Here we are, 17 days into 2010, and I’ve yet to write my first post of the year on this blog. Shame on me! I’ve done tweets and facebook posts, but not a blog post. And that’s not for wont of trying – I’ve two posts that I’m working on – but they aren’t ready to be published just yet. But rather than put it off, I figured I’d get the first post of the year out of the way, and with it, some of the recent happenings on the site, and my hopes for this year.
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal. Show all posts
Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix First Impressions
Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix First Impressions
I adore my HP Mini 1000 netbook. It's got a fantastic keyboard (one I can actually type on), and the screen is gorgeous. It's a little cramped for space, though, given that it uses a solid-state drive, but in general that's not a problem -- this isn't my primary machine, after all. (Just don't expect it to handle your entire MP3 collection!)
But Windows XP didn't get along well with the SSD. I don't know why -- it should handle it just fine, but XP would often freeze for no apparent reason and then come back after a few seconds, and I tracked that down to accessing the SSD. So anytime an application needed to load a good bit of data from storage, the entire computer stopped. That gets annoying after awhile, to say the least.
I was originally going to just install Windows 7 on it, hoping it would do a better job, but that 16gb SSD kept nagging at me -- that's not a lot of space for XP; Windows 7 would eat even more. Not only that, but there was no guarantee that performance would be acceptable on the netbook, and so I bit the bullet, and switched the operating system to Linux -- Ubuntu 9.10 Netbook Remix, to be exact.
My first impressions are very favorable. There were some installation difficulties, and I just wish that Adobe would release their products on Linux, but other than that things are going really well. The OS starts up far faster than XP, and once going, the OS is fast, responsive, and actually pretty. Not only that, but the HP is more than capable of supporting Compiz, which adds some pretty nifty effects to dragging windows, switching desktops, etc.
Installation
Installation was not as simple as it should have been, in my opinion. For one, of course, is the lack of a CD or DVD drive -- this is a netbook --, but Ubuntu provides a nice utility for putting the OS on a USB stick and installing from that. Which does work, but with a very big quirk that wasted a lot of my time.
Because some people use the stick as their primary storage (which means they can take the OS anywhere and use it on any machine that can boot from USB) the USB stick tool assumes that's what you're going to do. Nowhere is it obvious you have to select the option to discard all your changes (like documents, etc.) when the OS is shutdown. For one, that's a scary way to phrase it, and two, the install fails if this isn't selected!
So, check the option, and relax; the install proceeds normally, and you're left with a machine that runs just fine, and since you're installing to internal storage, the scary "discard" word isn't a problem -- you'll be saving to your hard drive, not to the USB stick.
That problem solved, the installation went without a hitch, and WAY faster than any Windows install I've ever seen. Granted the UNR version of Ubuntu is a smaller OS than the full version, but it's still pretty cool to see an OS install in something like seven minutes. ;-)
But wait, that's not all...
So everything's installed, and I'm pretty impressed. The machine responds quickly to any of my actions, and exhibits none of the slowness and freezing that XP exhibited. Score one for Linux.
And then the next problem: no wireless. Uh oh - that's a pretty big problem -- I'm not always going to be hooked up to a wire - that's part of the point of a netbook.
So I scour the web, and it turns out that the wireless isn't supplied by default because the HP uses a Broadcom Wifi controller, and there are some legal issues that means that Linux can't use it out-of-the-box.
So I follow as many instructions as I can, and end up installing b43-fwcutter and try that. It's supposed to work, but fails for some reason. No matter what I do, no wireless. Even more annoying, I keep losing my wired connection at random, forcing a reboot to get it back.
And then, by magic, I find a post that indicates that Broadcom has released their own drivers. Downloaded, installed, rebooted, and...
*poof*
No go. Crashed computer. Ick.
Reboot. No wifi. Ick.
And then, after a few more tries, suddenly after a reboot, the wifi controller is there. (!!!) I don't know how it got there, but it was, and so I wasn't going to complain. I set it up to connect to my network, and voila! I had wifi access! YAY!
Elation aside, however, this is where Linux tends to fall flat on its face for new users. I've had experience with various flavours, and am pretty tech savvy, so I was able to eventually get things working. But a new user who knows none of this is going to get stopped by either the first failure (getting the OS to install), or by the second (getting drivers to work). So until Linux gets better at this, it's never going to beat Windows or OS X.
Happy Days Are Here Again...
With the Wifi enabled, happy days officially started. Mostly ;-) Being that this was a brand new installation, there were all sorts of programs I needed to install to get a familiar environment. Here's a few that I installed:
- Adobe Air
- Tweetdeck
- Google Chrome (Dev)
- Last.FM
- Mozilla Sunbird
- Gimp
- RawStudio
- AbiWord
- MonoDevelop
- Audacity
- Hulu Desktop
- Wine
After all that, and configuring each application (like adding plugins to Chrome, getting Flash working, etc.), I have a machine that I can use without feeling frustrated at it because it feels slow or keeps freezing. Responsiveness is amazing, even when I push it. If an application freezes for any reason, the rest of the system still works, which wasn't always the case with XP.
