LQ Votes Again!

We have the Grammys, the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the Webbys and the LQ Members' Choice Awards! Yes folks, it is that time of the year - time for the 2009 LinuxQuestions.org Members Choice Awards!

For as long as I've been using Linux, the Linux Questions site and forums have been a wealth of help, ideas and knowledge. It is probably the largest non distro specific Linux forum out there with over 420,000 registered members. Every year members of the Linux Questions community vote for their favorite applications, programming languages, distributions, toolkit, desktop environment and more! It is a great way to show your support and appreciation for the projects you love and use, to find projects that are sparking others' interest and feel the pulse of what's beating in the the heart of the Linux world.

Voting ends on February 9th. So head over, register (if you're not already registered) and vote!

The Irony of OpenOffice 3.2

Today, while I was going through my usual tech news feeds I came across the OpenOffice 3.2 RC2 release announcement. I thought this was pretty cool and decided to have a look at what new features we could expect from the next release of OpenOffice. Nothing unusual. Yet.

Perusing through the 'What's New' section, something caught my eye. What's that? "Initial implementation of docx export." Nothing ironic. Yet.

Now those of us who like to keep up with tech news will know that Microsoft lost a patent infringement suit against XML specialists i4i, and then lost again after appealing. Basically, what this means is that Microsoft is banned from selling Microsoft Office from January 11, 2010, until the code that infringes on the XML patent is removed. And this code is what provides support for Microsoft's new XML formats which includes the infamous .docx format. Are you beginning to get the picture?

Now Microsoft already has plans to replace this infringing code in the next release, Microsoft Office 2010. As of now, MS Office 2010 is in the Beta stage of development and the final release date is set for some time in the first half of 2010. But OpenOffice 3.2's final release date is set for sometime this month. Getting clearer?

Thus, it follows, if you need support for Microsoft's .docx format right now, your only legal option is to use OpenOffice! It makes me warm inside :) Open Source FTW! Or am I missing something that is painfully obvious... Let me know.

Here's a Google Wave invitation!

Acer Extensa 5630EZ Review

After almost 5 years of service I decided it was time to move on from my trusty Acer Aspire 3003NLMi and get myself a new laptop. But first of all, like a good geek, I must pay homage. The Aspire was my main machine and it took everything I threw at it. And then some. All Linux Mint Fluxbox CEs that I was responsible for were built on it. But the AMD Sempron 3000+, 768MB RAM and 40GB HD just weren't cutting it. Not to mention the Broadcom wireless card that required a proprietary driver, the SiS integrated graphics chip that has poor support in Linux and many ailing components.

This time around I was determined to choose wisely. I did my research and armed with my new found knowledge I set out on my hunt. For almost two months I scoured websites and brochures looking for that perfect deal. I settled for the Acer Extensa 5630EZ and here is my review after about a week of tinkering.

Let's get to the juicy stuff.

The Specs.

• CPU: Intel Dual Core T4300 running at 2.1GHz with 1MB L2 Cache and an Intel Chipset


• Memory: 3GB (2+1) DDR2 @ 667MHz


• Graphics: Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M with 64MB dedicated memory


• Storage: 320GB Western Digital drive spinning @ 5200rpm


• Display: 15.4" WXGA Acer CrystalBrite 1280x800 display (8ms/220nit)


• Audio: Intel 82801I HD Audio Controller


• Ethernet: NetXtreme BCM5764M Gigabit Ethernet PCIe


• Wireless: Atheros AR928X 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wireless Network Adapter


• Bluetooth 2.1+EDR


• Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam with 640x480 resolution


• Multi layer DVD-RW optical drive


• PCMCIA card slot


• 6 cell Li-ion Battery with a claimed 3 hours of juice


• 3 USB ports


• 1 VGA port


• 2 Stereo speakers


• Weighs about 3kgs

What I like

First of all, there is the price. I bought this machine for a few Lei shy of 1,800RON. I think that is quite a bargain for a new laptop! Most other laptops in the price range where Intel Celeron based and most netbooks were only 100-300RON cheaper! Also, I made it a point to buy a laptop either with Linux or no OS preinstalled. This one came with Linpus Linux. Plus 1 for Linux sales!

