A few days ago, DeviceGuru posted a suggestion for Ubuntu (or an open letter to Mark Shuttleworth as DeviceGuru calls it.) The basic idea is that the various Ubuntus (Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, etc.) should all use the name Ubuntu something edition. The idea is great in theory, but I see a few problems with the names DeviceGuru suggested. The biggest problem is they sound like Vista’s version scheme where they are all basically the same except some features are removed from the less expensive ones. This can be fixed by making the name clearly show why you would want that edition, not some other. Here are the names DeviceGuru suggested and my thoughts on them:

(DeviceGuru’s names are in bold.)

Ubuntu GNOME Edition This should just be called “Ubuntu.” Shuttleworth or whoever made the decision already decided that GNOME will be the default desktop environment, there is not need to confuse things. (In fairness to DeviceGuru, he did say aka Ubuntu, so we may be in agreement on this point.)

Ubuntu KDE Edition The problem with this is that the letters k, d, and e mean nothing to most people. How would you know if you want the g, n, o, m, e or the k, d, e or the x, f, c, e edition? I am not really sure what this one should be called, but perhaps something like “Ubuntu Alternate Interface Edition”? That is a terrible name, but at least it sort of makes sense.

Ubuntu XFCE Edition See “Ubuntu KDE Edition.” The problem here is exactly the same. One possibility is to name it something like “Ubuntu Light Edition,” but to someone coming from the Vista world that would probably mean a less-expensive version that has so many features stripped out you might as well just use a previous version of Windows. Possibly Light Edition could be used if there was a sentence of explanation attached, or something like “Ubuntu for Old Computers.” Again, that is a terrible name, but it makes sense.

Ubuntu Educational Edition Once again this could be confusing for someone used to the world of proprietary software. Often companies will sell a special “Educational Edition” that costs less but cannot be used for commercial work. Something like “Ubuntu School Edition” or “Ubuntu Learning Edition” might work but again I don’t really like how either of them sound and School Edition could still be interpreted as an “Educational Edition.”

Overall, I support the idea of changing the names of the various Ubuntus, but they should all make sense to anyone no matter what their experience level is.

Also, I have to point out that this is a perfect example of how open-source works. Someone posts a suggestion and people think it is good so it gets attention.

With the gPC, the Shuttle PC, and now the new Mirus PC (Linspire/Freespire PC,) the market for $200 Linux desktops seems to be getting filled up with a lot of something-PCs that all seem about the same at first glance. When you look carefully at the specs and the marketing behind each PC, though, you can see the niche it is targeting. Lets start by looking at the basic specifications for each product:

Mirus PC
Processor: Intel Celeron D 420 1.6Ghz
RAM: 1GB
Hard Drive: 80GB
Optical Drive: CD-RW
Accessories: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

gPC
Processor: VIA C7-D 1.5Ghz
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Drive: 80GB
Optical Drive: CD-RW
Accessories: Keyboard, Mouse, Speakers

Shuttle PC
Processor: Intel Celeron Something
RAM: 512GB
Hard Drive: 60GB (Shuttle told News.com 60GB or 80GB which I suspect means that 80GB will be an option that costs more.)
Optical Drive: None
Accessories: None

So what is each one the best for? The Shuttle is great for someone who cares about the appearance of their computers. It is a very small form factor PC and it looks very simple, clean, and generally well polished. Unfortunately, the specs are not so great. The lack of an optical drive in particular could be a big problem the next time you want to, well, do anything with a CD. In terms on raw power, the Mirus PC wins with its 1GB of RAM. The gPC is in the middle in terms of the specifications, but it advertises itself as the “green PC,” showing off the VIA processor and other unusual hardware. As a summary:

The Shuttle looks the best, but lacks in hardware, the gPC advertises itself to the eco-conscious, and the Mirus wins in the performance category.

I am sure that by now everyone is aware of the problems people have been having with Vista and the reluctance of businesses and home users alike to move from XP to Vista. Microsoft has already given XP another 6 months to live before it will no longer be avaliable for purchase and people will be forced to move to Vista, but people still want more. With the end of life for XP coming up soon, even with the delay, InfoWorld has started a petition to “Save XP.” Who knows how much success this petition will have, but I will be very surprised if Microsoft agrees to continue to sell XP forever, essentially admitting Vista was a flop. The effort that goes into this petition and other requests to “Save XP” might get the death of XP delayed for another few months, but not another five years, or however long it takes Microsoft to come out with the next version of Windows. It looks like everyone is stuck moving to Vista - or open-source software, where this problem could not possibly exist.

