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Mar. 21st, 2008 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI'm not really going to talk about my laptop again.
For those among the studio audience who have been following the laptop trials with interest or at least following the laptop trials, here are some things to look at before leaping aboard the feel-good linux soultrain thing.
Is Ubuntu for You?
This is a 2005 assessment of the state of the union. It's a pretty realistic look at Ubuntu, more balanced than you will get from rah-rah zealots. I think it's pretty gee-whiz, yes, but I am a person who decides things like "Hey, I don't have anything else planned for this weekend. Why don't I install another operating system on my computer? That sounds like fun..." It's from 9-2005, though, which means it's at least two years out of date. Things have gotten a bit better since then, no doubt.
Regular readers are well aware of the dubious nature of things I think are entertaining (bacon from scratch? sheep project? making buckskin? riding a horse thirty miles for fun and profit?) and should probably grain-of-salt anything that I get all gee-whiz starry eyed about. I mean, none of you ran right out to manhandle a large slab of raw pig after you read my adventures in tastylicious, right? This is like that.
Here's another essay worth reading. I particularly liked the part about If you have typed "ls -l" anytime in the last month, you are not normal. (If you didn't get the joke there or have no idea what ls -l is, you're probably more normal. DOS people might know it better as "cat". (EDIT: No. It's "dir" for MS-DOS and "cat" was what worked on our Apple II. Apparently my memory is failing in my old age.) If that still doesn't help, congratulations. You're normal.) Do note, however, that this was written in 1999. In linux-years, that's a lifetime ago and some of what it says simply doesn't apply anymore.
I installed Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
Kernel Linux 2.6.22-14-generic
GNOME 2.20.1
It's *kind of* easy, depending on the sort of computer you install it on. I used a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop with Intel Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20 Ghz (if you think you want to do this, you have got to learn to not glaze over the hardware details). The box has 3 Gb of RAM. I installed on about a third of the hard drive, so roughly 100Gb. (The rest is Dell's MediaDirect and System Restore and XP. I like big hard drives.)
Issues specific to my install (your mileage will almost certainly vary):
1. I had to use the "alternate install" method because my laptop kept shitting kittens on the graphical install. This was documented and I'd totally have saved some time if I'd done some reading and searched the fora before trying several instances of the normal-people install and failing miserably each time.
2. After I got the operating system installed and coming up, there was no sound. The forums had addressed this topic as well and the provided fix worked like a charm... but I had to *find* the fix and *do* it. In this respect, this stuff is like the X-Files. The truth is out there, but you have to go find it yourself. People who are good at crafting meaningful search queries will do better with this part of *n*x self-help. The ability to read and follow directions is also a big plus.
3. In GNOME, at the outset, the video was fucked up and operating in "low graphics" mode. I had to enable the restricted drivers in order to enable the Nvidia stuff that makes my screen work like it should. This was a matter of checking a box, but it was not an easy box to find.
4. There is an issue that made Ubuntu chew on the hard drive (park the heads and unpark them aggressively). The ugly-workaround was ugly and technical-scary and involved things like chmod and the terminal window. It did, however, appear to fix the problem. I was kind of glad of my not-very-newbie status for that part.
5. Youtube did not work out of the box -- I had to download shit to get it to work. That was not, however, terribly difficult.
6. I wanted a better bittorrent client. Installing one was a matter of checking the box and hitting "apply", so "like windows easy" on that one.
7. Banshee (plays the .mp3 files) didn't export current music to logjam (lj editor thing) so I had to write a shell script to do that. I do not want to discuss how long it took me to learn enough to get the output correct.
8. I've got a wireless card that I don't know for sure works (don't use wireless at home, would have to drag laptop to the coffee shop to see if the wireless was set up OK). It was throwing Broadcom errors before but I've fixed that part. Still don't know if the wireless actually works or not, though, as I haven't tried to use it.
9. Banshee won't play my .mp3 files unless I mount the drive first. This is because my .mp3 files are stored on the XP partition, natch. If I'd like the drive to automount when I log in, I have to go do research on how to do that and then make it so. It will not auto-fix itself for me. This is a minor annoyance but I will probably fix it here in a week or so.
