Tag Archives: Linux

more books on the shelf …

Bought some books lately, more precisely: O’Reilly “Head First Statistics” and Prentice Hall “Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook” in the 4th edition. The latter is a real classic with about 1300 pages, the first edition is more than 20 years old.

“Head First Statistics” serves some refreshment of “lost lore”, “Unix and Linux System Administration Handbook” is more an in-depth reference, that is quiet handy on the desk. There are extracts of the books available, so instead of a review just look into those and make up your own mind ;-)

been there, done that

At least udev is strongly linked to Linux and as far as I know is not available on any of the BSD flavors. Unfortunately it is now the only good way to detect storage devices, cameras, printers, scanners and other devices using a single framework. That’s why we use it in Xfce now in situations where HAL provided us with device capabilities and information to distinguish between the different device types before. The consequence is that thunar-volman no longer works without udev and thus only compiles on Linux. In Thunar itself udev remains optional.

via

The usual hogwash about *BSD and its “compatiblity” to Linux. Especially FreeBSD has got different mechanisms like devd etc. So it’s no problem of *BSD itself, but developers unable to do a proper job. Well, in reality *BSD-devs cannot hop around to mimic everybodies darling. It’s just impossible, especially in the face of Linux chaotic development.

The correct “solution” here is for “desktop” devs to stop using the kernel features directly and having to continuously rewrite things for udev, HAL, *Kit, u*, etc and instead to write to a standardised abstraction layer with pluggable backends. Something the KDE devs figured out with 4.0 and the creation of Solid and Phonon and similar.

A comment of a FreeBSD-Admin

So nothing spectacular, just the usual loss of reality of the Linux-community. Being portable is different from “it works in Linux”.

Apple did it again …

They did it again: selling something very old as something new. What I’m talking about? The “App Store”. Apples “invention”, to make the life of the user easier. Well, free operating systems call this practice package management, since about more than a decade. You can use it in the console, you can use it together with a fancy frontend, finally it’s just superior compared to the “App Store” in iOS, Android and now Mac OS X. Apples invention? Apple “makes history”? They do indeed “think different”. Thanks God we don’t have to follow this bullcrap agenda.

What you really get from the “App Store”-marvel of Android, iOS, etc.? More control, censorship …

the sorry state of the “UNIX”-desktop

In case you wonder why I’ve been choosing this topic: see this talk. I’m refering to “UNIX” as alias for Linux/BSD and so on, at least in this very context.

“The mindset from the 1970s UNIX” … at the end of the talk your hear this “argument” of Lennart Poettering. He is some guy from Red Hat responsible for PulseAudio and systemd. You know, the company, that supports developers like Ulrich “libc” Drepper and others. Red Hat isn’t the easiest to cope with if it comes to changes to the Linux kernel or the system itself, it’s most of the time a crusade for them or similar to the search for the Holy Grail. Boiled down to their Linux-distro Fedora: they have got many bright people at their company, but their distro is just a huge mess. I was a huge fan of Red Hat in the 90s, well aside of my beloved Slackware, but today it’s just the testing ground for mostly hasty developed technologies. Their race for more glimmer on the desktop, together with Ubuntu and OpenSuse, destroyed in my opinion every attempt to gain momentum on the desktop for the non-administrators.

The new credo is “it’s just good enough” compared to the former “it’s just better”. “Plug’n pray” once a synonym to Microsofts crappy attempt for the detection of devices is nowadays the hallmark of Hal. The latter was for some time the “Holy Grail” for Linux and Nemesis to *BSD systems. A pain in the backside since the beginning and today just history. For good? No, “the king is dead, hail to the king”, Linux just gave birth to another experiment we have to cope with in future.

Today the desktop is still ruled by companies like Microsoft and Apple. Why? Because they do it right to some degree. Sure, Microsoft had lots of serious problems in the past and nowadays the company is just a shadow of their former self, but have a look at Windows 7. They did it, maybe too late, but you see real advancement. Or have a look at Apple, it just works out of the box — well, most of the time.