Take Ubuntu or any other open-source project, you can still get every version they ever released. For that matter, you can probably get every single beta they ever released. No one had to petition them to do that, that’s just how open-source software works. Better yet, if you do, for some strange reason, decide you want to use the very first version they ever made (or any version,) you are free to do anything to the code you want, so you can keep issuing security updates if you need to support a big business. If you wanted to use an old version of Windows, you would basically be stuck using an un-patched operating system. I am sure someone is saying right now, “but there aren’t any viruses for old versions of Windows anymore.” Actually, stories of old viruses popping up again are quite common. I remember recently a virus that was designed to spread on floppy disks got put on a bunch of computers and infected them.

When there is just one dominant closed-source vendor, users are at the mercy of a single corporate entity. If you don’t like what that entity is doing, tough luck. With open-source, you can modify and use the code however you want, whenever you want, no matter what.

It appears that JVC is the latest company to sign a “patent deal” with Microsoft, according to Information Week. Although the terms of these “patent deals,” which Microsoft has made with a number of companies including Novell, Linspire, Xandros, Samsung, LG, are unclear, it appears that these deals are basically an agreement that Microsoft will not sue the company and its customers for using Linux, which Microsoft says it can do because Linux, according to Microsoft, infringes on 42 of its patents, which it will not name. You would think that this would be a simple issue of either the applicable teams fixing the problem(s) or a court case, but instead of allowing this to happen, Microsoft is refusing to tell anyone which of its patents it believes Linux infringes on, making it impossible for anyone to know if these patents even exist.

Since the first patent deal, which was between Microsoft and Novell, these deals have not received enough attention. It seems to almost not be news that Microsoft has collected more money from another company through a scare tactic. If Microsoft truly has important patents which Linux clearly infringes on, it would be in their best interest to revel them so that these companies know that they have to pay Microsoft money in order to avoid a very expensive law suit. This basically means that Microsoft either does not have the patents they keep talking about, the patents are on things that are so small they could be fixed before a law suit got started, or it is ambiguous if Linux really infringes on the patents. Whatever it is, Microsoft is essentially playing the big bully and making companies pay them just because they can.

After all the buzz the gPC received for being a $200 Linux-based computer available at Wal-Mart, I am both surprised and disappointed to see how little attention a new inexpensive Linux desktop that brings the price even lower while providing better hardware and software is getting. The new PC is a collaboration between Linspire and Mirus Innovations.

When I first saw the press release for this new PC, I assumed that this was just a rip-off of the gPC. While this PC may have been inspired by the gPC (and I suspect it was,) it combines a (slightly) less expensive price point, better hardware, a real Linux distribution, and legal proprietary codecs.

So starting with the hardware, lets see what is new here. There are two major differences compared to the gPC. First, the Linspire PC (as I am going to call it) comes with a full gigabyte of RAM, compared to the gPC’s 512 MB. Second, it also includes an Intel Celeron processor whereas the gPC includes a VIA processor. Together, these upgrades make the Linspire PC a solid PC for everyday usage. While you could argue that the gPC was too, it was borderline.

On the software side, the Linspire PC comes with Freespire 2.0, a well-known and respected (at least until Linspire made their patent deal with Microsoft) Linux distribution. While you might say that the gOS was also a real distribution, it does not have the testing and backing of Freespire. To further increase the appeal of the software, it comes with legally licensed propriatary codecs to play most media files out-of-the-box.

As you can see, there are multiple reasons why this PC is a better PC than the gPC. While none of the changes mentioned above would be news-worthy on their own, the combination of all of them creates what should be an excellent computer. The problem is, it just does not have the buzz of the gPC. Hopefully, that will change.

For more information on this new PC, see the press release.

While I was looking through the Linux news, I read a Linux.com article that criticized CNR, a website that lets you download a small file that can be installed with one click for both open-source and commercial applications on multiple distros. The article cites a number of bugs and missing features as reasons why CNR is still a “work in progress.” Some of these issues are big (no way to uninstall software with the CNR client) and some are small (old version of some applications.) While it is true that CNR is not perfect, I am convinced that CNR or a similar piece of software is the future of application installation on Linux and possibly on other operating systems too.

On a regular basis I see both complements and complains about how software installation is handled under Linux. On one hand, a lot of people (myself included) like how everything is in one place and can be installed with a few clicks. On the other hand, though, many people find that parts of the installation process such as selecting the package name or knowing which file to download (.rpm, .tar.gz, .deb, you get the point) can be difficult and confusing. This is why I believe that one-click installation systems like CNR are the future of Linux installation. All the applications are still in the same place, but there is only one type of file to download, not many.

Of course, this does not fix the problem for applications that are not part of this one-click install system. Ideally, these applications would be able to make their own small file that could be installed just like the files from the official one-click install website, with a warning about them not be tested, of course.

Despite any bugs that may exist in current implementations, CNR and similar systems are the future.

