Linux

This is 'way OT (off-topic) regarding the house project; but after all this is MY blog, and, anyway, the Rman has to show some that he's a multifaceted individual to justify the moniker.

This post starts with a dead computer motherboard. Apparently there was a generation or two of MB's that had reliability problems with the bypass capacitors around the CPU. Our 2.4GHz P4 system died due to these capacitors, and in the process damaged the Windows file system. Fortunately, some experimentation (done by removing the old hard disk and putting it in another computer) showed that the remaining files were accessible. I tried rebuilding the Windows system but it quickly became apparent that I needed to do more homework before potentially destroying/overwriting the rest of the data on the disk. The problem was compounded by the fact that the old MB was obsolete so I couldn't buy a more-or-less equivalent hardware platform. Windows' startup sequence panicked when it found a really different set of hardware so it needed some fairly serious brain surgery to get it running again.

So I decided to get a fresh hard disk and install Linux on it, then use Linux to copy the damaged hard disk to a backup drive (a 500MB external drive with a USB interface). I went down to Fry's and spotted a distro of Linux called Ubuntu, so I bought it. After a somewhat lengthy installation process, Ubuntu started up. I was surprised to find that it had found ALL of the computer hardware, including the wireless router that's between the DSL modem and computer, and a laser printer with a USB interface. Just for grins, I fired up FireFox and -- damn -- it WORKED. No fooling with anything. This distro also came with Open Office, so I tried loading in a few Word documents and spreadsheets. No problem there, either.

Ubuntu also recognized the external USB hard disk, so I copied the entire contents of the damaged HD, removed the damaged HD from the system, and stuffed it into my other "experimental" computer in the back room. I did eventually get the XP OS reinstalled without loosing the rest of the data on the HD; but that's really not the point of this post. The main point is that we're still using Ubuntu -- it's doing just about all we need for the "family computer". I'd thought that we would have to have at least ONE Windows based system around, to do things like run the flatbed scanner and film scanner; but yesterday I started wondering if Ubuntu could operate the flatbed scanner. It's USB based, too, so....who knows, right?

So I unpacked the scanner, plugged the power supply in and plugged it into a spare USB port. Nothing -- apparently Ubuntu didn't figure out that something interesting just happened (unlike the situation when I plug in a flash drive -- Ubuntu figures that out immediately). OK, let's check the Accessories dropdown menu that Ubutu gives us. I found an app called "Xsane image scanner", so I fired it up. After a moment or two, it opens a window and indicates that we have an HP 4100 scanner available. Holy Moses. Click on the Scan button, and it scans. Good grief.

Given my previous experiences with Linux, this was totally amazing. My first exposure to Linux was in the days where you had to pore through all sorts of documentation to manually configure the system, and getting X Windows to run was even more arcane. Not too bad for an OS you can download for free (well, sort of -- it would take a looong time to download for most folks @ 100's of MB for a decent distro). And this particular distro is not the latest & greatest, either.

In the meantime, I've downloaded a lot of free S/W, including CD-ripping S/W to put music (from CD's we own, if there are any lawyers out there reading this) on our MP3 players. MP3 is now a proprietary format so I switched to OGG, which works on our Sansa Clip. And here's yet another interesting story: I have copied some of my old vinyl records onto CD's. For commercial audio CD's, the ripping S/W can look into its online database and figure out what CD you just ripped and then use the song titles (rather than mundane titles like "track 1" etc.). I ripped one of my home-brew CD's using this S/W, and it tried to figure out what the thing was ... and it did. The only way I can figure this out is that someone else out there must have made a copy of the same vinyl record that I did, and used this very same program to rip it, then sent the data to the online database. It's a small world. It also indicates that the data-recognition system doesn't use hidden data on the CD to determine what CD it is.

In addition to these kinds of niceties, Linux inherently is a lot more secure than Windows. I did a search looking for anti-spyware and anti-virus S/W for Linux, and it appears that the only reason to have it on a Linux system is to keep you from passing infected files on to your unfortunate MS Windows-using friends and associates.

Linux also seems to be a lot more crash-proof -- the core system hardly ever goes bonkers. The X server (or X-based S/W) can sometimes lock up, but you can usually recover by killing the app and restarting it. Just open a terminal window and type "xkill". The mouse cursor turns into a scull and crossbones: then click on the dead window and it should go away. You DID make sure to save that 600-page memo you were writing at the time, right?

Well, time to go to work & earn more health insurance. That's all for now.