My desktop is a desktop of the 90s, maybe I have got the mindset of a UNIX of the 70s. But what’s wrong with it? UNIX is a child of the 60s/70s and most of the things you see in it aren’t compatible with the “mindset of 2010″. UNIX follows the K.I.S.S.-principle, keep it simple stupid, trying to attach something complex to something “simple” under the hood is prone to fail. It’s that easy!

Again, have a look at Apple and their Mac OS X. Mac OS X is a UNIX, it uses FreeBSD and portions of NetBSD to build the base, the things under the hood you usually don’t see, and attaches some GUI-mumbo-jumbo to it, to get the attention of the masses. Some people talk of a “GUI on roids” and similar to those anabolic steroids, you get “something”, but at what expense? In terms of Mac OS X you have to pay the price in form of many “layers” between the “glimmer” on the desktop and the UNIX in the cellar. If you e.g. mess with something under the hood, you’ll have sometimes unpredictable results at the desktop. Administrating Mac OS X like some UNIX is prone to fail, it’s not made for such tasks. Stick to the fixed desktop and you’ll be happy most of the time. Windows tries to get more power on the desktop, make it a less fixed experience than Apple, with the result of more problems.

Now the free “UNIX”-desktop again: don’t try to mimic Apple or Windows. We cannot win with this silly attempt. You have to choose between the power of a “UNIX” or the simplicity of a Mac OS X desktop. Try to mess with those attempts and you’ll get something like KDE, Gnome and lots of “layers” like PulseAudio etc. pp. to get Linux/BSD in shape. Maybe there is a path to more usability for Linux/BSD, but playing the copycat just renders those free operating systems less attractive for everyone. Free operating systems need a path of their own, compatible to this “UNIX mindset of the 70s”. If you want something different, then build something new.

As you can see one size to fit them all is just not possible. We have to say good bye to the masses, we have to find different paths, more suitable for the “UNIX-mindeset of the 70s”, ready for a “UNIX”-future with “UNIX”-usability.

Linux: the serious pain of an early adopter

Well, some people had those problems even with older kernel variants, but it’s the first time it happened to me. Since the change from UMS to KMS Intel graphics is more or less a serious pain in the backside. But now, I just get a black screen after starting X. Did try the usual mumbo-jumbo, like investigating new options in the kernel, changed options by chance, etc. pp. Finally, it seems to be a kernel bug: 22872. Alas, back to 2.6.36 then, at least for now on this machine.

[Update] After some bug reports, instead of a lazy sunday afternoon, it seems there is a solution. Thanks to the Intel guy :-)

grml 2010.12: schlechtes Timing

Also “schlechtes Timing” ist nicht der Name von diesem Release, sondern nur ein Kommentar meinerseits. “Gebrüder Grml” konnte wohl zu keinem schlechteren Zeitpunkt veröffentlicht werden … kurz vor Silvester und Neujahr haben viele, mal abgesehen von mir, wohl besseres zu tun ;-)

Aber wie dem auch sei, der neue Kernel der .36er Reihe ist mit von der Partie, ebenso rundum aktualisierte Pakete, Kernel Mode Setting, Xorg autoconf, etc. pp.

Grml 2010.12

fatso Linux

Einen Teil des Problems sieht Torvalds in dem Erfolg von Linux. Das System läuft inzwischen auf so vielen unterschiedlichen Plattformen und unterstützt so viele Geräte, dass der Linux-Urheber die Überladenheit des Kernels zwar für unakzeptabel hält, sie zugleich aber kaum vermeidbar nennt.

