Archive for category Geek
Linux for desktop environment sucks
Posted by Jackson Lim in Geek on July 13, 2010
I’ve been a fan of Linux for quite a long time, and our solution works great on Linux. Linux as an operating for server is rock solid, able to handle massive load with low resources and best of all, it is light weight. I can just install a Paris Hilton size of Linux and I’ll have everything I need to get the job done, with none of those expensive maintenance associated with Paris Hilton. I’m so in love with Linux Server in fact, I giggle when I saw people loading up Windows Server at the datacenter.
So when the time comes for me to upgrade my 9 year old Window XP machine, I naturally pick Linux flavored distribution like Ubuntu. I’ve played with Ubuntu when it first launched, it came out almost the same time as Window XP. Before I migrate to XP from Windows Millenium I tried out Ubuntu for 3 months, and back then, the driver support is just not there, the graphical user interface is awful, I have to spend a whole weekend just to make my audio jack work, don’t even get me started with the video card.
But after 8 years, I thought things must have changed a lot in the desktop open source world, I notice that the installation process for Linux server gets a lot easier and prettier, it wouldn’t be as bad as it used to be right? So I decided to go back to the Ubuntu path and give it a shot. Went to Ubuntu website and downloaded the ISO, I know how this work.
Installation
The installation was easy, just click a couple of buttons, check a couple of check boxes and I’m ready to go. It has become so fool proof, I bet even my little brother know how to do it.
Applications
There are tons and tons of app in the Ubuntu repository, more then what they have 9 years ago. But no Microsoft Office, there is a decent alternative called Open Office. It can open any Word document without any hiccups, but don’t expect it to render the tables and font style appropriately, because it just can’t. And if you save the document in Open Office, Microsoft Word can’t render the document properly either, both program don’t play well together.
Gnome User Experience
The latest Gnome interface looks good, for day to day usage I am comfortable with it. The window is sharp, the color is soothing, and best of all you can customize it anyway you want, as long as you are comfortable with the command line interface, and modifying configuration text files.
Bootup time
After 9 years of Window XP, the bootup time for Ubuntu Gnome desktop blows me away. It just take 20 seconds to load up on my desktop, and 35 seconds to shut down, it is unheard of in Windows community. Yes I know Window 7 can boot up and shut down almost as fast, but trust me buddy, after a while my linux will load up at the same amount of time, while your Window 7 will get slower and slower and slower by the day. Just google Window 7 bootup time yourself, some people is experiencing it already.
Audio
When my Ubuntu fire up for the first time, I am perplex as to why there is no welcoming music. I checked the preference and make sure that the volume is all maxed out, then I tried to play my mp3 audio, I can’t because Ubuntu support open standard only. Ok I understand that, I open up the repository to look for the MP3 format, wait for about 2 hours to complete the download while I just sit there staring at my screen.
Alright, the default music player kicks in and start playing the MP3 file, but no sound whatsoever. Maybe I need to restart my machine (Hint: I came from Windows world), when it quickly booted up again, I still didn’t hear any sound. Maybe there is something wrong with my hardware, I pull out my old Window XP hard disk and plug it back in again to test it out. 5 minutes later when Windows loaded up it plays its opening music just fine.
At that point my forehead start sweating, the nightmare I had with Desktop Linux 9 freaking years ago starts coming back to me. I launch my bitch (Google) and start looking for answers. And the following is the steps I troubleshoot my audio problem:
1. Find out my audio card model, I don’t even know the name because I don’t need to when I use windows.
2. Base on the name, I need to Google for any Ubuntu user who face the same problem.
3. Follow their instruction on how to fix it, and if it doesn’t work, maybe it is made in a different year, so try another set of instruction.
The instruction provided in the forum is not something like, double click the preference icon, check this and that, no no no, you need to open up the Terminal, key in a couple of commands and change the configuration file by hand using a text editor. If you are not careful, you screw something up in the configuration file, the whole operating system might not even start, then you are face with a whole new set of new challenges.
It is 2010 mind you, where people are planning to walk on Mars, and I still have to launch a text editor to make my audio jack work?
Video
I have a powerful video card on my desktop, but Ubuntu does not have any suitable driver for my video card. End of story, there are nothing else I can do in this department. I just have to live with a fact that there is 300 horse power sitting quietly inside my machine, doing absolutely nothing. I don’t play any games on my desktop anymore, so its fine, I can live with that, I think.
Reliability
Thunderbird failed to load after 2 weeks, it just can’t handle the amount of e-mail I have in my inbox. Some of my bookmark went missing in Firefox, it never happened to me before in XP, switched to Google Chrome for linux but it doesn’t support java applet, so I just have to live with that. For apps I use for work, its either the app stop working after a while, or the app just doesn’t exist in Linux.
After about a month using Ubuntu, it doesn’t want to boot up anymore, it says the following in the terminal:
“GRUB error: unknown filesystem, grub rescue”
I tried to use partition magic, I googled for solution, I’ve even went as far as to pay for support to get this fix because there are valuable information inside my hard disk, but to no vail. That is the last straw, since then I revert back to Windows XP, and soon after I migrate all my content to Mac OS X.
