Martin, for custom installs have you ever tried say Ubuntu minimal install, and adding/building from there? If so, how does it compare to going through a manual install process like what you describe with gentoo...


and what ever happened to mandriva? I thought you were testing that (dead) distro?

I may get curious about Gentoo. It's time to play with something new.

The Gentoo "installer" is command line based and the tools provided to interact with the Gentoo repository are generally command line based.

While Ubuntu minimal install provides a working kernel, the Gentoo install does not, a kernel must be built from source during installation. I'm pretty sure that kernel configuration must be modified prior to this build to ensure hardware compatibility (fortunately there are guides to help with this).

The repositories of most Linux distributions include both binary and source code variants of packages, Gentoo packages are built from source, so "custom" starts from the very beginning in Gentoo with the flags sent to gcc and the options to bind into packages at compile time (Gentoo's "USE" flags).

My recommendation to anyone trying Gentoo for the first time is to install in a virtual machine first (the FOSS VirtualBox is good for this purpose). While a kernel config for a virtual machine will not be the same as a bare metal machine, the steps are essentially the same.

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I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

Thanks for the input Bobby. Now I get the picture. It could be a good learning lesson.

And I would use a virtualbox at first, definitely.

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#resist

Microsoft really do want everyone on Linux.....:)

Win 8 no DVD Support - Want DVD playback? Buy Win 8 Pro

What in hell are they thinking of?

With continuing cock-ups like this, Linux just has to increase market share.

reason is, cause Win 8 will be in many ultratops and tablet´s which do not have dvd player at all.

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"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exist elsewhere in the Universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin to the Hobbes

I was having a bit of trouble the other day with my BOINC processes. I kept getting not enough harddrive available. need XX.XMB more space. openSUSE has a utility for this that just does not work. I wonder why they include it in the OS.

I went on a search and found Gparted. This can be used in several ways to change partition sizes in both Windows and Linux OSes. I chose to use the .iso and start it up as a live CD. Gparted read the partitions and with little effort rearranged them for me.

---

In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.
Diogenes Of Sinope

Gparted is arguably THE MOST COMMONLY used partition utility on Linux...
It's a handy tool. I've used it to resize an ntfs partition in the past, but never a linux partition. :-)
Ultimate boot CD uses a form of it I believe as well.

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#resist

Thanks for the input Bobby. Now I get the picture. It could be a good learning lesson.

And I would use a virtualbox at first, definitely.

My earlier post about the Gentoo repository should have noted a caveat, it refers to source code where sources are available. There are a few binary only packages (e.g. firmware), there are some packages that reference free closed source binary installers (e.g. manufacturer driver's for graphics cards) and there are some packages that depend on the user downloading non-FOSS binaries prior to installing (e.g. VMware Workstation).

The Gentoo administrator is not limited to software from the Gentoo repository, though that's likely a subject which will veer us further off topic than I'm willing to venture without Martin's prior approval. In the meantime I'll be happy to respond to PMs.

Now to upgrade KDE to 4.8.3 which was marked "stable" on x86-64 yesterday ...

As for Gentoo being a learning lesson, I'd say it most certainly is. This Gentoo administrator is a hobbyist/enthusiast, and has never been employed as an Operating System Administrator (directly or indirectly).

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I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

Now to upgrade KDE to 4.8.3 which was marked "stable" on x86-64 yesterday ...

The upgrade went reasonably smoothly, though not without incident.

emerge -uvDN --complete-graph --with-bdep y world

is the command I execute to catch up, though after a couple of packages had been updated some others started failing. A quick look at the logs showed that one of the updates had upgraded some libraries that later updates had dependencies on in their build tools:

revdep-rebuild -pvi

gave me the list of packages that had broken dependencies and after these were reinstalled with:

emerge -1v --complete-graph=y dev-libs/libxml2:2 net-libs/webkit-gtk:2 x11-libs/qt-webkit:4

I was able to restart the original update:

emerge --resume

After this completed another revdep-rebuild to check whether anything else had been broken and I was back in business. Or so I thought.

Seems that somewhere in the qt world there's code that creates a list of installed shared libraries at build time, and as a result I started to see messages that something was failing. A quick google took me to this and a simple solution:

emerge -1v --complete-graph=y x11-libs/qt-core

Since then there have been no more messages about failures :-).

