‘Net Neutrality, Robber Barons and a “Free” Internet
Posted on June 4, 2008
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
A very recent post on PCMech.com touched on something that every Internet user needs to take notice of…’Net Neutrality. While the article, “Metered Bandwidth = Bad Idea” was well written, it only scratches the surface of this important subject.
‘Net Neutrality is the notion that Internet users have the RIGHT to determine what content they view, and the applications they use to view it, on the Internet. Seems pretty logical, but this basic freedom is being threatened — MORE>>
Tags: netneutrality, traffic shaping, Bell Canada, Bell Sympatico, Will Pate, Globe and Mail
WTF Video Of The Week: May 30, 2008
Posted on May 30, 2008
Filed Under WTF Video | Leave a Comment
Jaron Lanier, the father of VR, speaks his mind about the Sony AIBO…
Views at time of posting:739
Tags: WTFVideo, Jaron Lanier, Sony, AIBO
“OS Wars: The Movie” - Cast Of Actors
Posted on May 29, 2008
Filed Under Apple, BSD / Unix, Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft, Windows | 2 Comments
In a not too distant present, at a not too distant Interweb, you will bear witness to one of the greatest dramas of our time. An epic battle between equally powerful forces as they struggle for dominance and the hearts and minds of the “Now” generation. I introduce to you, now, the cast of “OS Wars: The Movie”
Microsoft Windows – Played by Forrest Gump. You couldn’t ask for a simpler OS. Although dim witted, it still manages to find it’s way into world events and controls the known universe. Despite all it’s shortcomings, it still manages to successfully wage war. Primary objective is a world of mediocrity governed by Bubba Gump Apps.
Apple OS X – Played by…the 12 Apostles. Going throughout the land proclaiming the beauty and grandeur of The Kingdom of Apple. Peaceful yet forceful in their convictions. Comforted by their knowledge that there is Life after Microsoft. With the Light of Jobs to guide them, they will eventually find their way to the door of your blog, chat or social network and try to convert you.
GNU/Linux – This evening played by Hannibal Lecter. A cultured, intellectual race with a passion for fine arts and the pursuit of knowledge. Yet, the outward appearance of fine breeding and class mask a darker, sinister side of mayhem and cannibalism. GNU/Linux has a tendency to kill and eat not only those who oppose it, but also their friends and allies. Is all this anger driven by the need to be wanted and loved?
QNX, BeOS, DOS, OS/2 – This rag-tag bunch will be played by the Munchkins. An eclectic group who are fun to play with, fascinating to observe, but serve no relevant or useful purpose.
UNIX – Played by Gandalf the Wizard. An elderly OS of no fixed age or origin. It is the wisest of them all and is endowed with many magical and fantastic abilities. Capable of great things, it does not seek the spotlight. Contented to stay in the background and ensure all is as it should be.
This epic blockbuster will, I’m sure, be played out in forums and comments until the end of time. Who will win? Who will lose? Who will care? Only time and Robert Scoble will ever know…
Finally…a review (or something) of “OS Wars: The Movie” by Chris Ebert & Pirillo Roeper…
Tags: MicrosoftWindows, Apple OS X, Linux, UNIX, OS Wars, Robert Scoble, Chris Pirillo
Order From Chaos: Choosing A Linux Distribution - PART 1
Posted on May 28, 2008
Filed Under BSD / Unix, Linux, Mac OS X, Open Source | 1 Comment
Choosing a Linux distribution from the dozens, if not hundreds, of available options can be a daunting and confusing proposition. What is the best distro? What are the differences between distros? How do I choose? These are all good questions. In this multi-part article, I will give you my opinion and guidelines for choosing.
To start with, it is important to understand a little about the Linux family and the different branches. Most of the distributions out there did not spring up out of thin air. They are descendant from previous generations, each building off the last, each with it’s own philosophy.
Kissing Cousins Opinions may vary, but to me there are 4 different Linux families. All related, yet distinct, branches. I make the distinctions based on the type of application file packaging methods used by each branch.
- Debian based – Debian GNU/Linux was first released in August of 1993 making it one of the oldest distros around. It used dpkg packages and the APT package manager. The design goal of Debian is stability using only free and Open source (FOSS) software. Debian based distros include Ubuntu, Knoppix, MEPIS and Linux Mint (among countless others).
- Red Hat based – Red Hat Linux is another oldie distro, going back to 1994. Red Hat distros use RPM packages and package management system. Major descendants of Red Hat Linux include Fedora Core, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS. The final release of Red Hat Linux was Red Hat 9 in 2002. It has since split into Fedora Core (community supported) and Red Hat Enterprise.
- Gentoo based – Gentoo is a relatively young distro, first coming out to play in early 2002. In my mind, what makes Gentoo it’s own branch is the inclusion of several FreeBSD technologies, including it’s Portage package management system (called Ports in FreeBSD) which is similar to what is used by Mac OS X, FreeBSD and Solaris UNIX. The most popular child distro of Gentoo is Sabayon.
- Slackware based – Another old distribution that dates back to 1993. Slackware’s design goals are speed, stability and to be the most UNIX like Linux distro. It does not have a native package management system (though third-party tools do exist). More popular distros based on Slackware are SLAX, Vector Linux and ZenWalk.
There may be some out there who are asking about OpenSuSE, since it is a major distro used by millions. SuSE is an interesting breed. Originally related to Slackware, it adopted many features of Red Hat Linux over time, including the use of RPMs. For this reason I would slip it under as a descendant of Red Hat.
Finally, there may also be some of you wondering where the *BSDs fit in (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, etc). While similar to Linux, they are not built on the Linux Kernel and are, therefore, not Linux. The *BSDs are, in fact, real UNIX systems.
