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March 27, 2004

CD Burning in Linux

I try to explain how far Linux has come as a desktop operating system to people all the time. Most people don't believe me or say that Windows has 95% of the market and that no OS will ever take away that from them, so they couldn't care less what Linux can do. Well, after seeing and using applications like K3b for Linux, I honestly think that these people will be singing another tune in the near future.

So, here are two screenshots of K3b that I thought I would share. This is from when I was burning Fedora Core 2 Test 1 earlier today. Notice how K3b automatically checks the Md5 sum and displays it for you to check to make sure your ISO is proper before burning? I don't think I've seen a Windows burner that does that yet. Also note that the interface is very clean and make sense. I have a friend who says his 87 year old grandmother can use Windows, but couldn't use Linux. I say with an interface like this, she needs to get new glasses and take another look.

Configuring K3b to burn an Fedora ISO.

Burn successful! Perfect Fedora CD ready to boot!

I love Linux and open source software.

Posted by ed at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)

Mandrake a go-go

Soon, my Mandrake experience will end. While I love the distribution and the 2.6.x kernel, I can't live without Gnome.

It seems as if Mandrake 10 Community is having a rather big issue with Gnome at the moment. I've installed it twice since the day that I downloaded it, and Gnome has screwed up on me twice. I've been using KDE for the past couple of days, but the honest to goodness truth is that I simply can't stand it. Everything is just too fucked up in KDE for me to ever consider using it as a primary Window Manager ... at least for the time being.

So, I decided that I'm going to give Fedora Core 2 Test 1 a try. Yes, I know that I've been having problems with one release candidate, so why am I jumping to another? Well, I want to stay with the 2.6.x kernel if I can. I just can't help myself... I've become very spoiled with it's speed and stability. Too bad that Gnome doesn't have the same stability that the 2.6.x kernel does in Mandrake 10... I'd probably stick with it.

So, I'm in the middle of downloading the last two of four CDs for Core 2. I'm hoping that it's a stable build, but I'm not going to be keeping my fingers crossed. I figure that if anything, I can use the beta and be a bug reporter ... my way of giving back to the community. I've wanted to do something for the longest time to give back, but there's nothing that I can really think of other than to try to help spread the word of open source and to use open source products.

It sorta makes me feel weird to be such a big supporter and advocate of open source, yet here I've just purchased new Dell servers with Windows 2003 and I'm using Active Directory. There's not a bit of open source software on any of my new servers. Kinda makes me feel all dirty inside. The real truth is, however, that our corporate offices are much more familiar with Windows servers than Linux servers, and from what I hear, all corporate will be making a transition to AD sometime in the near future.

Oh well... I stll like the idea of Linux on the desktop. Maybe one of these days I'll put it out there somewhere for someone to use and see if they notice a difference. I'm sure I can modify a system enough to where someone wouldn't even notice a difference. Also makes me wonder if iNews will run in Wine.

Posted by ed at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)