Much maligned as Vista was, two service packs down the lane and it has become reliable enough for my needs. But if one must really toss aside Windows Vista, Windows 7 is probably not the best way to go.

Exorbitantly expensive for all who need any less that full scale compatibility with specialist software suites such as Adobe Creative Suite or Microsoft Word 2007, Windows 7 is trumped by the upcoming Ubuntu 9.10 in four critical areas:

1. Price. Face it - Ubuntu 9.10 is free. And Windows 7 costs a fair amount of money.
2. Performance. I have tried the release candidates of both OSes and I can say with complete certainty that Ubuntu is far faster at all common tasks than Windows 7.
3. Security. Frankly, the only real method you would get a virus into Ubuntu (due to it’s Linux heritage) is if you made a deliberate effort to do so using WINE.
4. Hardware support. Windows 7 has indeed improved in many areas or hardware support - but one fact remains: Ubuntu supports far more hardware out of the box than Windows 7. This is not to say that Ubuntu will support all hardware, but most. I have an averagely dated machine for testing, and Ubuntu picks up all the hardware, while the Windows 7 test run missed the graphics.

Windows 7, of course, has it’s trump cards too:

1. Software. Windows has a greater range of software than all other OSes combined. Reason: Windows has been the desktop OS of choice for aeons and a lot of work has been put into it.
2. Pre-configured PCs. If you’re buying a new PC, chances are that Windows 7 will be bundled with it. With that comes a lot of guarantee, none of which comes with a Linux box.

Note that the two Windows advantages apply to new sets. If you’re already working, or familiar enough with computers to adapt to Linux alternatives to Windows software, Ubuntu 9.10 is the way to go.

I extend the Eid Greetings to all readers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike (non-Muslims must share in the happiness too

Eid ‘Mubarik’!

To be very truthful, I’m interested in seeing what kind of reaction I get: in terms of visits and/or comments.

They do not. And one of the major reasons is that there are some particular softwares that everyone here uses, but cannot be bothered to download for a Linux distro. People in Pakistan do not like the idea of not being able to double click and install, and when they see their favourite apps missing, they don’t bother to enable a repo and download them. They ditch Linux altogether.

Enter SUSE Studio. I’m a SUSE apologist, and nothing could be more exciting then a simple, easy way to build a personalized (or in my case, universitized) Linux distro - one that can keep the people on board the Linux ship longer, until they find out how good it can be.

SUSE Studio is still by invite only, but I got mine fairly quickly (in under a day).

And I went in. Many people in the blogosphere have already commented on how easy it is, how it runs in a browser, and how simple it is to test created distros. TuxRadar has a particularly nice account of the SUSE Studio.

My point is that in under 30 minutes, I had added the necessary repos, added the required software (recommended packages + DCPP, XChat, Blender, some DTP software, CAD, and some others). I also put in some artwork (our logo and wallpaper). But most importantly, I put in place of the license some basic starting instructions for getting up and about with iGIKI OS. I also set some of the fancier network settings that every node on our LAN has.

(The SUSE Config Panel screenshot. Taken from a VMWare guest running Windows Vista on a stock openSUSE 11.1 host)

The Test Drive works extremely well too. After making sure nothing was broken, I downloaded a LiveDVD image.

The result was a beautiful, custom, effortless openSUSE 11.1, that worked flawlessly. And it was a first time build. No second builds needed.

All I can say is that I am speechless in front of the technology Novell has brought to us. It is astounding. The bar has been lowered so much, even toddlers can vault.

My only gripe is the SUSE Studio itself is closed source. Hope you’re listening, Novell!

I have, since, built several distros for different purposes. I would like to share a few tips, that may come in handy:

• For initial testing, build hard drive images. You can then test, and also know what files changed when you ran it.
• Pay particular attention to the Messages in the left hand column. It often helps you avoid bloat.
• The software section is the one to which you must pay utmost attention. That, in all probability, is where any breaking or making of the produced distro will take place.
• Package dependencies are automatically resolved in most cases. However, I have found that some software that calls on E17 repos causes conflict with Gnome libraries. The Message section will notify you - take care.
• Live images test best. No matter which format you want to deploy in, I have found live images to be the best indicator of final performance. Then again, that may just be me.
• Don’t forget to create a new user account in the config section! It looks nice when you can show off to a first timer with a custom login.
• If you enable the firewall and also install some odd-port-requiring server or other networking tools like Samba or Nmap or Cain & Abel or something, then be sure to configure the firewall later through YaST. I have found the default firewall to be VERY draconic.
• (Other tips if somebody suggests them)

Happy building with this great service!

