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*NB: All entries contained herein are cut-paste recreations of what you can already read on my blog at http://golbnikufesin.blogspot.com
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Firstly, ever keen to create absolutely nothing new to show off, I have stooped to relentlessly plugging things that I produced ages ago. So, here's the reviews that I've written that are online, just to get up to speed:
Faith No More - Angel Dust
HIM - Venus Doom
Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir
Megadeth - The System Has Failed
Warrel Dane - Praises To The War Machine
Now, with that out of the way I would like to take a moment to give a random spiel at the latest piece of technology with computing that has taken my attention: Ubuntu Linux.
I first got this OS given to me by a friend back in 2005 (version 5.04), when it was in a far less mature form; it was a fun diversion at the time and a nice proof-of-concept that one could make a version of Linux suited to something other than the hobbyist geek or server management. Lately, I took the time to give the latest version, 8.04 for a spin, and after having used it for about a month, I can say they're getting closer than ever to their goal: to produce an OS that can be used by the average computer user with little to no experience of computing, that is free as in speech, and containing a complete set of features.
Actually, the thing that grabbed me most over any of the actual useful things about Ubuntu was Compiz Fusion. For those not in the whole Linux nerd circle, Compiz Fusion is a compositing engine that controls the behavior and looks of the GUI, much like Vista's DWM and Mac's Quartz engine. It renders the contents of the window and arranges them on the desktop for you, and from there it can transform them in any way you like. From an immediate perspective, it leaves Vista's compositing for dead and can be set up to easily match the Mac's in terms of functions, if that's your thing.
I barely know how to use the terminal in Linux, but that seems ok now: Installing programs is piss-easy (through Synaptic, which I should mention is a far less painful experience than fishing all over the internet for a similar Windows app, that doesn't make you pay to use it for more than 2 seconds with 99% of features greyed out). Compiling applications from code is entirely optional. And everything is far more customizable out of the box than Windows or Mac, and by a very long shot too. The bundled applications are great and whatever you still need, you can probably get through a few clicks of the mouse - and all software for it is free and open source.
Now that I've practically let myself start frothing at the mouth for all my rambling, I should probably wrap this up. But I do wonder sometimes if there's much time left until the mainstream market starts adopting Linux now. Dell and Asus have been major proponents so far, bundling Ubuntu on a selection of laptops and it's pretty safe to bet that most people just stick to Windows because they don't know that anything else exists. Ubuntu is actually helping to push Linux as a serious competitor to Mac and Microsoft to the average person, which is extremely good news in my opinion, especially given that Linux does and always will cost nothing at all. In that respect, if it continues to catch on, Microsoft and Apple will both have to up their game significantly to convince people that they should have to fork out for their products, and I hope they succeed in that.
The only major criticisms I have is driver support for Ubuntu is still rocky, despite its enormous improvement over the last year or so, and there's a distinct lack of support from Adobe in particular, so Flash developers or indeed, anyone that's used to Adobe's product suite are effectively left high and dry. These aren't criticisms I can level at Ubuntu itself, of course; the problem lies in the industries that haven't yet found a way to make their profits through the Linux community, which until lately has sort of been the black sheep amongst all the trendy Mac kids and all the indifferent (or just plain ignorant) Windows users. But the industry is already showing signs of catering more to Linux now, and indeed the whole free/open standards thing in general. Good things are on the horizon and I'm happy to say I'm now using good software for everything I need, legally, and I didn't pay for any of it.
So there's my 2 cents. Get Ubuntu, you won't regret it. I hope.
--
Firstly, ever keen to create absolutely nothing new to show off, I have stooped to relentlessly plugging things that I produced ages ago. So, here's the reviews that I've written that are online, just to get up to speed:
Faith No More - Angel Dust
HIM - Venus Doom
Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir
Megadeth - The System Has Failed
Warrel Dane - Praises To The War Machine
Now, with that out of the way I would like to take a moment to give a random spiel at the latest piece of technology with computing that has taken my attention: Ubuntu Linux.
I first got this OS given to me by a friend back in 2005 (version 5.04), when it was in a far less mature form; it was a fun diversion at the time and a nice proof-of-concept that one could make a version of Linux suited to something other than the hobbyist geek or server management. Lately, I took the time to give the latest version, 8.04 for a spin, and after having used it for about a month, I can say they're getting closer than ever to their goal: to produce an OS that can be used by the average computer user with little to no experience of computing, that is free as in speech, and containing a complete set of features.
Actually, the thing that grabbed me most over any of the actual useful things about Ubuntu was Compiz Fusion. For those not in the whole Linux nerd circle, Compiz Fusion is a compositing engine that controls the behavior and looks of the GUI, much like Vista's DWM and Mac's Quartz engine. It renders the contents of the window and arranges them on the desktop for you, and from there it can transform them in any way you like. From an immediate perspective, it leaves Vista's compositing for dead and can be set up to easily match the Mac's in terms of functions, if that's your thing.
I barely know how to use the terminal in Linux, but that seems ok now: Installing programs is piss-easy (through Synaptic, which I should mention is a far less painful experience than fishing all over the internet for a similar Windows app, that doesn't make you pay to use it for more than 2 seconds with 99% of features greyed out). Compiling applications from code is entirely optional. And everything is far more customizable out of the box than Windows or Mac, and by a very long shot too. The bundled applications are great and whatever you still need, you can probably get through a few clicks of the mouse - and all software for it is free and open source.
Now that I've practically let myself start frothing at the mouth for all my rambling, I should probably wrap this up. But I do wonder sometimes if there's much time left until the mainstream market starts adopting Linux now. Dell and Asus have been major proponents so far, bundling Ubuntu on a selection of laptops and it's pretty safe to bet that most people just stick to Windows because they don't know that anything else exists. Ubuntu is actually helping to push Linux as a serious competitor to Mac and Microsoft to the average person, which is extremely good news in my opinion, especially given that Linux does and always will cost nothing at all. In that respect, if it continues to catch on, Microsoft and Apple will both have to up their game significantly to convince people that they should have to fork out for their products, and I hope they succeed in that.
The only major criticisms I have is driver support for Ubuntu is still rocky, despite its enormous improvement over the last year or so, and there's a distinct lack of support from Adobe in particular, so Flash developers or indeed, anyone that's used to Adobe's product suite are effectively left high and dry. These aren't criticisms I can level at Ubuntu itself, of course; the problem lies in the industries that haven't yet found a way to make their profits through the Linux community, which until lately has sort of been the black sheep amongst all the trendy Mac kids and all the indifferent (or just plain ignorant) Windows users. But the industry is already showing signs of catering more to Linux now, and indeed the whole free/open standards thing in general. Good things are on the horizon and I'm happy to say I'm now using good software for everything I need, legally, and I didn't pay for any of it.
So there's my 2 cents. Get Ubuntu, you won't regret it. I hope.
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