Linux on Desktops? Not in YEARS
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Technical
I recently tried Kubuntu, which is basically Ubuntu Linux with KDE. In short, it’s a nightmare. Let me start with the biggest problem: QTPartition (correct me if I got the name wrong). It had severe bugs: deleting the wrong partition. So I’ve got an extended partition with 3 logical drives. I wanted to “delete” one NTFS partition, add two for Linux, one to mount root, one to mount swap. I double checked to ensure my other partitions were untouched. Sadly, clicking “commit” shows a different picture. Sorry for not having a screenshot, but frankly, that’s what happened. It’s like, you choose to remove E:, it removed D:. Thanks a million! I could only recover some of my files. Some pictures were gone.
Next problem, it turns out that Kubuntu, is a very light distribution. There’s so little applications, not even Firefox. Jeff said other distros come in multiple CDs, but hey, Knoppix had Firefox and a bunch of other apps. Okay, I can bare with that. But, one thing Linux has yet to improve is the installation process. I followed the online instructions to install packages for mp3 support. Instructions were easy enough to follow, but in the package manager GUI app, I tried to select “install” for certain packages, like libxine-extracodecs, it showed BREAK. The installation breaks something, dependency or whatever crap. Nevermind, i saw Bluefish, tried to select it for installation, same result. I havn’t tried “double clicking” on a .deb file, but .rpms sure as hell don’t work. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: linux
Deciding on a Sem Break Todo List
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Personal
Jeff has already got his list ready. I had a reading list some time back, but after some thinking (when I should be studying for exams), I decided to make some changes in plans.
You see, my interests in computer stuff was always influenced by someone. At a young page, my bro’s C programming stuff sorta drew me to computers. In seconday school, Xian Ming doubled my interests in web development. Most recently, a combination of Jinny and Jeff sorta make Linux sooo irresistable for me. Haha..
True, I know it’s more stable, KDE looks kinda cool, Amarok seems better than Foobar, Kopete looks like the best multi protocol IM ever. However, there’s still some problems. You see, I’m planning on exposing myself to an OO language, either Java or C#, for 2 reasons. Firstly, software engineering module next semester would require us to code out the entire project we planned this semester. I have to be really familiar with that language, coz I won’t have time learning it during that semester. I can imagine myself busy helping my teammates. Sigh.. Next reason, Microsoft Imagine Cup. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: life
Virtualization 101
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Technical
I’m writing this post because I’m afraid that some of you don’t really get the idea of virtualization, or more importantly, the benefits of virtualization. The type of virtualization I’m talking about is “Native Virtualization“.
Briefly, virtualization is where you run OSes (known as a guest OS) in a virtual environment. The virtual environment is usually another OS, called the host OS. When you run the guest OS (let’s say Windows XP) within the host, it means the host have complete control over it. It’s like Windows running in a sandbox. The guest OS has no idea that it’s running on another OS, rather than directly on the physical computer.
The benefits? Just think of running the entire Windows XP operating system as an application, say in Linux (as the host OS). You can treat it exactly like any other app, “end task” it if it crashes or hangs, assign resources to it however you wish and of course, you can have multiple “applications” running at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »
Knoppix - Linux Made Easy?
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Technical
Windows seem to be giving me some problems with the network. You see, I’m not sure if this is a problem with Streamyx or my ADSL modem/router, but I need to restart the router at least once a day. However, it got pretty bad these days, averaging about 5-6 restarts a day. It’s kind of frustrating. So when something like that happens, I can’t get online. But, it’s still the same when I restart the router. In short, it’s sort of like my XP’s network layers are corrupted or something like that.
So my hands got a little itchy and I thought, why not try Linux again? My previous experience with Fedora was a total nightmare, it just corrupted my damn MBR. I also tried Knoppix once, but back then, I was using some a USB wireless LAN device which doesn’t come with a driver (for Linux). I’m using a PCI NIC now, so there should be no worries ’bout that. I downloaded the latest Knoppix release (5.0.1), burned it, and simply booted it. Yes, Knoppix is a “live-cd” Linux. No installations required. Just boot from cd ;-) Read the rest of this entry »
Links 2
Posted by Jonathan Ng | Filed under Technical
Linky time again.. hehe.. I didn’t expect Brozar to be such a fake. I can’t do a review on it since I can’t find any reason to try it in the first place. It’s just another IE shell, no, it’s even worse than one:
- New secure browser: Brozar is fake and full of adware
- Why is Apple so secretive?
- Google Revealed: the IT strategy that makes it work
- 21 tactis to improve blog traffic
- The Problem with Threads, doubt I’ll understand much of it.
- A little outdated: Risks and Rewards of AMD-ATI merger by John C Dvorak