The laptop seems of a good build quality. The exterior is sturdy black plastic with a textured matte finish which looks simple but very good. The display hinges are wide and feel like they will survive my torture. The full size keyboard has a curved layout and the keys have good travel and feel. The touchpad is a decent size and has a metal bezel that adds a nice touch to the otherwise understated look. The display is very clear and bright (sometimes too bright) with a glossy finish. The speakers are loud enough (they are average laptop speakers).

This Acer machine runs cool and quiet. The fan only occasionally spins into action and even then it is quiet. Under normal use temperatures hover around 45°C. The underside is never too hot for comfort.

So far everything works out of the box in Linux! It is such a boon to have full support for your hardware. Just a little research goes a long way to enhancing your user experience. Running Linux Mint 8, CPU frequency scaling, 3D accelerated desktop effects, wireless (using the ath9k driver), bluetooth, the webcam and the hotkeys (some required configuring) all worked fine. I also installed and am using Arch Linux without any closed drivers.

It is no slouch. OK, it is no speed demon by today's standards either, but I am very pleased with the performance. Benchmarks are mostly academic, though I might put it through its paces at a later time. Nowadays, when 3GB of RAM doesn't seem all that much it is a real joy to be using Linux. Even with a lot of applications running (during normal use), I have never seen my RAM usage go over 2GB. Also many 3D games work e.g. Warzone 2100, Tuxkart, Neverball, Neverputt, World of Goo and Globulation 2. After 5 years of Sudoku and Solitaire, I was like a kid on Christmas morning!

What I don't like

The synaptics touchpad doesn't seem to recognize two or more finger actions. Thus things like two-finger scrolling are not possible. My not knowing how to configure it is also a possibility. The touchpad buttons are a bit too plasticky. They have some play, the travel is very little and the clicking action gives a cheap plastic sound. My biggest issue with this that my old Acer laptop had the same kind of touchpad buttons. And after repeated use they started getting stuck on the down click, thus becoming mostly useless. Preemptively, I have configured my touchpad to handle all clicking actions, so hopefully they'll last longer.

Another issue, which is more a matter of personal preference, is that the audio I/Os are located in the front of the laptop. This means that if you're using headphones, the jack is prone to getting bumped and skewed if the machine is placed on the lap and from hands moving around the touchpad. It's not a big deal if your headphones get messed up but eventually the headphone socket develops some play and causes contacts inside to become loose. That is annoying and will require sending the laptop for repairs. Manufacturers, please put the audio I/Os on the side!

The ath9k driver in the 2.6.31 kernel is not the best around. Quite frequently (2-3 times a day under heavy traffic e.g. file transfers), it would lose the signal and refuse to reconnect. The only way to get it working again was to reboot. Thankfully, upgrading to the 2.6.32 kernel solves this problem.

The glossy LCD display can be quite reflective but setting the brightness to maximum counters this for the most part.

What I haven't tried

I haven't tested the battery life yet. The battery requires formatting which means a 16 hour charge with the laptop off. I'm not bored of fiddling with it just yet to leave it off that long.

The ethernet card hasn't been used yet simply because wireless works. Anyway, I haven't yet come across an ethernet card that doesn't work in Linux. Then there is the PCMCIA card slot, because I don't have anything to put in it.

What I would have liked

The only thing that I really wanted that is not in this machine is a card reader. I just wanted the freedom to not worry about compatibility of various devices with Linux. But if I really need it, a card reader is not an expensive purchase.

That about wraps up my review. Once again, Acer has won me over with their product. At this price point there is almost no competition, even if it was on a Christmas sale. I am very pleased with my purchase. I would definitely recommend it, and more especially to Linux users.

Here is a Google Wave invitation. First come, first serve! If you do get it, drop me a line so that I know it works.

Tidbit: Using GMail as your default email client

I mostly use GMail for email purposes and so it makes sense to make it my default email client. There are many ways to do this on the web. However, most are desktop environment or browser specific. It is nice to have things behave similarly across desktop environments or even installations. So I threw together a quick bash script that would use the default browser that is configured for your system. Here it is.