Just a few hours ago, Apple announced a much-rumored new product - the MacBook Air. If you have not already seen the news, the Air is basically a 13.3″ MacBook Pro that is really thin. I hate to give Apple any more hype since they are already so good at making hype, but this thing really is thin. I am sure you are wondering why I am writing about an Apple product on a Linux site. Well, since both the Air and the Eee are considered ultra-portables, they potentially have an effect on one another, so I decided to figure out (or at least guess at) what that effect will be and whether it will benefit or hurt the Eee PC.

The most obvious way the Air could effect the Eee PC is competition. Logically, since both are ultra-mobile PCs, they would compete with each other, right? Not really. The Air is almost $2000 and comes with high-end components compared to the Eee’s minimal resources and $400 price point. Additionally, the Air has a 13.3″ screen compared to the Eee’s 7″ screen. Even once the Eee comes out with larger screen models, they will still be far, far smaller than the Air. Both of these factors make it very hard for the two products to compete.

Even if these two products do not directly compete, they could still generate hype for each other. For example, someone who sees an article about the Air might become interested in a small laptop and look for something less expensive, leading them to potentially buy an Eee PC. In that example, Apple’s amazing marketing ability (you really can’t argue about Apple being great at building hype) is benefiting the Eee PC, but the other question is could the reverse happen? I don’t think so. Someone looking at a very inexpensive tiny laptop, the Eee PC, is not likely to become interested in a higher-cost alternative.

While many Linux users may be frustrated when the Air dominates all the technology news for the next week, it is worth considering that the Air will probley generate many additional sales for the Eee, already Asus’s most successful product.

A couple days ago, I helped a friend install Ubuntu on an old Dell laptop that was cluttered up with all the stuff that gets on a machine after years of Windows usage. He was so impressed at what a difference it made that I decided to let him explain what happened:

I was preparing for an upcoming business trip for which I needed a functional laptop computer. For the rare times I had a casual need for a laptop recently, I had been using a four year old Dell Inspiron 600m that I inherited from my son. He’d given it to me when it started to behave strangely and he had opted to get a new computer.

When I first got the Dell, I ran Norton System Works and it cleaned up enough errors in the registry and whatever to make the machine usable. However, it remained an “ugly” computer for a variety of reasons:

1. There was a tremendous amount of clutter from data and programs that were no longer in use. This clutter started with the “crapware” that came with the machine, and had been added to over the years. The 30 GB hard drive now had about 3 GB remaining free.

2. Every bootup caused a certain Lego program to start, and I had to click “exit” to make that window go away.

3. Every bootup produced an error message that a certain DLL was missing. My son told me that the DLL belonged to a program he had long ago removed, but something in the system still thought it needed to find that DLL.

(more…)

One thing about open-source software that bothers me and, apparently, plenty of others too, based on the fact that this story has gotten 704 diggs so far, is how many open-source projects seem to market themselves to geeks and developers. Yesterday, I wrote about how KDE 4 did the marketing right, advertising the features users care about not the features developers care about. Today, a different post (Here is the original post, the site went down but the post is pasted into a comment at Digg.) that talks about how Ubuntu could improve their release marketing received a lot of attention. I absolutely agree that Ubuntu (and other projects) should make their marketing more eye-catching and user friendly and I came up with a possible way to make this happen in the future.

Open-source software is all about the community doing everything openly, so it seems to make sense to ask the community to come up with the text (and pictures) of a user-friendly release announcement. Instead of having one person write it all, though, I think anyone who downloads and tries the beta/RC releases should be encouraged to write a paragraph (and optionally include a screen shot) about their favorite feature of the new release. This way the users can write the release announcement for the users instead of the developers trying to write the release announcement for the users.

The submissions could than be voted on and compiled into a release announcement that would advertise the coolest features, not the boring features. Additionally, that same material could be used again in other promotional material.

I suspect someone else will have an even better idea than mine, but at least this post should get the ideas rolling. Hopefully, by the time Hardy Heron is due to be released, this problem will be solved and the amazing features of Ubuntu, or any other distro, will be shown to everyone.

Often when a new distribution of piece of software comes out in the Linux community, the feature list looks something like this:

• Updated package blablabla to 1.4.00.10
• Fixed bug in <name of other package>
• Added support for random hardware x through qjidjf 2.3.00.1

Ok, its not quite that bad, but it could be a lot better. If Linux is going to attract general users, it needs to start advertising the “cool” features, not the under-the-hood tweaks.

KDE 4 did this really well. The release announcement, while also talking about some developer-oriented features, is mostly about the over-the-hood changes, the changes the users care about.

Although it seems like a small thing, advertising features that users care about is an important step to spreading open-source software and Linux.