Practical Technology

for practical people.

February 4, 2009
by sjvn01
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Ubuntu Server Linux is for business

When you think Ubuntu, you probably think of an outstanding, easy-to-use desktop Linux. You probably don’t think of Ubuntu as a server operating system. Maybe you should.

In a recent survey, conducted by Canonical, Ubuntu’s parent company, and the research company, RedMonk, they found that Ubuntu Server Edition is being used for all the usual infrastructure and edge services you expect from a first class server operating system: Web, database, file, print, back-up and mail serving.

That, I expected. Linux has owned edge server jobs for years now, and Linux is also usually strong as an infrastructure player. What did surprise me though was that larger companies, with more than a 1,000 employees are also using Ubuntu in clustering, batch processing, and data mining. That’s the kind of work I usually see Red Hat and Novell SUSE doing, not Ubuntu.

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February 3, 2009
by sjvn01
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Microsoft’s long, slow decline continues

Yes, yes, we know Microsoft rules; no other company will ever knock it off the top of the software mountain, etc., etc. History tells us that no business is immune to the decline of age and Microsoft is proving to be no exception.

You’ll find the latest proof of this at Net Applications’ January 2009 Web site usage numbers by operating system. There, you’ll see that Windows is continuing its slow fall from total desktop operating system domination.

Windows’ fall has been happening now since early 2008. Microsoft was running scared well before then though as Jim Allchin, former head of Microsoft’s Vista program, said in 2002, “we are not on a path to win against Linux.”

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February 3, 2009
by sjvn01
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Debian Linux is finally – no really! – getting close to release

An open-source truism is: “Nothing is released until it’s ready.” Well, sometimes that’s true and sometimes you have situations like the one with Debian Linux’s next release: Debian 5 “Lenny.”

First, the good news: Debian 5 really is close to arriving. On January 31st, the Debian developers announced that Lenny’s second release candidate was now out. Debian programmers tell me that really should be the last one and that the final version should be out by Valentine’s Day.

So, what took them so long? Lots of things, but, as usual with Debian, mostly arguments.

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February 1, 2009
by sjvn01
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MEPIS 8: So close you can almost taste it

One of my favorite Linux distributions, MEPIS is almost ready with its latest release: 8.0.

MEPIS 8.0 could have been out by now but chief programmer, Warren Woodford, explained, “I apologize to anyone who was expecting 8.0 to be final by now. It’s taking longer than I had hoped but I think we are very close to a final release. MEPIS is based on Debian Stable and our delays also gives time for Lenny to become final. The changes from the developers at Debian have been coming very quickly. At this rate they will finish Lenny soon.”

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January 31, 2009
by sjvn01
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Google search snafu fixed, explained

What started as a normal weekend morning for Internet users turned into a paranoid panic when the Google search engine started reporting that every site – and we mean every site – was contaminated with malware.

To quote my friend Bob, who woke me up this morning at 7 AM with the news, “What the hell?”

It took me a few minutes to determine that while all Google searches were indeed reporting that every site “may harm your computer,” this was not really the case. Google was reporting one of my Web sites was potentially filled with malware… and I had taken it down for maintenance the day before. Without any connection to the Internet I knew that server wasn’t infected with anything.

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January 29, 2009
by sjvn01
0 comments

Off-line GMail: one more step to the Google desktop

Google has never said that they’re building a desktop operating system. No, the company just keeps coming out with more Windows-free applications and a mobile, Linux-powered operating system, Android. that can also be used as a desktop. No, no, Google isn’t getting ready to release a full desktop with office suite. Not them.

Yeah. Right.

The problem I’ve always had with network-reliant operating systems or programs has been that they’re only as good as your network connection. Whether it was the mainframe and terminals that I cut my teeth on, client/server computing or network computers, I was always painfully aware that I was one zapped connection away from having my desktop turn into a useless desk decoration.

Google is addressing that concern by using Google Gears to let you use perhaps Google’s most popular, non-search application, Gmail, off-line. This follows up on Google enabling you to use Google Docs off-line. You see, although when you think Google you also think of the Internet, they’ve actually been working to make Google applications off-line friendly for some time now.

Installing off-line Gmail, no matter what your operating system, is a little complicated. First, you must install Google Gears. Unfortunately, Google Gears doesn’t run on 64-bit Linux. You’d think people would finally move all their software from 32 to 64-bit, but for a variety of reasons, that’s still not happening.

Be that as it may, instead of installing on my 64-bit MEPIS 7 Linux system, I put Gears on my 32-bit Fedora 10 box. Once there, I needed to go to my GMail account and to turn to Settings/Labs to enable Offline. After that, you go back to the main GMail page and click on the new menu item, which will be on the immediate left of the GMail setting link and follow the instructions.

Then, you can do whatever you want and GMail will synchronize your mail. Once done, you can walk off and use your Google mail whether you’re connected or not. Why, it’s almost like using Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook now.

Now, if only Google Calendar could work off-line too. Wait, what’s that I hear? Off-line Google Calendar is on its way too. Interesting isn’t it?

So, by sometime this summer, you could have a Google Android Linux-powered netbook that also comes with its own version of Microsoft Office — Google Docs, GMail, and Google Calendar — that works as well off-line as online. I, for one, won’t be surprised to find them in shops, say, sometime just before Windows 7 finally ships.

A version of this story first appeared on ComputerWorld