Practical Technology

for practical people.

January 21, 2009
by sjvn01
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Liberation fonts for Linux

I was reminded yesterday that just because I know something, doesn’t mean that everyone knows it. This time it was some friends who really didn’t like their current fonts in Ubuntu and OpenSolaris respectively. So, I suggested that they try Red Hat’s open-source Liberation fonts. To my surprise, it turns out they didn’t know about them.

Well, let me tell all of you about Liberation fonts. These are, to my eye, very clean, attractive fonts for both screen and print use. Red Hat designed them together with Ascender Corp., a leading commercial developer of fonts, to develop font sets that were metrically equivalent to the major Microsoft fonts.

Red Hat and Ascender were successful. There are three sets of Liberation fonts: Sans (a substitute for Arial, Albany, Helvetica, Nimbus Sans L, and Bitstream Vera Sans), Serif (a substitute for Times New Roman, Thorndale, Nimbus Roman, and Bitstream Vera Serif) and Mono (a substitute for Courier New, Cumberland, Courier, Nimbus Mono L, and Bitstream Vera Sans Mono). Specifically, Sans is closest to Arial; Serif works best as a replacement for Times New Roman; and Mono is a near-twin to Courier New.

These fonts are licensed under the GPL+font exception. What that means is that you can use them in any document on essentially any desktop operating system without having your document fall under the GPL or any other licensing requirements.

The Liberation fonts, which are currently at version 1.04, can be used for all purposes. They now come with full hinting capability. Hinting adjusts font pixelization so that the fonts render with high quality at both large and small sizes. In short, whether you’re just reading friends’ Twitters or publishing a book, Liberation will work well for you.

Most, but not all, Linux distributions now come with Liberation fonts. To see if you already have them, just use your usual package manager, such as OpenSUSE’s YaST; Debian/Ubuntu’s Synaptic; or Fedora’s PackageKit manager, to see if they’re installed. If they’re not, just grab them and let the package manager install them for you.

If you need to install these fonts manually, the instructions in this Linux Journal article are still good. For the BSD Unixes, the FreeBSD Handbook will give you the guidance you need. Finally, for Solaris and OpenSolaris, you can just follow the instruction in the section labeled "Adding Fonts to Your Account" in Adding True Type Fonts to Solaris.

Once the fonts are in place, you can choose to use them in your desktop environment or program using its usual font selection tools. Personally, I’m fondest of Liberation Serif, but regardless of which one you pick, I know you’ll find that this trio of fonts makes all your computer uses easier on your eyes.

A version of this story first appeared in ComputerWorld.

January 19, 2009
by sjvn01
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The best three Linux introductions for beginners

A friend of mine, who knows Windows well, recently told me that he was going to give Linux a try. On a recommendation of a friend, he was going to start with Sabayon Linux 4.0. Oh dear. It’s not that Sabayon is a bad Linux distribution. It’s, in fact, quite a good one. To me though it’s a Linux pro’s Linux instead of one that’s well suited for a newbie.

From where I sit, a new Linux user needs a Linux that’s close enough to the desktop they already know-almost always Windows-so they can quickly start using it. That way, they can clearly see the benefits of Linux, such as its stability, security, and speed, without being slowed down by the need to learn new ways of doing things.

The easiest way to start is to buy a PC that already has Linux installed on it. That way, all you have to do is turn it on. All the major vendors have at least one Linux PC, laptop, or netbook for sale these days.

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January 15, 2009
by sjvn01
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It’s time to start issuing PC licenses

If you think I’d about to make fun of Windows users because one in three of them haven’t patched their PCs for a known security hole, which has been used by the Conficker worm to infect more than a million Windows PC in 24-hours, you’d be wrong. I’m also not going to make fun of Ubuntu Linux, because one Dell user couldn’t get Linux to connect to the Internet or run a word processor.

No, what I think both situations show is that the most common problem with PC today is between the monitor and the keyboard, aka Joe User.

Joe, you see, is dumb. You’d think that in the 21st century with no one under the age of 40 able to remember when there were no PCs and no one under the age of 30 who can recall when there was no Web, that we’d be over basic computer illiteracy. You’d be wrong.

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January 15, 2009
by sjvn01
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Why Linux will crush Windows 7

‘ve been toying with Windows 7 for a few days now. I’m not ready yet to talk about it in detail yet, but I can say that it’s better than Vista SP1. Of course, saying 7 is better than Vista isn’t saying much. However, I recently read a Network World column, which claims that Windows 7 will crush Linux. Yeah, and the Detroit Lions are going to win the Super Bowl this year.

Desktop Linux is moving forward. All the major computer vendors are now selling at least one PC, laptop or netbook with Linux. Many, if not most, PCs and netbooks will have SplashTop Linux soldiered right on their motherboard in 2009. Netbooks, the new hot computer model, often have Linux running on them. And, oh yeah, some company named Google seems to be making some interesting moves with Android Linux on netbooks. Oh, and have I mentioned that Windows’ market share has actually dropped below 90% of the desktop market.

Windows 7 also isn’t going to make friends with today’s XP users. True, lots of people seem to really like Windows 7 at this early stage. I think what we’re really seeing though is just Windows users who are thrilled that 7 hasn’t proved to be a total waste of bytes the way Vista was.

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January 13, 2009
by sjvn01
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The real (sort of) $100 laptop

Once upon a time, we were all excited about the $100 laptop, Nicholas Negroponte’s OLPC (One Laptop per Child). While the OLPC did eventually see the light of day, it never did make the $100 price. Instead, OLPCs retail for about $200. Dell, however, will sell you an Inspiron Mini 9 netbook for only $99.

There is, however, a catch. To get the Mini 9 for $99, you have to sign up for a qualifying two-year AT&T LaptopConnect agreement of $60 a month or higher. If that sounds a lot like a mobile phone deal, you’ve got it in one. Dell and AT&T want to find out if people are ready to treat PCs just as if they were cell phones, where you’re really paying for the service instead of the device.

I predicted that Dell was going to explore this service/purchase plan for the Mini 9, a while back and now the deal is here. And, you know what? I think it’s a decent one.

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January 11, 2009
by sjvn01
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SCO: Garbage Time

From the very start, anyone who paid attention to SCO’s attempts to throw a spanner in the Linux works, knew that they had no case. Over the years, I’ve covered their decline from the last major x86 Unix power to an industry joke. And, now SCO’s story is almost over.

It’s garbage time now for SCO. Those of you who follow basketball know exactly what I mean. This is when the winning team, Linux, and its chief champions in the SCO lawsuits. Novell and IBM, can send in the reserves from the end of the bench. SCO’s lawsuits are smashed to bits.

As the clock ever so slowly winds down, SCO is now dumping what was once its heart, its Unix OpenServer and UnixWare business, and its newer mobile software, to continue its forlorn lawsuits. SCO has filed a new reorganization plan with the federal bankruptcy court in Delaware on January 8th.

CEO Darl McBride explained this latest twist in a public letter. McBride explained that, “SCO has been working over the past nine months with several investment groups to formulate an investment plan. With the tightening of the world financial markets, it has been difficult to secure a plan sponsor prior to the restructuring plan filing deadlines.” You think? “However, SCO continues to work with investment groups who could potentially come forward with an investment plan to acquire certain SCO assets.”

Actually, SCO has been looking for someone foolish enough to pour money down its legal rat-hole for over a year. Last February, SCO thought it had found its patsy, Stephen Norris & Co. Capital Partners and its Arabian oil billionaire friends. These buddies of Bill Gates backed out of the deal and SCO has been looking for an idiotic investor ever since.

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