heise

Von ähnlichen Problemen kann Windows übrigens ebenso ein Lied singen. Darüber kennt man auch die Problematik mangelhafter Treiber, die Windows oftmals nicht unbedingt in einem guten Licht erscheinen lassen. Der Linux Kernel ist nicht fern dieser Gefilde, insbesondere dann nicht, wenn diverse Firmen ihre ureigenen Open Source Treiber auf die Welt loslassen. Zwar bietet Linux unixoide Strukturen und hat damit per se die bessere Basis, andererseits leidet Linux an halbwegs identischen Symptomen wie Microsofts Windows. Eine Lösung kann ich jedoch schon heute anbieten: weniger Einfluß seitens der Firmen. Denn es sind ebenso jene Firmen die auch Microsoft mit schlechtem Code supporten und dort seit frühen Windows-Inkarnationen ihren Einfluß geltend machen. Die Linux-Foundation beispielsweise hat nicht viel von einer Stiftung, mehr den Charakter eines Firmenkonsortiums …

Die Lösung, die man wohfeil vor sich herschiebt, wird früher oder später Priorität werden, dann nämlich wenn die Klagen sich mehren und qualitative Mängel offenbahr werden.

Aug. 25, 1991 – birth of Linux kernel

1991: Linus Torvalds, a 21-year-old university student from Finland, writes a post to a user group asking for feedback on a little project he’s working on. He’s built a simple kernel for a Unix-like operating system that runs on an Intel 386 processor, and he wants to develop it further.

wired

Do I have to say more? If you want a somewhat more in-depth history then you should maybe get a copy of Torvalds Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary. It’s a nice read and it should be in the bookshelf of every true nerd ;-)

Vista, photography, work, pain, professionalism …

Well no rant at all, at least not the usual FUD about Vista the ressource hog or anything else. But do I really have to wait several hours just to install about 300MB updates and two service packs? Vista itself is ready in almost no time, but then … alas – hours, several hours!

Apart from that, I cannot really complain about Vista – well I’m not a friend of Windows, but compared to *BSD or Linux you cannot beat it if you have to use some applications for photography or other creative work – in terms of professional use. I’m a seasoned UNIX user since the early 90s[1], I like anything UNIX, but I do know its strengths and weaknesses. Have a look e.g. on Gimp, it’s a nice application, full of features, but it comes with a graphical user interface developed by Developers and its workflow is a major pain in the back. I’m to some degree used to it, but if you have to work fast and professionally then nothing compares to Adobe Photoshop. The latter is a must for example in archaeological documentation – there isn’t much room for so-so results.

Furthermore, even if you don’t have to work with it, there are situations when Gimp just sucks – e.g. using a DSLR, shooting in raw and making some semi-professionally post-edit … assumed you do care for some quality, there are too many possibilities in Gimp to falsify your work. And this I assume isn’t your goal, if you’re serious about using a DSLR etc.

Don’t get me wrong, Gimp has got its audience, but it has to go several miles to just come close to the workflow and high-quality functionality of Adobes flagship[2].

So as you can see there is more than meets the eye, if you have to do certain work. And don’t let confuse you from legions of administrators, computer scientists or students – they do know their profession, but they usually don’t have got a glimpse about the needs of other people[3] – apart from some stupid dogma like “joe average doesn’t need this or that”. This rant doesn’t render *BSD or Linux useless, but just worthless in some areas steeped by creativity or professionalism[4]

My Windows Vista business installation doesn’t make me a happy Microsoft user – God forbid, but at least I can yield some professionalism. Anything UNIX is usually my favorite anywhere, but once again after a long period it has to share the top with Windows.

  1. SGI irix, … [↩]
  2. and you don’t have to use the latest and greatest – just use some PS6 or 7 [↩]
  3. aka the sorry-state of FOSS – high expectations, but less to none experience in certain areas to fulfill this goal [↩]
  4. like audio, graphics, photography … [↩]

OpenSolaris, Linux …

Ah well, no rant – at least this time ;-) Just some “hey there is some news about it”. They just released OpenSolaris 2009.06 and grml 2009.05, aka Lackdose-Allergie, is out in the wild. I’m just downloading the latter and writing this news in OpenSolaris :– works like a charm. Grml by the way is the best live cd you can get and imho the only reason to use Linux at all, well GeeXboX is another. So if you want to try some “real UNIX” try OpenSolaris and if you’re in need of a nice admin live media, grml is the way to go. Have phun :-)