This experience is atypical in my 2+years with Gentoo, usually it's the first emerge, revdep-rebuild and a second emerge to fix anything that was broken by the update. There are a few more steps when there's a kernel upgrade, though these are well documented on the Gentoo website.

Some may question why choose a distro that requires so much attention, I suspect the reasons are diverse, for me it's a learning exercise on how to manage an OS so that I might better understand the challenges of some of my work colleagues. It's been invaluable.

---

I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

Very brief roundup:


The Magic Continues

... I am very please to announce Mageia 2! It's been a lot of very hard work...

... So what makes Mageia magic? Well I like to think it's because we've got a great bunch of people involved - not only that, we have clear guidelines about how the whole project can never be owned by a corporate interest - it's a true community distro. If this is important to you, (and it should be!) then I encourage you to get involved...


Mageia 2 is a GNU/Linux distribution...

What's new?

Too much to include here! See the release notes for an extensive exposé.

Download

Mageia in context

Mageia is both a Community and a Linux Distribution, with Mageia 2 being our second release. ...


Our baby’s growing up: Mageia 2 is here

... We’ve had a great time building our community and our new release, and we hope you enjoy using it as much as we enjoyed making it.

You can get started right now – see what’s available, choose your version and download it...

[Geekie list of what's included. Non-geeks don't worry, just try it!]


Ubuntu 12.04 review

Verdict:
Unity has come of age, while the HUD shows how the interface will progress in the future. This is everything we want from a LTS version of Ubuntu


And the RasPi Revolution begins?

Raspberry Pi faces challenge from Android-based rivals

The Raspberry Pi computer faces fresh competition from two Asian micro-PC rivals


VIA's $49 Android-Based Mini-PC is No Bigger Than a Banana

It's almost like hooking up an Android smartphone to your HDTV, only with mouse and keyboard support


PC-On-A-Stick Costs $74

Looking for a USB-shaped PC? One has already hit the market while a beefier, more costly offering is on the way


Meanwhile, still somewhat behind the times?

Microsoft Saying Goodbye to Aero in Windows 8

Microsoft says the old Aero UI is dated and cheesy

Microsoft is unsurprisingly saying goodby to the "Aero" user interface...

... "The Windows 8 user experience is forward-looking, yet respectful of the past," he writes. "It reimagines what a PC is capable of..."

[And other amazing gob-smacking Marketing speak!]


Meanwhile:

What's new in Linux 3.4

... The kernel developers have needed only two months to complete the recently published 3.4 version of the Linux kernel; yet, the release offers the usual number of new features. Some of the features are as interesting for data centre administrators as they are for users who run Linux on desktop PCs or notebooks. ...

... Just hours after NVIDIA released its GeForce GTX 680 graphics card – with which NVIDIA has ushered in the switch from the Fermi to the Kepler architecture – kernel developers added rudimentary support for it to the Nouveau DRM/KMS driver...

... Intel developers have merged a patch which means that Linux 3.4 will now use RC6 – the graphics core power-saving feature – by default...

... From Linux 3.4, kernels that are compiled for x86-64/x64 processors can offer an "x32" ABI (Application Binary Interface) to programs (1 and others). Programs compiled for this ABI can access the 64-bit registers and data paths of 64-bit processors, but they only use 32-bit pointers – which are sufficient for many typical tasks and use less memory than 64-bit pointers...

[... And lots more...]


The 32bit interfacing on full 64bit kernels is novel and quite different from the 32bit libraries on 64bit systems as in use at present. The performance boost is mainly for embedded/small systems but that same small boost will be available to all system in true Linux style!

Viva Le Linux Revolution!! :-)

IT is what we make it!
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Thank you Martin. It seems I have some reading to do tonight.

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#resist

I try to keep my postings positive, but for these two examples, the comments to the articles are just too hilarious not to comment on! Two small examples of (non-) freedom?...


Is this where the "Anti-Christ" joins forces?

Vatican in pact with Microsoft to initiate world's youths into Office

None might buy or sell save with the Number of the Beast ... which is 365

The Vatican has blessed Microsoft's cloud apps strategy in the shape of deal that could see Office 365 being rolled out to 43 million Catholic students worldwide.