Linux is a great operating system for server environment where there is no user interface, but for desktop its simply too complicated for average usage, take my audio issue for an example, if this issue happen in Windows I just Googled for a new driver, install it and its done. I don’t have to go to the terminal, look for the configuration file, and edit the configuration file by hand, it is ridiculous.
Linux as a desktop environment simply doesn’t cut it for me. I’m sorry fanboys, I’ve tried, I’ve tried very hard for a month but I just can’t take it anymore.
Thinking long and hard, whether I should convert to Mac
Posted by Jackson Lim in Geek on July 13, 2008
Just the other day I told my dad that the company laptop I am using, Dell Inspiron 6400 is freaking awsome:
I ran 2 VMWare on it (Virtual Machine software, which allows you to run several operating system on top of your operating system, I now it doesn’t make sense to casual PC users to run so many OSs at once, but it is an invaluable tool for developers), both running Suse Linux 10, Firefox 3 and Microsoft Word 2003 and I still can play Diablo 2 flawlessly. This laptop basically satisfy my every need, personally and professionally as a software engineer, the only downside is, it is not mine.
My own laptop has been given to my dad after I got mine from my company, so basically, if something really bad happens, and I should left the company for whatever reason(s), I won’t have any portable machine left to cure my itchy fingers on the go. So obviously, on my next monumental purchase list is a new laptop of my own. I’ve been thinking about getting a Mac since my freshman’s year, because I have no idea how the platform feels like. I heard a lot of good stuff from fans, how fast it is, how safe it is, and how cool it looks (although I personally don’t really care about that), but I really want to lay my hands on it and try it out on my own.
But at that time, my perception on Apple’s child is, Mac is for rich people because it is so freaking expensive, and Mac operating system will not be able to support all the software that I love from Windows. But three years later today, my perception on Mac has changed entirely. Bellow is the price for a Macbook today (as of 13 July 2008, data from machines.com.my):
The black one is what I am really interested on, if you want to check out the spec for yourself please click here. Although Dell Laptops are comparatively cheaper then Macbook with the same spec, Dell Laptops doesn’t come pre-install with Mac OS X Leopard, in retrospect, I can choose to install Windows on Mac OS natively. Yes you got that right, you can now use Macbook as if it is a Windows Laptop, not with Virtual Machines mind you, Natively! Now that is a very big deal for consumer like me, because I am not quite ready to take the plunge and go Mac OS all the way just yet, and I don’t really hate Windows XP SP3.
In addition of a new experience and knowledge gained from using a Mac, and the benefit of running Windows on the laptop itself, it is enough for me to justify the price tag. The only downside is the graphic processor is pretty weak on the Black Macbook, it uses Intel GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory. I won’t be able to play 3D intensive games on it, but I always have my trusty psp on my side, plus who really play hi-end games on their laptops anyway? if you do please consider to buy a desktop instead, unless you have too much cash in hand and willing to buy a new laptop every six months!
I’ll be using my laptops primarily for Web and Software Development, which I think the Black Macbook will shine and perform flawlessly with those spec, but occasionally I need to do some graphic work which I foresee the Black Macbook will suffer some hiccups for this sort of work. I understand that there will never be a perfect laptop, or any sort of gadget unless you built it your own to suit your own needs, the question here is whether I am willing to live with it for many years to come.
I am talking about a gadget that will cost me a few thousand bucks, which is almost equivalent of my 2 months salary, and I think it deserve some major consideration before I make any drastic moves.
I’ll keep you posted if that drastic move happens, and that is a big IF.
PHP Galore : Slipperylips Launched
Posted by Jackson Lim in Geek on July 8, 2008
Lately I have been busy developing my own content management system (CMS) that will soon replace WordPress, I’ve been using it for over 2 years. There is nothing wrong with WordPress, in fact I am impress with its features and the amount of add-on that the community offers. The main reason why I choose to develop a CMS of my own is because I really want to learn PHP, and in my experience there is no faster way of learning a new programming language than to pick up an interesting project and get your hands dirty.
It took almost 2 week of my spare time to develop, and this is the end result. If you have a sharp eye, you should be able to notice the flaws instantly, my CMS is still not smart enough to understand what an empty line is, moreover, it doesn’t even understand when the content is too long, break it into 2 page or more. You might be asking, why do I want to release an incomplete product?
Base on what I’ve learned from my job experience, once you have set a due date, stick to it no matter what, if not the product will never get launched. The logic behind it is that the developer, yours truly, will keep on working on the project until it is perfect, and that could take months, or even years. I could lose my job if I didn’t commit to my job 100% for that long, plus I won’t be able to see any results, which will eventually pull my motivation down, and if that happen, it might never get done!
Once the important modules are completed, such as the user authentication, I post it up immediately. And sure enough, I hit a couple of road block which can be easily solved during this stage of development. If I wait until it is “perfect”, it could take me another few extra week to fix the bug.
I still have quite a number of things to work on the CMS such as auto paging and dynamic link, I think it is a good idea to stop working on it for a while, and really concentrate on my job, if not my boss will kick my ass!