Linuxbasix Blog

While this image may not seem like much, it's frigging huge! As you can see, the desktop now displays a cd/dvd icon. Why this was a problem for me on Slackware in the end turned out to be a rights issue in Group. I will have details in the forums later this afternoon. Apologies to the folks on the Saturday LUG, I had previous plans fall through this morning so it altered my day a bit. As a heads up to the Linuxbasix folks overall, it will be hit or miss until the Northeast Linuxfest has come and gone. I am updating the website, writing the documentary and as incredible as it is, planning for next year already! Tentatively it will be held at Harvard University. I hear they sell hotdogs in the cafeteria, not sure, its what I hear. So a lot of irons in the fire.

What we have here are pictures of Winnie the Pooh's house. From what I can gather this was a case of simple vandalism. I know the kicked in door is pretty obvious but what made this crime out of character, no money was stolen and his pot of honey is still there. However what is more sinister, there is no sign of Winnie anywhere! Domestic violence? Did the wife stage this crime? I'm afraid those are questions that will remain a mystery for a while. I had no idea that I worked so close to Pooh's home.

I haven't had too much time to post here given that the Northeast GNU/Linuxfest is just over six weeks away. We've had a good turn out in terms of tables at the event, the speakers list is full to the point where we were considering moving things around to accommodate everyone. I have to say that event planning is no joke, there are always last minute changes, some good, others, not so much. Even before the door opens, we've already tripled the number of reservations, have 10 more tables than last year, have five more sponsors, and its grown to a full day event. Quite frankly, with the expected turnout we may have to find another venue for next year. On a separate note, two weeks ago we have the folks from SCALE on the Linuxbasix show. I was amazed at the schedule they put up, there was literally something for everyone. Not only that but the two guys that showed up (ilan & Orv) are really nice guys who extend their help to anyone else who wants to start a linuxfest. I don't have to wish those guys success because its clear they have made their own. I have only been a part of this community for a relatively short time. however, to see it growing is not only amazing but fun.

I do not claim to know anything about the issues around Sopa/Pipa, luckily I have the Consumerist to guide me through these waters. This is easily one of my favorite sites - THE CONSUMERIST.

Having the guys on from SCALE last night was a lot of fun. Those guys have the right idea, they are all inclusive. This means there is something literally for everyone. SCALE is a major event which is done right. Whether you're an experienced DBA using MYSQL or PostgreSQL or someone who has never used linux there is something there for you. Good luck to those guys, the show is live next weekend in Los Angeles!

The saturday morning LUG was well attended this morning. This is really great news because I hate wasting people time and if we can get people together to solve problems that makes the lug an unqualified success. Thanks to everyone who has shown up and we look forward to seeing more of you folks there! Next week, we'll take a look at firewalls for servers.

Ok, last music post for a little while. I've been going overboard on the youtubes. So, things are really ramping up for the Northeast Linuxfest. We've gotten a lot of supporters in terms of sponsors and the tables are almost all claimed. Some other good news, Jeff Hoogland will be our guest in February to talk about string theory and the economy, wait wrong show, he's going to be talking about Bodhi linux. If you haven't had a chance to look at it, you've got a month to get up to speed. I've put this on my old machine and I think its staying there. I have really enjoyed using this on my ancient laptop.

Among some of the things that were discussed on HPR's marathon special was a passionate discussion of music. I have cleaned up one of my rigs and my guitar and its time to start playing again. I love the fact that youtube completely exists. While I may never play like Paul Gilbert, the goal is to hold my own. We have a lot of talented people in the linux world and they are as diverse as the distros they use. Example - see Dan Lynch of the Linux Outlaws or even our very own Ryanride with his band. I leave you with another Paul Gilbert video, enjoy!

As mentioned I was using my work laptop and I decided to try a few things before I decide what my final OS will be. Much like when I was trying to figure out what would be a good desktop OS for my wife, I went with Fedora because Gnome 3 is not a problem for me and my wife and son use the machine without issue. Not where I expected to go but its a fine OS and I've yet to have any issues at all! Spurred on by the review of Bodhi on distrowatch (don't worry the podcast will be out tonight if you care). The goal is to let it run on old hardware but also make it fly on new machines too. The reason behind using Enlightenment as the desktop was that it requires a measly 128mb of ram, far lower than any of the other stock desktops out there. I'm not giving a full review, you want that go to distrowatch BODHI REVIEW. Bottom line, I loved the responsiveness and how fast the machine boots up and powers off. Midori is the default browser. After spending much of the afternoon with it, my only issue was with the menu. It was a little cumbersome and the items are a labeled differently. Not show stoppers and given time are easily gotten used to. What I really loved about Bodhi? The web-based repository! That's the coolest thing since sliced bread! You go there, find your application and just hit Install Now. Installing extra applications are a breeze. I will come back to this distro.

Pinguy. I am currently using Pinguy on my laptop and no doubt about it, install and go. All my hardware is fine and everything just works. I love the fact that virtual box is a default application. I've only worked with this for a couple of hours but I have loved this experience. I'll give a better run down of this when I've had a chance to give it a better run. Please keep in mind, this is not pitting one distro vs another. In fact I may keep Pinguy on my work laptop which has better hardware, put Bodhi on my really old laptop and keep slackware on my other machine.

Where did the time go? I spent this weekend not doing what I was supposed to do. Not that I had real work to do, but I figured those things left unattended to can be left unattended to until next Saturday. LPI Saturday group is being renamed to Saturday LUG. Its by no means an attempt to replace the Friday LUG but the three or four of us who showed up found this to be a much better time frame for us. All are welcome to show up. Next week we will attempt to configure a firewall. The LPI thread in the forum will still keep going. LinuxDad and myself are still interested in pursuing the cert, however because I have failed in trying to strike a balance of good material and actual admin sessions, they have really fallen far short. I think the more I work with the guts of linux, I'm thinking maybe down the road I will be able to revive the study group and make it really useful instead of gathering people and simply struggle through a few issues. I have been unable to get some of my closer friends to help out, thats just the way it turned out. So, if you can't make it on Friday nights, show up Saturday mornings at 10:00am eastern US.

Ok I tried my best to break the forums, no dice

I added a feature called "Thanks for post", this is a Digg style digital "high five", now you can simple click the on a post and ....

Wala, you show thanks!