The secretive and highly conservative organisation, condemned by some as the Anti-Christ, will initially provide the software suite to 4.5 million students via the Catholic International Education Office (OIEC) under the three-year agreement. ...



And to take that just a little further for more mutual synergy in sin?

EU beaks to rule on Microsoft's $1.1bn fine appeal in June

... The decision found that Microsoft was charging competitors too much for interoperability information for its servers.

A the time, then competition commissioner "Steelie" Neelie Kroes was scathing:

Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an anti-trust decision... I hope that today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance.

It was the largest fine the EC has ever imposed on a single company.

Microsoft reduced its royalty claims for licensees from 3.87 per cent to 0.7 per cent in May 2007 following European Commission objections. This was finally reduced to 0.4 per cent in October 2007.

But...


Phew! Heavy hot stuff!!

IT is what we make it!
Martin


Disclaimer: All just my own personal opinion as ever.

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

In brief, a fun rag-bag mix of freedom and restriction and an unholy pact coercively forced out of practicality against what I personally consider to be blatant anti-competitive restrictions:


Firstly, for a sorry tail of an awful lot of wasted effort:

Moonlight sent into twilight - Update

... abandoned its Moonlight effort to bring Microsoft's Silverlight technology to Linux. De Icaza told InfoQ that his expectation that Silverlight would "become the must-have technology" has not come to pass and it had "not gained much adoption on the web". He also blamed "artificial restrictions" added to Silverlight by Microsoft which had made it useless for desktop programming, which in turn thwarted his hopes that it could provide a "write-once-run-anywhere" (WORA) for C# code. ...


Is this to be expected?...

Freedom from vendor lock-in drives adoption of open source

... many companies are now identifying freedom from vendor lock-in as an important reason for switching to open source software. ...


A real world case of frustration?

Diablo 3 DRM: "It's really an online game without a monthly fee"

... yet to many gamers, much disappointment and frustration because of the game's DRM system. It requires a permanent internet connection to play -- moving much of the in-game interaction and logic to the network. ...


And can this sort of restriction really be legal?

Microsoft forbids class actions in new Windows licence

You're on your own now

Microsoft will make it harder for customers to club together with lawyers to file lawsuits against its products.

The company is rolling out new End User License Agreements (EULAs) that forbid punters from joining class-action proceedings. ...


More positively:

What's new in Fedora 17

... the Fedora Project has released the seventeenth edition of its popular Linux distribution. The new version, code-named "Beefy Miracle", includes...


But wholesome and unholy, or WHAT THE HELL!?

Fedora 18 to support UEFI Secure Boot

... As the only company actively pursuing this signing was Microsoft, the requirement had led many to conclude that Microsoft was locking other operating systems out of future PCs. Microsoft modified their position to allow x86 Windows machines to disable the secure boot option or to allow users to enrol their own keys, but Garrett says that "it's not really an option to force all our users to play with hard-to-find firmware settings before they can run Fedora".

After eliminating options of creating their own Fedora key or an overall Linux key as too complex or costly, Garrett says they have decided to opt for the "least worst" option; have Microsoft sign Fedora. For $99, Microsoft offer a signing service...

... "This isn't an attractive solution, but it is a workable one" he says, concluding [but] "if we can increase user freedom without making awful compromises somewhere else then we'll do it".


For some system details for why things work so well and stay cutting edge...

The systemd Linux init system

A variety of distributions now let systemd, rather than sysvinit, take care of bringing the system up. The newest of the three big init system promises to speed up booting and requires no explicit system service dependency configuration...


And for a well deserved rejuvination:

Charles-H. Schulz to assist Mandriva's open source strategy

... Schulz is assisting Mandriva at a time when the company is redefining how it is developing its Linux distribution. After long running financial difficulties, the company decided last month that it would hand over governance of Mandriva Linux to the community. ...

I just wonder if the blazing success of Mageia is shining a good leading light...



Just a small question of your IT freedoms...

IT is what we make it,
Martin


(All just a small part of my personal opinions :-) )

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Thanks again Martin. Appreciated.

---

#resist

Just an ad-hoc roundup of a few fun bits 'n' bytes:


For a brief diversion, has Microsoft unlearnt 40 years of GUI design with its latest and greatest?

