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Nov
13
Linux Preloaded–an Insider’s View
Filed Under Editorial, Ubuntu, linux | 5 Comments
There is a story today that WalMart’s $200 Linux machine running Ubuntu with Enlightenment is sold out and selling like hotcakes. The article links to WalMart’s product page, where it is listed as sold out and filled with glowing reviews. It feels good to see that. I’ve always felt that Linux was ready for general consumption. At one point I got to put my money where my mouth was, but was burned by bad timing. Hopefully the story might interest you.
I managed a regional computer store in Metro Detroit. I had always loved the company, it was one of the few places you could go and actually see the product you were buying. Motherboards were open and available to handle. If you needed it, they carried it. The sales staff was always knowledgeable and helpful. I felt fortunate to work for them, and took over a store in a major regional mall.
I had always wanted to see Linux systems up and for sale. One day the owner and COO were in the store, so I stepped away and fired up Mandriva 2007 Spring on one of the machines. It looked fresh and impressive. Compiz definitely gave the OS a unique look and feel. Based on this, I was given the opportunity to sell Linux systems. The experience was an eye opener.
My initial thought was to go with an underdog. Since Mandriva had been the distro that helped me sell it to the bosses, I thought I would give them a try. I contacted them, they were very nice with a thought out plan. The costs were more than I could justify, though. This was a pilot program, and the costs had to be as close to zero as possible, initially, to justify the experiment. The major selling point was to be able to offer systems where hardware was the only cost. It became apparent that Mandriva would not work, initially at least.
I contacted Novell. I knew how the community felt about them, so I had hesitations. We were also potentially going after the business market, so it made sense. I found out right away that my pilot program was just not big or fancy enough for Novell. I suffered through a condescending phone call basically saying “How cute! When you become a player, let us know and we will work with you!†Never mind the fact that at the time my company was a major regional player that worked on a national scale. I was now 0 for 2.
PCLinuxOS was next. I have always loved PCLinuxOS. Some of my fondest Linux memories were the Mandrake days when Texstar would supply packages. I thought this would be a great opportunity to help the distribution get business cred, and would bring a lot of publicity to my company and PCLinuxOS. I got absolutely nowhere here. I never heard back from anyone. I’ve since read that Texstar is interested in making the distro, but does not care how popular it is. I can respect that, if it is true. It is a great OS. I was now 0 for 3. It was time to stop avoiding the inevitable, and go to Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is on their game. From the minute I first contacted them, they were all over it. The entire time I dealt with them I had a sense that whatever I needed (within reason) they would provide. Costs were going to be zero, initially. They offered a clear cut program that made sense. The only thing they ask in return for outstanding service is one key factor. You can ship Ubuntu, but only Ubuntu. They were very clear about this. It is brilliant, when you think about it. They give you everything you need, and one of the only conditions is that they lock other distributions out. That is good business for Ubuntu.
As the ball got rolling, I put a machine on display in the store. It got a lot of attention. I went high on the specs, thinking people would recognize the good deal the machine was. People responded well, but hesitated to drop $400 on an experiment. We were soon going to offer a full line of notebooks that were certified to run Linux. I decided to drop the specs of the display machine and managed to get it to under $200 without a big hit in performance.
At some point during the Ubuntu plan, I got cold feet and wanted to put Sabayon on the machines. I think what Fabio is doing is nothing short of revolutionary. I have to hand it to him. He was as good, maybe even better than Ubuntu in customer service. He was very clear that whatever I needed, I would get, even to the point of a customized distro. By this point it was too late in the game. Dell had launched the Ubuntu notebooks, and my boss wanted to capitalize on the publicity. My dream of a full line of Sabayon laptops died a quiet death.
I continued to be pleasantly surprised by Ubuntu. Every communication was positive. They were going to help in whatever way I needed. By this point it was a matter of waiting for the notebooks to come in, then there would be a launch with a lot of publicity. I was certain I had a home run on my hands. We finally received the notebooks. I loaded them with Ubuntu, customized the install so it ran Compiz-Fusion and threw a bunch of extras on the install. I was pumped. We had forty notebooks and I knew once the announcement was made, we would sell all forty in one day. I would be a hero.
As my ex father-in-law is fond of saying, “Timing is everything.†Just as I was finishing the notebooks, the effects of the dismal Michigan economy took its toll on my company. Just like that most of the stores closed. In the ensuing chaos, my pet project got buried. Soon I was out of a job. My grand experiment died just as it was being born.
So, I am glad to see WalMart having great success with its Linux desktops. It helps me to feel that I did know what I was talking about, and given different circumstances could have really made a go of my idea. I’m not done yet…
Apr
17
Quick Review: Automatix2 for Amd64 Ubuntu Feisty
Filed Under Ubuntu, automatix2, quick review | 2 Comments
Automatix2 for Ubuntu 7.04 has just been released. What is Automatix2? From the site:
“Automatix2 is a free graphical package manager for the installation, uninstall and configuration of the most commonly requested applications in Debian based Linux operating systems. Currently supported are Ubuntu 7.04, 6.10, 6.06, Debian Etch and Mepis 6.