Minor Glitches Remain
Not everything is 100% rosy, but it isn't enough to cause me to drop Linux on this machine. Here's a bit of what is glitchy:
- Flash: sucks. Period. While it technically works, it quickly slows any browser or application that uses it to a crawl. I suspect this may be in part to my use of Compiz and extra desktop effects, but seriously -- I like me my eye candy. So watching Hulu in my browser or via the desktop application is a bit painful, but any other flash use is too. It could also just be that Flash for Linux really isn't all that optimized, but whatever the cause, I'll only be using it whenever necessary. (For that reason, I've got FlashBlock installed in Chrome.)
- The UNR interface, while very nice, occasionally breaks down when using an application that isn't aware of the limitations of my display. (Chome, I'm looking at YOU.) Granted, UNR is just window-dressing, but it'd be nice to have some way to get to parts of windows that have decided to be off screen because surely no one would ever think to use the application on a screen that's only 600px high.
- Also, some portions of the UNR desktop could use extra customizability. Granted, this is supposed to be easy for end-users, but I think we could all grasp moving icons around on our desktop, something I haven't convinced it to do yet.
Even so, Things Are Grand
Even with the glitches, things are grand. Most things have improved, including:
- Responsiveness - the HP now hums along beautifully.
- Speed - No longer does the HP feel like it's struggling to keep up -- programs open quickly, desktops change fast, application switch is quick, and the machine is even able to render some 3D effects reasonably well.
- Compiz - The closest thing I can compare this to would be Windows Vista Aero, but Compiz is really a bit more than that. You can have the things Aero gives you, and so much more, and the HP handles many of these with aplomb. Not everything is within its capabilities -- this is a built-in video card --, but for the most part things are nice and smooth.
- Audio - Somehow the drivers supplied with XP made the audio sound like crap. High-pitched, tinny, lacking any punch. I originally chalked that up to the small speakers in the chassis, but the same applied to listening by headphones. So then I assumed the chipset was just crappy. But the Linux drivers have surprised me -- it's not excellent sound, but it's WAY better than under Windows. There's actually some bass involved, and it doesn't sound like I'm listening over a bad telephone connection!
Our Future Together...
Granted, I've only used this on my netbook for a short time. It's possible the same freezing problems will creep up on Linux too, but I doubt it. It's possible I'll run into some sort of horrible bug that'll ruin me on it forever, but again, I doubt it.
My only wish was that Adobe released Lightroom on Linux. Because if they did, I'd seriously consider switching on my primary computer as well -- I'm that impressed. While Vista x64 never really bothered me (x32 is horrible, though), I've never been all that impressed, either, and it quite often feels like molasses, even on a 2+GHz machine with dual cores, 4GB of memory, etc. Ubuntu on that thing would literally fly... :-)
But until then, I'll live in Windows on my primary computer, and keep Linux on my netbook.
Something Different
When a gaggle of geese visits you every few months, you tend to get familiar with them – as much as they will allow, of course. But this year there’s something different in the midst of this gaggle:
“Something Different”
I’m not sure if this is an albino Canada Goose, or if it is a Snow Goose. Either way, it is strange seeing this white goose amongst all the other geese. Even more interesting is that this goose is tolerated in the group.
“Looking for Food”
It’s not obvious from these two images, though, that this bird is injured. This poor thing walks with a limp – not sure if he has a broken or simply malformed leg, but it is painful to watch him try to walk. He gets around enough to eat and such, and his wings look normal, so he can probably fly okay, but still, it is sad to see, especially when he is such a beautiful bird.
The next couple of images have nothing to do with this white goose; just some friendly geese from the same gaggle:
“Taking Flight”
These geese took flight as I was photographing the other white goose. This was the only decent photo I got before they were all behind the tree. The lead goose’s head was, in reality, already behind the leaves, but a little post-processing work, and you get to see the whole thing!
“Enjoying the Evening”
More like “watching me”, but there’s just something pleasant about this goose and the scene. He’s not really that far away from the rest of the geese; but he was on the outer edges of the pack just standing there with his eye on me. After a few more pics, I hurried on to my car – it was cold out! –, but he apparently didn’t mind the temperature. Must be all those feathers!
On a totally different note, I get to go down to St. Louis this weekend and visit family and get to see my two nephews… they are going to be so fun to chase around with my camera!!!! Here’s hoping for some great pics…
Music to Work & Relax By
This technically has nothing to with photography. I just wanted to point you to some musical artists whose music I find inspiring and/or relaxing and/or easy to work or relax with:
- Enya
- Celtic Woman / Orla / Lisa
- Secret Garden
- Mysteria
- Loreena McKennitt
- Josh Groban
- Norah Jones
- Diana Krall
I can’t imagine you’ve not heard of many of these before, but if you’ve not had the opportunity to hear their music, or just haven’t listened to them in a while, you may want to try them again (or for the first time).
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