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action / linux / software — Comments Off on Ubuntu Feisty Parties all over the World
18
Apr 07

Ubuntu Feisty Parties all over the World

Ubuntu LogoAccording to Ubuntu once Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) is out, there will be plenty to celebrate, whether you were directly involved the release process or just rejoice because the next iteration of the best distribution is finally out.

    April 19, 2007 is the tentative date for Ubuntu 7.04. Many parties will be on this date, or you can pick your own date! Go ahead and put down your favorite pub, park or cafe and celebrate getting Feisty out of the door!

   Ubuntu Feisty Fawn

    get it while its hot :)

    Come and join Ubuntu parties all over the Globe! The schedule of already "Confirmed Parties" are here. 

picture’s source

action / software — Comments Off on Firefox Rise – IExplorer Dies
18
Apr 07

Firefox Rise – IExplorer Dies

According to xitimonitor Firefox is getting 25% share in Europe. That is a huge deal – now every 4th European uses Firefox to browse the www. Here is a chart that shows European Firefox usage per country:

 Firefox Europe Usage

 
    Besides Europe, Firefox wheels spin all over the World, for example in US over 15% of users use Firefox, for Australia it is 25%, almost 12% in South America, over 13% in Africa and around 12% in Asia. Here is a snapshot:
 
Firefox World Usage
 

    There are three more factors that play in favor to Firefox:

  • Everybody wants MAC :)
  • Ubuntu is getting very popular
  • Vista is not exactly going anywhere, while XP is going, but mostly going down

    For somebody who does not do any web development and uses Microsoft Windows products (XP, Vista – well who uses Vista anyway.. ), this may not sound like great news, but for everybody else it is a pleasant "turn around", and it is going towards:

  • Much better browsing experience for people with MAC, Linux, and other non-M$ OSs
  • No more optimizing for IE, including those ugly JavaScript if(IE)/switch(OS) statements, and different CSS

    Yes, the idea is that Internet Explorer will die out the same way it was born – along with Windows
    It will not happen overnight or tomorrow, but it is already happening today…

howto / linux / software — Comments Off on Sexy TOP vs Human HTOP
16
Apr 07

Sexy TOP vs Human HTOP

To check performance of the Unix/Linux box top command is used frequently. This is what top‘s output usually looks like:

 top command on Ubuntu Linux

     While top command is very useful, it has very clumsy "human interface". There is a much better alternative to top – htop which is a free (GPL) ncurses-based process viewer. It is similar to top, but allows to scroll the list vertically and horizontally to see all processes and their full command lines. Tasks related to processes (killing, renicing) can be done without entering their PIDs, and of course htop has a much better human interface that looks similar to:

htop command on Ubuntu Linux

Comparison between htop and top

  • In ‘htop’ you can scroll the list vertically and horizontally to see all processes and complete command lines.
  • In ‘top’ you are subject to a delay for each unassigned key you press (especially annoying when multi-key escape sequences are triggered by accident).
  • ‘htop’ starts faster (‘top’ seems to collect data for a while before displaying anything).
  • In ‘htop’ you don’t need to type the process number to kill a process, in ‘top’ you do.
  • In ‘htop’ you don’t need to type the process number or the priority value to renice a process, in ‘top’ you do.
  • ‘htop’ supports mouse operation, ‘top’ doesn’t
  • ‘top’ is older, hence, more used and tested

    htop is an Open Source project, hence can be easily downloaded and installed on U/Linux system. For example it can be downloaded and installed on Ubuntu with just one command:

sudo apt-get install htop

Be aware!    It appears that although ‘htop’ provides some cool enhancements, ‘top’ remains to be one of the sexiest Unix commands ever according to GOOGLE. Just search for "man top" and along with "Unix Manual Pages for top" get "Man on Top Sex Positions" from GOOGLE. :)

linux / software — Comments Off on Linux 3D Desktop: Beryl and Compiz Reunion
14
Apr 07

Linux 3D Desktop: Beryl and Compiz Reunion

    3D desktop is one of the weakest Ubuntu’s spot, besides of course power management and multiple screen support. And having two independent group of developers (Compiz and Beryl) who used to be a single group before, but now working separately, does not really help. But the good news are they decided to reunite!

3Ddesktops: Compiz and Beryl

    After several weeks of discussion the leaders of Compiz and Beryl have agreed that the two communities shall reunite. This decision is supported by both David and Quinn and represents the majority decision of the administrators and developers in each community. At this early stage not a lot has been decided, but these are the main points of the agreement gathered by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols:

  • Compiz will effectively split in to two divisions: Compiz-core and Compiz-extra.
  • The Compiz-Core division will focus on core functionality. The name of the core package will remain compiz.
  • The Compiz-Extra division, which includes plugins, decorators, settings tools and related applications and their developers, will merge with the Beryl project’s programmers and offerings in these areas to form a new community with the temporary name of "Composite Community".
  • The codebase of the new community will consist of the best plugins, decorators, settings tools and related applications from the Beryl and Compiz communities. We will create a code review panel consisting of the best developers from each community who will see that any code included in a release package meets the highest standards and is suitable for distribution in an officially supported package. Support for existing packages will be continued at least until the first stable release of the new project.
  • The websites of each community will remain up and running until a new, user oriented site is completed. Since the forums are the heart of each community, they will be merged first. Once we have a single community forum we can use it to discuss the additional details, including the name of the new project, as well as setting the goals for the first release.

    The end result of this for Linux desktop users should be a single, united and improved 3D desktop option.

action / cool places — Comments Off on Chopsticks for Masses = Forks for Incapable
13
Apr 07

Chopsticks for Masses = Forks for Incapable

    Non-Asian people are trying – "Ok, I am taking these two sticks, and trying to lift a piece of meat. Ok, I am taking these two sticks, and trying to lift a piece of meat. Ok, I am taking these two sticks, and trying to lift a piece of meat… Oh.. common screw that – give me my fork!"

    Asian people are laughing – "Look, they are eating with forks, how primitive those creatures are. Let us screw with their mind a bit more, let’s give them a chork…"

Chopsticks + Fork = Chork

 

    A clever idea – don’t you find? That is what Asian people, nowdays, call Chork, or "Chopsticks for masses". This training chopsticks will enable all "Asian wanna be eaters" to transition smoothly from something as boring as forks and knives.

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