Archive for the ‘technology’ Category
No Longer Gutsy
Taking a page from the Vista playbook I downgraded from Ubuntu 7.10 to 7.04 and now everything works like it used to before I upgraded to the latest. greatest version of Ubuntu. I can now:
- Use my computer without having to manually change the display resolution to 1024 x 768
- FN + F7 between the lcd and an external monitor (or display on both)
- Connect to my G network at 54 mbps
The Ubuntu desktop product management team needs to stop trying to compete with Windoze and OS X and just give us a stable operating system. The reality is that Linux isn’t going to overtake Windoze – ever - so there’s no point trying to compete head-to-head by duct-taping on useless features and thinking for your users. I switched to Linux because it empowers me to hack around and tweak to my heart’s content. Don’t turn your back on your core users! If I want an operating system to think for me I’ll just <gasp>go back to XP</gasp>.
Gutsy Gibbon – the Vista of Linux Distributions?
7.10 has started acting flaky on the trusty ThinkPad so I am planning a roll-back to 7.04. A couple of the issues were described in a previous post but now I’m ready to downgrade to 7.04. The latest issue started over the weekend when the almighty ThinkPad started having wireless network issues. As I was so happy with the semi-automated discovery of my broadcom-based wireless card I innocently enabled the firmware under the snazzy new Restricted Drivers Manager feature and connected to my network. But when I started having problems it hit me – I’m back to using firmware cutter and getting a <sarcasm>blistering</sarcasm> 11 mbps connection on my G network. And, as you may now be accustomed to hearing, that’s when everything turned to bat guano.
Open Source or Open Sores?
Those who know me know I’ve become a Linux fanboi since the release of Ubuntu 6.06. I use Ubuntu for almost all my computing needs and the exceptions are becoming fewer and fewer with every upgrade of the Ubuntu distro. But my experience yesterday has given me reason to soften my commitment to Open Source software. Yesterday I discovered that interactive support for external monitors was broken in the latest version of Ubuntu – and I discovered this in front of my management team as I was preparing to give a presentation. For years I’ve said I hate computers but now I’m adjusting my often quoted sound bite. Now I’m pretty sure I Hate Operating Systems.
Unacceptably Slow
The Sprint Mobile Broadband router showed up today and its already back in the box. After setting it up (which “requires” the use of a Windoze-based CD) speed test show that the download speed is about one third the speed with the card directly in the computer. I moved the device around a few times but the speed didn’t get any better. The router and card are back in their respective boxes and will be returned to the store tomorrow. Color me disappointed.
Sprint Mobile Broadband Redux
Even though I’m a Linux fanboy my default assumption about anything identified as not working under Linux means I’ll have to bloody my forehead to make it actually work. Following this logic I started looking for instructions about how to make the Pantech PX-500 PCMCIA card work under Linux. So I searched and search and found the PDF referenced in the previous post. I followed those instructions and they allowed the card to work… but at about half the speed it should work.
Frustrated by the speed I started poking around on ubuntuforums.org and found that the card is supported natively by Ubuntu 7.10. Apparently all the commands I entered from the Sprint PDF actually slowed things down because when that document was written there wasn’t native support for the card. After unscrewing the mess I created by following the official Sprint hacker’s guide to the PX-500 I was getting almost 2 mb/s down – almost as fast as my AT&T DSL. My mobile broadband router is supposed to show up early next week. If I get this kind of speed on the other side of the router it looks like AT&T is going to get fired.
Mobile Broadband – This Time by Sprint
My second shot at mobile broadband involves Sprint’s service and the PX-500 card. I had to boot into Windoze to activate the the card but once activated the card worked like a champ under Linux. And Sprint even publishes instructions on how to get it running! If you’re interested, check out the PDF .
My only tweak to the doc – you don’t have to install KPPP. You can configure Gnome PPP the same way and it works fine. I thought it was kind of odd to see a reference to a KDE tool mentioned in the doc since Gnome is the default desktop in Ubuntu but I guess the Sprint hacker that wrote the doc only knew KDE? Anyway, down/Up speeds are comparable to entry-level DSL – at least here at the counter. We’ll see if they’re any better from my office. I am cautiously optimistic that we may be on to something here…
My Dual-Boot Experience
First of all let me make sure I’m clear about one thing – I HATE MICROSOFT WINDOWS. By my assessment Windows behaves more like a virus than an operating system. Our home network consisted entirely of Apple OS X and Ubuntu machines – until recently anyway. So what drove me to add this virus to my Windows-free network?