#!/bin/bash

getopen () {

if [ -x /usr/bin/xdg-open ]
then
export opener="/usr/bin/xdg-open"
elif [ -x /usr/bin/kde-open ]
then
export opener="/usr/bin/kde-open"
elif [ -x /usr/bin/gnome-open ]
then
export opener="/usr/bin/gnome-open"
else
echo "Requires xdg-open, kde-open or gnome-open"
exit 1
fi
}

getemail () {

export address=`echo $1 | sed 's/mailto://'`
export targeturl="https://mail.google.com/mail/?view=cm&fs=1&tf=1&source=mailto&to=$address"
}

getopen
getemail $1
exec $opener $targeturl
exit 0

Save this in a file. I called mine gmailer and saved it to ~/bin. Make sure it is executable and that your system is configured to search ~/bin for executable commands. Now configure your system to open mailto: links with gmailer. That would be gmailer %s in Gnome/XFCE and gmailer %t in KDE4. Cool thing is that gmailer emailaddress@isp.com run from command line or the Ctr+F2 launcher works just as well!

There is a limitation to it. If you are not already logged into GMail or your browser does not automatically log you in, it will not work. It surely can be better but it works just fine for me right now. Obviously, suggestions are most welcome! Enjoy!

[EDIT] Want to do this with Yahoo Mail instead? Click here.

Linux Passes the 1% Mark!

According to marketshare.hitslink.com, a site that collects internet market statistics which can then be used to study internet trends, Linux for the first time passed 1% of desktop operating systems in the month of April 2009!

What does this mean? Well obviously it means that more and more people are beginning to use Linux as a desktop OS. And that means that the quality of Linux as desktop OS has improved enough for one out of every hundred computers to be running it. Does it mean that this is the year of Linux on desktop? Or that Microsoft is finally crumbling? I think not.

Geeky celebrations aside, this is what I think should be taken away from this. Everybody knows that the whole world is going through an economic crisis. And according to a report on www.bloomberg.com, a financial news site, PC sales are predicted to drop by 12% to 257 million units in 2009 as compared to 2008. So:

1. Manufacturers will be battling each other fiercely for a sizable piece of the smaller 257 million pie,


2. People are looking to spend less on computers at least until the economic times change,


3. 1% of 257 million is still a whole lot of computers and money... especially when the pie is smaller.


4. As the growing segment of the market, Linux users are a group manufacturers should be targeting.

Now, Linux has been for the most part a fringe user base and still remains so for the time being. And as a Linux user since 2004, one inconvenience I have experienced is the sub par support for hardware compared to the likes of Microsoft. This usually means carefully selecting hardware that I will purchase and choosing the said hardware solely for its support for my OS of choice. This includes motherboards, graphic cards, wireless cards, TV capture cards, digital cameras, portable MP3 players, mobile phones, PDAs, and the list goes on. Moreover, us Linux users are usually the techie types that love all these kinds of gadgets and products and hence would more likely splash a few bucks on some new hardware this year.

Here we have this growing user base that love tech products, we're all going through rough economic times where consumers want to spend sparingly and manufacturers want to win over every possible customer... Common sense would dictate that it would be a perfectly sound business strategy to provide solid support for products on Linux. And with Linux being free, the price of a PC preinstalled with Linux and all hardware working perfectly will surely win over at least 1 in a 100 customers. Hardware support for money? What do you say? Come on, show us some love!

Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop

The first ever Linux distribution that I really used was Mandrake 10. It was the newbie distribution of the day! And I kept using it through the merger with Conectiva and subsequent name change to Mandriva Linux... until the founder, Gaël Duval was somewhat unceremoniously laid off from the company. That was when I looked for an alternative distribution, which I found in Ubuntu Dapper Drake, and I am glad I did!

I sometimes wondered what became of Gaël Duval. He talked of launching another distribution called Ulteo Linux... or so I thought. But what he and his team have come up with is something quite impressive: Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop.

Ulteo Open Virtual Desktop (UOVD) seems like it would be an ideal solution for an enterprise that needs cost-effective deployment of cross-platform (or maybe even single-platform) applications to their employees. What this allows you to do is have Windows and Linux application servers on which the applications are actually run. Multiple users then use remote thin clients that only need Java enabled web browsers to run whichever Windows or Linux application they need. Integration of both platforms on UOVD looks seamless with a single desktop and menu! What is great for enterprises is that savings increases proportionally with the size of the company in the application server - thin client model. I have only scratched the surface. The feature list is really impressive

UOVD hit version 1.0 on 23/04/2009. And in true open spirit, UOVD is open source and anyone can download it and try it out now!

I am glad that the leader of the number one Linux distribution on Distrowatch in 2002, 2003 and 2004, the distribution that won me over from Windows, has made a comeback with an innovative, new Open Source project. Hats off to you Gaël Duval! All the best!