10. There is not an image-editing program that I really like. There's the GIMP which is nice, but for what I do, it's like swatting mosquitos with a sledgehammer. I really like irfanview. I installed Wine and got irfanview running under that. It's acceptable but not as slick as it was as a 'doze application. It's a little creaky. I may have to see if I can fix that so that it's better/smoother/faster. I don't like creaky. Wine is not very intuitive, either. I had to try twice to get it to fly.
11. DVDs did not play out of the box. I had to make the DVD work as follows:
(I got the instructions from the internets. Generally, I try to find instructions in more than one place and verified on a forum I believe in before I actually run them. A certain amount of caution is not a bad idea, here.)
DVDs now work fine, which is important so that Cartman can be King of the Sea People.
I think that's it for now, but if I come across anything else, I'll say so. Just -- it's not windows. It's some-assembly-required. There are, however, usually directions somewhere.
For those among the studio audience who have been following the laptop trials with interest or at least following the laptop trials, here are some things to look at before leaping aboard the feel-good linux soultrain thing.
Is Ubuntu for You?
This is a 2005 assessment of the state of the union. It's a pretty realistic look at Ubuntu, more balanced than you will get from rah-rah zealots. I think it's pretty gee-whiz, yes, but I am a person who decides things like "Hey, I don't have anything else planned for this weekend. Why don't I install another operating system on my computer? That sounds like fun..." It's from 9-2005, though, which means it's at least two years out of date. Things have gotten a bit better since then, no doubt.
Regular readers are well aware of the dubious nature of things I think are entertaining (bacon from scratch? sheep project? making buckskin? riding a horse thirty miles for fun and profit?) and should probably grain-of-salt anything that I get all gee-whiz starry eyed about. I mean, none of you ran right out to manhandle a large slab of raw pig after you read my adventures in tastylicious, right? This is like that.
Here's another essay worth reading. I particularly liked the part about If you have typed "ls -l" anytime in the last month, you are not normal. (If you didn't get the joke there or have no idea what ls -l is, you're probably more normal. DOS people might know it better as "cat". (EDIT: No. It's "dir" for MS-DOS and "cat" was what worked on our Apple II. Apparently my memory is failing in my old age.) If that still doesn't help, congratulations. You're normal.) Do note, however, that this was written in 1999. In linux-years, that's a lifetime ago and some of what it says simply doesn't apply anymore.
I installed Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon)
Kernel Linux 2.6.22-14-generic
GNOME 2.20.1
It's *kind of* easy, depending on the sort of computer you install it on. I used a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop with Intel Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7500 @ 2.20 Ghz (if you think you want to do this, you have got to learn to not glaze over the hardware details). The box has 3 Gb of RAM. I installed on about a third of the hard drive, so roughly 100Gb. (The rest is Dell's MediaDirect and System Restore and XP. I like big hard drives.)
Issues specific to my install (your mileage will almost certainly vary):
1. I had to use the "alternate install" method because my laptop kept shitting kittens on the graphical install. This was documented and I'd totally have saved some time if I'd done some reading and searched the fora before trying several instances of the normal-people install and failing miserably each time.
2. After I got the operating system installed and coming up, there was no sound. The forums had addressed this topic as well and the provided fix worked like a charm... but I had to *find* the fix and *do* it. In this respect, this stuff is like the X-Files. The truth is out there, but you have to go find it yourself. People who are good at crafting meaningful search queries will do better with this part of *n*x self-help. The ability to read and follow directions is also a big plus.
3. In GNOME, at the outset, the video was fucked up and operating in "low graphics" mode. I had to enable the restricted drivers in order to enable the Nvidia stuff that makes my screen work like it should. This was a matter of checking a box, but it was not an easy box to find.
4. There is an issue that made Ubuntu chew on the hard drive (park the heads and unpark them aggressively). The ugly-workaround was ugly and technical-scary and involved things like chmod and the terminal window. It did, however, appear to fix the problem. I was kind of glad of my not-very-newbie status for that part.
