Tag Archives: linux

Changing Linux Distribution

Posted by Godoy on

I am not sure – yet – if it will be a permanent change or if it will be a temporary one.

From one site there is the corporate look of OpenSuSE and KDE. From the other side there is the more modern desktop that I can get with Ubuntu and (argh – yet 😉 ) Gnome.

I am always trying to find better ways to have information available on my desktop, to improve my workflow, to get more from my tools without having the system cluttering my view.

With that, I have always been a fan of the summary information available on Macs on the top bar, while keeping more intrusive information on the bottom bar.

But, at the same time, I have always been concerned with the waste of space that two bars led to in KDE.

So, this week, I downloaded Ubuntu and yesterday I spent the day installing it.

The installation itself was very very easy. Finding the new work method is what is taking me some more time, but I have already restablished my environment. (Of course, most of it remained intact since I kept my home directory from the previous install and I just replaced the system mount points.)

As with every unplanned change I forgot to backup some things – but this will lead to another post in the future, since it relates to software development and the move from development to production as well as the build up of a migration path for that to happen – and had to review my notes on how to rebuild that.

After a few hours with setting up everything and working on customization, I found that it was like I wanted. Then, it was time to pay attention to the gadgets and other – ahem – productivity tools.

So, after all, the hugest difference to me has been the package management system. All the rest is almost the same – and I have a new look on my desktop.

Mobility — Internet from your mobile phone

Posted by Godoy on

It is interesting how technology has evolved in the last years.

I’m posting this entry from a broadband connection using my mobile as a modem in a 3.5G connection.  I have hired the 1Mbps option, but I could go for the 7.2 Mbps if I wanted to.

I had 1 Mbps at my DSL connection at home since about 40 days ago when I updated it to 3 Mbps…

And I have tested it.  I could get up to 1190 Kbps with my mobile from where I am now (believe it or not it is a Sunday afternoon and I’m stuck at the office).

The problem is that using 3G on a mobile sucks a lot of battery.  This is not a problem if you can plug it in while working, but if you really want mobility then you have to plan your phone usage to not run out of battery while needing it the most.

By the way, Nokia’s 6120C work perfectly as a modem for OpenSuSE 11.0.  Just install KInternet and use a USB cable (unless you have Bluetooth on your notebook / desktop).

When plugging the mobile I’ve configured it to ask what mode I want it to work in (there’s one where I can upload things to the phone, another that is used to connect to the PC and a third one that I don’t remember ;-)).  The mode I choose to use it as a modem is “PC Suite”.  It is then recognized as ttyACM0 and this is the device that I used to setup a PPP connection to the phone company I use here (TIM).

First impressions about OpenSuSE 11.0

Posted by Godoy on

It is really great!  Very responsive, fast, beautiful.

Compiz-fusion effects are really nice to have.  And the desktop feels more integrated.

I already added some extra repositories from OpenSuSE’s website and updated Firefox (again!), along with some other components from KDE4.

Everything has been recognized correctly — my Intel wireless card, with IEE 802.11N support; audio card, etc. — right from the beginning.

X is running accelerated with composite and all the bells and whistles right from the installation.

Package selection has become more attractive and so far I am comfortable using zypper and YaST to install new things.  Before they were too slow to be considered an option.  It is nice to be able to use the official tool for maintaining the system.

Now it is time to restore my applications and work environment… 😉

Things that annoy me on KDE4

Posted by Godoy on

As I said before, I am trying to use KDE4 as my main environment. And it is doing pretty well.

There are, though, some annoying things that I hope will be solved soon.

For example, the mixer from KDE4 doesn’t understand the volume button change as the one from KDE3 does. I am still using the mixer from KDE3 because of that (it is not just visual, KDE4 ignores the volume change, KDE3 respects and adjusts the volume).

There is no KNetworkManager for KDE4. And as I connect to some wireless networks, I miss it a lot. So, I’m using the one from KDE3.

The newer Kopete also has some problems with events. When I get a new message and the focus is on another window, a “message” box opens with “View / Ignore” options and it stays there on the screen for a while (I don’t even know if they disappear automatically or not, I didn’t wait that long). Then, for every new message from the same person, a new box is open, cluttering the screen very fast. For Kopete from KDE3, just the first message created the box and it disappeared faster as well.

There is another problem with this new Kopete: it doesn’t work with my webcam. Kopete from KDE3 does. And the history isn’t working, so it isn’t saved as well.

There is also a problem with Kontact, that misses Knode — even though it exists, it isn’t integrated… — but is getting very nice.

I also believe that recent changes did mess with event handling… Some of my global shortcuts stopped working and some that failed before are working now.

I hope that KDE4 continues evolving, because it is visually much better than its predecessors. Just the apps aren’t moving with the same speed as the interface and its resources are.

UPDATE: Another thing that is annoying me: something on the docking protocol has changed and applications from KDE3 aren’t docking correctly as applications from KDE4 does…  Take KWalletManager and KMix as examples and you’ll see their icons floating as if they were windows that got lost in the screen.  Minimizing them helps a little, though.