all honesty I think I might have just found the long lost Linux distrobution. You know, the one that works for me not works me.

Ubuntu has released Drapper, the next version of their Debian Linux based operating system.  I can’t say much about the newest version of Ubuntu as I’m in the process of upgrading however I can say that if Drapper is even half as innovated, supportive, and easy to use I’m going to love it.

It seems that Microsoft has recommended that Windows users run Word in safe mode. FTA

In order for this attack to be carried out, a user must first open a malicious Word document attached to an e-mail or otherwise provided to them by an attacker.

[Rant]This brings up the aged old question, why is a word document a means of attack/virus? A friend of mine is always saying “Word documents should not spread viruses, they should hold text!” I couldn’t agree more. Sure documents can hold pictures, tables, and text but why in God’s holy name would they be allowed to hold viruses. If you have never used OpenOffice give it a try, I’m sure you’ll like it. It does everything that “word documents” should and its free!

I’ve seen some really cool case mods in the past but this one is just awsome!  It amazes me how much free time some people have.  WMD Case Mod.

Microsoft has recently updated their main page for Windows Vista.  Before I go into too much detail let me all remind you that I’ve played around with their Beta copies of Vista on a 999MHz Processor with 768MB PC133 RAM, 20GB hard drive and a 64MB Radeon 9600.  With that said I should qualify for the basic version of Windows Vista.  We’ll let me just say that I hope for their sakes that they have made some drastic improvements.  With those specs I was crawling!!!  The beta versions I was messing with didn’t have the full Areo theme going but did have some transparent windows by default.  That same box (same specs and all) is now my Gentoo workstation.  It r0×0rs my b0×0rs.  I do have another box that more than meets the requirements for premium.  So I guess I’m ready though you’ll have to pardon me if I don’t seem too sure….

I just got of the phone with one of those users who can realy make you want to shoot yourself. While talking with friend I told him that it was a total case of PEBKAC, Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair. He in turned replyed with PICNIC, Problem In Chair, Not In Computer. This brings up an interesting question. Which one is it? The urge to scream something is growing. Do I yell “PEBKAC!!!!” or do I yell “PICNIC!!!!”? Tell me for the fate of the world hangs in the balance of this one decision.

I was reading The Register as I do every day and I stumbled across this article.  “ShellyTheRepublican” gives here obviously pro Microsoft Republican extremist and uninformed opinion of Linux and any other non Microsoft OS.  Personally, I found it hilarious.  The blog has been flamed enough if you read it and want to comment, there are over 500 comments, but still, I thought you might enjoy.

We all need something to make us laugh every once and a while.  It just so happens that Apple has made something funny for everyone to enjoy.  So please, enjoy.

I’m what you consider a middle man when it comes to the Linux v. Microsoft camp wars out there. I love the power and flexibility of Linux and I also love the simplicity of Windows. I love the fact that I can do just about anything with just about any Linux distribution. At the same time I love how I can install Windows and everything works. You purest on either side of the fence are probably cringing right now at the thought of someone liking another OS over yours. Let’s just say that I want my computer to work for me, not me work for my computer.

For a while I was dual booting Gentoo Linux and Windows on my laptop. After some time my hard drive crashed and I’ve been playing with it, trying out any distribution that I downloaded. Of them all I liked Gentoo the most because of its flexibility. However the flexibility comes at a cost. It’s way to easy to completely screw up your system if you’re not careful. Thankfully I never b0rked my laptop but I have done it on my server :( While at work one of the guys handed me an Ubuntu Live CD and told me that he’s heard good things about it. I honestly have never heard of Ubuntu?! Go figure, here it is on version 5.10 (as of this writing) and I’ve never heard of it. After doing some research I was blown away by its fan base and out-of-the-box support. So what’s a geek to do? I loaded up the Live CD and everything (but wireless) worked!

Since using the Live CD I went and installed it on a virtual machine on my Windows partition. The more and more I used it the more and more I loved it. It eventually got the point where I replaced my Gentoo partition (sorry Gentoo fans) and installed Ubuntu in place of it. I still love Gentoo, don’t get me wrong. But Ubuntu has great package support that I don’t have to compile!!!! Sure Gentoo has some binary packages but Ubuntu has everything and then some. Gentoo is still a great distribution, especially if you want to be “bleeding edge”, but I’m moving over to Ubuntu for now. I think the letter that my laptop wrote will explain it all.

Dear Gentoo,

You and I have had a wild ride together. I’ve had you and Windows on me for a while. When it comes to “bleeding edge” no one can top you. Your wiki is superb, your forum bountiful, and your over all documentation is something to be admired. You’re everything a laptop could want. However I have to tell you that I’ve found someone else. We’ve been spending some time together and I think we’re better for each other. You have a lot of great qualities but I need something more for myself. Ubuntu offers me everything that you offer but in a more friendly way. I don’t have to compile large packages. I’ve been complaining about how tired I was running you and emerging Open Office, Fire Fox, and X for a while now! Don’t take it personally but I have to do what’s best for me. You’re still a great distribution but I think we need to break up. It’s just been so hard since my hard drive was replaced. The more and more I was with Ubuntu the more I liked it. Please don’t be angry.

Yours truly,
Laptop

I have wireless working on my laptop. w00t!  Getting wireless to work on a Linux distro can be a cumbersome process however it wasn’t too bad.  Ubuntu surprisingly found and installed the drivers out-of-the-box.  A quick check on the forums, a few commands here, and I’m wireless!