5. Youtube did not work out of the box -- I had to download shit to get it to work. That was not, however, terribly difficult.
6. I wanted a better bittorrent client. Installing one was a matter of checking the box and hitting "apply", so "like windows easy" on that one.
7. Banshee (plays the .mp3 files) didn't export current music to logjam (lj editor thing) so I had to write a shell script to do that. I do not want to discuss how long it took me to learn enough to get the output correct.
8. I've got a wireless card that I don't know for sure works (don't use wireless at home, would have to drag laptop to the coffee shop to see if the wireless was set up OK). It was throwing Broadcom errors before but I've fixed that part. Still don't know if the wireless actually works or not, though, as I haven't tried to use it.
9. Banshee won't play my .mp3 files unless I mount the drive first. This is because my .mp3 files are stored on the XP partition, natch. If I'd like the drive to automount when I log in, I have to go do research on how to do that and then make it so. It will not auto-fix itself for me. This is a minor annoyance but I will probably fix it here in a week or so.
10. There is not an image-editing program that I really like. There's the GIMP which is nice, but for what I do, it's like swatting mosquitos with a sledgehammer. I really like irfanview. I installed Wine and got irfanview running under that. It's acceptable but not as slick as it was as a 'doze application. It's a little creaky. I may have to see if I can fix that so that it's better/smoother/faster. I don't like creaky. Wine is not very intuitive, either. I had to try twice to get it to fly.
11. DVDs did not play out of the box. I had to make the DVD work as follows:
sudo apt-get install libdvdread3 libxine1-ffmpeg totem-xine build-essential debhelper fakeroot sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
(I got the instructions from the internets. Generally, I try to find instructions in more than one place and verified on a forum I believe in before I actually run them. A certain amount of caution is not a bad idea, here.)
DVDs now work fine, which is important so that Cartman can be King of the Sea People.
I think that's it for now, but if I come across anything else, I'll say so. Just -- it's not windows. It's some-assembly-required. There are, however, usually directions somewhere.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:26 pm (UTC)Actually, this is how I found you in the first place (your buckskin adventure) and makes me look forward to your updates. If you lived closer, I'd prolly be stalking you to see if you'd be my friend because I think we'd have some fun. I'ven't yet made my own buckskin, but I believe it will be happening this year during Firearm Deer Season. My neighbors are generally quite successful and prolly wouldn't mind handing over the skin. It would confirm their idea that I'm a bit different and that DH & I are made for each other. He's currently refurbishing a 34 foot sailboat. I just ordered chicks for my chicken project. I *will* know from whence my protein source comes!
no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-21 03:37 pm (UTC)I got Buff Orpingtons. They are said to be cold hardy and continue laying into the winter. They are fluffy big, gold chickens that are dual-use Big enough to be eaten and layers of lots of big brown eggs. I tried pastured chicken eggs this last summer due to too much reading and found they are truly superior. I'd been talking chicken project for awhile. Wednesday I actually ordered the chicks at the local feed store, since it saved me about the cost of the chicks as opposed to buying them from the hatchery catalog. I also plan to get a couple of Aracunas because I am enamoured of the idea of blue and green eggs. I ordered 25 straight run Buffs and the feed store gets in extra single and they know me well so will set me up with a couple Aracunas. I will have to hope I get a couple hens from that. I figure the male chickens are all food, except for one rooster I will keep so that next year I won't have to buy chicks. I want to raise them from scratch, as it were. I plan on keeping 6-8 hens over the winter and letting them raise as many chicks as I think we need.
I'm sorta on the fence as to the "processing" of the raised chickens. I don't know that I can kill them myself, though that part isn't a problem with this man o' mine. (I don't even kill bugs - prefer to transport them outside). Handling dead things doesn't bother me, so I can do that part. However, there's a guy in town that will do everything for $2 a bird and they come back in little plastic freezer bags...so we may go that route, too. I have to decide just how involved I want to be. If it turns out I can do it, I may do them one or two at a time, as needed - fresher that way.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 12:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-03-22 12:24 am (UTC)