Admitted, we participated only in the rescue leagues, and the results were not quite astounding, a start is a start.

We are already gearing up the next RoboCup. www.projectsaviour.co.cc has the details.

The news, of course, is the creation of a new ‘mystery browser’ (as the blogosphere is labeling it) called RockMelt.

Almost nothing is known about it except for two very vital facts:

1. The people involved in the making of this browser from ‘ground up’ are Tim Howe, Eric Vishria and Marc Andreessen. All of them were involved in the making of the once universal, but now dead, Netscape browser. Marc Andreessen, of course, the creator of Netscape.
   • The point to ponder would be: why is he willing to back a complete underdog and startup in this deadly game?
2. The browser is supposed to be different from other browser. How different, we don’t know. But for one, it will be extremely integrated with the social network Facebook.
   • The RockMelt team is leaking nothing. What unique differences can RockMelt bring in, that will set it up over other existing browsers? Remember, one social browser (Flock) already exists.

Personally, I cannot see why a company would be willing to invest so much money (reportedly many millions of dollars) into a new browser. Browsers are free, and there is not much to be gained unless widespread adoption is reached. Chrome, Safari and Opera are already around, and have very little share.

I wonder what’s RockMelt’s top secret weapon?

Recently, a website of rather interesting organics came to my notice. WPDesigner.com aggressively promotes itself as a site for free WordPress themes and web hosting.

Normally, I would take that with a pinch of salt – there are far too many sites that claim such things are actually nothing such.

This blog, however (because it is technically a blog) is different in that it does list and provide a fairly large list of WordPress themes (some free, some not). At other points, it also provides a large archive of tips and techniques for implementing and maintaining WordPress themes.

The home page lists a set of ranked web hosting services that are known to work well with WordPress. I did notice, however that the page is almost entirely dedicated to this post which comes after a long gap (the last posts being in March 2009). It will be worth checking if this ranking is updated, but for the time being, it is almost surely the best possible list there is.

Disclosure: This is a paid post. That said, the opinions are genuine and honest, and WPDesigner.com is worth a visit, at least in the spam and ad-free state it is right now.

The world has many people. About 7 billion of them. Europe and America has just 897.2 million of them (Source: Wolfram Alpha). And the rest of the world owns plenty of computers.

But this rest of the world is not too rich. Not rich enough to buy and maintain hundred dollar worth Microsoft Windows operating systems. Seems like a perfect opportunity for Linux to pervade, right?

I’ve written before about what Linux really lacks. It doesn’t lack much really. But why does the world in general not use Linux madly?

The answer to this is, of course, piracy. I can talk about my own country. I can safely estimate that there are many millions of computers in my developing country of over 150,000,000. And over 95% of them use one or another version of Microsoft Windows.

Why would any average user want to bother with Linux when he can obtain a pirated version of the latest Windows Vista Ultimate 2 (with service pack 2, of course) for less than half a dollar?

What Linux really lacks is, after all, not an image or brand. It lacks a Microsoft that can enforce anti-piracy procedures in all parts of the world.

So for this round of changes, I have in place Technorati Engage as my top banner and AdsDaq as the rectangle on the right. The inline link ads have been ditched in favour of the more useful SnapShots.

The only retainee, of course, is the SixApart vertical banner, which has been returning an astounding raw CPM of over $0.60 at some points (this, by the way, is far higher than industry standards)

As always, please notify me of any inappropriate ads. If you don’t like the ads, neither do I!

I was using the stable KDE 4.2, and the differences with in 4.3 are obvious and many. The most noticeable, of course, is the completely new ‘Air’ default theme, which, in my opinion is the best default theme for any OS or desktop.

I have just downloaded the binaries for openSUSE 11.1 from the KDE4 repositories. And my first experience is that it is great, perhaps even better than great. The overall pliability and verve of the whole system has gone up. I loved the highly improved response of the whole desktop and the improvements to Dolphin. Some of them are so finely implemented, I wonder why KDE didn’t release them earlier.

(The picture is not my desktop - it’s on the KDE announcement page. I have to yet to check out the widgets properly)

There is complete announcement and changelist back at the KDE website.