Our list of supported applications include a whole range of multimedia codecs, burning and ripping software, file sharing software, email clients, VoIP enabled chat clients, browsers, encryption software and a lot more!”
I am running 64bit Ubuntu Feisty. The selling point of Automatix2 for me is that it simplifies getting Flash player running (via 32bit Swiftfox), handling installation of codecs, etc… that can sometimes be a hassle using a 64-bit distro. It helps to make a true multi-arch system without any chroot hassles. It does all of the work. It also provides one place to get everything you want to install for a full featured operating system.
Installation was as simple as clicking a link and allowing Gdebi to install it. You can run it later from Application –> System Tools in Ubuntu and Main Menu –> System in Kubuntu.
Starting Automatix2 brings up an Information screen warning you that it is a crime in the United States to install w32 codecs, libdvdcss and other codecs without paying a fee to the concerned parties. It also advises not installing AUD-DVD codecs if you are a US resident. The land of the free and the home of the brave, baby. You have to agree to this screen to start.
Automatix2 gives you software sections:
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Burning and Ripping
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Codecs and Plugins
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Eyecandy
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File Sharing
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Miscellaneous
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Web Browsers
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Chat Clients
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Drivers
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Email Clients
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Media Players and Edit
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Office
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Programming Tools
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Utilities
Programs include Gaim 2.0 beta6 and Extras, 64-bit Multimedia codecs, 64-bit Sun JAVA 1.6 JRE, Azureus, Frostwire, aMule, Songbird, Mplayer, VLC, 32-bit Skype, Automatix read/write NTFS and FAT32 Mounter, Extra Fonts, KDE Extras, Google Earth, Krusader, OpenOffice Clipart, 64-bit Bluefish and Scribus, KFTPGrabber, 32-bit Swiftfox and Swiftfox Plugins, NDISWrapper, 64-bit Nvidia Driver, KDE Security Suite (includes ClamAV AntiVirus and Guarddog Firewall) and much more. There are other means of obtaining these, but Automatix2 makes it easy. Gnome applications are hidden by default, clicking the “Show gnome apps” button brings up a lot more choices, including VMware Player and Slab (the menu used in SLED 10). There is a description of each program, telling you what it is and what it does.
Everything installed without a hitch. A window opens showing a dialog of what is going on. My only complaint is that it does not provide version numbers, so there is no way of knowing if the Nvidia driver is newer than the one I am currently using, other than exiting the program and using Synaptic or something. Other than that, it couldn’t be simpler. You simply check what you want to install or uninstall, click “Start” and Automatix2 handles the rest.
There are a variety of ways to do what Automatix2 does, but I like its simplicity and ease of use. I continue to lack a lot of free time so I appreciate this program for what it does. If you lack the technical know how to get things installed, or even to know what you are looking for , I recommend Automatix2. It is a fine program. It is so simple, there isn’t much to say about it.
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Oct
30
Quick Links: E17 for Ubuntu
Filed Under E17, Ubuntu, Uncategorized, enlightenment, free software, quick links | Comments Off
I was looking through Ubuntuforums.org this morning, laughing a bit at the disillusionment with Edgy, when I found an outstanding apt source for Enlightenment 17. SeerOfSouls provides third party packages for Ubuntu and Mandriva. I followed the instructions on the site and now have E17 running on Ubuntu. It is impressive. More on that soon. I look forward to switching to my Mandriva partition and checking out his 2007 rpms.
Click here for a link to the Ubuntu instructions.
If you haven’t checked E17 out yet, I recommend it. It really is amazing. It has a lot of shiny stuff, but reportedly will run on low end machines. Fancy eye candy without XGL/AIGLX/Beryl/Compiz etc… Elive is a live cd based on Enlightenment that allows you to easily try out E17. People seem to like it.
Side note: Thank you all for the response to last week’s article. More content is on its way very soon.
Oct
18
Free Ubuntu Video Tutorials
Filed Under Linux Tutorials, Ubuntu, Uncategorized, free software, open source | Comments Off
Are you new to linux and running Ubuntu? Ubuntuclips.org provides free video tutorials. Subjects include:
- Considering Ubuntu? This provides an overview and a few how-to’s for doing things like installing applications
- Ubuntu is Installed, Now what? This shows you how to do various things including copying images from your digital camera or copying files from your MP3 player and more.
- Install tells you how to install EasyUbuntu to get MP3 and DVD support. It also includes a clip on installing the Macromedia Flash Player.
- Photos provides a tuturial on copying images from your digital camera.
- Web shows you how to work with tabs, how to secure your web experience and add extentions to Firefox
- You are also able to provide your own video clips
I am impressed with this site. It is an simple way to show someone unfamiliar with linux just how easy it is, without having to boot into a live cd. It will save me from providing free tech support, I can just send them to this website. With their next release on the horizon, Ubuntu continues to impress. A site like this will only help.