In Part 2 of this article, I will talk a bit about the criteria one might use to choose a distro and apply those criteria to the different family branches.
Tags: Linux, Choosing a Linux distribution, Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora, Gentoo, Sabayon, Slackware, FreeBSD, UNIX
Order From Chaos: Choosing A Linux Distribution - PART 2
Posted on May 28, 2008
Filed Under BSD / Unix, Enterprise, Linux, Mac OS X, Open Source | Leave a Comment
In Part 1 of “Order From Chaos: Choosing A Linux Distribution” we took a look at the different Linux family branches. In Part 2 we will define some criteria to apply to these branches when deciding on a distro to use.
For me, there are 5 criteria to take into consideration:
Ease of use - At the end of the day a Linux distro needs to be used. Software needs to be installed, patches applied, things changed, configured and tweaked. How easy a distro makes this for you should be a major consideration. This includes actual installation. Ignoring this criteria will lead to many tears and late nights in the future.
Primary use - Some distros are designed to be better at certain things than others. Whether it be for desktop use, servers, network appliances, whatever. Knowing what your primary use will be goes a long ways in helping you choose.
Support availability - Let’s face it, in the world of Linux, it is inevitable that questions will arise. How a distro handles support for it’s products is important. There are many generic Linux help resources available but in all honesty, distros have become so different that it is typically best to go to the source for answers.
Future maintenance - It seems that everyone and their dog want to create a Linux distro. Most start strong and fade away rather quickly. Some never really get off the ground. Will the distro you choose actually be around in 6 months? A year? 5 years? How actively is it being developed?
Criteria Applied
- The Debian Tree:
A) Ease of use – Debian based systems are among the easiest to install and use on a day to day basis. Ubuntu and Linux Mint can be installed, literally, with only a few mouse clicks and basic user information. Add to this the “best-of-breed” dpkg and APT packaging team, and you get a distro that is very easy to use and maintain.
B) Primary use – Like all branches, there is something for everyone. You have eBox or Gibraltar for routers/firewalls or NAS/PDCs, G2Linux for Industrial automation, DeMuDi for multimedia production or the popular general purpose distros like Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Debian itself.
C) Support – In general, the wider used flavors offer the best support. Top dog being Ubuntu. They want you to use their products and do whatever they can to make it as enjoyable of an experience as they can. Debian, itself, has great community support, as does Linux Mint.
D) Future maintenance – Debian has been around for a long time and shows no signs of disappearing. Ubuntu has huge backing as well and should be around for the long term as well, - The Red Hat Tree
A) Ease of use – For the most part Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE and the rest of it’s branch are very easy to install and configure. The RPM package manager works OK but I have had issues with it and “dependency hell”…issues I have yet to experience with dpkg or APT.
B) Primary use – Again, there’s something for everyone. CentOS claims to be compatible with Red Hat Enterprise without any proprietary tools, EnGarde for server use, ClarkConnect for routers/firewalls and the popular general purpose distros like Fedora Core, SuSE and PCLinuxOS.
C) Support – The big players in this tree, like SuSE and Fedora Core, have great support with SuSE having the backing of Novell. Other flavors within this tree may be limited to a smaller core group of distro developers.
D) Future maintenance – The RPM package manager isn’t going anywhere. Unless something drastically changes in the world of Linux there will always be RPM based systems. Which flavors survive is always a debate. For general use, you’ll likely be safe with the large distros. - The Gentoo Tree
A) Ease of use – In all honesty, I am not very familiar with this tree. In terms of being fair, I would suspect that the popular flavors are easy to install. Having worked with FreeBSD Ports, I will say that Gentoo’s Portage packaging system is likely very good and this feature alone makes this tree worth looking at.
B) Primary use – Being a relatively young family, the diversity of child distros is not as great as the other branches. It is interesting to note, however, that there is a flavor designed for the Microsoft Xbox (Gentoox). In general, the all-purpose distros like Gentoo itself and Sabayon will make a good choice for desktop use.
C) Support – Again, not having a lot of experience with this family, I can only speculate that support for the major distros is adequate.
D) Future maintenance – Lacking the long heritage of the other branches, only time will tell what the future will be for this family. With it’s Portage system, though, I would venture to guess that Gentoo and Sabayon will be with us for a long time. They have caught on and have reached that critical mass of community members. - The Slackware Tree
A) Ease of use – Slackware and “ease of use” are terms that usually do not go together. Of all the Linux families, Slackware’s is arguably the most difficult to install, configure and maintain. With it’s focus on performance and stability over easiness, the Slackware tree is probably best suited for more experienced Linux users.
B) Primary use – Most distros within this family are general purpose. Vector and ZenWalk (in addition to Slackware itself) are good choices for intermediate to advanced users. Other distros of note are Austrumi, which will fit on a 50mb bootable business card CD-Rom and Topologilinux which is designed to be run from within Windows.
C) Support – Because these distros don’t have the backing of large amounts of funding, support is usually limited to community maintained forms. This is another reason why this family is perhaps better suited towards more advanced users.
D) Future maintenance – Slackware itself is the oldest still maintained distro. I would say that it is here for the long term. Other distros in this family, it’s hard to say. This is a great branch to the Linux tree, but with people wanting “easy” more and more, the spread of these distros will likely decrease to a small group of dedicated, hardcore users.
Now, for the quick out there, you may recall that I said there are 5 criteria one should use when choosing a distribution, yet I only mentioned 4 above. The fifth one is the most relevant, and I will leave that to Part 3, where I will also do a quick wrap up and offer my “Top Picks” distro list.
Tags: Linux, Choosing a Linux distribution, Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora, Gentoo, Sabayon, Slackware, FreeBSD, UNIX
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