Windows 8: Not even Microsoft thinks businesses will use it

... The start menu has gone, but pressing the Windows key now throws the user into a radically different environment with a completely different design, behaviour and even scaling.

This shotgun marriage of two completely different platforms, suited to completely different devices, is completely disorientating. The new Metro environment is designed for small touchscreen devices, and gives nothing to benefit established desktop users. ...

... a step in the right direction.

All Microsoft really needs to do to engage its enterprise customers is drop the Maoist insistence on forcing users into a violent context switch. It can unbind Metro from the Windows key, and for now redesign the Start Menu so it looks something like Start8 (a third-party fix, pictured above). ...



Moving more positively even if sometimes a little dangerously:

SUSE Linux and Canonical invade xxxxWindowsxxxx Azure

What about a Linux platform cloud, Microsoft?

... As has always been the way, Redmond is happy to help an underdog if it gives grief to that market's dominant player in. Microsoft has given money to mainframe cloners to give IBM grief as it pushed Windows Server as an alternative to System z mainframes, and it kicked funding to SCO to help keep its Linux-Unix lawsuits with IBM, Red Hat, and Novell a-going, again to blunt the competition from Linux.

With Windows accounting for half of server revenues these days and not growing very fast, and Linux accounting for about a fifth of revenues and outpacing the growth of the overall server market and of Windows...


UK.gov beats down Microsoft software price hike to 1pc

... Government bodies and agencies will pay 1 per cent more for Microsoft volume licences from 1 July under the newly penned Public Sector Agreement (PSA) 12, The Register can reveal.

This compares to the massive 29 per cent average upswing in prices that is expected to hit commercial organisations in the UK...


Number 10 shuts wallet on closed-source IT projects

Come back when you've read Eric Raymond's The Cathedral and the Bazaar

Government IT projects that don’t explore alternatives to closed and proprietary software are getting kicked back and denied funding.

The civil servant running open source, open standards and information management under No 10’s digital change agenda called such spending controls a “key gateway” in complying with new IT procurement rules.

Those new rules encourage re-use of technology, low-cost solutions and greater use of SME suppliers in the UK public sector's IT shopping catalogue G-Cloud - rather than simply renewing existing IT contracts from systems integrators who control the product code and the customer relationship. ...


Samsung plunges $500k into Linux Foundation

... Samsung joins The Linux Foundation's six other corporate platinum members: NEC, IBM, Fujitsu, Intel, Qualcomm and Oracle.

Samsung's interest in operating systems is not a surprise. As the biggest mobile handset maker in the world, and manufacturer of many other devices including tablets, TVs and white goods, the company has a vested interest in the software on its hardware. We imagine Samsung will be particularly interested in the new Linux for mobile operating system Tizen, a potential rival to iOS and Android. ...


Flame – oversights and expertise made for Windows Update worst case scenario

More information about how Windows Update was compromised is gradually coming to light...


Windows Update compromised

The developers of the Flame superspy managed something that had previously only been imagined by experienced security experts in their sketches of catastrophe scenarios: using the integrated Windows Update to infect Windows systems...


Beyond the BBC Micro

Thirty years ago, the BBC Micro was largely an open system before free software even existed. But the Microsoft monoculture took hold, and IT education was largely reduced to training in Word and Excel. Is a brighter future offered by modern open software and hardware? ...


Sabayon Linux 9

We're once again here to announce the immediate availability of Sabayon 9 in all of its tier-1 flavours. If you really enjoyed Sabayon 8, this is just another step towards World domination...


Significant improvements coming in Linux 3.5

... In the approximately two weeks since Linux 3.4 was released, the kernel developers have integrated features such as...


Well... The "unthinkable" for Microsoft has happened: The Windows Update system itself was compromised and exploited for spyware/malware. Could that sort of thing happen to such as Apple systems or Linux systems?... Possibly... Except that for Linux systems you have each package individually digitally signed by the human packagers themselves, and signed using a system (GPG) that is significantly more secure than mere "md5" hashing. More importantly, you can check and compare and scrutinise the source code for yourself.

Far too much in the news to include here, interest in the Raspberry Pi continues unabated.


Just a small question of your IT freedoms...

IT is what we make it,
Martin


(All just a small part of my personal opinions :-) )

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Thanks for all of this. It was good reading.

I couldn't find much about Sabayon Linux. Even their page didn't give away too much about the OS's roots/guts. Apparently it's a flavor/based off of Gentoo?

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#resist

Thanks for all of this. It was good reading.

You're welcome.

The healthy stream of positive news is in itself a good positive indicator as compared to the 'Marketing-speak blizzard of obfuscation' seen elsewhere...

I couldn't find much about Sabayon Linux. Even their page didn't give away too much about the OS's roots/guts. Apparently it's a flavor/based off of Gentoo?

A good start is always DistroWatch.

There's a summary on 2012-06-09: Distribution Release: Sabayon Linux 9

A good FAQ can be found on: Sabayon Installation

The only important hint is to keep with the Sabayon repositories. You can also use the Gentoo repositories, but you soon will get a complicated Gentoo/Sabayon metamorph that then defeats the idea of the simplicity and ease of updating for Sabayon.


Should be worth giving Sabayon a try.

Cheers,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

While I'm online, a few more snippets:


This is an interesting first push for Linux Mint for a capable yet silent all-purpose system for home and possibly corporate:

Linux Mint joins mini-PC hardware business

Linux Mint, flush with its recent popularity in the distro stakes, is looking to take the pain out of installation with its first hardware line, called mintBox, that comes in smooth and ribbed versions.

"We're passionate about what we do and for our very first Mint device, we wanted something unique, something special and extraordinary. The mintBox is Mint in a box. It's tiny, it's silent, it's extremely versatile and it comes packed with connectivity," ...


Note that the Linux kernel was happily being developed using a Software Change Management system called Subversion. Then, the corporate screws got turned. Linux kernel development came to a standstill and within three months, GIT was born:

For FORK'S sake: GitHub checks out Windows client

Open ... and Shut Just two years ago, Git barely eked out a mention in Forrester's analysis of the software configuration management (or source code management) market, despite a clear trend toward open-source SCM tools. Now Git owns 27.6 per cent of the SCM market, according to a recent Eclipse Foundation survey, with Subversion apparently in terminal decline. Git's success, long driven by its embrace of the open-source ethos of forking, is now set to hit overdrive as it has broadened its appeal beyond command-line-loving elites to Windows developers. ...


New heady heights? This article is over-hyped a little in that the drone autopilot is an Arduino system, also including a Nanode. The RasPi has been added for higher-level mapping and reconnaissance functions:

Raspberry Pi IN THE SKY: Wallet-sized PC is disaster drone brain

A British-led Japan-based group is building a free-software-powered flying robot for use by disaster relief organisations – and at its heart is tech darling the Raspberry Pi...




IT is what we make it,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Today, after a few years of running Linux boxes 24-7, I had a Linux machine freeze up on me.

Funny enough however, it happened when a windows VM was booting and locked up...


;-)

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#resist

Ok, so I already hate Unity desktop. Now I've had the pleasure of trying out Gnome3. What a kludge! So far, after a half hour, I hate it.

I have yet to figure out how to create shortcuts on my desktop.

I guess it could grow on me, but I don't know. And Unity is really no better.

I'm trying out Fedora, I think I may switch the DE to XFCE.
(so far I like yum more than apt :-))`

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#resist

Ok, so I already hate Unity desktop. Now I've had the pleasure of trying out Gnome3. What a kludge! So far, after a half hour, I hate it. ...

Hey! Not so hasty... It's more a case of that it is different...

In any case, you have a choice:

Unity alternatives - the many desktops of Ubuntu

Ubuntu's Unity is far from the only desktop environment available for the distribution. For users who want to stay with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS but prefer another desktop environment, there are plenty of alternatives [desktops] to try. ...


I too am rather unconvinced about a single "unifying" desktop for everything. Unity is certainly good for "mobile devices". However, a desktop or server is definitely NOT a "mobile device".

Perhaps there does need to be a distinction that you can work quite differently when you have the benefit of a LARGE display and a full sized keyboard.

Meanwhile, the Windows8 GUI looks to be an utterly schizophrenic nasty kludge! Has everything learnt about GUIs been forgotten?


IT is what we make it,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Meanwhile, the Windows8 GUI looks to be an utterly schizophrenic nasty kludge! Has everything learnt about GUIs been forgotten?

Bruce Tognazzini Oops, he worked for Apple.

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